How to Engage Employees With Mandatory Training in 4 Simple Steps?

Originally published on linkedin.com

Every company will have its own set of mandatory training programs, but depending on your industry, you might expect to have a lot of it. You can’t opt to skip this type of training because of the need for compliance. However, you can make the training more engaging. Follow these four tips on how to engage employees with mandatory training to get better results. 

Step #1. Be Honest

One of the first things to do with your mandatory training is to be honest about it. Don’t try to sugarcoat it by telling your employees that it will be a lot of fun when, in fact, it will be on the serious side. Be straightforward by letting them know that you are aware that they don’t want to do the training. Still, use this as an opportunity to inform them that the training is required for compliance or another valid reason. You can even apologize if the training is bit dry or dull. 

By discussing all these, your learners will be able to approach the training with accurate expectations. They may also feel better about the training, as they will appreciate your honesty. 

Step #2. Make It as Painless as Possible 

You should also see what you can do to make the training as painless as possible. There is likely already a lot of information you need to cover during the training, but you can do your best to remove the fluff. 

If there is any repetitive content that you need for compliance reasons, then obviously leave that in. But be honest about it. You can say, “I know this next part seems obvious to some of you, but we need to cover it for compliance reasons. We’ll keep it as short as possible.” And then follow through and eliminate any filler that’s unessential.

Step #3. Transform It Into eLearning 

Turning your sessions into eLearning is another strategy to engage employees with mandatory training. Through eLearning, you put your employees in control of their learning, as they can set the pace and decide where to complete the training. They can complete the course wherever and whenever it’s convenient for them. 

As a bonus, it also reduces the amount of time you spend on conducting face-to-face training. All you have to do is develop the course once and give your employees access to it. There’s no need for trainers to go through it multiple times. This makes it more sustainable for the trainers and more engaging for the learners. 

Step #4. Offer Rewards 

Finally, offer your employees rewards for completing mandatory training. An obvious option for onsite training would be to make lunch or snacks available during each session. There are many types of incentives to offer, whether you do onsite training or eLearning. For example, you can offer a small bonus or extra PTO for completing the training. By offering rewards, your employees will have additional motivation to finish the training because they have something special to look forward to. 

Conclusion

So, how to engage employees with mandatory training? First, start by being honest with employees and removing unnecessary fillers from the training. Then, you can turn it into eLearning and offer a reward or incentive for completing it.