Scientific Ways To Make Employee Training More Impactful

Starting an employee training initiative is no joke.

14:36 17 June 2020

Whether you’re trying to provide training for a new software that your company has purchased or are simply investing in helping your best employees upskill, there are several challenges involved.

 

Using employee training to bring a positively impactful change to your organisation can be a confusing and overwhelming undertaking.

 

Thankfully, technological developments have enabled us with tools that can help design an impactful training experience. However, technological developments have also transformed the way adults consume content and learn new things.

 

Your training experience must make use of modern tools to address the transformed needs of the human mind.

 

In this article, we will discuss science-backed ways using which, you can create an effective training experience for your employees:

 

Smaller Is Better

 

Breaking long form content into smaller chunks of information makes it easier to consume. In fact, focussed, bite-sized lessons, aren’t just easier to consume, they have also been proven to improve retention in learners.

 

This practice of breaking large chunks of information into smaller ones is known as microlearning and thanks to its proven effectiveness, it is being widely accepted across the learning and development landscape. Authoring tools and LMS companies have even started offering dedicated features that make employing microlearning easier.

 

Studies have shown that microlearning can improve learner engagement with training content by up to 50% and can result in 17% more efficient transfer of knowledge.

 

Multimedia Is Your Friend

 

There was a time when the only visual content we consumed was through newspapers and television sets. However, after over 30 years of having access to the internet and consuming billions of hours worth of videos, the human mind has grown more accustomed to visual content.

 

Of all the information that the human mind processes, 90% is visual information. As a result, our brain can now process visual information 60,000 times faster than text-based information.

 

Hence, modern employee training must make use of videos and infographics, along with text, to effectively engage learners and communicate information in an easy to understand manner.

 

Disguise Training With Gamification

 

The term ‘gamification’ refers to the practice of adding game-like elements to training. Elements like point systems, levels, and achievement medals have been proven to improve a learner’s engagement with training content.

 

Games are fun and engaging, and gamification elements in training replicate the effects of games on your brain, like the release of ‘feel-good’ hormones like serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins.

 

Gamification features also activate the Hippocampus region of our brain that aids memory and recall, ultimately positively affecting the retention of training material.

 

Repeated Reinforcement Is Critical

 

In an experiment conducted by Washington University’s Henry Rogers, the positive effects of reinforcement on retention were proven.

In his experiment, he divided his subjects into two groups and showed each group a set of photographs. Then, one group was given a quiz regarding the photograph while the other wasn’t.

 

One week later, both groups were asked to recall the photographs. The group that was quizzed a week before, showed significantly better retention of information in this experiment.

Hence, this experiment reinforced the importance of tests and quizzes (pun intended!). This means, even the retention rates of the information contained within your employee training programs can be improved with tests and quizzes placed at regular intervals.

 

Conclusion

 

Advancements in science and technology haven’t just provided us with advanced tools to carry our employee training with efficiency, they have also provided us with invaluable information about how this training can be made more effective.

 

Have you tried any of the strategies mentioned in this article? How was your experience? Share with us in the comment section below.