How To Train Remote Employees More Effectively

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Remote work is here to stay. Research suggests that many employees are working from home much longer than many of us originally anticipated at the beginning of the pandemic. According to Willis Towers Watson, experts estimated that by the end of 2021, up to 30% of American employees will be working remotely at least some of the time. This is up from 3.6% of American employees worked from home prior to the pandemic. This means that as employees work remotely, companies will need to find ways to facilitate training for new and current employees. Here are some key strategies they can leverage to improve their training for employees working remotely.

1. Respect Everyone’s Time

Both employees and employers worry about the time it takes to complete training. According to the LinkedIn’s annual Workplace Learning report, 50% of employees said that they did not have the time to learn at work. Even as 94% said they saw the career benefits of making the time to learn. Given the additional requirements many people have at home, it is safe to assume that time is even more valuable now than it was before. Employees often feel like time spent on learning takes away from achieving their business goals. One way you can encourage your employees to spend more time learning is by rewarding them for their time spent on learning. This means that you should consider some way of measuring learning in your evaluation process. This also means keeping the content clear and succinct so that employees spend only the time necessary to complete the trainings. Micro-learning videos are a good way that employers can offer useful information in a way that requires little time. It is also important to understand and reinforce that training in itself is a good use a time. On Jotform.com, Aytekin Tank writes “People thrive in environments where they’re permitted to be curious and creative, and where they’re introduced to novel ideas. Don’t waste other people’s time by neglecting these opportunities, by failing to offer enrichment or by turning them into drones.”

2. Make the Content Relevant

Given that employees have a number of business duties and tasks outside of development, ensuring that training is relevant to the employee is of the utmost importance. This means being purposeful about the training you assign to employees. Consider the timing of the training and verify that the training is given at a time when it will be most effective. Many employees will be frustrated if they have to redirect their efforts from their tasks to focus on training if the training isn’t relevant to them. Michelle Benjamin writes on Business 2 Community, “Employees dread trainings which have no relevance to their daily work. As a result, many are not engaged and refuse to participate. Pick your course offerings and participants carefully. Make certain that the course material is relevant and will help the participants now and in their immediate future.” It is important to map out the skills and core competencies that your employees need and facilitate training that bridge the gap. It is also important to note, that encouraging meetings where employees can learn from each other should not be forgotten even if it looks differently for a remote workforce than it would in the office.

3. Make the content engaging

Training that is engaging can help to improve employee participation, facilitate deeper learning and retention, and support employees in applying the knowledge in their work. Employees want interactive training that feels natural. To this point, Isha Sood writes, “Interactivity and engagement go hand in hand. Since the classroom is online and you cannot observe your learners face-to-face, you need a mechanism to ensure that they interact with content and are not distracted.” By making training that is engaging and easy to use, companies make it easy for remote employees to engage with the material. Interactive training should also give the employees the opportunity to provide real-time feedback and get answers to questions almost instantly, which can contribute to a deeper understanding of the material. Another way that employers can make training engaging is by creating multiple options for employees to learn the material. For example, a short monthly email of management tips can be complemented with a video that offers the same content. While some employees will opt to only read the e-mail and ignore the video, others will watch only the video. In this scenario employees will benefit even more if they do both as they will have reinforced the same material and hopefully solidified their understanding. Be sure to include the same information or employees will feel forced to complete both so not to miss anything, which can be an added burden as opposed to an added option.

4. Make the business case

According to the LinkedIn Workplace Learning report, 94% of employees said they would stay longer at a company that invested in development. To elaborate, this illustrates that companies offering development opportunities are likely to benefit from higher employee retention. Furthermore, research done by Middlesex University’s institute for work-based learning found that 74% of employees surveyed felt that they were not achieving their full potential at work due to lack of development opportunities. This means that a lack of training and development is a missed opportunity to fully utilize talent and potentially increase profitability and competitiveness. Employees need to be sure that learning is an effective use of their time and that it is a worthwhile investment. This means that the organization should have a culture of learning so that employees understand the organizational value of developing themselves. Kambira Dumesnil writes, “A learning culture is important because it helps you capitalize on your employees’ potential and grow your business. From employee engagement to increased productivity, a learning culture is something every organization should strive to develop.” Creating a learning culture reinforces the business case for learning and subtly gives employees permission to seek out opportunities for growth.