Do diminishing sales and customer satisfaction scores trace back to your online corporate training program? In this blog, I’ll highlight seven training gaps that are holding your business back, as well as tips on how to bridge them with eLearning and through the learning management system (LMS).
When things don’t go according to plan in the corporate world, some organizations attribute it to their staff’s skills or experience levels. But what if it all boils down to the corporate training resources that you are providing to your workforce? What if you could improve profit margins and employee satisfaction by re-evaluating your L&D strategy? Here are seven types of training gaps that may hurt your business’s bottom line and increase employee turnover.
1. Corporate Shake-Ups
Mergers and management changes often lead to new policies and protocols. Shake-ups can even happen on an individual level. For example, the employee receives a promotion or accepts another position within the company. As a result, there’s a gap between the knowledge they required for their previous position and their new responsibilities. When these notable events occur it’s best to assess employees, analyze their current skills, performance, and knowledge base to determine how to bring them up to speed. Online surveys are another great way to get their feedback regarding recent changes and identify personal areas for improvement.
2. Lack Of Sufficient Skills
Employees don’t have the skills they need to do their job effectively. For instance, they are unable to complete crucial tasks that involve more advanced skill sets. This might be because employees haven’t received the online training resources they require to build these vital skills. One remedy for this training gap is to provide microlearning online training activities that focus on specific abilities, such as brief branching scenarios or serious games that allow them to hone communication skills by interacting with virtual customers. You can also conduct periodic qualitative assessments to see how they apply their skills in real-world situations and then provide training resource recommendations.
3. Poor Task Performance
Employees are struggling to complete work tasks or they don’t know how to apply the skills they have acquired from their online training on the job. This leads to poor customer service, low sales figures, and safety risks. Conduct task analysis and observations to identify training gaps, then provide employees with real-world activities. For instance, simulations that allow them to review every step of the task and correct performance behaviors. Real-world examples, stories, and training videos are also great additions to your task-based corporate training program.
4. Outdated Compliance Knowledge
Numerous industries deal with rules and regulations that update on a regular basis. Your organization must keep up with the ever-changing policies to avoid costly penalties, not to mention ensure the safety of your employees and customers.
Fortunately, you can use a rapid eLearning authoring tool to update your online training materials and cover training gaps quickly. You should also opt for a learning management system (LMS) with an intuitive user interface that enables you to develop and deploy corporate training content as soon as possible.
Lastly, think about gamifying your compliance training to add extra incentive. Game mechanics help track learner progress, as well. Corporate learners unable to score a sufficient amount of points or badges may need a timely intervention.
5. New Business Systems Or Equipment
Your organization strives to stay on the cutting edge by frequently updating its systems and equipment. However, you must also ensure that you have online training resources to accompany these new and improved business systems. Create corporate training tutorials and demos for these new online training tools so that corporate learners can quickly review the procedures.
In addition, have support tools at the ready in the event of an emergency. For instance, the employee is in the middle of a sales transaction when the terminal suddenly freezes up. A quick demo video can show them how to reset the system and minimize customer frustration.
6. Employee Onboarding
This is one of the training gaps that is usually unavoidable, unfortunately. New employees join your team with limited knowledge of your company and compliance protocols. They may even need some help in the skills and experience department. Which online training resources do your new hires require to prepare them for their first day on the job? This is why it’s essential to have an effective onboarding training, complete with "moment of need" training resources and interactive training activities that build real-world experience. You can also assess new hires individually to identify personal strengths and areas for improvement, then personalize a plan based on their training gaps.
7. One-Size-Fits-All Corporate Training Materials
This training gap is a more widespread issue that affects every member of your organization. It’s a disconnect between the organization and its workforce. Some companies choose to deploy generic online training resources for their entire team, regardless of job duties, position, or experience levels.
They believe that everyone should be held to the same training standard. The issue is that every corporate learner has different training needs and preferences. They experience different work-related challenges and unique performance, skill, and knowledge gaps. Thus, a one-size-fits-all corporate training strategy broadens the training gap instead of targeting the problem and providing individualized support.
The best way to remedy the situation is to create personalized training plans or training contracts. Let corporate learners chart their own training course and include clickable eLearning course maps that allow for free roaming.
Are any of these training gaps hindering your company’s success? Before you start diagnosing the problem, it’s best to gather all your Big Data to get the complete picture. This includes LMS reports, site stats, corporate learner assessments, and surveys that can shed light on training inefficiencies. You might also consider a certification program that sets on auto-renew. Corporate learners must complete the necessary coursework to earn their certificates, which helps ensure that everyone is up to par. Every year the LMS sends an automatic notification when it’s time to brush up on their training and narrow one or more of the training gaps.
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