Learning and training have always been a challenging task for leaders, especially in the aspects of making information accessible to the user in the moment of need and also reinforcing knowledge in order to improve what they’ve learned.
Why is the need for learning and training now stronger than ever?
- Multiple complex software systems
- Changing tech frameworks
- Poor contextual awareness
- De-centralized access to knowledge
Traditional training methods alone are not effective anymore
- Classroom training is not effective since 90% of knowledge acquired in a classroom is forgotten within 1 week
- 30% of a typical working day is spent on knowledge discovery which leads to a loss in employee productivity
- Today’s learners expect knowledge to be instant, contextual & experiential
In addition to this, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on employee training and learning practices since most of the organizations have shifted to the ‘work from home’ culture.
Training challenges for a remote workforce
- Traditional classroom training is non-existent: Remote training has its limitations in terms of social interaction
- Information discovery time increases: Peer help is not instant. Query resolution takes longer than normal
- Learners get disengaged: Knowledge delivery is not instant and contextual. Learners become disengaged
- Support queries shoot up: L1 support queries increase exponentially, overwhelming the support team
Camden – A Case Study
Here are some objectives Camden was looking to achieve through their training process-
- Drive user adoption of new and existing applications
- Reduce the number of calls to our Business Support Center
- Efficiently onboard new users
- Alert users of new additions and changes to applications
Now, Camden has got a really diverse and dispersed workforce across 11 states, which is a very challenging training environment, to begin with. They leveraged classroom training with a regionally-based team of trainers who were able to go out, build relationships with people, and conduct classroom trainings. But training employees was a challenge for Camden because of the different skill sets involved and the fact that some of the employees were in front of computers and some weren’t. On top of this, the whole COVID situation restricted their trainers from going out and providing in-class training sessions. And the online training resulted in a huge increase in the number of support queries that go on to validate the impact of remote training on employees.
So what is the effective solution to these challenges? The answer lies in the concept of “Learning in the flow of work”, which simply means learning by doing without clearing one’s work environment. This concept was pioneered by Josh who is a top leader in the L&D community who represents Deloitte. Learning in the flow of work prevents users from spending their time looking for information outside the application, by providing all the information right there in the application. LIFOW is key to reinforcing knowledge and improving performance.
Here’s a quick depiction of how a digital adoption solution helps implement learning in the flow of work in an organization.
The red curve here is a representation of the productivity curve of a user without a digital adoption solution, compared to the blue graph which represents employee productivity with a digital adoption solution.
Digital Adoption Solutions provide an effective personalized onboarding of new users onto an application. It guides the users on the different tasks that need to be completed before getting started on with the application. Also, a digital adoption solution offers in-app step by step guidance and training to the users. It provides contextual self-service inside the application so that the user does not have to exit the application to look for any information. Thirdly, digital adoption solutions automate repetitive tasks so users don’t have to repeat daily tasks every day so that they can spend that time on more productive tasks. In short, here is how Digital Adoption Solutions help companies to prioritize training without disrupting the everyday flow of work-
- Providing step-by-step guidance to complete tasks inside the applications
- On-demand Contextual Help based on the role of user and location in the app
- Highlight new features and trigger walkthroughs to guide users
- Measure usage of flows, identify gaps in Help content, and optimize
Whatfix for Camden
Here’s the impact of Whatfix Digital Adoption Solutions on Camden –
- Improved system announcements
- Additional avenue for people to learn
- Ability to see most often asked questions
- Pop-ups, beacons & hot spots for effective communication
All these features provided by Whatfix improves ongoing learning and training process, reduces the number of support queries, brings down the total cost of an application, and increases user adoption.
So these were some of the key takeaways from the webinar. In case you missed our webinar or want a more extensive understanding of how to Reimagine Remote Workforce Training with Learning in the Flow of Work, you can simply register for our on-demand webinar recording by filling up the form above.