Employee turnover is one of those realities enterprises must live with, but statistics reveal how serious—and costly—a problem it can be. Replacing just one $8-per-hour employee can cost $5,500 on average; turnover cost for mid-level employees as a percentage of salary averages a whopping 150 percent. And about a quarter of the turnover expense goes to training a new hire.
As companies scramble to reduce employee turnover, they are looking to mobility training as a strategy to help keep workers on board. How effectively new hires and experienced employees are trained can go a long way toward retaining them. Today’s training solutions, adapted to mobile devices, are revolutionizing how employees learn their jobs. And if these innovations produce workers who are less bored and more impressed, they might be more likely to stay. Here are some ways mobile training solutions can keep your employees around longer:
Employees Aren’t Stashed Away
Imagine a new hire on his first day on the job. He’s enthusiastic to begin his new employment and hoping for a successful, rewarding tenure. What do many companies do with this hire on his first day? Stash him in a windowless office somewhere in the back of the store and bombard him with boring HR videos and reams of written content. This is not a great first impression; this hire may come to feel that his new job is a dreary place to work on Day 1. Mobility training can pull employees out of the warehouse and make those first days productive rather than soul-crushing. Some of the introductory training content (such as HR videos welcoming hire to the company) may still be necessary, but at least it can be viewed anywhere and whenever it’s most convenient.
Binders Are History
The aforementioned reams of written content likely conjure up images of thick training manuals that can thoroughly daunt recent hires and veteran workers alike. Nothing suggests “I hate my job!” more than being given dozens of pages of learning materials and being commanded to learn them or else. Thanks to mobility training, the binders and manuals can be retired. Written content can be converted to digital form for more convenient reading on a tablet. And training materials can be designed to be more interactive so that the eLearning isn’t just words, but instead a combination of slides, images, video, audio, and written content.
Technology Is Cool
Millennials have grown up in a time of iPads, smartphones, digital cameras, and powerful video game systems. As this generation enters the workforce more and more, they will demand training opportunities that correspond to their level of technological know-how. That desktop computer tower or DVD player is just not impressive anymore. Mobility training is simply cooler than many older methods. Younger employees will respond favorably to this technology, increasing the odds they will want to stay with your company and not bolt after a few weeks.
Workers Truly Learn on the Job
“Hands-on learning” sounds like a cliché, but it reflects a training reality: Employees who learn their jobs by doing will learn more effectively. Many training methods shy away from this approach, instead burdening workers with written content to be read away from the action. Mobility training provides the opportunity for employees to learn their duties where they perform them: on the floor or in the field. For example, instead of simply reading about how to cook a new menu item, restaurant workers can watch a video on a tablet in the kitchen, pausing and rewinding as needed to fully grasp the new task. These employees will learn the process faster and be less frustrated, thus strengthening their investment in their jobs.
How have your employees responded to mobility training?
