So you've chosen a new software platform to roll out at your company and identified and segmented the employees who will be using it. However, the idea of organizing your own training program for a whole group of people in various roles is understandably a bit daunting. Luckily for you, this is something that's best left in the hands of the experts anyway.
For most companies, taking a whole day to train everyone at once just isn't feasible. After all, you still need to make sure your daily operations are completed. Instead, providing shorter, targeted training content can lead to a higher completion rate by users because it's much easier for them to find 10–30 minutes at a time on their own schedules. A great way to implement this is through video tutorials or online walkthroughs, whose subject matter has been broken up strategically by the experts. This way, you're catering to all types of learners—video, audio and experiential—and you have the added benefit of training tracking at your fingertips. But how can you use these analytics to your advantage?
Putting the value of employee-training tracking software to use
First, in addition to being able to track who has completed the training, you can see who is lagging. An employee could find him or herself behind schedule with respect to training for many reasons, the most likely of which is simply a lack of time. By reaching out to employees who find themselves behind schedule, you can help them come up with a more personalized agenda to complete the training. This will empower them rather than make them feel as though they'll never catch up.
Then, focus on those who are moving along nicely and find potential champions. With certain tracking software, you may even know whether an employee has completed any follow-up or supplemental coursework. These employees can help you take the temperature of the entire employee pool as to other ways your company can use this software, maximizing your investment. Also, put those who understand the purpose and implementation of the software in a focus group. In doing so, you can help them encourage others to embrace the change.
Certain tracking systems can also help your company in its efforts to meet compliance regulations. Though, it's important to note that no tracking system is going to do all the work for you. Still, some software platforms are utilized to help companies in their efforts to follow governmental or organizational guidelines. By having this data gathered, you may be able to put it to use in a future audit.
Many software-training platforms offer virtual badges or measured rewards to those who have completed the modules or become certified. These prizes can encourage participation from users, as they provide gratification and help you identify those potential champions. To encourage their collection, you could even add the accumulation of certain badges to your employees' yearly goals.
Since you have it, why not use tracking data to fuel future training programs? If you've got the numbers to support the fact that most, if not all, employees engaged in online platforms for training, you can use this to convince higher-ups that it would be a useful investment again, should you need it in the future.
And finally, shout it from the rooftops! With this data, you can back up claims that all employees in a certain department—or the whole company—are trained in a specific type of software. Use this in press releases and marketing materials to make your company stand out from its competitors. Also, encourage your employees to add it to their resumes and LinkedIn pages. It only makes everyone look more impressive.
