Should Your Business Embrace a New Learning Culture? The Millennial Advantage

The benefits of online video training have been circulating with new releases of learning management systems (LMS) and are certainly the way of the future—especially with the wave of Millennial professionals that currently make up a large part of the workforce. Millennial-age students are commonly referred to as “digital natives.” They have been exposed to information technology from a young age, making technology and digital media the primary way to ingest information. Naturally, with the advent of sophisticated learning management systems (LMS), this is becoming the favored method of distributing important information.

While online video learning isn’t made for a younger generation exclusively, Millennials now make up the majority of global corporations and are driving changes in learning and employee training. It only makes sense to use an approach in the workplace that considers the way today’s students think and process information. Most companies have begun to embrace the use of LMS for training, or are at least aware of the benefits they may provide including increased productivity, higher engagement, and money saved along the way.

Discard Outmoded Materials

With a modern LMS, the ability to add video can be used as a method of retaining information. Many of today’s learners, especially Millennials, have adapted to learn more effectively when they are visually stimulated. The combination of text and images helps to retain the learned information, triggering memory above live lectures or reading the information on a page alone. Increasing engagement and interactivity through video content allows for greater creativity and the ability to present information in clear, digestible pieces that can be accessed again and again. Not to mention that online training is a great way to promote an expectation of bringing self-directed learning skills to the table and into a new position.

Consistency is Key

There are some benefits of having a friendly face in a live session of new hire onboarding, namely real-time responsiveness which can create dynamic, social interaction. However, often times, new employee meetings and live trainings reflect a room of sleepy faces, overwhelmed and disconnected from the overabundance of new protocols. Peer-to-peer learning can be an effective means of training; however, with live training, it’s almost never the case that information is delivered in a completely uniform way. With an LMS, you are able to onboard new employees and ensure that each and every team member receives identical information.

You reap the same benefit each time you change a policy, update trainings, or need to disseminate information quickly to select groups or companywide. You may not get the immediate feedback from a live discussion, but you can be sure that everyone is on the same page.

Greater Flexibility

One of the great benefits of online training is enhanced flexibility. Using an online training approach, learners have the ability to choose when and where they complete the assigned lessons and certifications. This is a major consideration for businesses who traditionally schedule live training. Integrating greater flexibility allows employees to manage their own schedule and complete lessons when they have greater access to concentration. It allows for different learning styles to be accommodated, namely visual, audio, and text for the same lesson to allow the training to reach different types of learners.

Consider a Blended Approach

Both online video training and face-to-face learning boast advantages for employee training. Ultimately, it is up to talented HR professionals and training teams to create the best training program for your organization. A blended approach can also be a useful way to design the best training program. Generally, an online training program is extremely successful and quite cost effective for onboarding new employees, strict procedural knowledge, and compliance training. Learning objectives that require recalling clear-cut facts and knowing the straightforward material is very easily adapted to online learning content.

It gets a little more complicated with complex material, interpersonal skills, requiring proper judgment for situational tasks, etc. However, even with more obscure lessons, it’s not an impossible feat to create engaging content that portrays a message. Talented managers, content creators, and leaders can likely create material that will, at the very least, introduce complex topics and provide follow-up questions that will reflect a basic understanding of the complicated topics.

The Take-Away

Incorporating an LMS for training and onboarding new employees will save time and money, in nearly any situation or challenge. The ability to track and report employee progress easily with an optimized dashboard is a great tool to gain valuable insight into what may or may not be working. Though every learning objective might not be achieved with the tools your LMS provides, engaging with advanced technology and talented leadership is the best way to meet the changing needs of today’s learners.