What’s Hot in Training Trends?

The training industry is in a state of constant evolution as corporate travel budgets shrink and the use of technology grows, but what are some of the hottest trends currently? Let’s take a look at a few that are garnering attention:

Online training– One of the big advantages of online training is that it can be customized for the participants. For example, if a participant is doing well, heor shecan move on. However, if a trainee needs to go more in depth on a particular topic, that can be easily done – without holding up everyone in the class. This is an advantage over classroom training, where, if you spend too much time on one area, you risk losing the participants’ interest. With online training, learning can be done on a micro level.

Another advantage of online training is that you can collect data on how much participants are actually learning. Forexample, you can see that some participants clicked for additional information more often, so they may need more training on a particular topic. In the classroom, you may or may not know how much participants are picking up.

CogBooks and Brainshark are just two examples ofplatforms that can help with virtual training, which can be implemented asynchronously in different time zones around the world. The same material covered in classroom training can be covered in the virtual training session through the use of online exercises, videos and other activities. This way, you can train at a macro or micro level.

Gamification in training– If you can make learning fun, attendees are more likely to participate. With the explosion of gaming (over 75% of people are gamers – 50% casually and 27% moderately to fairly often[i]), it only makes sense to try to leverage it as a training tool. Some of the benefits of incorporating gamification in elearning include:

• Illustrating progress
• Increasing engagement
• Creating challenges
• Instilling a sense of accomplishment  
• Increasing social aspects

Reaching millennials– With millennials growing in number in the workforce and boomers dropping out, social media is playing a bigger role in training now. Reaching millennials through mobiledevices, gamification and socialmediaison the rise, as itshould be.

When social media is used in training, the facilitator isn’t the only “teacher,” as participants can comment and chat with each other. Facilitators can also leverage the use of messaging software on phones and on forums tied to LMS or CRM. Social media can also be used before the session to gather data from participants. Training can even continue after the session via social media.

As always, training is about figuring out what works best for your audience and then tailoring the methods and the material accordingly. What’s most effective with one group may not work as well with others, so staying open to changing things up is key. Leveraging the trends to your advantage can enhance your training program so you can deliver training that will stick with participants long after the session ends.