Prioritising is more than just an act; it is an art. However, many people question whether it is merely important or actually urgent. Without question, prioritising work is critical. In fact, this is something that could make the difference between accomplishing goals and failing.

As to the question about the importance or urgency of prioritising, the answer depends. If you follow Pareto’s Principle, you make the decision using a unique 4D formula.

Do – Urgent/Important –These activities are critical. For instance, calling 911 to report a house fire or rushing a pregnant woman going into labor to the hospital takes priority.

Decide When – Urgent/Not Important – Along with priorities, tasks in this category are also goals. While these things need attention, they are not dire. For example, you have a project that needs scrutiny, but there is no hard deadline to complete the task.

 Delegate – Not Urgent/Important – While critical, things in this category are not urgent specifically to you. For that reason, you can delegate. As an example, you might have a co-worker rushing to finish a presentation within the next hour. Although urgent to that person, the work has no impact on you.

Dump – Not Urgent/Not Important – As implied, things in this category do nothing but waste time. If you have a task at work that is neither important nor urgent, either set it aside or eliminate it.

There is a fine line between procrastinating and prioritising. If you know or believe prioritisation is an issue for you, it is essential to learn the difference. With clarity, you can take the appropriate action to correct the problem. In simple terms, procrastination is when you purposely avoid doing something, while prioritisation is determining what is most important or urgent to you and putting tasks in the correct order.

There are three primary reasons a person procrastinates, including perfectionism, a fear of success, and a fear of failure. Do any of those sound familiar? If not, perhaps the issue has more to do with a lack of prioritisation rather than procrastination. When you combine everyone’s expectations of you at work and home, it is easy to understand why you struggle with prioritisation.

The good news is you have viable solutions for improving prioritisation. Take advantage of help when offered or reach out to someone at work to ask for help. Develop a strategy that will help you become and stay prioritised. You also can benefit from thousands of online training courses that cost little and take an hour or less to complete.

Along with those three solutions for improving prioritisation, consider the following suggestions.

Recognize and Accept the Need to Compromise – If you have a list of 30 tasks you need to complete by the end of the day, you will likely fail. Instead of setting yourself up for defeat, narrow your projects to no more than five if possible. Not only will that make it easier for you to tackle urgent requests when they arise, but it will also allow you to develop better prioritisation strategies. As your skills improve, you can add one or more tasks to your daily list.

Stop Compartmentalizing – When something urgent comes up, like most people, you probably spend more time dwelling on it than you should. Instead of compartmentalizing, use the 4D model to determine their level of importance versus urgency, followed by taking the proper action.

Learn to Delegate – Delegation is hard for a lot of people. Rather than fix an urgent problem yourself, which creates the risk of making a mistake, learn to delegate. You need to change the mindset that you can finish the task faster yourself. Identify people on your team who are qualified to handle an urgent matter, and then pass it on.

To-Do List – As mentioned, make sure you keep a daily “to-do” list. Even if you have a fantastic memory, you can expect to forget something significant when under stress. Remember, time management skills are a critical component of prioritising. Although you may find a system that works better for you, one option is to use coding. For instance, give urgent tasks an “A” or “1” and important tasks an “F” or “5.”

Personal Goals – You may wonder what setting personal goals and prioritisation have to do with each other. As you become more organized outside of work, you will find that your business life improves. Instead of arriving at work with your mind jumbled with all the things you need to do after work or on the weekend, you can focus solely on job responsibilities. A clear mind helps tremendously with prioritisation.

Distractions – If you have a high-stress job or work for a bustling company, it is essential to manage distractions. Even seemingly innocent things, like chatting with someone in the break room, answering a few personal emails, or taking phone calls from friends, can easily account for up to two hours of your workday. When on the job, dedicate yourself to your responsibilities.

For more insights, be sure to subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs.

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Prioritising is more than just an act; it's an art. We take a closer look at the significance of prioritising in the workplace and offer strategies for prioritising tasks.

The art of prioritising: is it important or is it urgent?

The International Ergonomics Association defines ergonomics as “the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data, and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance.” In other words, ergonomics is a combination of systems, processes, and products that enhance employee safety.

