Learning & Development Ideas To Boost Employee Engagement
With the lockdown restrictions becoming gradually more and more ease as the months tick by, many of the world’s workers are slowly returning to the workplace.
As a result of this, employers will be on the lookout for new and innovative ways capable of not only welcoming their staff back but also encouraging them to work smarter and faster at the same time.
One of the best ways to do precisely that is through learning and development.
Especially after spending months on end stuck inside, many employees will likely welcome the chance to have a bit of respite from at-home work and learn something new.
However, rather than the more conventional learning and development ideas you typically see and hear about, we thought we’d highlight some of the more unusual ideas to think about – from encouraging education in post-pandemic marketing to promoting storytelling at lunchtime.
Learn A New Work-Appropriate Skill
While it may be all well and good encouraging staff to learn skills relevant to their job role, why not allow them to learn something entirely different that could still benefit your business?
Every office and workplace has electrics, after all.
So, rather than relying on a potentially expensive electrician when issues arise, by training up one or two staff members on how to handle the basics of becoming an electrician, you could save both yourself and your business a lot of time and money.
Similarly, every business will benefit from having a good marketing strategy in place.
Therefore, instead of outsourcing all your marketing work, why not consider training up an interested internal staff member instead?
That way, you will effectively be killing two birds with one stone – improving your employee’s level of engagement while benefitting your business at the same time.
Encourage Storytelling
After spending months on end in the solitude of lockdown, the chances are your staff will be desperate to catch up with their colleagues, sharing their stories from the past year.
So, why not let them do so, but in a way that also encourages collaboration, improves learning and promotes employee engagement?
Whether it be through taking turns sharing stories about one another’s passions, something they learned during the pandemic or how they felt throughout it, learning and development don’t always need to be solely work-related.
By allowing your employees to engage with each other in this way and actively encouraging them to talk more openly, you should not only notice their productivity levels rise, but you could also significantly help keep a wide range of mental health issues at bay as well.
What’s more, research has shown that humans learn the most when being told a story.
Therefore, doing so could also help when it comes to brainstorming sessions and coming up with a more diverse range of ideas.
Ask for their input
OK, so this one might not seem ‘unusual on the face of it, but it is in the sense that most employers refuse to do it.
After all, why are you trying to force your learning and development ideas on your staff?
Wouldn’t it be much more practical to spend your time and money on avenues they think will benefit them instead of the other way around?
Asking for input from your staff about your businesses’ learning and development opportunities is a sure-fire way of making them feel included and valued as an employee.
Not only that, but it will also give you the chance to get to know your team better, making it easier to identify relevant – and more tailored – development plans.
This, in turn, can then have an incredibly positive knock-on effect; as they say, a happy team is a productive team.
Final thoughts
Providing your staff with the opportunity to learn and develop their skills is vital at the best of times, but it’s arguably now more important than ever in light of the pandemic.
However, by utilising the ideas listed above and promoting a more welcoming workplace atmosphere, you will be able to establish a workforce that’s not only more engaged with their work but a lot happier in doing so as well.
