What is the best way to train you workforce?
From the Ice Age to the 21st Century, what is the best way to train you workforce?
Since we first walked the earth, humans have taught, trained, supervised and mentored. It’s part of our DNA and intrinsically linked evolutionary survival. The urge to share skills and knowledge has helped ensure that each generation progresses, and our communities and (more recently) workforce thrive.
Let’s go back 300,000 years, when it all began for us homo sapiens. Kids of the Ice Age watched as mom and dad fashioned spears from wood and flint. As they grew older, they copied their parents, learning through observation, practice, supervision and feedback. It was the perfect modern apprenticeship. There may not have been a City & Guilds certificate at the end, but the sentiment was there.
Apprenticeships aside, modern-day training and awareness has moved on a lot since then. There are now two main camps: traditional or digital.
Classroom style learning has existing in various forms for thousands of years. If you are over a certain age, you may very well remember your first training experience sitting in a fluorescent lit training room with flip charts, dodgy acetates and hard copy reference guides. No slick PowerPoints, no online trainers, just a lot of paper and a pleasant day out of the office.
One of the biggest game changers was the arrival of Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Never was this more obvious than during Covid. Technology stepped in where humans feared to tread. The world had a taster of what training could be like without the need for a ‘live’ venue and on-site instructor. The benefit was undeniable; no expensive training rooms, travel expenses, early morning starts or fighting the rush hour traffic.
During the pandemic the demand for eLearning exploded. Learners could work at their own pace, in their own time. It offered the ultimate in flexibility and could be done in the comfort of your own home.
Today, there’s a new training buzz word and you may have heard it. It’s called ‘nudge learning’ and is gradually gaining in popularity. Think of it as a layered behavioural approach, designed to improve your company culture. In essence, it is made up of gentle prompts and bite sized chunks of information that guide employees in the right direction and encourage them ‘to do the right thing’. Nudge learning has been around for years, just with a different name. Those health & safety signs telling you to wear a hard hat or safety goggles? That’s nudge learning at it’s best. A colourful image. A gentle reminder that grabs attention with minimal effort on behalf of the learner. No wonder it’s catching on. But buyer beware, nudge learning itself will not provide all the answers. It is most effective when combined with other forms of training and awareness.
So, what is the most effective style for training your workforce?
There are a lot of factors at play. Primarily is the subject matter. If you are training the safe use of industrial machinery in a sawmill for example, there is no substitute for practical, hands on, instructor led training with some nudge learning to remind you to wear the appropriate PPE. On the other hand, if you want to learn softer skills, such as problem solving, self-awareness or time management, online learning may be just the ticket.
Other considerations include the learning style of the individual. Not everyone has the discipline or concentration levels required for online learning. Social interaction is limited and it can be perceived as being impersonal.
Hybrid learning combines the benefits of on-site classroom style learning without the need to travel for those who are unable to physically join the group. You could say it is the best of both worlds.
But at the end of the day, the best learning is in an environment which is safe, positive and structured, be it physical or virtual. Whilst traditional in-person classroom style learning provides real-time interaction, immediate feedback and a ‘hands-on experience’, digital learning offers flexible, convenient, cost effective and is often self-paced. When considering which learning style is best, ask yourself, ‘What is the subject matter? What is the end goal? What is the level of flexibility? What are the timeframes? And what is the budget? The answer will then present itself.
Thank you for reading.
Author: Anne Wheatley