How to Maximize the Effectiveness of your L&D Program

Employee Learning and Development programs are supposed to help companies build a highly skilled, efficient, and motivated workforce — but they often miss the mark.

According to the L&D Academy, most learning programs fail for these reasons:

• The program is irrelevant to the tasks employees perform and doesn’t tie in with the company goals;
• The training is made with little regard to learners: their learning needs aren’t taken into consideration, and there’s no pre and post-learning to prepare them for learning and assess the knowledge they’ve taken in;
• The program is sloppy and not thought-through because leadership doesn’t fully “buy” it — and as a result, neither do employees.

Crossing out the L&D from the equation and spray-and-pray approach are not the right answers!

There are simple ways to create great employee training and development, and it would be a shame to abandon L&D before trying to do it right.

Below are five simple tweaks you can make and see results improve fast.

#1 Investigate the Weak Points of Your Current L&D Efforts

You shouldn’t ditch the whole program immediately — maybe there’s just one aspect that sabotages the whole program, and you need to eliminate or adapt it.

To get to the bottom of your program’s success, you need to:

1. Define clear, measurable goals, objectives, and benchmarks of the L&D program;
2. Establish the metrics and KPIs you’ll use to measure the success levels; these could be:some text
   1. Course completion rates/speed
   2. Post-program testing scores
   3. Participant satisfaction
   4. Changes in performance and workplace behavior
3. Collect quantitative and qualitative data after you go through the program — by conducting surveys, interviews, focus groups, statistics, tests, and expert observation.

Comparing results and employee feedback will help you systematically and accurately identify weaknesses and areas for improvement. 

The steps you take towards improving the L&D program will be backed by informed decisions, and increase employee skill levels and satisfaction.

#2 Align the L&D Program With Company Goals

The larger the company, the likelier it is that certain departments are far away and detached from the organization’s core and its key goals.

Sometimes, the personnel tasked with employee training and development strays because there’s a lack of communication from “above”, or they’re not in touch with their coworkers from other teams. This results in poor hiring decisions, the company not meeting the KPIs, and underperforming L&D training.

To come up with an employee training and development program that corresponds to the company goals, you need to reconnect with the C-suite and other teams with relevant questions — be precise, and ask for clear-cut, highly specific answers:

• What are the top strategic goals for the company this year, and how can L&D support these objectives? For example, if a goal is to conquer a new demographic, the L&D program should focus on developing market research skills and culturally-specific sales messaging (concerning the affinities of the target demographic).
• Which specific skills and knowledge are most critical for the department’s success in achieving the KPI targets? If innovation is a key focus, consider developing programs around creative problem-solving and project management.
• What kind of goals and metrics will tell us whether the L&D initiatives had a positive impact? Discuss the expectations, what’s realistic, and the ways to track and measure success during and after the program.
• Directly ask team leaders what they need from their staff. Ask for examples and explanations, and share the first draft of your L&D plans to get their feedback and iterate if necessary. 

#3 Get the Leadership Buy-In For L&D Investments

Convincing the company leadership to spend additional money is a difficult, yet delicate task. You need to be convincing and provide an array of arguments in favor of your new L&D strategy. And if you do get them on your side, you carry full responsibility if the investment doesn’t pay off.

Here’s how to approach getting the buy-in from the higher-ups:

• Crunch the numbers — Calculate how much you’d need to invest in the L&D program, and not just financially: consider how much time and effort the workers will have to redirect from day-to-day work to complete the training. Be precise, and allow some funds for unexpected expenditures.
• Involve them in the L&D program creation process — If you get the leadership to participate in L&D strategy creation from the start, they’ll have a better understanding of why some training components are necessary, and what they get for their investment.
• Create a detailed L&D strategy presentation — Take time to make a visually appealing storyline that covers all aspects of your L&D plan for employees:some text
  • Prepare for all the possible doubts, questions, and contestations, and have a response ready
  • Include plenty of examples, success stories, and case studies
  • Showcase the before-and-after and ROI potential
  • Demonstrate how the program directly aids the business goals
• Assess what you already have and be prepared to work with it — Show that you appreciate what’s currently there and that you’re frugal with the company budget.

#4 Improve the Learning Experience for Team Members

No matter how great the quality of the L&D program is: if the learning schedule and format aren’t adjusted to your workforce, it has a slim chance for success.

The learning materials and sessions need to be dynamic, palatable, and impactful. The three learning “hacks” below will help staff learn quickly, and efficiently, and apply what they’ve learned the next chance they have.

a) Micro-learning

Microlearning is the practice of dividing the learning materials and training into smaller sections and shorter learning sessions. This approach to learning and development has several benefits:

• The material is bite-sized and looks less intimidating, making the learners more open to learning;
• Learners can access the materials at their convenience and meet the deadlines;
• Employees spend more quality time learning: instead of cramming once a week or the night before the test, they have a daily learning session and go through everything in a timely, relaxed manner.

Microlearning lets you use a variety of formats: video and audio clips, slideshows, flashcards, quizzes, and tests.

b) Gamification

Gamification makes learning more fun and goes extremely well with microlearning.

Use some of the following learning gamification examples to add a breath of fresh air to the L&D program:

• Leaderboards and point systems with rewards
• Certificates and badges for top-performers
• Team challenges and quizzes

c) Behavior modification

Now, it’s time to get the employees to instantly apply what they’ve learned.

Before the situation presents itself naturally, you can help them improve their work through behavioral exercises.

Host behavioral simulations to mimic the realistic scenarios where they’ll get to use their new knowledge to solve the problem or complete a task. Go through various scenarios, and host the practice to reinforce the desired behavior. 

If you need inspiration, have a look at Duolingo. It is the most successful example of a gamified micro-learning app, with brief and engaging daily lessons, and competitions that coax the users to use the app daily.

#5 Introduce Digital Credentialing To Your L&D System

With a single platform, you can tick all the boxes from this list and bring a positive reputation back to the L&D programs.

Virtualbadge.io provides digital certificates and badges for L&D departments, HRs, team leaders, and other staff involved with employee training and development. 

Here’s how our digital credentials are used to make L&D more effective:

• Revealing the weakest links in your organization — Use the platform to award the employees with certificates and badges that correspond to their experience, knowledge, and competencies. When browsing the issued badge collection, you’ll easily notice which skills are in deficit, and build the L&D program accordingly to achieve the company goals. 
• Data-driven evidence of value for the leadership buy-in — Digital credentials offer verifiable proof of employee achievements and skills, allowing higher-ups to see clear metrics on the impact and effectiveness of the L&D program. The digital credentialing platform simplifies performance tracking, so it’s easier to monitor ROI, assess the alignment of learning outcomes with strategic objectives, and justify the investment in the L&D program.
• Enhancing the employee training and learning experience — Badge and certificate collecting is a great gamification strategy that allows employee competition in good spirits, and instills a healthy learning atmosphere. Earning micro-credentials in tiered programs can be awarded with attractive badges that can be shared on social media and boost the brand image with little effort!

Explore the rich possibilities with a 7-day free trial, or give us a call to see how Virtualbadge.io can help you build strong, capable workforce.

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