Tackling The 4 Corporate eLearning Program Problems That Obstruct Learning
It’s really frustrating when an organization makes the transition from traditional classroom training to eLearning, and still, do not get the expected results. When this happens, many organizations are quick to demonize eLearning and switch back to traditional classroom training. However, it isn’t fair to dismiss a learning methodology that has been proven to increase learning and retention by a good 50% and is being used by a plethora of successful corporate organizations all around the world. So, wherein lies the problem? Well, it could be a lot of things. It could have something to do with content, it could have something to do with how the content is received, it could have something to do with the delivery mechanism, a lot of possibilities really. If your eLearning program isn’t working, what’s needed is a thorough investigation. The last thing you need is switching back to the same learning methodology you have replaced with eLearning, precisely because it wasn’t working for your organization. But sometimes, you just don’t know where to start! Not a problem. I’ve compiled a list of 4 major problems in corporate eLearning that obstruct learning, one of which, or maybe more of which, are likely a problem standing between your eLearning program and a favorable outcome. Check these out.
1. Your eLearning Courses Are Largely Textual
Of course. No matter how much of learning freaks the employees at your organization might be, endless columns of text are sure to bore the living daylights of even the most hardened learners. Employees shift through text all day, and the last thing they need is more text to obliterate their remaining brain cells. An effective eLearning course is easy on the eyes, as well as on the brain. It should contain a variety of components like images, audio, video, infographics, quizzes, and other interactivities. If you absolutely have to have text, although not recommended, make sure that it is effectively broken into proper paragraphs or bullet points, for easy processing.
2. Your Employees Consider Training As A Useless Convention Or Formality
Just because you want to learn and develop, it doesn’t mean that they want the same. Unfortunately, a lot of employees view corporate training as something that ‘must be done’ rather than as an opportunity to learn new things and grow. There’s not much that can be done to force an unwilling person to learn, except for trying to make learning engaging and entertaining. To do that, try gamifying your eLearning courses. Gamification doesn’t mean turning your eLearning course into a game, it simply means applying the typical elements of game-play, like point scoring, rewards, and badges, competition with others, rules of play to your eLearning course in order to make it engaging and entertaining. Gamification has shown to peak employees’ interest and gets them to pay attention to eLearning courses.
3. Lack Of Training Culture
Continuing on from the second point, if your employees view training as a mandatory formality, it suggests a much deeper problem. This means that it wasn’t embedded in your organization’s culture too strongly, otherwise, the employees would be familiar with it and not oppose it. It might also suggest that the onboarding program failed to inculcate the proper culture in your employees. Anyway, if either is the case, the thing to do would be to motivate your employees and get them to at least be okay with your eLearning training program, if not like it. This can be done using newsletters, social media posts and free resources like eBooks that inspire them and educate them about the benefits of corporate training or L&D. Make your employees view corporate training as an opportunity to better themselves, rather than a mandatory activity.
4. It Interferes With Employees’ Schedule
Most employees already have a schedule to stick to, and it’s usually full to the brim with high priority tasks. Adding corporate eLearning to the mix can eat into either their working time and cause backlog, or into their personal time and cause resentment against the training program, their L&D manager or the organization itself. This does not only disconnect them from learning, but also causes unwanted emotions. The best way to deal with this is to create a flexible eLearning program, one which can be accessed any time, i.e. is not time-bound, and one that is accessible anywhere, i.e. mobile learning. Creating responsive eLearning courses isn’t very hard, and the benefits are manifold.
