The Top Challenges Leaders Face with Learning and How to Overcome Them

Organizations spend extensive time, energy and money training and developing their employees with learning, and yet 80% of those learners end up dropping out of their eLearning programs.

Regardless of industry, leaders face the same obstacles and challenges with their learning to create alignment in their organization. Below are the top challenges leaders face and how they can overcome them.

1. Taking people off the job for learning opportunities

Too many organizations, implementing traditional training programs, were required to take employees off the job and away from the workplace for days or even weeks at a time.  This was extremely costly and time consuming, plus their employees were receiving way too much information, way too quickly, so they couldn’t retain or retrieve the competencies and skills they just learned.

This can be solved with an eLearning program that follows a layered learning philosophy. This process allows learners to only invest 15 to 20 minutes weekly.  This gives them information in small, digestible doses that is easier to comprehend and retain. Plus, with mobile integration employees have an even more convenient way to experience the learning.

2. A lack of follow up and reinforcement

A lack of follow-up and reinforcement of learning principles is something many leaders struggle with. This has a lot to do with accountability and commitment to putting what their talent is learning into action.  An associate’s development is linked largely to support and involvement with his or her direct supervisor.  Leaders value being involved in the development process with their team.

The key to make sure the system maximizes the learners’ attention, engagement and commitment is designing the learning modules to focus on putting the learning principles into action.  Employees creating a deliverable action plan for their direct supervisors, instills accountability in both the learner and their leaders, to follow up and implement the learning they just received.

3. Low completion rates

On average, 8 out of 10 employees drop out of an eLearning program because they think it is too long, boring, or doesn’t focus on action planning and coaching. For companies, this turns into a waste of time and money without much ROI.

The key to success is offering a layered learning process that carries significant, measurable results.  Offering employees short, succinct lessons with mobile options in which they can learn in digestible doses will keep employees interested and retention rates high.

4. Boring, un-accessible content

When addressing a global audience, most eLearning has one blanket solution for every country with subtitles and voice over to address multi-languages.  Employees reject this eLearning considering it boring, long, and disrespectful since it has not been customized or made culturally relevant for them.

Instead, companies with global employees need to create a learning suite spoken in the native language, delivered with cultural sensitivity and relevance, without voice overs or subtitles.