When you pass grade five and try to move to grade seven directly, you create a gap. A gap in learning where you missed the necessary grade six teaching and moved further without knowledge. This usually doesn’t happen as no one likes skipping classes and staying clueless unless it is absolutely necessary. This learning gap however, is quite a common thing when it comes to organizations and businesses these days.
A lot of graduates move on to jobs right after graduating and often don’t possess the skills to do the work they are given. This knowledge crisis is getting bigger day by day. Technology has no doubt been a boon to us but, it has made everyone drown under data. You have 10 software running on your computer to solve 5 problems. Not to forget, the chances are that you or your employees know how to run only 3 of these software. Problem? Yes, indeed!! Confusion becomes prevalent and no one actually ends up finding the right answers.
When an employee doesn’t know what he was supposed to do or the method that he was supposed to do the work in, you have yourselves a knowledge or learning gap. It is the responsibility of the organization or the business heads to identify these gaps and bridge them. If your employee does not know what to do in say X situation, then it will surely be visible in his work. Be it in the form of unsatisfactory ideas, presentations, customer service, missed opportunities etc. You don’t want that do you?
So, what is the solution? Simple. Train your employees to bridge the gap. But before you do that, understand where the gap lies and what kind of gap is it. In the case that we are considering here, it is the skills gap that needs to focused upon. Remember, the skills training that you intend on providing doesn’t necessarily have to be for newcomers. It should be for your existing employees as well so that you can gain more skilled employees and productivity in the workforce.
There are a lot of ways that the skills gap can be bridged. You can use Learning Management System (LMS) software or Cloud based LMS to interact with your employees and train them accordingly. The LMS market and the online learning industry together, are worth billions of dollars. The eLearning that is provided via learning management systems has become a part and parcel for so many organizations. This even includes half of the Fortune 500 companies.
Let us have a look at the ways this gap can be bridged.
BITE-SIZED LEARNING
Bite sized or micro learning has concise and short modules on particular topics. There is no set duration but they don’t last longer than five minutes. Micro-learning is often in the form of quizzes, games, videos or activities. The plenty of benefits that this kind of learning provides includes-
- Immediate results. Learners and employees can access these as and when needed and can track success instantly
- The accessibility of knowledge at your fingertips
- Budget friendly learning
- Benefit for travelling and busy employees. Saves them time they cannot spend on face-to-face training
MOBILE LEARNING GAMES
There are very few people one would come across who doesn’t like playing games. You can use this to your firm’s benefit by using games to teach. This way, you can enhance learning to close this knowledge gap.
The training benefits that can be gained from gamification are-
- Games are always fun. Also, the fun element in games keeps learners engaged and hooked. This in turns means more knowledge gained
- Immediate feedback is received. Learners are informed of their gaps instantly and this further increase retention
- Scores and trophies earned always encourages healthy competition amongst the players and staff
- All kinds of topics can be covered through gamification
SOCIAL LEARNING
Social learning needs to be tapped into if you want to take full advantage of the technology boom going on in the world today. Make social media your friend and use it to bridge the gaps.
- Use the technology to your benefit and expand the way of learning. New tech makes learners independent of time and location. Learners can deal, interact and discuss problems from anywhere in the world irrespective of anything. LMS and especially cloud based LMS plays a major role in this segment. Participating in forums, studying in groups and growing together, all becomes possible due to digital learning.
- Collaboration is a key to unlock the doors to growth and learning. Not everyone enjoys studying alone. Few like to discuss and others like to teach their fellow learners. Whether you teach or get taught by someone, it is a win-win situation both ways for the organization. Collaborating also opens the door to immense tacit knowledge
- Tagging and filtering of the content helps get relevant knowledge people hard- pressed for time. Digital learning lets learners tag content based on their topics. Others can then simply filter and use the tagged content
- All students who study are not equal when it comes to grasping and participating. Classroom interaction becomes difficult for many. In digital learning, however, the story is a bit different. In the virtual environment, asking questions from your trainer or peers is easier
Nothing is difficult if you set your mind and heart to it. If you are sure about bridging the skills gap between your employees, then these ways will definitely help you achieve your goals. This is not a new thing though. Organizations have long realised the need to bridge the learning gap to increase productivity and growth in the workplace. In 2017 alone,
- 67 percent organizations offered mobile learning for their employees
- 73 percent of the companies that were surveyed in a Brandon Hall study were expected to increase their emphasis on social learning
- Learning apps also surfaced as “a preferred mode for workforce training”, as was stated by eLearning Infographics
Conclusion
Learning online fits like a glove to companies across all industries and organizations. All firms are slowly launching learning management systems in their workplace for making work smoother and efficient. It is a win for the LMS market and for the companies that deliver training on online platforms as well.
Don’t make someone skip grades. Help them learn and grow properly!
Author Bio:
Kamy Anderson is an ed-tech enthusiast with a passion for writing on emerging technologies in the areas of corporate training and education. He is an expert in learning management system & elearning authoring tools – currently associated with ProProfs.
