Is your staff growing weary of online training? In this article, I’ll share 8 tips to prevent corporate eLearning burnout and keep employees fully engaged.
How to Prevent Corporate eLearning Burnout
Many employees are willing to participate in online training if they know there’s something in it for them. There comes a time when even the most motivated staff members get tired of online training courses, activities, and assessments. This is the point of mental burnout. Employees have absorbed too much information for one sitting or the demands of online training are simply too much to bear. Here are 8 top tips to prevent corporate eLearning burnout and boost employee involvement.
1. Break Online Training Into Bite-Size Doses
Too much of a good thing can be overwhelming. In fact, trying to overload your employees with information may diminish the value of your online training program. Instead of actively engaging, they click away and miss out on all the benefits. For this reason, it’s best to break your online training into bite-size modules and activities. As an example, a five-minute presentation followed by an eLearning assessment provides the complete package. Employees are able to get the information they’re looking for, test their knowledge, and then go about the rest of their day. Those who want to devote more time to online training can always access additional coursework on their own.
2. Create Customized Online Training Schedules
Employees are more likely to experience corporate eLearning burnout when they lack control. However, offering custom-tailored online training schedules empowers and motivates exhausted employees. They have the opportunity to choose which online training resources they access and when to complete their online training. Provide employees with a list of objectives and goals they must accomplish along with realistic deadlines. Then encourage them to create a personal schedule that works best for them, taking into consideration all of their current job duties, client meetings, and other commitments.
3. Integrate Social Learning Opportunities
Sometimes your employees just need to blow off some steam and socialize. But how do you give them the chance to interact with peers if they are geographically dispersed? The solution is to integrate social learning tools into your online training strategy. For example, social media groups where employees can share opinions and ideas from anywhere in the globe, or forums that allow them to engage in ongoing discussions or upload helpful resource links. These social learning platforms also give them the power to exchange peer-based feedback and vent their frustrations, which is a great way to prevent corporate eLearning burnout and recharge both mentally and emotionally.
4. Host Webinars To Break Repetition
Webinars are more than just live online training events that focus on specific topics or tasks. They are also great repetition-breakers that engage and motivate employees. Attendees have the ability to ask questions and share ideas in real time, as well as interact with their co-workers and engage in lively online discussions. Webinars help them acquire new skills and knowledge without even realizing it thanks to the fact that they are so caught up in the conversation. This is especially true for webinars that include social media exposure, such as creating a hashtag or Facebook group for the event.
5. Add Real-World Activities
Real-world activities build experience and allow employees to apply their knowledge. They can also learn from their mistakes in a supportive, risk-free environment. Thus, these practical activities help prevent humdrum online training experiences and corporate eLearning burnout. Everyone has the chance to use the key takeaways in context. For example, help a customer find the product they need during a branching scenario or learn all the intricacies of workplace software via an interactive simulation.
6. Focus On “Moment Of Need” Resources
“Moment of need” online training tools are targeted, practical, and personalized. Employees only access the online training resources they require in order to improve productivity or task mastery. It follows the bite-sized is best approach by imparting small doses of information whenever the need arises, instead of forcing employees to attend lengthy online training courses that cover a broad range of topics. It’s quick, convenient, and engaging, which means that employees are more likely to use the online training resources on the job, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of online training and yielding a better eLearning ROI.
7. Let Employees Pave Their Own Online Training Paths
There’s a common theme in regards to corporate eLearning burnout. Lack of control, time, and motivation can cause employees to disconnect from the online training experience. However, you can give them even more control by letting your staff pave their own online training paths. Encourage employees to personalize every aspect of their online training, from their goals and desired outcomes to the online training activities they use to bridge gaps. Take it a step further by creating personalized training contracts to hold them accountable. Just make sure that they have direct input in the process and are able to set their own schedules. In addition, always include a list of recommended online training resources based on their past performance and job responsibilities. This gives them a good starting point from which they can customize an effective online training program.
8. Incorporate Frequent Breaks
If you are opting for longer online training courses, it’s wise to incorporate breaks to give employees the chance to regroup. They must have the opportunity to hit the pause button and step away from online training for a few minutes, which also allows them to assimilate the information more effectively. Employees can soak up all the facts and stats before moving onto the next online training module, as well as reflect on the online training experience and tie their newfound knowledge and skills into real-world applications.
Corporate eLearning burnout can render your entire online training program ineffective. An employee who is tired of online training won’t get the most from your online training course. As a result, they aren’t able to build the essential skills and knowledge they require on the job. Fortunately, you can use these 8 tips to fight the fatigue and banish boredom in your online training program.
Are your employees facing mountains of paperwork and tight deadlines? Do their personal obligations just keep piling up, creating even more tension and frustration? Read the article 9 Tips To Create A Stress-Free Online Training Experience For Your Employees to discover 9 tips to create a stress-free online training experience for your employees.
