What is personalised learning and how can you use it to improve engagement?
Personalisation is an essential part of the customer experience and it shouldn’t be overlooked for your employees either. We now demand more than ever before and we expect services to be tailor-made to our needs. Everything from online ads, music stations, mobile apps and social algorithms are created to cater to our specific needs. This is the same for learning. Standardised learning which is created for everyone is set up to fail for three main reasons.
It isn’t useful or relevant to everyone
It doesn’t detail topics which are important to certain learners
People lose interest quickly when something doesn’t solve a specific problem for them
Personalised learning puts employees in control of their learning. It makes it more engaging and transforms performance more quickly and more effectively.
We expect you are now wondering how you can create a more personalised learning experience? Find out below
Tailor your launch screens to create a more personal experience
When an employee signs in to your portal or learning solution. Make it so the home screen is tailor-made to them and their preferences. A perfect example is Facebook, no ones’ homepage is the same when they launch the app. Their algorithm works by ranking all posts and how likely a user will have a positive reaction to those posts. With your personalised learning solution make sure you have admin features which allow you to tailor content to specific users. Use analytics to determine which topics are of interest to that user, filter out the ones which they never read.
Ocasta Engage has a ‘you’ section on the app where employees will only see things relevant to them. This includes tasks which they have left to complete, playlists which they have completed or still have to finish and achievements which they have received. This makes it easy for them to see what they need to do to keep them on track and what they are doing well to keep them motivated. Perfect for a personalised learning experience.
Allow employees to learn at their own personalised pace
Personalised learning is all about employees learning when it suits them. Some people prefer learning in the morning, others prefer learning at night. Some people prefer to learn in short bursts others prefer to learn big chunks at a time. It’s all dependent on the specific person. To cater for this, you need to make your personalised learning resources available anytime and anywhere. You also need to make sure that your training content can be started and finished when the user decides.
Avoid training where employees have to complete a whole 45-minute course as opposed to being able to jump in and out of it when they want to. Ocasta Engage offers tailored personalised playlists which users can jump in and out of whenever they have a moment. The playlists usually take five minutes to complete so employees can build them up to the amount of time they wish to dedicate to learning.
Personalised learning means making it easy for learners to find what they need to know
Having a knowledgebase which employees can access on their personal mobile or tablet device also means that they can look up information whenever they need it. This is called ‘just-in-time’ learning which is crucial for personalised learning. You simply fill the knowledgebase with articles or resources which staff might need then they can look up whatever they need to know. It’s like Google for your business. For example, if we looked at the day in the life of a factory worker, they might want to look up health and safety policies around standing at the conveyor belt, they then might need to look up how to stop the machines in an emergency or where to put their hygiene wear when they go to the toilet. On the contrast, a retail worker may need to look up how to upsell, product information or how to use the till. These are incredibly different needs which you can tailor for by providing ‘just-in-time’ personalised learning.
Plug knowledge gaps
There is no point sending out heaps of information if employees already have great knowledge in that area. If you are, you could be wasting your time. To really personalise employee learning you need to find out which areas employees are struggling with and send out the relevant learning material. Your personalised learning solution should search for knowledge gaps and repeat questions to make sure that employee’s knowledge is strengthened. Everyone will have certain topics that they are better or worse at so personalisation is key.
Repeating those weaker questions is essential because we retain information through repetition. When we repeat something it builds a path in our brain. Once we have been down the path a few times it makes it easier for us to recall the information in the long run.
Personalised learning is all about recommendations “You did this….why not try this”
Recommendations are an essential part of personalised learning. Have you noticed when you go on Spotify they recommend playlists to you based on what you have listened to before. Or when you go on Netflix they suggest movies based on your viewing history. Personalised learning should recommend learning playlists based on a user’s previous activity. For example, if you have completed a learning module about how to unload deliveries, you may be recommended a module about manual handling policies.
Recommended learning is great because it shows you what you can learn about which perhaps you weren’t aware of before. Sometimes employees want to develop themselves and their skills but they just aren’t sure of where to start or what they need to focus on. This saves time and boosts productivity because employees don’t have to search for what they could learn next, they are shown instantly. It also means they are more likely to return to the learning platform because they are more interested in the learning which is on offer for them.
The benefits of personalised learning
Personalised learning isn’t just a nice thing to do for your employees, the results are impressive. See our list of benefits below.
Increased engagement and better uptake of your learning programmes
When employees feel disconnected from the subjects they are studying they are more likely to give up on their training programmes. This is because they find it irrelevant to their development and a waste of time. When they are presented with personalised learning they feel that it has taken into account their needs, desires and aspirations which makes them feel supported and more connected. When your employee feels this is way it leads to higher engagement levels and increased uptake of courses. All in all this creates an incredibly positive cycle around learning ensuring that your employee boosts their knowledge on a more regular basis.
Employee empowerment
Personalised learning makes your employees feel more empowered and confident to learn new things. Because the learning is tailored for their exact needs it motivates them to want to learn more. You put them in control of their learning and give them the best route to develop their skills and expertise. This makes them feel more confident and in control of their learning abilities.
Positive attitude towards learning
Most workplaces struggle to get their employees to learn because they don’t find their learning programmes engaging. By having personalised learning you create an exceptional experience for your workforce which encourages them to come back for more. This creates a positive attitude towards learning and drives a culture of continuous development which is essential for business success.
Get in touch about your personalised learning requirements
Get your free demo below, and one of our friendly experts will walk through how it can work in your customer-facing business.
