Factors that influence learning in the workplace

Employee training is an essential strategy and component of any business that aims to increase performance, competence and engagement of one's workforce. There are known to be a number of factors that have an effect on the learning process of employees, which, at the end of the day, determines how successful training is. In order to meet learning outcomes, keep employees engaged, develop effective skills, and ensure that the training is effective from the start, training experts need to focus on optimising those influences that have a tremendous impact on learning. Here are four significant factors that influence learning in the workplace:

Course relevancy

One of the reasons why training is unsuccessful is because employees simply cannot relate to the content. The aim of the employee-training game is to create meaningful and relevant content that will speak directly to the needs of your employees. By including real-life stories and experiences that are relevant to their working role, learners are more likely to be interested in the information presented to them and will be able to absorb knowledge better. This is because real-life scenarios tap into the emotional sector of the learning process and drive long-term retention and recall.

By introducing examples of their real-world working experiences, employees will acquire the skills on how to come up with solutions to difficult problems they might face in the near future. This will lead to increased performance and overall problem-solving skill capabilities.

The delivery method

Choosing the right method in which training is delivered is absolutely crucial. When selecting a training delivery method, a number of factors should be considered, including your employees' needs, size and type of workforce, location, time frame and company goals.

There are multiple types of training delivery options available today, which is why choosing a method may seem like a daunting task. However, the key to it being a seamless and successful process is by knowing your employees and business really well. Whether your selected approach is e-learning, instructor-led, virtual classroom, mobile learning or a blended solution, it is important that the training delivery method keeps your employees' and organisation's learning objectives in the centre of it all.

Motivation to learn

With unmotivated employees comes higher staff turnover, lower levels of engagement, poor communication, and diminished productivity amongst a variety of other issues that may proliferate and lead to a toxic work environment. Employees need to be motivated in order for active learning to take place. Research has shown that when individuals are given a reason to learn, they are more likely to be encouraged and intrinsically motivated to put in more effort into taking on whatever task or information is presented to them.

Some strategies that business can implement in order to motivate their employees to make the learning process more effective include setting out goals, providing incentives, making the actual training content more fun and appealing to the eye and ear, giving employees the autonomy to train in their own time and on their own terms, and providing regular feedback on their learning progress and results.

The role of technology

We have seen how technology has completely transformed the way we learn and has provided a number of possibilities on how we can reinforce learning material. By incorporating interactive technology to the learning process, employees can reap the benefits in a number of ways, including software that immediately analyses their results, one dedicated place to access learning material, and mobile applications that allow for learning to take place anywhere and anytime.

For a solution that optimises all factors that affect learning in order to drive the best results for your employees and business, contact Lesson Desk at learn@lessondesk.com or visit our website for our comprehensive list of training solutions.