Staff Training Approaches That Actually Stick

When it comes to training employees, there's no one-size-fits-all method that works for everyone. Much like in an educational setting, what works for one person might be completely unsuitable for another.

And it's not just a generational thing, it's an experience thing. It's meeting people where they are in their career with a format that works best for them. This is why you’ll often find that companies with successful training don't just stick to one method of training; they incorporate different methods, platforms, and content to engage employees to get the best out of them and their training that meets them where they're at.

This post is going to look at some staff training approaches that actually stick.

Microlearning

Microlearning is training delivered in short modules of around 10-15 minutes. This keeps the information short and sweet and doesn't overload the learner. And for companies with extensive training, this means it can be broken down and delivered more effectively in short bursts throughout the day and span longer periods as opposed to having them stuck in a classroom environment trying to take it all in at once.

The idea is that one concept is introduced at a time, and employees build up their database and knowledge incrementally. If you need people to learn a ton of product knowledge or compliance adherence information, this works exceptionally well. It's also ideal for remote and field workers, as they can dip in and out as they have time and don't need to be in the office or away from their calls for too long a period of time.

Peer to Peer Training

Structured knowledge sharing and learning between colleagues is extremely effective. The reason this is a good way to teach is that your employees delivering the training also have to learn and retain the knowledge to be able to teach it. They'll also have been doing the job, so they'll be able to give a more in-depth and hands-on approach to fully involve new members of staff or deliver updated skills to existing employees.

The best way to do this is to assign small groups or send people out one-on-one to cover a topic or an action alongside a framework for what needs to be covered and how. This way, you aren't leaving anything to chance, and both parties know what needs covering, and you're getting people stuck in fast.

Augmented Reality Training

Augmented reality training overlays digital instruction into the physical environment, with an element of peer-to-peer training added in too. In practice, this looks like an engineer receiving guidance directly with their field of view as they work, rather than consulting a manual or recalling classroom training.

This format is ideal for trades as it keeps both hands free, delivers information at the exact moment it is needed and reduces the gap between instruction and execution.

Platforms like TrainAR go a step further by using smart glasses to tap into the senior engineers' expertise and then add this to training modules and guides for new or less experienced engineers to access. The information is captured and deployed via smart glasses, so knowledge remains within the business and does not leave with the person when they are no longer employed.

On-the-Job Shadowing

Shadowing in this instance only works when it has a structure like peer-to-peer training. The shadowing needs to have defined roles and context for it to be effective.

The person who is being shadowed needs to understand the role of the person shadowing them and what their responsibility is in this scenario, so things don't get missed or lines blurred.

From here, you need to have regular checkpoints to make sure things stay on track, and where you can check the new hire is learning and retaining what they need, so they move into the role independently sooner rather than later.

Blended Learning

Blended learning is a combination of digital and in-person training. It’s nothing new, and it's something many companies have been doing to improve effective training in recent years.

However, there is a right way and a wrong way to deliver this type of training. If you're delivering all the theoretical aspects of training digitally and using the in-person training for questions, you are wasting time.

A more effective training plan uses digital content for foundational knowledge that employees can work through at their own pace (see microlearning above) and in-person learning for practise and scenario work. The way allows everyone to benefit from real-time feedback and discussion to ensure everyone is where they need to be for their job role and duration within the company.

The trick is to get each aspect of blended learning to complement each other and work in parallel, not separately, as this is where you'll get the most benefit.

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