21 Strategies To Skyrocket Participation And Learner Engagement
Want to make your training STICK? Team up with LEADx ?to build a leadership series that weaves together group coaching, personalized nudges, and micro-learning.
---
“We want growth and development,” most employees say.
“We’re too busy to attend your training program or to take the online learning,” they also say.
I spoke to over one hundred heads of leadership development, and the common challenge is getting busy, overwhelmed employees to actually sign-up, show up, and participate in learning and development (L&D) offerings.
Based on psychological principles of persuasion and behavior change, here are twenty-one ways L&D professionals can maximize attendance and engagement.
1. Gain Manager Support
Nothing will drive engagement and motivation like having a manager who genuinely cares about your training and personal development. Adobe Director of D&I Talent Development, Angela Szymusiak, runs a Women in Leadership program with an impressive 34% promotion rate into Director-level and above positions. After a decade of running and improving this program, Szymusiak found that “increasing interaction with managers” was her most impactful adjustment. Here are three specific ways she increases manager involvement:?
She gives her high-potential leaders specific questions to bring up in their one-on-ones. For example:
She meets monthly with her learners’ managers. She fills the managers in on what’s happening and how they can best support their employees through the Women in Leadership program. If meeting with your participants’ managers isn’t realistic, or if you want to bolster that meeting with something physical, use a Pull Through Guide. A Pull Through Guide houses checklist items and critical topics in one clean place for busy managers. Managers can check with the sheet to help participants ground their learnings on the job.?
She facilitates an end-of-program, three-way meeting between the high-potential leader, their manager, and their executive coach. The participant shares vital learnings, how they want to continue growing, and how their manager can sustainably support them.
For a detailed example of mixing participants’ managers directly into your training program, read:?
2. Award Digital Credentials for Full Engagement with Your Program
Digital credentials (i.e., badges and certifications) offer tangible value to learners. Like a degree, learners carry their credentials forever as proof of what they learned.?
Digital credentials can serve as a map of ideal engagement with your program; you can specify your own badge criteria by program. For example, to earn a completion badge, learners might be required to:
At Grant Thornton, learners could choose between Badge-Earner and No-Badge. To earn a badge, participants had to complete an extensive set of criteria, including components like on-the-job practice, discussions, cohort work, and self-paced learning. The year after the training program, Badge-Earners outperformed Non-Badge-Earners across their top three performance metrics:?
For more information on digital badges, read:
3. Use the 3-to-1 Model To Focus On Real World Application
Communicate the value of your program by making on-the-job application exercises a significant part of your program (if not the majority). The 3-to-1 model is a powerful way to ensure on-the-job application gets its due attention. Here’s how it works: For each formal learning, design and deliver three on-the-job application exercises.
For example, let’s say you want your managers to give more effective feedback. Your “curriculum” would become an action learning journey:
Rather than “suggesting” these application activities during weeks two through four, you treat this time as more important than week one. You:
Here’s an example of the 3-to-1 model laid out over six months for New Managers.?
4. Deliver Personalized Nudges
Nudges engage learners by delivering bite-size, personalized, and applicable information. A good nudge concisely reinforces essential information. A great nudge will offer a strategy to apply based on a learner’s assessment results or target behaviors.?
Here’s an example where “Jenny” receives two nudges. The first nudge helps Jenny practice applying her Positivity strength. The second nudge reminds her of her team member’s Activator strength and how Jenny should help leverage that strength as a manager.?
5. Share Testimonials from Successful Alums
Testimonials provide social evidence of your program’s value, grounding it in positive, relatable outcomes. It can be helpful to think of alum testimonials as falling into two types:?
In either case, avoid vague, positive language and unnecessary rambling. Try to get testimonials that are as clear and concise as possible.?
Here’s a case example of a long testimonial:?
Our Women in Leadership Program helped me connect to my authentic self, find my unique voice, and communicate my value. I was promoted to Director level within one year of this program. By actively participating in this program, I am now part of a community of smart, passionate women for years to come.
—Director of Product Development
Here’s a case example of a short testimonial:
After working through this program, my team’s engagement scores increased by seven points.
—Manager of Customer Support
For a few more examples of internal testimonials, read:
6. Follow Up with Participants Individually
Reaching out to participants who no-show or seem to be falling behind can be a highly effective engagement tactic, although also time-consuming. Consider your program, your audience, and how you approach your follow-up. A reminder of the benefits of the program and sincere offers of help can go a long way to getting them back on track. If participants are in a nomination-based program, they can be reminded that they took a slot that many others were fighting for.?
7. Deliver Micro-Learning in the Flow of Work
If employees claim they are “too busy” to attend your workshops or to complete multi-hour eLearning programs, change the delivery to bite-size modules delivered in the flow of work.?
