The role of HR professionals is rapidly changing. Many of the traditional HR functions and tasks have become automated giving human resource professionals’ new advisory roles that provides them the opportunity to productively contribute to organizational growth and transformation. Although, they have always played a key role in human capital transformation and employee training, they are now helping organizations adjust to new workplace challenges.
One of the toughest challenges that organizations are facing today is finding new ways to train the growing global workforce. The number of remote workers has increased by 44% in the last 5 years (1). This has increased diversity and the number of global teams across many industries.
According to a recent article by Forbes, the gig economy is expected to continue to grow as well (2). However, contract employees and freelance workers may still need some form of employee training.
HR teams are now looking for ways to develop training strategies that are tailored to meet the needs of global teams. In this article, we will share with you 5 training strategy tips that will help you boost engagement and productivity among your global teams.
1. Ensure that training can be accessed on any device
Not too long-ago L&D professionals were working hard to ensure that all their eLearning training content was mobile responsive in hopes to increase employee engagement and the overall effectiveness of training. Much to their surprise, they found that the results varied greatly.
After digging a little deeper it was found that the devices employees prefer is highly dependent on the individual and the role, they are in. For example, many sales professionals prefer to use their phones for online training because they already use their phones at work. However, employees working on desktops in a call center environment are likely to use their desktops to access training.
Trying to determine which devices your global team prefers can be quite time consuming. One of the most effective training delivery strategies HR teams can use is to ensure that all online learning materials can be accessed on all devices and that they are supported by all web browsers. This strategy ensures that each member of your global team can access content on whatever device is most comfortable and convenient to them.
2. Use AI to enhance personalizations
Another way you can improve the effectiveness of your training program is by implementing training that is AI enhanced. One of the toughest challenges HR leaders face is finding a way to create learning experiences that appeal to diverse groups and teams. Your global team may have varying skill levels and different learning styles.
AI enhanced training can personalize learning experiences and provide the members of your global workforce with learning content that is tailored to them. Additionally, AI can be used to translate training content into multiple languages making your content accessible to employees all over the globe.
3. Make training available at anytime
Global teams often work in different time zones. This can make it difficult to use traditional methods such as instructor led training. However, implementing a training strategy that uses an eLearning platform to deliver training content can make training accessible to your employees at any time. This eliminates time zone barriers improving accessibility and making it easier for your employees to participate in training.
4. Keep Diversity and Inclusion in Mind
Diversity and inclusion should be a top priority while creating a training program for a global workforce. While creating content is essential to keep in mind that words and phrases don’t always have the same meaning across cultures. Additionally, the names you use in text and examples should represent employees from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
The visuals you select also matter. The images you choose should also represent employees from diverse cultures and backgrounds. This ensures that employees can more easily connect and relate to the training.
You should also consider including training content that covers the topics diversity and inclusion to promote a culture of trust and respect.
5. Utilize assessments
The purpose of training is to improve employee performance and increase productivity, so it is important to make sure that employees understand and retain what they have learned. Utilizing assessments will help you track employee progress. This information will help you determine if they are struggling with a particular concept or if they need to retake a course for compliance purposes.
Assessments will also help you measure the effectiveness of the training. For example, if you notice that a large number of employees are struggling with a particular subject you can easily identify the issue to resolve it and improve the course.
Conclusion
As human resources professionals shift into their new advisory roles, they will become essential to developing and aligning training strategies with business outcomes. These 5 training tips will help your HR teams develop training programs that will engage employees all over the globe. To learn more about the training trends that are shaping the future read the eBook Training Trends for the 2020 Learning Landscape.