Regardless of the size of your company or its industry, whether agriculture, construction, healthcare, manufacturing, mining, transportation, retail, or something entirely different, if you have employees who handle materials, it is essential you provide them with viable ergonomic solutions. Otherwise, you could easily see a rise in the number of injured workers, which negatively impacts productivity and employee morale, not to mention the increasing number of worker’s compensation claims.

Multiple studies performed by highly respected organizations show a direct link between injuries, especially musculoskeletal ones, and a lack of ergonomics. For you to run a successful business, you need healthy employees and no risk of insurance claims or personal injury lawsuits. One change can achieve those goals.

The current statistics will help you understand the magnitude of ergonomics for material handlers. For instance, the 25 million people over the age of 55 working today will jump to 32 million by 2025. Also, roughly 33 percent of Americans are obese, carrying over 30 pounds of excess fat. That means there is a lot of aging and overweight material handlers on the job. Another statistic shows manual labor, specifically material handling, accounts for 65 percent of all worker’s compensation claims filed.

An increase in customer demand only compounds the problem. As consumers want more products delivered faster, the already hard job performed by material handlers becomes even more challenging. In response, many companies extend their employees’ hours to meet those growing demands. The harder and longer material handlers work, the higher the risk of sustaining an injury.

It is also essential for you to put work practice controls in place. In other words, material handlers need specific training on how to perform their job effectively, yet safely. You might even rotate them, so they do more than one type of task. That way, your workers avoid prolonged periods of repetitive work. Changing movement to be more ergonomically sound will make a significant difference.

Depending on the material moved, some handlers use excessive force as part of the task. As expected, using the muscles with great force is a recipe for injury. Some of the ergonomic solutions to consider include teaching counterbalancing methods, providing your workers with mechanical assists, and giving them dollies and carts to use.

Repeating or Sustaining Awkward Positions

You may not realize it, but repetitive or sustained awkward positions put an extreme amount of force on muscles, tendons, and joints. Again, ergonomics can eliminate this stress on your material handlers. The goal is to select ergonomic tools that allow your employees to keep optimal joint positions and avoid vulnerability. Along with beneficial online training courses to teach them proper work techniques, job rotation is another viable solution.

While the safety and health of your employees is your number one priority, it is crucial to understand how poor or non-ergonomics in the workplace can lead to other devastating results.

When a material handler sustains an injury, he or she must take time off from work as ordered by a doctor. Because of that, you end up short staffed. In response, you would likely see production decline, which has a direct effect on customer satisfaction and employee morale. Your customers do not care why their orders are late, damaged, or missing components. All they want is the stellar product they ordered.

As the number of customer complaints rises, you can expect to see frustration, hopelessness, and even anger among your team of material handlers. In their eyes, they are working as hard and diligently as possible, yet not making customers happy. One injury due to poor or a lack of ergonomics in the workplace starts a vicious cycle that is hard to stop.

If you employ material handlers and worry about an existing or developing ergonomics situation in your business, act now. Consider the solutions mentioned. As for training, take advantage of superior-quality courses designed by industry experts, medical professionals, business executives, ergonomic specialists, and more.

For more insights, subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs.

In order to be effective, ergonomic design must take into account the physical characteristics of workers and their work environment.

The importance of ergonomics for material handling

Got an important job interview coming up? It’s normal to feel a bit anxious before (and during!) an interview.

But while nerves are certainly a normal part of the interview process, you don’t want anxiety to get in the way of you getting the job.

After all, there’s nothing more frustrating than knowing that you have the right skills and experience to do the job, only to have things fall apart during the interview.

If you get super nervous at the thought of attending an interview, these tips can help you feel more relaxed and confident, so you can deliver your best performance on the day.

Preparation is key to nailing any interview.

When should you start your preparation? As soon as you find out your application has been successful!

Scott Wagstaff, Managing Director of Audrey Page & Associates, is full of insightful advice when it comes to knowing what employers are looking for and how interviewees can make a good impression.

Wagstaff’s first piece of advice is to make sure you tailor your CV or resume for the particular job.

