5 Ways Digital Learning Keeps Your Hybrid Workforce Engaged

Did you know that, in the U.S., only 31% of employees are actively engaged with work? Businesses are struggling to keep their talent motivated and productive, and it can be especially challenging if you have a hybrid workforce. Top talent craves more flexibility in how and when they do their jobs, so it’s unlikely that hybrid and flexible arrangements will go away any time soon, especially for companies trying to attract the best of the best. However, even the highest performers can disengage when organizations don’t take measures to prevent apathy and disinterest.

If your organization offers hybrid schedules for your workforce, it’s essential that you’re proactive in keeping employees engaged with their roles. One way to achieve this is by offering continuous professional development opportunities that align your business objectives with workers’ individual career goals. Providing consistent and accessible training helps your organization avoid skill gaps, disengagement, and knowledge silos that ultimately impact productivity and performance.

The following five strategies can help you deploy training and development programs that keep your hybrid workforce engaged so your organization can reach its full potential.

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Strategy #1: Make Learning Flexible and Mobile-Friendly

With a hybrid workforce model, you need to provide flexible training and learning opportunities that fit into employees’ routines. Professional development workshops that are only offered in-person can be inconvenient or even inaccessible for your remote or partially remote employees. Engaging a hybrid workforce means providing flexible development opportunities that are conducive to in-office and remote work environments.

While synchronous workshops are a great way for people to share ideas and engage in meaningful discussions, not every employee will be able to attend live learning events. Recording training sessions and saving them in your learning management system (LMS) gives everyone the opportunity to learn from the presentation at a time that best meets their needs.

It’s also important to be flexible in how workers access your training content. Not every employee can be at their desk for long stretches of time. Choosing a mobile-friendly LMS to deliver your training content means employees can use any internet-enabled device to freshen up their skills. Mobile-friendly learning platforms can also make it easier for your employees to integrate training into their daily routines. For example, some people might prefer to start their day by completing a microlearning course on their phone while they ride the train to their office. Making your learning experiences flexible and mobile-friendly gives your employees more opportunities to enhance their skills and actively engage with your organization.

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Strategy #2: Ensure Accessibility for All Learners

Every employee has unique needs that must be addressed to optimize their performance. Just as some people thrive working remotely, others need the camaraderie of an in-office environment to be at their best. Learning is similar in that each employee’s accessibility needs are also unique. Your digital learning environments should empower every employee to engage with their roles and advance their careers, hence why prioritizing accessibility ensures that everyone has the same opportunity to access your training programs and enhance their skills.

Besides being good practice, ensuring accessibility needs are met is essential for meeting equity and compliance expectations. Your LMS should comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and include features like closed captions for videos, screen reader support, alt text on images, and keyboard navigation. Having a WCAG-compliant LMS means you can ensure that every employee, regardless of their support needs, can access and benefit from your professional learning courses.

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Strategy #3: Personalize and Gamify the Learning Experience

Your employees are likely to be more engaged when their learning feels both relevant and rewarding. Instead of one-size-fits-all training sessions, choose an LMS that offers personalized learning pathways for your employees. Tools like Open LMS’s Personalized Learning Designer (PLD) let you create custom professional development experiences for your employees that are individualized based on their learning needs and career aspirations. Personalized training keeps your workers engaged with content that directly relates to their current roles, as well as courses that will prepare them to succeed as they progress in their careers.

You can also encourage engagement by introducing interactive learning tools like gamification to turn passive training into active development. Gamified elements like badges, leaderboards, and quizzes can create friendly competition among your employees and encourage them to keep learning, training, and engaging with your organization.

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Strategy #4: Build a Culture of Continuous Learning

Embed learning into your everyday workflows, and create a business culture that values ongoing training to help your employees feel connected, empowered, and future-ready regardless of when and where they complete their work.

Get the ball rolling by encouraging your leaders to model continuous learning behaviors. Top-down learning initiatives can help your workforce see the value of taking time for professional development that keeps them engaged with their careers. Offer plenty of opportunities for employees at all levels to enhance their skills or deepen their knowledge, and recognize them when they achieve learning milestones. You can do this by awarding certificates or digital badges, or consider connecting competencies to rewards like merit bonuses or additional paid time off to attend industry conferences or events.

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Strategy #5: Choose the Right Learning Platform

Even with the best of intentions, your digital learning initiatives will be ineffective without the right learning platform. You need an LMS that can scale as your organization grows or your workforce needs evolve. Ensure your platform is capable of personalizing training experiences that meet the needs of your remote and in-house employees, and look for providers that prioritize accessibility and support. With the right tools at your fingertips, you can ensure that your hybrid employees remain engaged and productive no matter where they’re working.