Millennials will comprise 75 percent of the workforce by 2025. Think about that: In 10 years, only 1 in 4 employees will be a Generation Xer or baby boomer. However, every indication says that the business world hasn’t quite figured out how to effectively relate to and train millennials. For example, the Deloitte Millennial Survey 2015 discovered that only 28 percent of the youngest generation of workers feels that their organizations are making full use of the their skills.
This disconnect seems especially severe with training and eLearning. The methods companies have used for years (and some cases, decades) have simply lost their effectiveness with millennials. Organizations are realizing that they must adapt to this burgeoning generation or risk decreased productivity and fewer profits. However, there exists the older generation that may resist any sort of radical training process changes. The solution many companies are turning to is tablet training. This innovative approach is spanning generations and producing concrete results. Here are some reasons why tablet training offers dynamic education possibilities for a broader workforce:
The Video Advantage
Perhaps the greatest benefit tablet training offers is its ability to incorporate video into all facets of the process, from onboarding to eLearning to product rollouts. Numerous studies have shown how much more effective video is over the printed word for absorbing and retaining content. iPad or Surface is perfect for conveniently watching video, including on the floor or in the field where the training materials can be directly applied. Furthermore, employees can shoot their own video on tablets, thus sharing processes with other workers and creating their own best practices.
The Younger Generation of Workers
With tablet training, millennials learn on a device they are likely familiar and proficient with. They already watch movies and videos, play games, check emails, and take pictures and videos on tablets, so using an iPad or Surface to learn workplace processes is a logical extension of their familiarity. Moreover, tablet training is simply impressive for millennials, who are more likely to buy into the learning on the technology than they would with printed training materials or embarrassingly produced, 15-year-old DVDs (or, worse yet, video tapes …).
The Grizzled Veterans
Although millennials comprise the largest segment of the workforce, older generations are still impactful and require effective training as well. These grizzled employees may not shun established training methods, but they may not like them either—the term “begrudgingly accept” comes to mind. Generation X is almost as familiar with iPads as their younger co-workers, and tablet training is so streamlined that baby boomers and seniors still in the workforce can easily adapt to, if not embrace, the content. After all, if the training is simpler and feels like of a chore, it will be more accepted by workers of any age.
Impressive Potential
Companies that adopt tablet training see the quality of learning improve, which leads to increased productivity. Because the dynamic approach appeals to millennials, they are more likely to buy in to the training and better engage with their jobs. This leads to more productive employees now less likely to leave because they are unhappy or bored. The collaboration aspect of tablet training allows for processes to improve, sometimes at the hands of the employees themselves. This, again, leads to more productivity. All these tablet training factors add up to some impressive potential that can propel companies toward greater long-term success.
How do different generations of workers at your organization embrace training processes?