At Sam’s Club, store Associates spend all their hours on the floor in front of customers. Instead of pulling Associates off the floor for days-long training sessions, they delivered micro-learning on handheld devices. Since Associates use their phones to do their job (i.e., check inventory and availability of products), incorporating micro-learning into their workflow was natural and highly effective. Plus, with the content available on their phones, Associates could pull up learning on-demand to recall valuable strategies and ideas.
For more detail on Sam’s Club’s learning delivery, read:?
8. Design and Launch an Ongoing Communication Campaign
Your goal with internal communication and marketing is to be clear, quick, and concise. Don’t just deliver a stream of pesky reminders that your participants inevitably tune out. Instead:?
The Gold Standard for Internal Communication: Your internal communication helps spark peer learning. Your participants respond to “drips,” discuss challenges, and share their experiences.
The Platinum Standard for Internal Communication: Your internal communication network becomes a platform and community for ongoing learning. Alums continue to participate and practice your monthly topics (and sometimes those topics become especially relevant to them at a specific moment). Learners and alums discuss ideas and strategies, share experiences, and establish a long-term support network.
For an example of internal communication that achieves the Platinum Standard, read:?
9. For Professional Services Audiences: Make Training Billable
Since many professional services employees bill their hours, they can be a challenging audience to engage. Each hour of training can feel to them as though it’s at direct odds with their performance.?
Duck Creek Technologies had a simple yet brilliant solution: They worked with their CEO to make it so professional services employees could record up to three hours of training per week as billable.?
领英推荐
For more detail on Duck Creek’s approach to training and engagement, read:
10. Add Monthly or Quarterly Coaching to Your Program as “Checkpoints” in the Learning Journey
Coaching helps establish engaging checkpoints throughout your learners’ journeys. If learners know they have a monthly or quarterly coaching session around what they’re learning, they’ll be much more likely to complete work between sessions.?
As a bonus, monthly coaching (one-on-one or group) also gives learners an opportunity to talk through challenges they face as they apply what they learned. This helps bridge the gap between “ideas” and “practicality.” Group coaching, which is the most cost-effective way to add coaching, also has the added benefit of building a peer network and letting learners hear about each others’ challenges and learnings.?
11. Use Metrics: Test, Re-Test, and Pulse in Between
Measuring your leaders’ performance before training shows them exactly where they stand to improve. Measurement midway through training helps show leaders their progress (or lack thereof). And measurement at the end of the program adds an objective form of accountability.?
For example, a CAT Scan (Cultural Analysis of a Team) survey shows leaders how their team is doing in terms of team culture and engagement. When your leader sees specific areas for improvement, they feel more engaged and motivated to improve on those behaviors. They see a metric tied to a particular behavior they need to impact. A test-retest process can also work well with an engagement survey, 360 assessment, or even a self-assessment.?
For more consistent measurement throughout your program, use pulse surveys to check progress. For example, if your leader’s goal is to have more effective one-on-one meetings, you can pulse their direct reports halfway through the program to ask, “Have you had a good conversation with your manager in the last two weeks?”
Metrics are a more objective form of accountability that helps remind leaders of the purpose of training. Metrics help leaders put a number on their improvement.?
For more information on using pulse surveys to motivate learners, read:?
12. Assign Senior Learning Champions or Mentors
Champions and mentors help ground your training in reality and signal its importance.?
Champions are senior leaders who go through the training program alongside learners. Champions chime in with stories and examples of how they have applied learnings on the job.?
Similarly, you can pair senior leaders with your learners to have monthly or quarterly mentorship meetings. In these meetings, senior leaders act as mentors. Mentors ask learners about critical skills and behaviors, and then mentors share examples of how they apply those skills on the job.?
For more detailed examples of mentorships, read:?
13. Involve Your CEO and C-Level
Senior executive advocacy signals your program’s value. Five minutes of a senior executive’s time can create an outsized impact. Try to ask your CEO or executive to:?
The idea is to ask for something that takes minimal time but helps you a lot.?
If you have substantial senior buy-in already, you might ask for deeper involvement. At Keysight Technologies, for example, their CEO holds a yearly meeting where top company leaders discuss company strategy and define the leadership behaviors needed to deliver on that strategy. They take those behaviors and cascade training content through the company.
For an example of CEO-led leadership development, read:
14. Make Sure Your Content Is Relevant And Applicable
This strategy sounds like common sense, but it isn’t practiced often enough. Remember to consistently show the relevance and applicability of your program. Ideally, your training is relevant and applicable on an individual level and a company level. To hit both, connect your initiative to the following:?
