It is clear that employee training is more important than ever. Enterprises operate in an ever-changing business environment, which is causing skills gaps that are limiting their ability to stay competitive.
87% of executives expect to experience or see skill gaps in the next few years. PWC also found that 55% of businesses were unable in 2019 to innovate efficiently due to a lack of skills in their organizations. Demand is increasing in certain key areas, but there are still a few skilled talent shortages.
However, employee training remains vital for traditional tasks such as onboarding new employees and ensuring employees are familiar with your company messaging and workflows.
Effective employee training programs can create an environment that values employee professional growth, which will increase employee engagement and retention. Job seekers today are 73% less likely to stay at a company that helps improve their skills. 56% believe that career opportunities are more important than compensation when choosing a workplace.
Employee training is an integral part of any organization. You need to ensure that it stays relevant and meets employees’ learning preferences. AI has entered the employee training market, offering new benefits to employee training that are making smart HR managers pay attention.
1. Increase knowledge retention
No matter how many training programs you have given your employees, if they don’t remember the material a few days later, it doesn’t really matter how many hours they’ve spent. The German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered that people forget nearly three-quarters of newly learned material within 24 hours.
This sad statistic can be changed by AI. Ebbinghaus found that repetition of new material at regular intervals significantly improves memory. The AI-driven digital training programs allow the user to go back over each section at will. No human tutor would lose patience or run out of time. AI-powered chatbots and popups can be created that provide integrated reminders or hints at set intervals.
Active learning is a way to learn faster, which means we can try out new skills for ourselves instead of being told what to do. Artificial intelligence programs can simulate real-life scenarios, which allows employees to learn skills by doing.
Also read: How 10 AI Leadership Skills That are Essential for the Future
2. Employee participation should be increased
It doesn’t matter how many incentives are offered, it is difficult to get employees to participate in boring, stale, or uninteresting training programs. AI-powered programs, however, can be entertaining and engaging. They will keep employees’ attention and encourage them to complete the program.
AI can be used to set up company-wide competitions, which encourage employees to compete against one another. You can also create video-game challenges to test employee skills. AI-powered training programs are more modern and include a variety of formats to increase focus and concentration, as well as entertaining styles such as videos and animations.
3. Train for soft skills
Organizations have had a hard time training employees in soft skills such as leadership, management, and communication for situations like sales pitches. AI applications allow for the creation of effective programs to train employees in soft skills.
Conversational AI can be used for example to conduct training conversations to allow sales reps to practice their pitching or for managers to practice giving criticism to employees. So employees can practice giving a speech at an important conference or managing conflict at a meeting, self-learning models are possible.
4. Personalize training sessions
Each employee has a different learning style, learning speed, and background knowledge. However, it is difficult to create training programs that meet each person’s individual needs without AI. AI programs can adapt to user preferences by recognizing their preferences and adapting their format, pace, and level.
AI programs can also track user comprehension and provide feedback on how to improve. They will direct users to refresher courses if they detect hesitations in sales pitches or lack of clarity answering quizzes. This not only teaches the user the best way to learn but also increases employee engagement and makes training sessions more valuable.
Also read: 3 AI Technology Benefits for Employee Experience
5. Learn how to make learning more enjoyable
It is difficult for everyone to focus during long training sessions or seemingly endless lessons. Employees shouldn’t drop out of training programs that are too long or skip starting them because they don’t have the time.
AI can break down your materials into smaller units that employees can eat more easily. You can embed them in employee workflows to make it easier for employees to complete training tasks. Allow employees to use the AI program to review past material and automatically resume where they left off.
AI makes it exciting to train employees again
Although employees may have many excuses for failing to complete training programs, they are essential for business stability and growth. AI can make employee training programs more engaging and personalized by making them easy to consume. This will help employees learn faster, remember more, and increase soft skills. It can also improve your business’s long-term prospects.
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