A study conducted by IBM discovered that companies that utilize eLearning and other digital corporate training materials could possibly boost production up to 50 percent, and that for every dollar spent on such initiatives, they can see as much as a $30 boost in productivity. For organizations struggling to get more out of their training programs, numbers such as these offer an attractive incentive to take a new direction in how they educate their employees.
Companies still using yesterday’s training methods are increasingly finding themselves at a competitive disadvantage. Today’s training solutions and content management systems adopt modern technologies that millennial employees favorably respond to and that result in noticeable improvements in terms of cost-efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity. Here are four corporate training materials that can turn your training program around:
1. Go Paperless, Go Mobile
At some point of their careers, many employees born before 1990 were given a three-ring binder containing training processes or guidelines, with the expectation of learning its contents inside and out. If this method seemed daunting for you, imagine how it goes over with younger employees who consume much written content on a computer, tablet, or smartphone. Digital manuals present corporate training materials in a manner that appeals to millennials. This strategy also offers many other benefits: It’s eco-friendly, it saves space, it saves money on printing and shipping costs, and it is far easier to update materials when needed.
2. Using Videos
Many companies have employed video as a training strategy for years, via videocassette or DVD. That tried-and-true method seems quaint compared with today’s technology—corporate training materials that are accessible by mobile device. Video that can be accessed on the floor or in the field (rather than in a back training room) offers increased efficiency and retention benefits, and is much easier to produce. Furthermore, employees can use mobile devices to shoot their own video, thus providing managers a glimpse at how training is being applied.
3. Audio Messages
Sometimes, a verbal explanation of a process or update is all you need for training purposes. But the concept of audio training may again conjure images of antiquated technology—in this case, cassette tapes and a boombox. Today, managers can easily record audio corporate training materials, which are easily accessible on mobile devices for workers to listen at their convenience. A trainer doesn’t need any special equipment—he or she merely speaks into a tablet’s or computer’s built-in microphone. Furthermore, employees can plug headphones into their devices and listen to the audio on their breaks, during another task, on the bus ride home, or wherever and whenever convenient.
4. Interactive Presentations
Slideshows and other interactive, PowerPoint-type training presentations can impressively teach employees the things they need to learn. Modern corporate training materials include these methods adapted to portable technologies. Imagine an employee using a tablet to watch a training presentation on how to learn a new process at the actual location he or she will be using that knowledge. Today’s training solutions make this scenario possible.
Of these four corporate training materials, which do you feel offers the most potential for your company?
