Lesson Learnt: Top 5 Training Lessons The Ongoing Pandemic Has Taught Employers in India

From ensuring the safety of their employees to ensuring business continuity, organisations have had to scramble to keep things together during the pandemic.

While many have failed, others have managed to learn some lessons, especially in the employee training and skilling domain. Productivity, engagement, problem-solving, and leadership are just a few of the areas where businesses have had to adapt.

Here are five of the top training lessons for companies that have come out in the open as a result of the ongoing pandemic.

Lesson #1: Importance of Streamlining the Process

One of the first things companies learned during the pandemic is that they need to streamline their employee training and development processes.

With many employees still working remotely and new hires being onboarded virtually, it’s become more important than ever to streamline training efforts. This means having clear and concise instructions, and a system that everyone can easily follow. This led to a big push for automation and digital transformation.

Automation has helped reduce paperwork and solve the scheduling hassles, allowing HRs and managers to focus on more important tasks. Digital transformation, on the other hand, has allowed companies to move their processes online.

From onboarding to training and even performance management, everything can now be done virtually. This has made things more convenient for everyone involved and has also helped improve communication and collaboration.

Lesson #2: Always Ready to Train the Distributed Workforce

Another lesson was to find a solution to train their dispersed workforce working remotely. Many organisations engineered systems to effortlessly train new hires.

Consequently, employees could learn new skills and stay up-to-date on company policies and procedures as a result of e-learning and online training programs.

e-learning allows employees to learn at their own pace and provides them with the flexibility to complete training when it’s convenient for them. Online training programs, on the other hand, are more structured and provide employees with the opportunity to interact with instructors and other learners.

Online training programs also promote better engagement and retention as opposed to in-house training. After all, employees who feel like they are constantly learning and growing, which is beneficial for their careers, are more likely to engage and stay with the company for the long haul.

Lesson #3: Reinforcing the Foundation with Microlearning

Microlearning has been around for a while, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that companies really started to see its value.

For microlearning to succeed, especially for remote workers, bite-sized pieces of information that employees could easily digest became crucial. Not only could they quickly acquire new skills, but also retain information.

Microlearning is also more engaging than traditional methods of learning, such as lectures or eLearning courses. Employees interact with the content, the instructors, the learning community much better. Moreover, microlearning expedites feedback.

As a result, microlearning has become one of the most popular methods of training for companies during the pandemic.

Lesson #4: Incorporating Virtual Reality

Virtual reality (VR) is another technology that has been around for a while. But now, it’s being actively leveraged by employers for training.

VR allows employees to immerse themselves in a simulated environment and learn new skills without having to leave their desks. This type of training is especially beneficial for companies with remote employees.

For example, if a company wants to train its employees on how to use a new piece of equipment, VR can be used to provide them with a realistic experience. VR can also be used for more hands-on training, such as customer service or sales.

Lesson #5: The Importance of a Good LMS

A learning management system (LMS) is a software application that helps companies manage, deliver, and track their training programs. An LMS can be used to create and deliver eLearning courses, online training programs, microlearning modules, and even VR simulations.

It’s an essential tool for companies that want to provide their employees with the best possible learning experience. An adept LMS will allow employees to train when they need to it and will allow them to track their progress.

What’s more, an LMS with in-built analytics and reporting tools can also help managers identify which employees need more help and which ones are excelling.

Businesses have learned a lot from the pandemic about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to training their employees. By streamlining their training methods, being prepared to train a distributed workforce, focusing on up-skilling and career development, leveraging asynchronous training, and making training readily available, businesses can ensure that their employees are always ready to adapt and face future challenges and crises.