“There is no ‘one size fits all’ resume these days,” explains Wagstaff. “You have to look specifically at what the job entails and try and put yourself in the seat of your future employer about what they are looking for in an employee.”

“Be really clear about what you’re good at and what you’re passionate about, because those are the things that the employer is interested in. If you love something you’re going to do a much better job than if you’re just ho-hum about it!”

In the preparation stage, Wagstaff recommends going to the employer’s website, looking at their ‘Careers’ page, and becoming familiar with the company’s vision, values and strategic intent. You can even have a look at their Annual Report.

“All that information helps you to build up a picture as to whether it’s the right job for you and also shows the employer that you have the motivation and curiosity they’re looking for. It’s a dating game, at the end of the day, in that both parties are happy with what’s happening moving forward.”

You can also use your preparation time to learn how to take charge of your nerves.

Luckily, there are some well-known strategies that many people use to help feel more calm, confident and collected during a job interview.

One of the best things you can do to feel more prepared on the day is to know about the STAR technique – a strategy that can help a lot with answering job interview questions.

The STAR method helps you create well-articulated, clear responses to interview questions that are based on competencies. The method is quite invisible to the listener, coming across as natural, but demonstrating to interviewers how you meet the criteria for each competency.

Situation – a brief description of the situation and context of the story (who, what, where, when, how)

Task – explain the task you had to complete, highlighting any challenges or constraints (e.g. deadlines, costs, other issues)

Action – describe the specific actions you took to complete the task

Result – close with the result of your efforts, including clear stats or figures to quantify the result if possible.

(Note: Wagstaff refers to this method as CAR, where the first point relates to Context.)

As part of your interview prep, create a pre-prepared list of responses that you can use when questioned on possible competencies or skills.

Our nerves tend to play up when we are caught unaware or have to think quickly on our feet. When you’ve already played over possible questions and scenarios in your head, you’ll be more able to respond in a calm and collected way.

You might also like to check out our previous article on how storytelling can be a powerful secret weapon when it comes to job interviews.

Engaging the interviewer by telling relevant stories that demonstrate your strengths can be a great way to make your interview more memorable and stand out from the competition.

Storytelling also shows employers your values. While having the necessary qualifications and experience are certainly important, employers are also interested in finding employees whose values are aligned with that of the business.

In an interview, you’re being given a wonderful opportunity to tell potential employers first-hand how your personal values can support the organisation’s mission and vision. Storytelling allows you to go into a lot more depth in this area, with personal or work-related stories giving insight into the core values that are uniquely important to you.

For example, you may be able to describe how overcoming a particular challenge helped you build greater resilience in the workplace, and how you can successfully apply that quality to the potential role. In this way, you can effectively demonstrate your values while building a stronger emotional connection with your interviewers.

Do all of the above and you’ll be feeling cool, calm, collected and ready to show hiring managers why you’re a valuable asset to their team and organisation. Good luck!

Tips you need to read before your next interview

When talking about customer retention, this refers to actions and activities that your company takes to prevent customers from going to a different source to make a purchase. In other words, you want to build a base of as many viable customers as you can so that when interested in buying a product or service you sell, they visit your business first.

The number one reason that customer retention is essential for your business is that it builds loyal customers who return to your company time-after-time when interested in what you offer. The goal is to keep the existing customers you have or those you’ve already invested in through various marketing strategies.

When you consider that it costs five times more to acquire a prospect than it does to hang on to your current customers, you can see there is a significant cost-saving factor. In fact, for some industries, the cost to acquire a new customer jumps to a whopping 30 percent compared to focusing on existing customers. Think of it this way, for every 5 percent increase in customer retention, your profits rise between 25 and 95 percent.

Instead of making the mistake of thinking that you need to invest more money and time on prospects, recognize how vital customer retention is to your business growth. That doesn’t mean you should give up on trying to sway prospective customers. It’s just that you should give the majority of your attention to the ones you have.

There is a substantial cost difference between going after prospects and keeping your current customers. Because of that, you can scale back your marketing efforts, which saves you money. Something else to consider is that since your existing customer base is already familiar with the product or service you sell, you would not need as many people to provide customer support, which results in additional cost savings.

