In order to serve the needs of a business, learning content must be aligned with the current and future needs of the business and the learner populations—including employees, partners, customers, users and more. In multi-year research conducted by analysts at Training Industry, they found that developing and delivering learning services which are aligned to the needs of the organization is a central building block of the core competencies of the training manager.
A central challenge of the learning leader, then, is to project manage the development and delivery of learning content to meet a complex and constantly-evolving set of criteria and objectives. It can be a daunting challenge, especially as most training departments must also manage their own internal constraints, budgets and other resource limitations.
Maintaining and curating learning assets is central to this challenge, as the L&D professional must identify or create new content to satisfy new needs, while maintaining (curating, updating and sunsetting) content based on changes to the business and the business environment over time.
Here are five ways working with a partner like AXIOM Learning Solutions can help you and your learning team manage these challenges more effectively.
Relevance and Context
Rather than working with off-the-shelf content from a learning library, tailoring or customizing content will make it more relevant to your organization and more meaningful to your learners. This can include incorporating real-world examples specific to your company or industry, allowing your learners to experience content through meaningful scenarios presented in the context of their actual job. By tailoring content, you remove barriers for the learner, helping them immediately and clearly see how the content is relevant and applicable to their role.
Boosting Engagement and Learner Motivation
The combination of tailoring learning content with interactive elements can create a powerful learning experience. Incorporating learning games (gamification), scenarios, simulations (whether presented in an e-learning format or through augmented reality or virtual reality technologies), and the use of interactive multimedia, can dramatically boost learner engagement, material retention and on-the-job behavior change. Engaged learners are more motivated to complete the training, retain information, and apply it in their roles, leading to improved performance.
Adapting to Change
Change is, of course, constant. As the business environment evolves, often rapidly, learning materials are at risk of becoming out-of-date. This creates a compounded risk, as out-of-date materials fail to provide your learners with the accurate information they need, but also risk creating a perception among your learners that the learning content is not correct or relevant: it erodes learner trust. By having an ongoing strategy to identify learning content which may be out-of-date or need to be updated and the resources in place to make the necessary updates, you will build trust with your organization and your learners while better serving the needs of your organization.
Addressing Skills and Knowledge Gaps
Skills gap and knowledge gaps can be addressed as they are identified, in an agile and responsive manner. As the training department works with managers to identify performance gaps, associated skills gaps and knowledge gaps can be identified, making it possible to develop learning programs and content to address the gaps. Custom learning content can be a focused and effective way to quickly deploy learning that addresses gaps, allowing the training function to rapidly respond to issues as they are identified.
Measurable, Aligned Results
When learning content is developed and rooted in the needs of the business, it is possible to embed meaningful measurement—that is, assessments and performance tracking mechanisms which are closely aligned with the underlying business need and desired performance outcomes. By integrating highly-aligned measurement strategies into the creation of the learning program and content, learning managers can identify areas of success and areas needing further improvement, and allows the training department to act as a strategic partner to company leadership and management. Integrating meaningful measurement into the learning content from the start is a powerful building block of a data-driven learning and development function.
Learn More
AXIOM Learning Solutions is a leading provider of learning services and learning content development, including new content creation, learning program and project management, content curation, content updating, and learning content and program delivery. Contact us by completing the form below for a free consultative conversation about your learning challenges—we have decades of experience building learning solutions and are happy to help.