You probably have at least ten different apps on your phone. I can say this with conviction because I know for a fact that living in this mobile-first world without a dozen apps for various purposes such as banking, retail, social media, instant communication, etc., is more than an inconvenience. This blog talks about reasons every enterprise must invest in an employee training app.
Did you know that there are 2.8 million apps available for download on the Google Play Store, and 2.2 million apps available on the Apple App Store? And that the average smartphone user spends 2 hours and 15 minutes each day using apps? Which means most companies that sell products and services have also designed a mobile app for their customers.
While you are creating an app for your customers, you should also focus on creating one for your employees. They are very much a part of this app-loving demography. And you are aware of how competitive today’s corporate world is. Everyone is trying to upskill themselves for better career opportunities. Creating an employee training app will help you connect with your employees, provide them with growth opportunities and create a good employer-employee relationship.
If your organization does not have an employee training app, you are seriously missing out on the opportunity to get your employees engaged with the company.
Here are some disadvantages of not having an employee training app:
- Loss of productive hours – Employees have to spend working hours to attend training sessions.
- Risk of passing wrong information to the customer – In the traditional training method, it takes time for employees to be notified of the latest updates. In the meantime, there’s a risk of employees giving out outdated or incorrect information to a customer.
- Difficulty in coordinating with employees at different locations – Providing the same update at the same time to a dispersed workforce is difficult to manage.
- Boring and non-interactive training sessions are rarely effective – Employees are usually disinterested and disengaged in instructor-led training programs.
- Lack of just-in-time information could affect productivity– The delay in procuring information through training manuals, desktop files, or asking someone for help could affect productivity. This lag time becomes more crucial in case of frontline sales employees.
Therefore, enterprises are advised to leverage a training app to deliver engaging training in a cost-effective fashion, which will increase employee productivity and business output.
Here are some critical reasons why enterprises should have an employee training app.
1. Employees Will Have 24x7 Access to Training Materials
You will notice that most people today have their heads buried in mobile devices; whether you are at the bus stop, waiting in a queue, having food, even while walking on the road. 21% of millennials open an app over 50 times every day. Jumping on this trend, you can leverage a mobile app to provide training materials to your employees.
It’s much easier to access than opening and logging into a website on a browser. And mobile apps are faster and simpler to use. Using an app also gives employees the freedom to go through the courses anywhere and anytime.
2. Convey Updates Faster Through Notifications
With new research and innovations taking place at an unbelievably fast pace, you never know when a software releases a new version or a new statistical report is released, or a product feature is updated. Although some of them can be predicted through analysis. But the important thing here is that whatever new changes take place, it has to be conveyed to the employees almost immediately.
The course contents are stored on a cloud for ease of access and to modify and update it whenever required. Any authorized personnel can update the training module. And the same can be notified to the employees through instant alerts. This keeps the employees aware of the latest changes, helping them perform their job responsibilities efficiently.
3. Chat Feature on the App Promotes Discussions and Helps Provide Quick Resolutions
Many a times, employees working in different departments rarely communicate with each other. They are all happy in their own little teams. Having a mobile employee training application for your entire workforce, brings them all to one platform.
Training apps must have an option where employees can chat online with each other. This allows them to discuss training-related or maybe workplace related queries and problems.
Majority of today’s workforce are comfortable in having full-fledged discussions and debates online. An online support forum could address their queries, providing quick resolutions. A discussion forum bridges the communication gap among employees and can help them get quick answers to their questions.
4. Interactivity Increases Employee Engagement
Apps can be easily uninstalled. A lot of times people install a certain app and after one use they uninstall it. Perhaps they didn’t like the design, functionality or content. To ensure that the same doesn’t happen to your training app, you need to ensure that it is enriched with interactive elements.
The visual appeal of an app is very important. Find a vendor who can provide such a platform to deliver your training content. It’s better than trying to design one yourself. But ensure that the training content is embedded with relevant images, videos, audio files or other multimedia elements like animation.
Also, the application has to be easy-to-use and navigate. Including interactive features are a means to keep the learners engaged in the training program. Here are 5 ways to create effective interactive training content.
5. Apps Are More Flexible Than an LMS
A lot of enterprises use learning management systems for employee training. But they are not as flexible as a mobile-first training app. And in today’s corporate environment, being mobile-first makes all the difference. Mobile apps are more accessible, as we discussed in the first point.
And employees are more likely to read content while they are on a break or outside the office space, as they will be required to carry out their job responsibilities while at work. Mobile-based employee training app, thereby, is a means to train and upskill employees without affecting their production hours.
Related: Is a Mobile-First Content Delivery Platform the Future of LMS
White paper:
Accelerate Employee Engagement with Mobile-based Corporate Training Program
6. Saves Physical Space and Money
Conducting classroom-based training requires a training room, laptops/desktops, training materials, and an instructor. Add to that the utility costs. By replacing all these elements with a single mobile app, you are shifting the entire training process online, which means none of the earlier expenses will now be incurred.
The only investment you make is for the creation of the employee training app. Moreover, think about all the paper you will be saving by not having to print training documents anymore.
7. Employees Can Sign Up for Additional Courses from the App Library
While creating employee training programs, instead of limiting yourself to job role-specific courses, you can create courses which can benefit all employees. Presentation skills, time management, interpersonal skills, business etiquette, communication skills, etc., are something that all employees can benefit from.
While managers can assign particular courses to employees, allow the employees to take up any other course that they feel might improve their work efficiency.
Conclusion:
Based on the above-mentioned points, you can see that having an employee training app certainly benefits the employer as well as the employee.
With a mobile application’s ability to be flexible and easily updatable, it offers an advantage over a desktop based LMS. Mobile apps are part of our daily lives, you might as well leverage it for productive outcomes in your organization.
Related:
5 ways to Boost Training ROI with Evaluation Tools
The Best Online Corporate Training Platforms
DISCOVER HOW A MOBILE-FIRST TRAINING PLATFORM CAN HELP YOUR ORGANIZATION?
Kitaboo is a cloud-based platform to create, deliver & track mobile-first interactive training content.
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