Employee Training During And After The Pandemic: Trends To Watch Out For

The current pandemic has completely transformed our expectations for the year in just a few months. The way we handle this time and move forward when the storm has passed is probably very different from what we had in mind when this year began.

While on one hand, there are businesses that are not able to function at all, that is working on a recovery plan, there are others that have realized working with distributed teams is the right way forward for them.

In either case, paying attention to employee training has become more important than ever before. 

For businesses that are waiting to reopen their offices, this is the ideal time to train their employees as training cannot interfere with their daily productivity. For businesses that are thinking of never having an office again, it is important to provide your employees with the training they need to be productive when they continue working from home.

Hence, it is important for businesses to watch out for the learning and development trends that will enable their training programs to adapt to the new normal.

In this article, we will be discussing such emerging trends and technologies that you can use right now (or in the future) to make your employee training initiatives more efficient and impactful.

Let’s jump right in:

The Rise Of AR And VR

Augmented reality (AR) and Virtual reality (VR) are transforming countless industries and the learning and development industry is no exception. Modern learning management software has already started integrating AR and VR capabilities in their interface, allowing learning administrators to create immersive training experiences that improve comprehension and retention.

While AR is already commonly used to make training material more relevant to real-life scenarios, VR is also catching up quickly as VR devices become more affordable and accessible. As technology finds its way in more homes and offices, providing immersive training experiences remotely will become a common training approach.

On the other hand, companies that don’t have distributed teams will also be able to offer comprehensive learning experiences to their employees even before they ever set foot inside the office. Not to forget, these technologies will help make training experiences more pocket friendly for employers and safer for the learners (employees).

AI Mentors

Just like AR and VR, artificial intelligence is another “future” technology that is finding applications in numerous industries. 

When it comes to employee training, AI mentors have already been adopted in many training scenarios. The most common example of an AI mentor is Grammarly. The AI-powered tool combines the powers of machine learning with natural language processing tech to help writers improve their writing acumen in real-time. 

This is just one example of how an AI mentor can help make life easier for learners and learning administrators.

Personalized Training Experiences

Another way AI can improve the effectiveness of training is by personalizing the training experience to the unique skills and needs of each individual learner. Naturally, this personalized attention is bound to improve the ultimate outcomes of the training.

However, that’s not the only way to personalize training. A fast emerging trend in the L&D landscape is one-on-one mentorship. In this training approach, learners are personally coached by an industry expert. This hand-holding approach is great as it offers learners with real-time guidance, coupled with instant feedback.

Conclusion

You may have noticed a pattern in this article, most up and coming trends in the training and development space are aimed at personalizing training experiences while making them more engaging. These two approaches have proven to be more efficient than traditional methods. 

Do you agree?