Instructor-led training (ILT) courses have been a staple of employee training for decades. Despite the hyper-digital environment we live in, ILTs continue to provide an interactive and collaborative learning experience. However, it comes as no surprise that to remain aligned with organizational goals and industry standards, ILTs need periodic updates.
There are three must-have improvements all organizations need to make in order to update instructor-led employee training to stay relevant and maximize the results of your employee learning and development (L&D) programs. Use the guidelines below to begin the updating process — these strategies should help focus your efforts and enable you to efficiently breathe new life into your existing ILTs for improved engagement and learning experience.
3 Improvement Areas for ILT-Based Employee Training
1. Include Technology
This first one seems obvious, but it is nonetheless vital to emphasize that technology should have a place in any modern instructor-led training course. Successful learning leaders understand the undeniable benefits of in-person instruction, and they also understand that technology can enrich this process. Tablets and laptops can be leveraged during instruction to streamline questions, feedback and content. Technology can improve functionality for both instructors and the workforce since it is impossible to take technology out of the work environment — and most individuals are highly adept at managing it. L&D teams should experiment with the role of technology in ILT. Training consultants can discuss your organization’s specific goals to understand what this integration could look like based on your needs.
For example, if you plan on implementing a new authorization tool, it may be a good idea for facilitators of the ILT to demonstrate the use of the tool while learners are being instructed on how to use it. This makes participants active in their learning process, as opposed to passively listening to the instructor. Active participation increases learning comprehension and retention of new skills.
2. Integrate Multimedia
Is your ILT course offering a basic blend of lecture and text materials without much enhancement? Adding multimedia may be just the update you are looking for when it comes to improving employee engagement. Rich media, which includes audio, visual and text throughout the course, is a proven way to keep a learner’s attention focused and active. Consider presenting information in infographics or interactive video, since this is a good way to keep the learner involved in their learning journey.
Depending on the generational divide in your workforce, you may have some employees who are used to consuming information predominantly through multimedia avenues. Training consultants emphasize that this underlines the importance of following basic design principles when including audio or video so that they enrich the learning process and don’t distract from it. Incorporating multimedia can be as simple or complex as your updates need, but it is a good tactic to tailor ILTs for the modern audience.
3. Interactive Activities
Instructor-led employee training fosters communication, connection and development for your employees. After so much time working from home, the adjustment back to in-person can be difficult — and the return to ILTs is a great way to encourage collaboration. Interactive activities shine in this in-person learning environment. Hold Q&A sessions and breakout rooms: Give your employees the space to ask questions and talk to one another. Engage your employees with interactive gamification (again leveraging technology), real-world scenarios and branching scenarios throughout the ILT to help contextualize the content in a way that makes it applicable to their day-to-day lives.
When looking for some ways to reinvigorate your employee training, reevaluate if your activities are both engaging and ascribe to the goals of your organization. Dated and irrelevant activities are a waste of time and resources both for your organization and employees.
Conclusion
Adding technology, multimedia enhancements and interactive learning sessions to instructor-led employee training (ILT) can help engage employees in any industry who may be accustomed to navigating highly digital environments. L&D teams and training consultants can recommend how existing ILTs can be reinvigorated for better engagement with the use of technology, multimedia and interactive activities. The above guidelines focus on adapting ILT courses to meet the needs of today’s learners using proven principles of design and learning. By modernizing your employee training, your organization can ensure that they are harnessing the full benefits of ILT while delivering impactful and engaging training experiences.
