The value of personalised staff training paths

Personalisation is something marketers have adopted for many years to enhance consumer engagement and increase sales. In today's technologically advanced climate, we too are constantly fed with content-based experiences tailored to the specifics of who we are and what we need as individuals.

Due to the normalisation of this personalised phenomenon and the era of employee disengagement, it is crucial to take the same approach and apply it to the world of employee development. Therefore, we recommend you start to implement employee upskilling through personalised staff training paths.

What is a personalised staff training path?

A personalised staff training path is a customised learning solution that allows employees to gain exposure to the knowledge and skills needed to advance in their careers. This type of training process is tailored for each employee's unique learning style, needs, background and former working experiences, and it involves a collection of thoughtfully grouped lessons, activities, assessments and goals that are relevant, targeted and goal-centered.

A recent study has indicated that a number of learning and development professionals believe employee training is vital to optimal employee engagement in the traditional workplace. Without changing how training employees is delivered, companies run the risk of disengaging employees in this significant career growth area. Therefore, if organisations want to start improving employees' learning experiences and overall work ethic, a traditional one-size-fits-all training program is not the answer. Instead, creating customised learning paths for each employee and developing individual goals is the solution.

Creating personalised staff training paths not only shows employees you support their growth as individuals and in teams, but it also provides them with structure. It is important to note that no two employee training paths will be the same as every individual employee has different strengths and weaknesses, as well as knowledge and skills needed for their specific role.

By providing your workforce with employee training and offering them the opportunity to take charge of their training and upskill themselves with new knowledge and skills relevant to their career goals, organisations can generate innovation, boost engagement, increase revenue and decrease turnover rate. This is what personalised training paths are all about.

To ensure you promote employee growth in the workplace, you need to consider the value of an employee training path that is custom-tailored to each employee’s needs.

The value of a personalised staff training path

Here are a few ways in which personalised staff training paths can bring value to individual employees, the workforce as a whole and the organisation:

It beats the learning clock

Personalised career path training solutions reduce the time it takes your staff members to engage with and understand a new subject. This is because it serves to eliminate content not relevant to an employee's experience level and career goals. This not only saves the learner time on learning concepts that will not serve the learner well but also serves to save the time of those responsible for setting up and managing career-pathing training and development programs.

It boosts information retention

Because this form of learning is tailored to suit the individual employee, and is relevant and effective, your employees can properly engage with the presented information, making it more likely to stick.

When a personalised training path connects each piece of the puzzle, employees will be able to better recall the details of what's being learned by linking it to existing knowledge and experiences and retaining information for much longer.

It optimises staff training outcomes

Studies have shown that a personalised training approach yields better working results. This method presents employees with content that is relevant, engaging, actionable, and memorable while elevating the learning and working experience.

The result is an employee who is pleased with their training, is better at their job and has been given the opportunity to use the information learned to climb the ladder of career-pathing success.

It generates a healthy staff training culture

By implementing personalised employee training paths in your organisation, you, in turn, build a healthy training culture that also improves the employee experience. Each individual in your workforce learns differently, and by meeting employees' expectations of what they need to be trained on, you show that you care for them and their development at a personal level.

Additionally, this training method opens up opportunities for greater and quicker career advancement, increasing the likelihood that new employees will want to work with your organisation.

It motivates from the inside out

Employees are consistently looking for working environments offering online or on-the-job training opportunities for growth in leadership skills and other areas, and will stay longer in roles that provide them with this. A learning or training program connected to something relevant will increase motivation and equip them to perform better, which will, in turn, make a better business impact. This is especially true if the learning material contains helpful information that is actionable for the present or near-future scenarios.

It heightens employee engagement

When content is both personalised and relevant, learning is inevitably more engaging. For example, an employee is more likely to interact with and be enthusiastic about learning content that speaks to their current role, projects, or work area. High employee engagement levels mean better work and produce a happier workforce and reduce staff turnover. 

How to create personalised staff training paths

Now that you are aware of all the various ways in which personalised training paths can benefit employees and companies, the question to ask is: how can you start providing effective personalised training paths?

To create tailored training paths, we recommend you follow these steps:

Determine individual employees’ goals and objectives

While creating personalised training paths, you should take the time to find out what your employees’ needs are, for example, what don’t they know, how do they learn best, et cetera. This way, you can start to identify how you might want to structure the employee training path, and what training materials you might need.

Provide upskilling opportunities

Once you’ve determined their needs and identified the training materials, you can identify what opportunities you can provide for them to upskill themselves. This allows you to create structured paths and control in which order courses are completed.

You can also create an online content library where employees have the opportunity to pick and choose any additional training they may want to complete.

Promote self-paced learning

It’s no secret that each person has their individual learning style and preference, as well as the ability to learn and grasp new information. Therefore, it is important to note that without a personalised training path, employees will be forced to stick to a specific learning style and pace, which can make training employees ineffective.

Incorporate progress tracking

As your employees progress through their training, it is essential they have some type of method to periodically track their progress. This way, employees can determine what training they have completed, what they have already completed, and what they still need to focus on.

One way to incorporate progress tracking is to encourage your employees to develop their own timelines that clearly outline their short- and long-term goals. Then, break these down into smaller tasks, so it is easy to track.

Set realistic expectations and milestones

One of the main reasons why employee training and development programs often fail is because they are prepared without any milestones or end goals in sight. This not only demotivates employees to continue advanced training but also wastes money, time and effort for all of those involved. Therefore, it is important for each of your employees to have specific goals they are working towards; ensure these goals are achievable, so your employees are motivated to train and excel in the workplace. By developing employee training paths and setting realistic expectations and milestones, you are systematically driving the employee to upskill themselves.

By following these simple steps, you can create a personalised employee training path for your employees to increase their knowledge and skills on their own, allowing them to further their careers.

Alternatively, using digital training platforms' latest software, such as Lesson Desk's career pathing feature, Training Specialists can automate proficiency mapping and identify knowledge and skill gaps to create standardised training portfolios for each career path and employee. With this tool, personalised training paths can be easily set up and allow you to effectively enrol staff members to get started on their meaningful journey to success.

For more information about how Lesson Desk's e-learning solution can start giving your staff a competitive advantage, contact our learning and development specialists at learn@lessondesk.com or visit our website.