To remain competitive in the market, you need to get used to a new style of work, where the constant development of new skills is the modern norm. What forms of corporate training have proven their effectiveness and help companies achieve their goals – below.
Forms of corporate learning
Mobile learning and digital content
Today, most result-oriented companies are looking for different ways to motivate and attract employees born during the rapid development of technology. Most of us have a smartphone, tablet, or other gadget in our hands. It is difficult to imagine our life without these technological innovations. Therefore, there are new approaches to learning that meet several needs of people – to update knowledge at any convenient time with your favorite gadget.
Mobile learning technology allows you to broadcast educational content through personal devices, expanding the reach of users. It also provides flexibility of access, replacing spending time on journey with “on the go” classes. The transition to a digital format of acquiring new knowledge is not only low-cost, but also simplifies life. Today, most textbooks are published either in paper and digital format, or only in digital format. This allows you to constantly update the content according to user requests and new business needs, and companies to prepare information according to the specifics of their activities and provide access to it to their employees and stakeholders.
Symbiosis of the latest achievements
Modern teaching methods help to acquire knowledge in real time from anywhere on the planet. This gives a unique opportunity for all employees, anywhere in the world, to undergo corporate training: listen to lectures, participate in webinars, discuss topics in a virtual discussion, ask and solve problems with a business coach or teacher.
Today, not only do public schools around the world offer a variety of seminars in the form of virtual learning, but many companies are creating their own corporate universities. Webinars, online discussions and lectures as a form of virtual learning contribute to the active involvement of all participants in the process of acquiring knowledge and developing skills and competencies. You can even gain knowledge at work during a lunch break or at a particular time.
In addition, the latest teaching methods such as augmented and virtual reality, are also actively use. The use of augmented and virtual reality in combination with training programs allows to involve the employee in the learning process through an interactive environment. This format excites the imagination and motivates the employee, encourages to learn more about a particular topic.
Personality-oriented approach
With the development of automation systems for business, it became possible to store all data not only about customers but also about employees of the company in a single corporate database. This information can be used to form an individual program of employee development, personalization of each aspect of training depending on the acquisition of certain knowledge and skills. By monitoring the progress of staff and offering further information resources based on learning objectives and the level of knowledge achieved, it is possible to constantly build new programs that will maintain the professional level of employees at the appropriate level. There are online personal learning systems where employees can shape their own educational process according to their own leadership and career goals without interruption and at a convenient time.
Microlearning
The best way to learn something new is to process information in small portions. Prolonged emotional or mental stress, as well as physical, can negatively affect a person. Therefore, periodic change of activities, short blocks of educational material from 5 to 20 minutes during breaks in the work can provide maximum concentration on certain information.
Traditionally, the lesson lasts 45 minutes. However, numerous studies have shown that in fact a person is able to stay focused for no more than 20 minutes, after which attention begins to weaken. Dosed learning in micro-portions – small thematic blocks, allows you to make the most efficient use of time and resources. In addition, a person can decide whether this information is interesting and useful to or not, without spending extra time on it. That is to master the maximum of the necessary information in the minimum time.
Mutual learning
Psychologists believe that asking a person to evaluate the work of a colleague, explain a complex theory or become a mentor to someone, it benefits both the employee being trained and the mentor. This model of corporate learning, focused on teamwork, helps employees improve their knowledge, creates a sense of belonging to the common cause and fosters a sense of personal responsibility.
In addition, this approach to staff training is a good way to save money without the involvement of additional resources and external experts. Moreover, such mutual learning is the most targeted, as it sharpens the necessary skills, allows you to immediately adjust the results and provides an individual approach to the acquisition of new competencies.
Social learning
Numerous studies have shown that the most effective way to learn is to learn from each other. Everyone wants to interact with society, and learning as part of a group, especially if they are people with common professional interests, is more motivated. During joint training, each employee is more involved in the learning process and, accordingly, achieves higher results. Therefore, many corporate and vocational training programs involve group work, group discussions, and joint search for solutions.
The Internet and the rapid development of digital learning formats using mobile devices help employees share ideas, information, coordinate the learning process and develop their professional skills with colleagues in real time without leaving work. Thanks to the advent of social learning technologies, it has become much easier and cheaper for companies to organize the process of group learning and development in new digital formats.
Informal digital learning
Today, training in the usual format does not give the desired results. Instead, the emergence of new approaches to acquiring knowledge, using all possible information resources and ways of communication between employees of the company works in favor of business. Today, a number of successful large companies use informal learning opportunities for the professional development of staff. With the help of various internal educational platforms, forums and chats, employees can share their own opinions, useful professional information, discuss and quickly solve a complex problem, provide suggestions to management to optimize work and more. In this way, the company also opens access to collective knowledge and creates a base of reference material. Non-formal learning is a trend within which many creative people, who do not like traditional ways of acquiring knowledge, can develop professionally and share their experience in an informal setting.
Gamification
Gamification is becoming perhaps the most important tool available for corporate learning and development. This method of corporate training meets one of the key demands of the new generation of employees who want to constantly update their knowledge, but prefer to do it in an interesting and exciting way. Learning through play is a natural human need, instilled from childhood. Games can be created for any area of corporate learning and adapted to different levels of skills and competencies. They are ideal for explaining complex concepts, corporate rules and values, and for testing staff knowledge in a less formal way.
Gamification increases the level of involvement of employees and their ability to memorize information, as participation in the game gives them a feeling of long-awaited break from the pressure, which is significantly different from traditional learning methods.
