5 tips for implementing Employee-generated Learning

How to build an effective Employee-generated Learning strategy

We’ve compiled five key tips to set you up for success as you implement Employee-generated Learning:

1. Develop a user-friendly toolkit that makes it simple for users to create training

Develop a central hub where users can find and share knowledge on how to create training. Make it as appealing and as easy to use as possible. It could be a wiki, an Intranet page, a WordPress site, or even part of your Learning Management System (if you have one).

Within that hub, develop and/or curate key resources, including industry best practices, how to get started/create training content, examples, brand, and/or graphics guidelines, templates, how/where to share finalized content, and how to reach the learning team with questions and feedback. You might even develop a wizard or a set of questions that helps users figure out what they need and whether training is really the answer for their business issue.

2. Provide a platform that enables users to easily create and share training content

Give users access to an intuitive platform for developing and deploying content; don’t expect them to go find one on their own. E-learning software for non-e-learning experts has to be easy and intuitive to use, with templates to create content and strong technical support from the tool provider.

The Learning and Development team can play a strategic role in helping source a solution like Easygenerator and then continue to provide guidance and enablement to users, teaching subject matter experts.

3. Promote the use of video

The use of video for training continues to skyrocket – in large part because it’s accessible on any connected device, and also because it’s affordable to create using tools at hand, like a smartphone. Video can complement e-learning courses and even be embedded within them. It adds a level of personalization and connectedness – and users can generate their own video as quickly as content changes.

4. Leverage feedback and analytics

Solicit user feedback and gather analytics to continually improve what you offer. User feedback can come from a variety of sources, including comments on an enterprise social network, ratings on the quality of a course, and emails and conversations. The important thing is to pay attention to what users are saying about the quality and value of the training to them.

Leverage back-end analytics to track usage and performance-related data that are relevant to your business: e.g. volume of users, geographic location of users, content viewed, average time spent in a course, or number of questions answered incorrectly in a course. Together with user feedback, you’ll have a goldmine for ways to improve existing and future training.

5. Remember that Employee-generated Learning is not the answer to everything

Employee-generated training is not appropriate in all situations; the industry of the enterprise and its internal culture will dictate many of these. For example, safety and compliance training is typically seen as high stakes and may not be handed off to users. Follow the guiding principles in your organization – but don’t be afraid to challenge them either. Employee-generated Learning can be very effective; start small and prove its value.

More tips for making Employee-generated Learning a success

To learn more about implementing Employee-generated Learning in your organization, read our Employee-generated Learning guide. Or you can see how three enterprises successfully implemented Employee-generated Learning in this eBook.