Learner engagement remains a challenge for organisation leaders and talent developers. In LinkedIn Learning’s 2019 Workplace Learning Report, the No. 2 focus area for Talent Development was: Increase engagement with learning programmes.
With today’s technology advances and better awareness of learning science, is there really any excuse for poor learner engagement?
Like any stubborn nut to crack, the answer lies somewhere in the results of an honest evaluation. It’s important to understand the barriers to learning that might exist; be they part of a culture, the technology or the sheer lack of useful resources. A multi-pronged approach to engaging learners is usually the most effective. Luckily there are lots of things that can be done.
Learner engagement (different to general employee engagement) relates specifically to the level of investment that employees have in their learning activities. This psychological investment in learning is demonstrated by the quality of learning sessions taken and the amount of interaction with resources and/or people to learn from, such as trainers, team leaders or peers.
Engagement can happen on different levels:
In the past, organisations had only completion rates in an LMS to indicate learner engagement (behavioural engagement). However, we know now that tick boxes in an LMS is no proof of meaningful engagement. It’s the quality and quantity of engagement, along with data that demonstrates the impact of high active engagement on performance, that are much more important and useful success metrics.
High learner engagement is important for several reasons.
Firstly, learning resources come at a cost; whether it’s time, platform technology or content. In order to justify these costs and the time spent on sourcing and developing a solution, learners must feel motivated to seek out the learning opportunities afforded to them. The dictum, “If you build it, they will come” simply doesn’t apply. Engaging the online learner will prove critical to ROTI (return of training investment).
Secondly, quality learner engagement is evidenced in a vibrant and healthy culture of learning. The benefits of a high impact learning culture are immense. This culture could be the difference between flat growth and pressure on skill sets, and a workforce that can adapt and innovate with industry needs to drive profits.
Other reasons become obvious: Improved communication between employees as they share their knowledge; the ability for L&D to promote learning (and the L&D function) as a key driver to business success; much-improved talent management due to a flexible growth mindset among employees.
Finding ways to promote learner engagement will create wins for both the employee and the business.
Developing some learner engagement strategies will put some structure on your efforts - that multi-pronged approach that’s needed. Here are some ideas:
So if LMS tick boxes aren’t where it’s at, how is learner engagement measured?
The consequences of learner engagement can be assessed (see the Kirkpatrick evaluation model) through simple surveys. It’s possible to build internal case studies to show the results of such feedback, linking it to formal assessment results and performance reviews.
The amount of learning that employees access of their own accord is another indicator of their level of engagement.
Modern learner platforms can now provide much more granular data on the levels of learner engagement. In addition, custom dashboards can be generated that directly link learner engagement levels to competencies, proficiencies and other organisation-specific measurements of success.
Modern proficiency data: Learner confidence VS Accuracy of response
L&D can now provide leadership teams with accurate data on how learner engagement directly impacts revenue. The LinkedIn Learning report claims that “Increased employee engagement is one of the top 5 ways that Talent Developers demonstrate the success of learning.” - hardly any wonder. The ability to demonstrate a correlation between learner engagement and business KPIs becomes a game-changer in the world of Learning & Development.
(By the way, we didn’t ignore the No. 1 focus area for Talent Development in LinkedIn Learning’s report: Identify and assess skills gaps. You can read more on that here).
Take a look at this video about Verify - a solution that offers:
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