Once you know the relevance and applicability on both the individual and the company level, remember to incorporate it early and often.?
15. Sign a Pledge or Contract?
Group pledges can help inspire your learners and motivate them to drive change together. At a leading restaurant chain, for example, learners all sign one giant banner at the start of the program to commit to learning. The first person to sign the banner is their CEO (a nice combination with strategy 13). They display the banner in their office throughout the program.?
A contract can also be a more personal, reflective tool. An effective contract may also serve as a reflective tool that helps your learners consider the benefits of training and the potential barriers to their success. By considering the likely benefits and challenges, your participants will build a more realistic vision of success.?
Here’s a sample of a reflective contract signed only by the learner:?
16. Generate Buzz around Your Program with Raffles, Prizes, And Awards?
Get creative with prizes and awards to generate buzz around learning. At a leading restaurant chain, for example, their leadership development team offers raffles with prizes that range from airplane tickets to lunch with the CEO. It’s a simple way to boost engagement and get people talking about learning.
17. Channel Grassroots Energy to Foster a Culture of Learning
Ironically, often people’s interest in programs increases when it’s not delivered by HR or L&D. Enlisting respected team members with different expertise can increase credibility and interest. Consider employee-led TED Talks, more official employee-led learning, or “upskilling” from within. Similarly, peer-learning circles or peer-coaching circles are an affordable, scalable way to develop team members without structured classes.
The idea on your end is simple. Create a platform or system to help employees express topics of interest and to enable subject matter experts to share their expertise.?
For examples of grassroots learning, read:?
Seven Valuable Lessons in Leadership Development from AML RightSource , specifically #5 about their internal TED talk platform.?
Four Strategies Guidewire Uses To Develop Great Leaders , specifically #3, about their grassroots approach to fostering a culture of learning.?
18. Hold “Office Hour” Style Coaching
An “office hour” approach fosters engagement by addressing real problems first, then learning second. Employees come in with questions and challenges they’re facing. A coach or trainer then helps solve that problem using the learning frameworks from your program. At LEADx, we built out a live messaging system where learners can send messages directly to expert coaches asking about problems they’re facing as they apply what they learned.?
19. Make Your Training TIMELY
Grab your learners’ attention by training them around a specific, highly-relevant challenge. At Nestlé, for example, they train at the moment someone transitions from individual contributor to people leader. They simulate and train around the most common challenges faced during that transition. For instance, how do you manage the person who was your peer a week ago??
For more detail on timely training, read:?
20. Tailor and Customize Training at the Team Level
Specific teams and departments may benefit from training around particular skills. For instance, a customer care team may struggle with high-stakes conversations. By pinpointing that problem and building training around it, you almost guarantee engagement. Tailoring at the team level ensures that every learner sees the connection between training and their performance.
For an example of “diagnosed” learning, read:?
?? Six Key Ingredients to Culture-infused Learning At Wix , specifically #6.?
21. Create Content in Response to Need Areas
During your training, look for areas where learners struggle to grasp or apply an important concept or skill. Then, build out guides, infographics, and video lessons that address that specific challenge.?
For an example of “diagnosed” learning, read:?
?? Six Key Ingredients to Culture-infused Learning At Wix , specifically #5.
Apply These Strategies One At A Time
Rather than try to implement all twenty at once, we recommend picking one or two that best fit your audience, budget, resources, and style. Commit to making that strategy work. Once that strategy becomes a fixture in your program, choose another and commit. Before long, you’ll have a set of tactics that spark engagement sewn into the fabric of your program.?
If you found this interview valuable, please:
Gründer (Neuroleadership Akademie), Leadership-Trainer & Coach, Professor "Angewandte Neurowissenschaften", Keynote-Speaker, Transformator & stolzer Vater
1 年Whao! Great article. Thanks for sharing. So helpful.
?? Applied Neuroscientist and Neurotech Advisor. Organisational Training consultant: Brain Health, Brain Skills and Brain Performance | Neurodiversity & Inclusion | International speaker.
1 年Great article. I'm using neuroscience-based strategies to increase participation and leadership skills. I find the robust evidence-base is popular, especially among leaders in more scientific fields like engineering. ??
Leadership Expert & Learning Strategist | Your New Chief Learning Officer or Leadership Consultant
1 年Great article, Kevin! I appreciate the links to additional content/examples that you included.
Associate Director of Employee Experience - Secondment at Moorfields Eye Hospital
1 年Great piece and very generous content. Thank you.
Director of Sales Training
1 年Great list Kevin! I’m kinda thinking that if someone hasn’t been a long time training insider (and watched millions of dollars wasted on training that went nowhere), they might not fully appreciate your list. But I do! Upper and middle managers often think that training is magic…and it’s not.