Motivating Employees to Learn

For some staff in many organisations just mentioning the words learning and training set off a whole bunch of moans and groans.  For others its a huge whoop as they think they are getting a day away from their everyday work.

But why these reactions?  Why be so negative when a business is investing time and money in its people?

It could be one of many things.  For example, from my experience people find training a chore when it becomes a tick box exercise, or they are being ‘sheep dipped’ through a programme.  Maybe its because they have had a bad experience with training such as a course that wasn’t interactive or enough wasn’t done to help them engage and buy into the ideas in the course.

Here are some things that can be done to help with motivating employees to learn:

Don’t use training as a fix all solution:  When a business finds a skills gap or someone under-performing,  sending them on a training course is a common solution.  But, take careful consideration before using a training course.  Will another method do such as mentoring or coaching?

Try to understand if the under-performance is down to some other reason i.e. problems at home or at work. If this is the case, training won’t fix the problem.

Ensure the learning is aligned to training needs:  Be sure that any training you commission links to training needs.  Use appraisal or performance management data to help understand what people need, not what you think they want.

Sell the benefits of training:  Don’t just send people on courses, ensure they understand the benefits of why they are going.  What will they get out of it and why will it be beneficial to them?

Ensure you pick the right provider:  Make sure that training is creative and engaging.  Try and avoid chalk and talk approaches and find something where people are given the opportunity to have their say and buy into the ideas being presented.

At Revolution Learning and Development Ltd we provide our delegates with ample opportunity to engage with the learning process.  Our solutions are creative and fun and we do what we can throughout to generate buy in to ideas by helping the delegates generate their own ides and developing actions.  We help with the process of motivating employees to learn.

We would love to talk to you about your next training and development needs.

We hope these ideas help you with motivating employees to learn in your business