HR Trend: Personalize Learning to Develop Employees

In today's fast-paced digital age, e-learning has become an indispensable tool for individuals and organizations alike. From onboarding and sales training to company policies and compliance awareness, providing electronic learning materials to develop and educate employees has never been more accessible. 

While most companies have invested in at least a basic format of e-learning, many have discovered the advantages of taking this initiative one step further by developing customized learning paths for employees. 

What are customized learning paths? 

A customized (or personalized) learning path is a unique roadmap created for an individual person to help them learn according to their own needs, interests, and aspirations. 

Customized learning paths allow employers to tailor the learning experience to individual employees’ needs and goals and focus on areas where they need improvement. By tailoring the learning paths to each employee's unique learning style and preferences, organizations can maximize the effectiveness of their training programs and drive better results for the business. 

Why should I spend time developing personalized learning paths for employees? 

There are several key benefits to creating customized learning paths that play a role in the success of your employees and the organization. 

1. Facilitate Engagement

When employees experience a learning journey designed to their specific needs and interests, they have more potential to be actively engaged in the learning process. This level of engagement not only improves their motivation and enthusiasm for learning but also enhances their overall performance and productivity in the workplace.  

When employees are more engaged and motivated, they have higher job satisfaction and are less likely to leave your company. 

2. Improve Learning Outcomes

Your organization can tailor the learning content to meet individual needs while your employees focus on areas that need improvement. This allows team members to explore diverse topics and develop new skills at their pace, resulting in increased performance and better learning outcomes from targeted instruction. 

For example, your entire team may need to learn about workplace safety, but individual employees may have different styles of learning. One approach to customized training may involve using gamified or interactive e-learning modules to help cater the content to participants based on their individual preferences and needs.  

3. Promote a Learning Culture

Implementing customized learning paths will encourage a culture of continuous learning within your organization. When employees can equip their learning experience, they feel empowered and motivated to take ownership of their professional development. 

This type of culture promotes a perspective of growing and upskilling, where employees are likely to seek out command over skills to improve their performance. They become more likely to be innovative, collaborative, and contribute to your company’s positive work environment.  

A regimented or customized learning path can help provide a path towards the next promotion or raise. Not all learning paths need to have a carrot, but if it fits within your structure to offer additional compensation or perks for an employee getting certified or obtaining a license somewhere, that is another great way of promoting a learning culture.  

4. Foster Flexibility and Convenience

Customized learning paths offer flexibility and convenience to your employees as they access learning materials and resources at their own pace and schedule, effectively balancing their work and learning commitments. This flexibility ensures that your team learns in a way that suits their different learning styles and preferences.  

How are e-learning modules tailored to individual employees? 

A personalized learning environment for employees can look like any of the following: 

1. Personalized Learning Path

Customized learning paths are tailored to an individual’s specific goals and needs. This involves offering a range of learning activities and resources for students to choose from to align with their personalized learning strategies and interests.  

2. Self-Paced Learning

Self-paced learning allows employees to take control of their own learning process at a comfortable speed. This provides a way for them to progress through the material at their own pace and revisit any areas they find challenging. 

Self-paced learning also creates a sense of ownership for the employee and can help demonstrate to leadership the employee’s thirst to take charge of their own development.  

3. Interactive Content

Incorporating interactive elements such as quizzes, simulations, and multimedia resources that are tailored to the individual’s personalized learning approach help engage students and make the experience more immersive.  

4. Mobile Learning Experience

In today's mobile-driven world, tailoring e-learning means making it accessible on-the-go. Mobile learning programs provide your team with the flexibility to access training materials and resources from anywhere at any time. This includes mobile-friendly user interfaces and responsive designs that adapt to different screen sizes.  

How do you know if personalized learning paths are working for employees? 

To determine the effectiveness of your employee's personalized learning plan, you can receive reports from self-assessment tools and interactive quizzes, as well as real-time feedback from instructors or peers. These reports and feedback will help you identify areas for improvement and track growth.  

What options are available for e-learning as a team? 

If you are looking for customized e-learning for group settings, you can create interactive modules, case studies, and scenarios that are relevant to the team's industry or projects. These activities simulate real-world scenarios that are relevant to your team's work, allowing them to apply their knowledge and problem-solving skills in a collaborative setting.  

What are the benefits of e-learning as a team? 

E-learning platforms can provide tools and features that enable team members to interact with each other, share ideas, and collaborate on projects. This includes features like discussion boards, video conferencing, and file sharing tools.  

By offering a team e-learning program, you can enhance engagement, foster collaboration, improve communication, and strengthen retention efforts. 

Are personalized learning paths affordable? 

Businesses that have invested in customized learning paths have discovered cost savings in time, employee development, improved communications, enhanced productivity, and higher employee retention. 

As an example of time savings, consider a business that wishes to enhance the communication skills of its staff. While one employee may need assistance with public speaking, another might struggle to communicate effectively via email. Rather than assigning all employees to a general communication training course, the company can instead design individual learning paths for each worker according to their skill level and needs.  

Where can I find resources for e-learning programs and personalized learning paths? 

Our Stratus HR software, SplashTrack, offers a learning paths function that is available as part of our standard services with no additional surcharge to clients. For more information about e-learning programs and creating customized learning paths, talk with your certified HR expert.  

Not a current Stratus HR client? Book a free consultation and our team will contact you shortly.