Today, where we are forced to work from remote workplaces, most organizations have been concentrating on work performance and time management. Quite often than not, as an organization, we tend to ignore the benefits of learning and development. An organization should drive its employees towards Self-Paced Learning (SPL) in remote workplaces. Employees who are thriving to learn independently and are motivated enough to embark on this learning journey can imminently become the organization’s strength. Ultimately, we would need to ask the big question.
How to enable Self-Paced Learning?
SPL requires precise strategies by Learning & Development (L&D) teams to make it happen. This is not something that will occur on its own overnight. Learners are the focal points of any successful SPL strategy. L&D teams are required to build platforms and channels around the learners to allow them to explore, learn and develop.
Here are a few pointers that can help your organization build accurate SPL strategies:
1. Are your employees aware?
Employees are primarily focused on work performance. It is easy for them to ignore the importance of self-improvement. The first step in creating the best SPL strategy is to make your employees aware of the importance of learning. They should understand that self-paced learning ultimately will allow them to grow in an organization.
2. Do they have available resources?
The employees themselves drive SPL. To not hinder their pace, make sure you have the required learning resources to access at their own pace at all times.
3. Do they have an ample amount of opportunities?
The employees are mainly concentrating on their work. The best part of a successful SPL strategy is to make learning a part of their daily routine. This requires sufficient learning support tools, such as job aids, micro-learning nuggets, and fun-filled gamified learning materials and so on.
4. Are you aware of the benefits of informal learning?
In today’s digital era, informal learning has become an integral part of the industry. The experts say that 70% of learning occurs through informal or on-the-job learning, 20% through mentoring, and the remaining through formal learning (please see Association for Talent Development (ATD) at www.td.org and search on 70:20:10). The informal learning opportunities can be created through continuous learning culture, moderated learning forums, microlearning content etc.
5. Did you know that social platforms can help your employees in learning?
The way we all work is through collaboration. The best way to enable your employees to collaborate and learn on the go is to enable social learning platforms. Allowing them to discuss, compete and share ideas will ultimately result in a great SPL strategy.
6. Do you have hand-picked content for your learners?
Providing content that is not curated and handcrafted for your employees can hinder their performance and dampen the overall learning pace. Always make sure you have the learning materials which are attractive enough to motivate SPL.
7. Are you evaluating your strategies?
Constantly evaluate the strategies you place for your employees to learn. Continuous and multi-faced feedback sessions can allow you to acquire enough data to understand how to plan for the future.
In conclusion, Self-Paced Learning can increase the skills and proactiveness of employees, allowing them to thrive at their own pace. Existing corporate training materials can only help in achieving baseline proficiency. Our Custom Content Solutions incorporate cutting edge learning techniques that allow the learners to pick up their growth at their own pace. For quick solutions, we often recommend our clients a more accessible way out in the form of Off-the-Shelf courses. We have a wide array of learning techniques in our arsenal that can go hand in hand with any corporate L&D requirements.
For further details, you can always contact us or leave a comment below.
-Abhilash Rao
