Over the past several months, a virtual environment has become second nature to most of us.  We have rounded the corner from “survival mode” and now businesses are going full speed ahead in resuming business operations and realigning their priorities in different ways than ever before.

It is critical to remember that employees want to learn, grow, and work toward reaching their career goals, even while working virtually. With many organizations maintaining a remote workforce indefinitely, there is a growing need to create solid virtual training and development programs that can be used for the long haul.

Learn what skills employees want to learn

Employees want to learn and develop while working remotely, but the realities of their new working environment may have caused a shift in the types of skills they want to build.

A study by Udemy revealed that although a third of employees have sought training in role-specific skills during the pandemic, most say that they want to be trained on the “softer” skills to be able to deal with the distractions of their current environment and become more productive.  Skills in self-discipline, communications, productivity/time management, and stress management were all areas employees indicated that they are keenly interested in developing.

A good first step for developing an effective training and development plan would be to find out the learning priorities of your organization’s employees through surveys or focus groups.  The more relevant the training is to their interests, the more likely they will be engaged, invested, and ultimately satisfied and confident after they complete the training.

Provide formal and informal options for virtual learning and development

Before the pandemic, your organization’s employees were already engaged in various types of formal or informal learning.  Many facilitated trainings have migrated to a virtual format which, when executed properly, can be highly effective.

In addition to providing organized formal training, the workplace brought innumerable opportunities for casual or informal learning on the job through “water cooler” chats, impromptu meetings, or conversations over lunch.  It can be tough to replace those spontaneous interactions in a remote working environment, but there are still ways to help keep these connections alive so that learning and development can continue.

1. Social learning

According to SHRM, social learning can be a key component for creating stronger connections, and better retention of the learning concepts.

One idea is to create a “lunch and learn” club in which employees take an hour during lunch to teach others about something in their industry they are passionate about. This helps to show off their expertise and build presentation skills in a collegial environment, while also developing others’ knowledge.

Another concept is to adopt a “flipped classroom” approach in which individuals learn something on their own, then get together as a group to discuss what they learned, ideas of how to implement it, and what others think is important about it. This type of discussion allows time together for productive, collaborative learning, and not just a one-way lecture.

2. Mentorships

Mentorships continue to be an effective way for employees to grow, develop, and progress in their career.

According to Associations Now, mentoring may be even more important now during this pandemic crisis.  During these uncertain and stressful times, mentors help boost confidence and create a calming presence for their mentees by providing consistent feedback, suggestions, and meaningful conversation. By helping to combat the loneliness and isolation of working remotely, mentorships can significantly impact an employee’s mental health.

Mentorships also offer a cost-effective method of employee development when training budgets have been reined in. Virtual technology has made it easy to continue these face to face conversations, but other methods of connecting may be considered as well, such as telephone discussions (for those with Zoom fatigue), or meeting outside at a café, park, or for a socially distanced walk.

3. Traditional learning sessions

A traditional classroom type of training program has long been a successful method in learning specific skills.  Now that the conference room has been largely replaced by the computer, there are new challenges to consider when transitioning a tried and true in-person training to a virtual format.

According to Association for Talent Development, a few basic rules of thumb for developing and facilitating a virtual training include:

  • Ensure the technology is set up for success, such as a stable connection and backup plan in case technology fails, etc.
  • Work with a partner when possible to help with the behind-the-scenes logistics and technical issues during the session
  • Keep the presentation interactive so that participants stay engaged, focused, and less likely to give in to external distractions
  • Involve participants every few minutes with such tools as polls, quizzes, and online break out rooms
  • Keep slides or other visual materials succinct and send any detailed resources by email later.

Taking Leadership Development Virtual

One of our clients, BSB Design, based in Des Moines Iowa, engaged HR Advisors Group to create and facilitate an Emerging Leaders development program. Leaders from the firm’s offices across the country were going to come together in April to begin the first of four in-person sessions when COVID-19 hit and everything went virtual.

After postponing the initial session, HR Advisors Group and the client realigned the program to meet in a virtual environment. The first session was held over five days in July and the second in September. During each session, the group met twice a day for 2.5 hours, a total of 5 hours per day. Participants logged into Zoom from coast-to-coast and engagement was high, thanks to Zoom’s break-out rooms, polls, and chat surveys.

Based on feedback from the group and client, the sessions were a success. Everyone agrees that “in-person” is ideal, but a virtual format can be exciting, engaging, and successful.

Although it may require thinking outside the box, every organization has the potential to offer a variety of learning and development opportunities to their employees, even in a virtual world.  Mixing up content and delivery keeps things interesting and makes employees excited about learning new skills from their home workspace.

When your employees are happy, learning, and engaged, they do great work and you get to keep them!  If there is one thing 2020 has taught us, that could be the best reward of all.