With customer retention, you will see an increase in repeat business, which equates to more generated profit. Not only do loyal customers return to a company they trust, but over time, they typically increase the amount they spend, up to 33 percent compared to newly acquired customers. Also, your existing customers are 50 percent more inclined to buy a new product or service from you.

A loyal customer is someone satisfied with your company, including your service, support, price, policy, and product or service offered. In their minds, your business cares about them and what they want. For that reason, it is essential that you conduct research and generate reports that indicate what it is your faithful customers buy. It is just as important to gather information periodically about what new offerings they would have an interest in purchasing.

When your customers buy something and feel completely satisfied, they will quickly share their experience with family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and almost anyone who will listen. For instance, a company that sells trendy and comfortable women’s shoes at a competitive price will attract people. Before long, you will see the same women coming back to buy more.

When happy with a purchase, women will tell everyone that your company is the place to go for incredible shoes at affordable prices. As a result, you benefit from word of mouth advertising without spending a dime. Look at recent statistics that show just how significant the impact of existing customers to your business.

Of all consumers in the United States, 49 percent say that family members and friends are their primary source of brand information.

When someone refers a friend to your business, that individual is four times more likely to purchase something from you.

As high as 92 percent of people trust a recommendation offered by a family member or friend.

Just one person spreading the news by mouth about your business is enough to drive sales up five times compared to paying for advertisements.

Retained customers who feel satisfied with your company are likely to refer other customers. That means spending less on marketing to acquire prospects.

People who become customers due to a referral have a higher lifetime value than prospects acquired using other methods.

As mentioned, loyal customers have no problem spending more on things you sell. Over time, they become less focused on money and more on ending up with a superior product or service. To them, the combination of outstanding support and quality offering is more important than saving a few dollars.

Social media is more than just a way for people to connect on a personal level. Retained customers often post comments on various platforms in response to having a positive buying experience. Studies show that as much as 97 percent of consumers say the chance of them becoming a loyal customer would increase if the company used their feedback. That statistic shows how critical is to have a place on your website and social media sites for customer comments.

At the same time, 55 percent of consumers in the U.S. say that if a company ignores their feedback, they will not likely make an additional purchase. When focusing on your existing customers, make sure that everyone who leaves a comment, good or bad, receives a response.

In looking over the information provided, you should feel ecstatic that you have a way to build your company and achieve higher business success with very little financial investment.

The best way to accomplish that goal is by increasing brand and customer loyalty, but how do you do that? It all comes down to how well your employees engage with the customers they serve. That does not mean working robotically to make a sale but genuinely taking an interest in the customer and what he or she wants to buy.

For that, you need a way to teach your employees the right way to engage with customers, which comes from superior online training courses. Through that, you will notice a marked improvement, not only in customer loyalty but also to your employees’ attitude while at work.

When it comes to improving customer retention, employee engagement is crucial. At Go1, we offer a broad range of online training courses on this very topic, created and presented by experts with a ton of experience. Incorporate eLearning into your company and watch what happens.

Why employee engagement is important for improving customer retention

Perhaps the best way to determine what your company does right and wrong starts by assessing the level of engagement among your employees. With that, you have the opportunity to understand better what drives your employees to succeed. Many companies use employee engagement surveys to gather valuable information -  but are they truly beneficial?

Start by understanding what this type of survey is and why companies use it. Rather than measuring the level of happiness among employees, the results of this survey indicate the workers’ dedication to the company and the customers they serve. Using an employee engagement survey provides you with incredible insights into how engaged your employees are, as well as the primary drivers of engagement within your organization.

With new knowledge, you can make critical decisions that streamline the operations of your business. You might discover that some employees cannot reach their full potential in their current department, that you have some issue with management, that some of the company policies need redefining, or that you have workers who should consider employment elsewhere.

Skilled Leadership – For your leadership to work effectively, they need to have some understanding as to the mindset of their team. With an employee engagement survey, your management can determine the emotional commitment of the employees under their supervision.

