Employees want to learn, and they appear keen about the idea of employer-provided training. So why is there low learner engagement when these trainings are made available?
The lack of engagement during employee training may discourage employers from providing any further support, but this wastes a considerable number of opportunities for growth. Instead of giving up on employee training as a lost cost, businesses can be better served by understanding why training engagement is low and where the gap in adoption actually lies. For the most part, employees are keen to learn and grow in their careers and make the most of the training provided by employers, however, there appears to be a mismatch between the training that is provided and the training needed by workers.
Do you frequently witness low learner engagement during training at work? This common problem has simple solutions for you to consider. (Image: Pexels)
Don’t Let the Low Learners’ Engagement Discourage You From Providing Training for Your Employees
Evidence of low learner engagement has always been easily available for businesses that have provided voluntary training, only to find low attendance numbers and a generally poor turnout. Most employees may attend out of obligation or fear of repercussions, but the learning gap persists and the low worker learning engagement discourages employers from investing more resources into said training.
Low learner engagement doesn’t always look like absenteeism. Many workers do attend these training sessions, but their performance remains unchanged, and so do their opinions about their employers. During the training as well, employees are often distracted and un-participative, limiting the benefits of providing the training in the first place.
Rather than let this lack of engagement during training convince employers to give up on the process as a whole, it’s important to ask why training engagement is low. Understanding the problem is all it takes to make corrections and ensure that the process turns from a sunk investment to a profitable, engaging one.
Why Is Training Engagement Often Low Among Learners?
Low learner engagement numbers can shape out this way for many different reasons. One of the most common challenges of securing learner engagement occurs due to a mismatch between what learners need and the training that is provided. Most often, employers determine what training should be provided by making general assessments of workforce needs, but in an attempt to target everyone, these programs fail to target any learners successfully.
There is also the matter of medium. Recorded training or online programs have grown common over the last few years, and these trainings are often easier and cheaper to provide. However, learners often prefer a human-led training exercise, and the results can be better when they are conducted in person. The lack of engagement in training could be a result of an easily ignorable process that can run in the background while workers concentrate on other tasks.
This multi-tasking approach is also a problematic one and is frequently a result of normalized workplace behavior and heavy workloads. Studies show that employees are allowed very few hours of uninterrupted focus time at work, as their routine involves frequent interruptions from meetings, notifications, and switching between tasks on various apps. Employees continue to apply the same techniques of working on other things during training, particularly because their heavy workloads are not adjusted to accommodate the training sessions.
How to Address the Low Worker Learning Engagement in the Workplace?
The first step to addressing low learner engagement in training is to identify the challenges your employees are facing with these programs. Conducting an anonymous survey to ask for genuine feedback might show that the training programs are not relevant, not engaging enough, not conducted at the right time, etc. Depending on this, the necessary action can be taken to improve the method and content of training.
Instead of rushing forward with a one-size-fits-all approach, it can be helpful to identify areas of improvement at work and break down your workforce into smaller groups to disseminate the training, where the trainer can focus on each learner. It is equally important to ensure that when the training is scheduled, workers are allowed to discuss their workload with their manager to ensure they can focus fully on the training, rather than having unchanged timelines that add unnecessary pressure.
In the modern world, training is often treated as a burden for both the employer to conduct and the employees to participate in, despite the many benefits it offers. Changing this attitude towards training and building an environment that facilitates learning could address the lack of engagement during training and make the process a truly beneficial one for your workforce.
Why do you think there is often low learner engagement during training? Share your thoughts in the comments with us. Subscribe to The HR Digest for more insights on workplace trends, layoffs, and what to expect with the advent of AI.
