Improve the Training Experience with Self-Directed Learning

Develop a self-directed learning culture

The workplace is seeing a shift towards learning agility. Employees need and want the ability to improve, learn new skills, and advance at their own pace, but many organizations are not equipped to do so. According to Deloitte's 2018 Global Human Capital Trends, of those surveyed only 18% said their organization provided opportunities to actively learn, develop new skills, and forge ahead in their careers. As much as people are looking for these types of learning opportunities, organizations lag behind. However, those who have adopted a learning-first culture are reaping the benefits when it comes to employee engagement and retention. Isn't that what everyone's after? Employee engagement and retention go hand in hand with overall organization success. When your people are happy, your organization is, too. How you get there is by offering up the right type of program that allows for employees to take learning into their own hands.

Choose the right learning platforms

With the changing learning landscape and improvement in technology, the options for learning platforms is growing quickly. Organizations can purchase an out-of-the-box program that equips employees with key information while dishing up an amazing learning experience if they know what they're looking for. The platform should keep UX as a high priority, it needs to be mobile, and it needs to be well organized. On top of providing great content that is applicable to the learner and their job duties, it should also boost productivity. This laundry list of features is all necessary if you want to equip your employees with the best learning experience. And you're in luck. Whether you're a mom-and-pop shop or a large enterprise, the growing need to provide dynamic training and development has caused the market for learning platforms to follow suit. There really is something out there for everyone.

Know what people want from their platform

Developing a self-directed learning program for your organization should have the end goal of empowerment. Each time an employee logs into the platform, they want to feel like the information they take in moves the needle, one tick at a time, closer to their career goals. To make this happen, the information you provide should be mapped out in easy to follow courses that build on one another. Users should be able to flip through, look what's ahead, and never have to guess what they should be learning next. And just like searching for answers outside of the office, they should be able to pull up their learning platform, search, and quickly reference previously viewed information and ask questions. They're looking for a learning experience that delivers the information they need now to do their jobs, and opportunities to learn and advance toward what their job may be in the future.

While the way we learn and take in new information continues to evolve, there's one thing that remains the same: the need for organizations to provide better training and development opportunities for their employees. So, start evaluating your training, find out what your employees want, and set your employees and your organization up with the right technology to help you build an agile learning culture.