Broad Reach – Just like managers, no two employees are the same, meaning they all have different opinions and ways of working. A key advantage to using this type of survey is that it gives leaders a broader perspective of their team’s attitude. Before investing valuable time and resources on significant changes, use the survey results to understand both positive and negative aspects of your workers in how they perceive their roles and responsibilities.

Learning Tool – Remember, an employee engagement survey helps identify areas that need addressing. When used as a tool for learning about workers instead of a way to fix what they are doing wrong, the survey creates an opportunity to find viable solutions. Again, that could mean moving an employee to a different department, having someone perform a different task, or terminating employment altogether.

Making Comparisons – Another benefit of an employee engagement survey is that it allows you to understand the various groups within the company. For instance, are your part-time employees more dedicated than your full-time staff? Is the same level of engagement seen throughout the organization? Do workers under specific managers engage more than others?

Building Trust – While some people think that employee engagement surveys make workers distrusting, the opposite is actually true. These surveys show teams the commitment that both the company owner and leadership have in gaining a better understanding and making the necessary changes to benefit them. With that, the level of trust among employees grows, making the work environment more cohesive.

Potential Drawbacks of Employee Engagement Surveys

Not Following Through – You can gather a ton of information and identify the required changes, but unless you act, this survey is worthless. Remind yourself that the survey is merely a vehicle for gaining insight. After recognizing where things should change, it is imperative that you follow through. Your managers and employees are watching how you respond to the survey results. Doing nothing would damage relationships and trust. On the other hand, if you take swift and appropriate action, you instill hope and optimism in every worker, regardless of position.

Exhaustion – If you plan to use an employee engagement survey in your company, make sure that you only do so occasionally and never back-to-back with other surveys. Repetitive questions become exhaustive. They also create a sense of panic among workers who fear that you have something bad planned for the company. Use surveys when and if necessary. Also, send out a company-wide email that explains to your workers what an employee engagement survey is and why you chose to conduct it. You want to put your teams at ease so that they can continue producing.

With eLearning, you can select courses to boost their self-confidence and teach them what they need to know in their respective roles.

At GO1, we have thousands of available courses to help improve employee engagement. Not only are these courses affordable, but the majority take an hour or less to complete. With these, you will see a remarkable change in the level of engagement within your organization.

Are employee engagement surveys beneficial?

When establishing a training program for your company, you want to focus on a variety of topics. However, training for soft skills should be your No. 1 priority. Why? As explained in a recent report published by LinkedIn, automation has become significant in the workplace, regardless of company size or industry, and it continues to advance.

This same report showed that among hiring managers, an astounding 58 percent said that job candidates lacked the soft skills required. That statistic is a clear indicator that a lot of businesses lose productivity because employees do not have proper training. If you want to stay competitive, it is critical that you bring your entire staff up-to-speed on soft skills.

With ever-changing technology, your staff is in a constant learning mode to keep up. Unless you have skilled employees to handle the automation in your organization, they will fail at their jobs, which puts the business at risk. For your company’s talent development endeavor, it is essential to focus on soft skills training.

In today’s work environment, it is critical to maintain technical fluency across the board, meaning that all employees need to learn soft skills to one degree or another. As demand for automation continues to rise, it becomes even more vital for you to have a leadership team consisting of critical thinkers, excellent communicators, and people who can easily adapt.

Leadership – Training needs to start with your managers. By completing online training courses, they gain new skills, expand on existing talent, and lead by example. Because your employees follow what their managers require, it is essential that you have your leaders up-to-date on soft skills. Otherwise, there is no way for them to lead their team effectively. Without training, you would either have disgruntled employees who leave the company or stay but make a significant number of errors that negatively impact the customer’s experience.

Communication – Excellent communication skills are an essential part of any successful business. Even when it comes to automation, there has to be a clear path of communication between your managers and their staff. As part of this, your managers can relay information or make requests in a way that employees understand. As a result, the department runs seamlessly. Both your leaders and employees need to know that communication is not just about talking but also listening.

Collaboration – Any time you have a team of diverse employees, there are going to be some bumps along the way. In addition to fundamental online training courses on collaboration, you want your managers to suggest some that pertain to soft skills. The focus is to have everyone work together to achieve a common goal. With the right learning opportunities, teams work cohesively. Along with a creating a more pleasant work environment, collaboration gives employees a sense of pride when completing a project as a team.

