Are your employees bored to tears during training sessions? Most people don’t learn and retain new skills when they’re in danger of nodding off. And don’t expect a temporary boost from contrived excitement to pump up your staff. (Think Steve Ballmer!)
Have you thought about the problem from your employees’ perspective?
When they’re not actually working, younger workers are playing … with games … all the time. If older workers aren’t sleeping, they’re probably bored to tears, because nothing exciting ever happens during the typical lecture-style training session. And, the under 50-set is practically blind at this point to that old training standby: A paper manual. Whatever you do, don’t put them to sleep!
However employees are quick to attentiveness when they see a way to connect where they currently are in their career with where they want to be. Employers who tap into that innate desire for a promotion and put the right spin on required training help workers connect the motivational dots. As soon as your employees perceive that training is going to boost their fortunes, they’re ready to go along with the program.
But here’s the rub: Employees must see the link between where they are now, where they want to be and most importantly how training is going to get them there. Adding an element of happy surprise or good-natured humor livens up any training session.
And here’s one more tip: A demonstration of dramatic role play helps staff bridge the gap between the on-the-job persona and the real, live, creative person who’s managed to keep their talents hidden away — that is until you see them shine in front of the whole crew. It’s fun to see how a little bit of improvisation can put the juice into your training program.