Outdated Training Methods Can Impact Worker Success: How to Train Today’s Evolving Workforce

According to today’s learning and development executives, skill sets for jobs have changed by around 25% since 2015, and that number is expected to double in the next five years. While many are optimistic that workers’ skills will evolve to meet this changing demand, there is little momentum from employers to implement the proper resources to do so, ultimately setting workers up for failure.

As the current labor market experiences high rates of turnover – 56 percent of senior executives working across frontline industries reported higher than average turnover among frontline employees – it’s critical that employers evaluate the resources they’re providing their workers and which changes need to be made so they can be successful on the job.

Implement Scenario-Based Training 

Experiential learning is a core component to understanding the knowledge and skill set it takes to perform well in any job. This especially rings true for workers who are typically learning on-the-move and need to adhere to new policies, procedures and techniques that change with real-time consumer demand. 

Scenario-based training can be extremely beneficial in doing so, since it immerses workers in a simulated environment where they can learn by doing in a risk-free setting, minimizing the likelihood of real-life mistakes. Through scenario-based lessons, such as handling difficult customer conversations, properly executing room service requests, or simply presenting a bottle of champagne to a table, workers can experience new types of knowledge application and practice in their own time until they’re confident they can execute the task properly.

Learning from mistakes is a time-honored tale in the workplace because it allows someone to review their actions and learn from them for the future. Developing the tools to mimic those same scenarios is invaluable and can help workers upskill in their roles quickly and efficiently. 

Create Accessibility in the Flow of Learning

Time is a barrier when it comes to learning, especially for workers in hotels, restaurants and bars where time is considered a commodity. Typical ‘online’ training tools are lengthy and difficult to access, which is why they’re often tossed to the wayside and made to be less of a priority. While this can stunt development in a role, it can also create opportunity for mistakes and safety incidents.  

Instead, employers should always be looking for ways to better optimize employees’ time, and when it comes to training, enabling learning in the flow of work is a smarter use of time and resources. Providing access to tools that easily integrate into existing workflows should be a core part of any upskill and retention strategy.

If a hotel brand suddenly changes how they choose to present a turn down service to their guests, housekeepers need to have readily accessible tools so they can learn this information quickly and efficiently. This is why implementing mobile-based microlearning resources can be so effective, as information can be consumed and applied in real time.  

Today’s workforce is ever-changing, and while responsibility certainly falls on the worker to upskill in their job, it’s critical that employers are giving them the right resources to be successful. With the vast number of gaps in the labor market, employers should constantly be finding ways to develop and retain employees in a way that works for them, not the other way around.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

In 2005, Jacob Waern began his career with European media company Modern Times Group, quickly rising to CEO of one of its larger subsidiaries where he scaled the company’s profitability. Since then, Waern has cemented his mark in the world of technology, as a co-founder of Rocket Internet – a company starting and scaling global internet and tech companies – and was the Director of Digital Ventures at international telecommunications and media company Millicom. 

During his time at Millicom, the idea for eduMe was born out of his collective experiences observing the difficulties in training globally dispersed deskless teams. As Founder and CEO of eduMe, Waern oversees the company’s mission to provide the deskless workforce with seamless access to relevant knowledge, enabling people to be successful at work. For more information, visit https://edume.com/.