Getting People Engaged in Learning

Posted by Les Strachan April 17, 2014

Imagine that youe inested part o! your L"# budget on a years
access to an online learning library$
Initially, a!ter a big launch, people are e%cited that they hae access to such an e%tensie resource$
&o'eer, a!ter seeral months, only a hand!ul o! learners are accessing the library regularly$ (ost
people hae only logged in once or t'ice, and some hae become so tied up in their routine 'or)
that theye !orgotten that this great resource e%ists$
As an L"# pro!essional, youll )no' ho' important it is to get people engaged in their
deelopment, i! you 'ant to aoid situations li)e this$ *ut, doing this is easier said than done,
especially 'hen learning is sel!+directed$
In this post, 'ell e%plore some 'ays that you can get employees e%cited and engaged in their
learning$ Let us )no' your e%periences o! this by commenting belo'$
Identify Barriers to Engagement
,irst, its important to identi!y the barriers that can preent people !rom getting engaged in their
deelopment$
-ime is o!ten a ma.or !actor / i! people are busy, they 'ill li)ely prioriti0e more urgent 'or) oer
deeloping their s)ills$
Lac) o! in!ormation is another barrier / people 'ont get e%cited about learning i! they dont )no'
'hat resources are aailable, or i! they dont )no' ho' learning ne' s)ills 'ill bene!it them$
Its ital that your L"# team comes up 'ith a plan that addresses obstacles li)e these$
Develop a Targeted Communications Plan
1ou need to ie' getting learner buy+in as a necessity, not a lu%ury$ Its simply too costly not to
2sell3 learning interentions to your people, especially 'hen youre inesting a lot in training
resources$
-his means that you need to 'or) closely 'ith your internal communications team / and use your
o'n mar)eting s)ills / to come up 'ith a communications strategy to promote your learning
program$
As part o! this, consider using the concept o! mar)et segmentation to understand and address the
needs o! the di!!erent groups o! people in your organi0ation$
Also, measure the success o! your communications, and optimi0e your messages to ma%imi0e their
impact$
Aboe all, )eep learning at the !ore!ront o! eeryones minds$ 4se social media and other online
communication channels li)e email and your organi0ations intranet to promote ne' resources, and
to highlight peoples successes$
#ont !orget about more traditional media, too / regularly distribute posters, lea!lets, and brochures
in places 'here people congregate, as a reminder o! 'hats aailable$
Involve Employees in Developing Learning Programs
5mployees 'ill be more engaged in their learning program 'hen they hae a say in ho' it is set up$
6reate steering committees that include people !rom arious departments and leels in the
organi0ation$
Also, encourage employees to !eed bac) on their e%periences$ Listen to 'hat they say, and then do
something about this$
Get Support From Leaders
5mployees are less li)ely to engage 'ith their learning i! senior managers and e%ecuties dont sho'
support !or the organi0ations learning program$
-here!ore, you must ma)e sure that you get buy+in and support !rom the leadership team$
5ncourage them to lead by e%ample$ ,or instance, e%ecuties could blog about their o'n training
e%periences, and managers could share 'hat theye learned in team brie!ings$
Get Help From Learning Providers
I! you use e%ternal learning serices, remember that your proiders can also gie adice on getting
people engaged in their serices$
As) your proider !or adice on 'hat has 'or)ed 'ell in the other organi0ations that theye sered$
-heyll li)ely hae case studies that they can dra' on, and they may be able to proide supporting
resources such as dra!t communication plans, e%ample email se7uences, competency !rame'or)s,
and mar)eting materials$
Connect Learning it! or" #$%ectives and Life Goals
-o get buy+in, its important to communicate ho' speci!ic learning interentions 'ill help
employees achiee their 'or) ob.ecties and personal goals$
,irst, encourage managers to use tools such as (anagement by 8b.ecties to align their peoples
goals 'ith the organi0ations ob.ecties$ As) them to set team members speci!ic learning and
deelopment goals as part o! this$ -his helps to ma)e learning a part o! peoples regular 'or), 'hich
they can prioriti0e appropriately$
Also, encourage managers to as) their team members about their personal goals, so that they can
highlight ho' using aailable learning resources 'ill help them achiee these$
,inally, as) managers to re'ard people appropriately, 'hen they reach their learning ob.ecties$
!at pro$lems do you !ave &it! learner engagement in your organi'ation( !at strategies
!ave &or"ed for you(