Member Article

Are your employees truly engaged?

By Elliot Gowans, VP EMEA, D2L

It’s no surprise that organisations that prioritise engagement tend to reduce their staff turnover, and those companies will probably argue that engagement drives productivity. We all know employee engagement is important, and it can have a positive impact on your business. But true engagement in the workplace is more than just how happy your employees seem. What you really need to think about is whether your engagement methods are effective. If you want to impact your company’s bottom line, it’s time to step up your engagement game, and find out how to get the best performance out of your employees.

Let’s start off with what constitutes true engagement. There are many things that can contribute to engagement at work, and learning is one of the primary drivers. But there is more to it than just providing simple case studies, simulations, or adding ‘drag and drop’ features to the online module. This is where many good intentions fall short. Although these methods provide some level of engagement, the bar needs to be set much higher and people need to first see how training and development activities will benefit them.

The two most critical questions to be asking yourself about employee engagement as it relates to learning are ‘how motivated are your employees to engage with the content’ and ‘how easily can they comprehend, retain, and master this content’?

Here are some useful pointers on how to drive passion and dedication from your workforce:

Capture Their Interest

Before engagement, comes interest. Your employees need to understand why they should engage with your content, and how it will benefit them. Think about the emotional triggers present in the learning experience you’re offering, this will help ensure that it piques their interest.

Use Brain-Based Learning Strategies

Understanding how the human brain is wired can help you be more effective in your learning engagement tactics. For instance, neuroscience has specific techniques which allow the brain to write new information in a way that encourages high levels of retention and mastery. Memory reactivation is one key element for making that happen. So if you present information at programmed intervals, to trigger recall and memory, you’ll find it lends itself well to mastery.

The “When“ and “How“ You Communicate Matters

The manner in which information is delivered to your employees matters greatly. This may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many companies overlook this concept. Think about what you’re trying to communicate and if they would need it within the context of workplace duties, or would they benefit more by consuming it in a social learning environment. On the other hand, would a formal setting be more appropriate for say, an introduction to foundational concepts, or is just providing supplemental resources enough to get the job done. Determining how and when this information is delivered plays a big part in motivating learning engagement.

If you are wondering if your engagement tactics are effective, don’t fall into the trap of accepting your apparent happy workforce, as truly engaged employees. Your organisation could benefit from brain-based learning techniques, which not only focus on learning engagement, but mastery as well.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by D2L .