Critical thinking – For a business with excellent growth potential, you need to have critical thinkers in position. Especially when it comes to technology, this becomes even more vital. While some people are naturally self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-motivated, most are not. With the right online training courses, you can help your staff become critical thinkers who analyze, assess, and reconstruct to achieve optimum results.

Time management – A lack of time management skills is a huge detriment to any organization. Along with fast-advancing technology, customer demand in on the rise. Therefore, your staff needs the skills to work efficiently. As for the other things mentioned, you can find hundreds upon hundreds of online training courses developed specifically for people who need to improve on time management skills. You will see productivity improve, along with employee morale and customer satisfaction.

Role specific skills – For training courses, it is essential to select topics relevant to the business but also each employee’s role within the company. For example, a skilled computer programmer could complete a course like Objective C Programming while someone without much software knowledge could take a beginner’s course on how computer software works. With so many skill specific courses available, you can help all your employees improve and advance.

Our courses are also short, meaning that most are between 30 minutes and one hour. For manager and employee training, that makes it much easier for them to find time to devote to learning. Finally, all our courses have affordable prices. As such, you can develop an online training program for your company without compromising the budget. Regardless of your industry, stay viable by having both your managers and employees complete various soft skill courses.

Why training for soft skills should be your number one priority

The modern learner is at the heart of today’s digital transformation, with organisations racing to keep up with the pace of change, to leverage the mix of ever-changing technologies, data, and channels, and to provide learners with the support and resources they need to stay current.

With 80% of employees learning how to do their job simply by doing it, the focus is very much on the astute L&D professional to support learners in overcoming their everyday problems and challenges.

The smart L&D professional recognises that lengthy linear e-learning and time-hungry classroom training are not necessarily the best way to appeal to today’s busy learners, who are looking to solve problems at the point of need, whilst in the work flow.

When looking at the urgent, short term needs of the modern learner, L&D can be successful, by working with individuals and considering how they can directly impact the performance and productivity of a learner in the business. It’s important not to assume that the solution is always formal training, when short sharp work support and problem solving solutions such as microlearning could be the answer.

Additionally, when thinking about personal development, the modern learner’s motivation is often self-centred and driven by the need to keep themselves up-to-date with new knowledge and skills to remain marketable.

At MicroLearn, we’ve carefully considered how we can support L&D meet the short term problem solving and work support demands of the modern learner, as well as their longer term personal development aspirations. MicroLearn has developed a unique approach to our resource development with the creation of two resources which cater for just-in-time, day to day work support (Video Plus) and for the more reflective career development (Full Module).

What are you waiting for? Your modern learners are in a hurry!

Tracy Capaldi-Drewett is the Group Commercial Director at Microlearn. You can find MicroLearn courses in the Go1 Premium catalogue.

The modern learner is in a hurry: how L&D can help

In one study performed by a highly reliable source, researchers found that 56 percent of employees say they would gladly spend more time learning if their managers would recommend courses that would help improve their skills. This statistic alone confirms what you as a business owner already know; your management team plays a critical role in achieving overall success.

Your managers worked hard for their positions, and take immense pride in what they do. They should feel honored to motivate other employees to perform at a high level and advance their careers. An excellent way to achieve those goals is by offering their teams eLearning opportunities.

For whatever reason, some people need a little encouragement. One simple suggestion of taking online training courses is often all it takes to make a good employee great. With an entire team of qualified workers, it runs more efficiently. As a result, the business provides better customer support, which in turn, leads to greater success.

While there are different ways to improve employee engagement, eLearning is by far the best. Not only can your managers suggest a broad range of topics, but also outline the benefits of eLearning. In no time, you will see a larger number of workers eager to learn, and in response, become more engaged in the various positions they occupy.

In simple terms, qualified employees do not leave a bad company. Instead, they leave because of poor management skills. Because your managers and their employees have direct interactions on a daily basis, it is critical to have a leadership team in place that influences engagement in the workplace.

