3 Steps to Deliver a Modern Learning Experience

There’s no denying it. Hybrid work is here to stay.

• 45% of full-time U.S. employees now work from home (Gallup)
• Nine in 10 remote workers anticipate keeping remote hours for rest of the year and beyond (Gallup)
• 54% of employees who work remotely say they want a hybrid arrangement (Gallup)

And employees are talking with their feet if remote options aren’t available. Given the large number of open positions at companies and the scarcity of talent, employers must accommodate employees’ desires and modernize their operations, including their approach to learning and development.

The processes and systems L&D leaders have relied on in the past no longer support the demands of a hybrid workforce. Event-based learning, instructor-led training, and systems that are rigid and static can’t keep pace with a mobile workforce’s needs for new skills and “just-in-time” knowledge.

Today, organizations need an L&D initiative that is personalized, agile, collaborative, and easy to access when and where learners need it.

How to Modernize Learning Initiatives for a Hybrid Workforce

To deliver a modern learning experience—and prevent hybrid employees from leaving—organizations must address three things:

1. Adoption of Learning Content

Modern learning initiatives tie directly to employees’ moments of need. That means L&D leaders must ensure employees are ready and have the necessary skills before those moments come up. They also must make learning content accessible any time employees need to refer to it.

Further, they can’t just create learning content and call it done. Hybrid learning must be pervasive, continuous, and easily accessible, whether it’s delivered through a mobile device, CRM or call center system, email, or another platform.

To improve adoption of learning content:

• Embed learning before, during, and after each employee’s moment of need.
• Deliver relevant, targeted, and intuitive learning experiences that enhance the hybrid employee’s experience.
• Ensure learning can be accessed from anywhere and any device.

2. Engagement with Learning Programs

Traditionally, a learning program takes weeks or sometimes months to complete. Employees don’t have patience for that, and in today’s fast-paced economy, your business likely can’t wait that long to get staff up to speed and doing their jobs.

Modern learning programs are faster, virtual, agile, collaborative, and less disruptive. All of those improve employees’ engagement. They include top-down instruction delivered in bite-sized pieces in which employees are evaluated and coached, as well as bottom-up, employee-generated content that allows sellers to learn from one another.

To improve engagement in learning programs:

• Reduce the formality and complexity of your learning and content.
• Enhance learning experiences with timely, bite-sized, user-generated content.
• Create a central repository of collaborative content that all employees can easily access.
• Make sure employees have the tools and skills necessary to manage change.

3. Talent Retention

Employees who receive personalized learning report higher rates of job satisfaction and retention. Data-driven platforms make that possible. By analyzing learner profile data and learning experience data, you can target an employee’s learning path, plus refine and improve ongoing learning.

A modern learning platform also helps employees feel connected to teammates, which is crucial to retaining talent. The key is collaboration. A modern learning platform should allow employees to train, brainstorm, and share knowledge with one another.

To improve talent retention:

• Increase insight into individual, team, and company-wide competencies and skills gaps to drive targeted training and prove ROI.
• Use AI and automation to deploy, manage, and scale training across the organization to achieve consistent results and improve retention.
• Adopt modern learning and collaboration platforms to keep hybrid teams connected and build stronger cultures.

Learn More: Download the Mastering Hybrid Learning eBook and get more advice on how to improve employee adoption, engagement, and retention.