As remote working became the norm in recent times, L&D professionals have taken the opportunity to evolve their learning experiences to suit the digital era.

Now, with most organizations preferring a hybrid work arrangement, L&D is looking at offering learning and development that is relevant to the diverse audiences based in remote locations as well as office setups. Given that majority of the workforce comprises of Millennials and Gen Z who are digital natives with a deep understanding of technology, it’s imperative that their learning follows suit.

In this article, we will look at some of the techniques that L&D teams can use to create engaging and impactful learning experiences for their people.

1. Offer Just in Time Learning

What’s in it for me? This is one question all learners of today ask and rightfully so. If they are dedicating their time and energy for learning amidst busy schedules, they deserve to get something seminal out of the whole experience.

Moreover, in the absence of live face-to-face training and development sessions, it’s necessary to make digital learning experiences as attractive and interactive as possible. This means learning programs have to be just-in-time, relevant, fun and easily accessible.

2. Harness the Power of Mobile Learning

Mobile learning is a tried and tested solution that is known to drive engagement. It is also a very useful mode to deliver effective, easy to consume, short nuggets of Microlearning videos. By harnessing the power of mobile, you can meet the learning expectations of Millennial and Gen Z learners as well as other cohorts in the workforce.

Your LMS app or mobile LMS need to be design-responsive so that learners can easily use and navigate it. The focus should be on creating a learning experience that sticks and enables learners to perform their daily roles better.

3. Leverage Social Learning

One of the most effective ways of creating learner engagement is by offering a space to learners where they can share their insights with their peers and experience a support culture within the organization. Several LMSs have in-built social networking tools to support peer-to-peer learning, coaching and more.

Social Learning is an important part of the learning strategy especially as people return to work post-Covid because they are likely to feel lost and confused. Social Learning helps provide a community of support.

4. Use Visual Mode to Catch Attention

Video and audio modes are proven ways to increase learner attention, engagement and retention. At a time when binge-watching video content is common, it helps to use videos for learning as well. Small, entertaining videos that are in easily digestible format can be sent to employees which they can access on their mobile devices anytime, anywhere.

Videos are also useful tools for sharing small how-to/instruction steps or short demonstrations as performance support tools to employees. They are great ways to convey information especially in remote work setups.

5. Focus on Knowledge Retention

Engaging learning experiences do not have to end with a course. Instead, the focus should be on how the knowledge can stick and can be retained long after the course is over. The idea should be to build a culture within the organization that encourages continuous learning that is relevant to job performance.

After all, successful corporate L&D programs should drive business goals to justify their value. In addition to regular coaching and mentoring, you can keep delivering refresher content or additional resources as needed to provide ongoing support.

Parting Thoughts

In order to create engaging experiences, L&D needs to adopt a wholesome approach that is not focussed on a single modality, but looks at holistic learning. Learning experiences need to be continuous, organic and should be a part of the flow of work. They need to be ingrained in the minds and hearts of learners so they are always actively learning.

5 Ways to Offer Engaging and Impactful Learning Experiences to Your Learners