A 2013 Deloitte survey discovered that 94.5 percent of employees were able to access company email off mobile devices. Moreover, almost 57 percent could access documents via such technology.
The use of mobile devices for work functions has exploded in the past decade. Whether its company-owned iPads or employees’ own Droids, today’s workers are using mobile technology to perform their jobs and stay connected. A mostly untapped path for this trend is adapting the use of tablets and smartphones to an employee training plan. This approach isn’t some future dream, either—it’s happening now. Here are some ways that mobile technology expedites your employee training plan:
First Days Become Much More Productive
The employee training plan of a new hire usually starts on Day 1, and at many companies, it’s anything but mobile. Often, these workers are stashed in some back office watching training videos on a television or desktop computer, and when done, they are expected to know the inside and outs of their jobs before even stepping foot on the sales floor. Mobile training brings new hires to where the action is. They get up to speed faster, and they become invested in their new jobs faster as well, thus increasing productivity right away.
Workers Require Less Time Learning New Things
An employee training plan that incorporates video can get employees to proficiency faster than simply reading documents. When video is untethered from bulky devices (such as a desktop computer), watching it is easier. Mobile device can expedite this process, thus allowing employees to absorb training videos whenever and wherever it’s convenient.
Workers Are More Efficiently Taught New Things
Imagine a hardware store that has installed a new machine for mixing paint. Employees must be trained on the new machine. They can read the manual, but that might prove confusing to some workers and require them to alternate their attention from a book or binder and the machine. They can watch a video sent as a file to their boss’s computer in the back. Or, they can watch the same video on a mobile device, set up right next to the machine, and pause and rewind as needed. The third option offers the greatest benefit to your employee training plan—workers receive instant guidance and vivid instruction at the exact location they need that knowledge, and in less time than the other methods.
BYOD Allows Training Anywhere
Thanks to the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend, workers can now access parts of an employee training plan in and out of the workplace. Some employees may prefer using their own devices rather than company-owned tablets; others may wish to view training materials at home, on the bus, and so on. A mobile training solution that incorporates BYOD creates more flexibility for workers to learn at their pace.
Instant Feedback
Most desktop-based training solutions don’t offer too much opportunity for employee feedback (and non-digital methods offer almost none). Mobile training undoes this shortcoming by allowing for comments and collaboration between employees and the managers interested in those employees’ training. Returning to the hardware store example, a worker learning the paint machine might have a question not addressed in the training materials. Without mobile training, voicing that concern and waiting for reply might take a couple days—and in the meantime, the paint machine sits unproductive. Thanks to today’s technology, that worker could initiate the feedback (perhaps even sending video of the problem) and get a response in a few minutes. Subsequently, the trainer can almost instantly update the materials so they are clearer for the next employee learning to use the machine.
How has mobile technology benefited your company’s employee training plan?