Unfortunately, many businesses overlook the value of a manager’s role in both employee training and development. Because your leaders have a much better understanding of the business, its philosophy, goals, requirements, and even employees, they should take a more proactive stand when it comes to training.

According to a study conducted by Gallup, only 15 percent of employees worldwide actively engage in their work position. That means that companies employ people who contribute very little to the business goals. Just imagine the disaster of having 100 employees but only 15 of them engaged? Regardless of the number of disengaged workers at your company, you can turn things around by having your management team take a bigger role in training.

Set an Example – Just as you want to encourage your managers to recommend online training courses for their employees, do the same for your leadership team. Make sure they have ample opportunity to learn new things and hone current skills so that they can become even better managers. What will happen is that once employees know they have the same opportunity, they will follow the manager’s lead.

Create a Learning Culture – Whether interviewing potential new hires or existing employees, create a learning culture within the workplace. Make it known that online training courses are available for anyone interested, regardless of position or time with the company. In addition to your managers making suggestions, you could post a series of courses on a bulletin board each month.

Make Learning Programs Enticing – Before your managers offer any online courses, they should first determine what their teams want and need. Your leaders have to have open communication with their employees, allowing them to find out what type of learning they should suggest. Of course, any upskilling opportunities need to fall in line with the kind of work an employee performs. For instance, a manager could recommend a course like Time Planning & Prioritizing for someone who struggles in those areas.

Explain Training Benefits – For some people, training is a waste of time. The reason they feel this way is because they have no idea of the benefits. Employees become disengaged or leave a company for one of two reasons. They either feel stuck in their position, or they do not see any option for advancement. Having your managers explain the benefits that come from finishing online training courses corrects both problems. Your managers need to remember the purpose of suggesting eLearning is to help employees advance.

Create On-the-Job Practice Opportunities – An excellent way to determine if an employee retained the information learned is by providing him or her with an on-the-job opportunity to put the newly gained knowledge to work. Not only that but performing the very thing an employee learned helps reinforce the message. For more challenging skills, it is essential for your management team to provide ongoing support and supervision until the employee confidentially and correctly completes the task or improves on behavior.

Set Realistic Goals – For eLearning to be successful, it is important to set performance goals. However, those goals must be realistic. If your managers expect their staff to complete 10 courses per month, workers become stressed, unfocused, and disinterested. Instead, your leaders should suggest several courses and then allow their workers to select the number they feel comfortable with and the ones they want to take. While there might be times when a manager mandates a specific course, for the most part, employees should complete them on a voluntary basis using the suggestions provided by their respective managers.

With a leadership team that recommends appropriate courses from us, you can expect to see increased productivity, less employee turnover, a higher rate of satisfied employees, and overall, more generated revenue.

How managers can increase employee engagement with learning

Some employees jump at the chance to learn as much as possible. However, others are similar to children parents try to sway to clean their rooms. If you want to get your workers excited about learning, you have to motivate them in the right way and give them the resources they need.

When it comes to eLearning, several studies, including one published by LinkedIn, found that getting workers to make time to learn is the biggest challenge that businesses face today. Everyone wants to get ahead financially. Even with a stabilized economy and growing job opportunities, many people either work more than one job or they spend long hours working for a single employer.

Make eLearning Part of the Work Culture – Starting with the interview process, let job candidates know that the company not only supports eLearning but also encourages it. That way, anyone who you employ already has the mindset that online training is part of the workplace culture. For existing employees, you can formulate a company-wide email or have a sit-down presentation that outlines your goals and expectations.

Introduce eLearning Opportunities – Explain to your employees that instead of attending class at a traditional college or university campus, they can complete excellent courses online. Let them know that they can either complete training while at work without their pay docked or in the comfort of their home. Also, advise your employees that the majority of courses only take between 30 and 60 minutes to finish, so they do not have to invest a significant amount of time. Giving your workers such an easy option to learn eliminates a great deal of stress.

Outline Online Course Benefits – By nature, people gravitate to things that benefit them, which is why you need to provide your team with the key benefits of taking online training courses. For instance, explain how eLearning will help them perform better in their current positions, but also prepare them for advances in their careers. The goal is to paint a clear picture of how learning opens new doors that they might otherwise never walk through. In addition to higher positions, online training sets them up for higher salaries. Because some of your employees genuinely want to be part of a successful business, express how eLearning is an excellent way to grow the business.

 Group Training – For employees who struggle with learning by themselves, you could set up a program that allows several of them to work in a group setting. As an example, schedule time for 5-10 employees to complete a course that would benefit all of them. Choose a reputable online source, run the course on a projector, and even provide lunch. Afterward, give the group 30 minutes to collaborate on what they just learned. In addition to gaining new knowledge or honing an existing skill, this shows your employees that you care about their success and will do what it takes for them to achieve it.

Select Relevant Courses – If you are establishing a training program for your company, make sure you offer your employees courses relevant to their jobs and goals. In other words, you do not want workers going through eLearning just for the sake of saying that your company offers education. The training your employees receive must make sense and prove worthwhile to them. Instead of feeling as though they are wasting valuable time, they will commit, knowing the courses benefit their careers.

Rewarding Training Efforts – People thrive on recognition. For the employees who voluntarily take online training courses, make sure you reward them in some way. As mentioned, when offering group training, provide lunch. While this might seem like an insignificant gesture, it can actually have a huge and lasting impact. Have recognition certificates professionally printed for everyone who finishes a course. You might even consider giving a monetary bonus or offering a day off work for anyone who completes a specified number of courses within any given month.

Empower Your Employees – Use eLearning as a platform for empowering your team. You can accomplish that by making the training sessions more personal, again, using the group scenario. Because you want your employees to retain the information, have them take a test following the course

If you can destress the process of learning, more of your staff will get onboard. Eager to move ahead in their careers, compete with others, and receive recognition from the executive level are all motivators instead of stressors.

While you want to encourage everyone in your organization to learn, always keep it on a voluntary basis. Initially, some employees will hold back, but as they see other members of their team advance, perform better, and receive accolades, more than likely, they too will begin to show interest in online training.

For the best selection of courses, all developed and sometimes presented by industry leaders, visit go1.com. We offer excellent eLearning for companies of all sizes and industries, as well as employees regardless of level or position.

How do you get employees to make time for learning?

Tracy Capaldi-Drewett, Group Commercial Director at MicroLearn challenges organisations to revisit their tired elearning.

The business ecosystem is more volatile than ever, with increased competition, the drive for digital transformation and an uncertain political environment. It’s become even more vital that the Learning and Development organisation embraces the need for rapid change, both in terms of attracting, retaining and developing its talent.

Learning is an intrinsic part of our working life, whether we are an entry level employee or a senior executive, if we are to demonstrate value and productivity to our organisation. However, time pressures are relentless, and learning is not immune, so it is imperative that L&D delivers learning that is efficient and effective.

For quite some time, it has been recognised that to optimise scale and flexibility, eLearning has been the direction for improving efficiency of training delivery. Much of the eLearning produced has been too long, too linear, uninspiring and generally lacking engagement – the “Wow factor”. And perhaps most importantly, eLearning has often lacked effectiveness in meeting learning objectives and engendering behavioural change.

Today we are all learning, whether at work or at home, using Google, YouTube and social media to find what we need and how to achieve it. This hunger for quick answers also translates to our time at work, when we are looking to attain the skills we need to do our jobs better, faster and more effectively.

Recent research is strongly suggesting that it is time to move away from the more “passive” elearning to a strategy of personalisation and video-rich microlearning, delivering bite-size content on any device, at any time.

Learners demand a more agile approach to training that gives them relevant information on a wide variety of subjects, accessible at the point of need, and they’re willing to go anywhere to find that information. The Learning and Development organisation needs to facilitate this by putting the best possible technology and content in the hands of learners if it is to effectively contribute to the success of the organisation.

At MicroLearn, we understand that today’s workplace learning culture is craving relevant content that is rapidly created to meet the demands of an information hungry workforce and not turgid electronic “page turning”.

In embracing a microlearning strategy, it must be time to revisit and evaluate the effectiveness of your elearning library!

Why do we need to reimagine learning now?

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