In the modern workplace, change is the only constant. Amid the rise of hybrid and flexible working models, disruptive technologies and evolving economies, agility and flexibility are the keys to organisations surviving — and thriving.
Growth therefore depends on continuous learning, as new challenges demand new knowledge, new skills and new approaches. To achieve this, learning and development teams need to make sure that they’re providing quality resources and training programmes — but more importantly — that employees are actively engaging with them.
What is learner engagement?
In this context, learner engagement can be thought of as the extent to which individuals are motivated to take part in training and development programmes — as well as how enthusiastic they are to shape and direct their own independent learning activities.
Rather than being passive recipients of training initiatives, engaged learners are active participants who understand their learning objectives, demonstrate a genuine interest in developing their knowledge and skills, and are keen to apply what they have learned to real-world situations within their areas of responsibility.
The process of engaging learners is, therefore, a two-way one — engagement isn’t something that can be mandated or enforced, it’s an organic progression that comes from involving learners in the design, delivery and application of L&D initiatives, and giving them the flexibility and freedom to learn in the way that best suits them.
What does an engaged learner look like?
Everyone demonstrates engagement in their own way — some learners may be more communicative and collaborative than others, and some more reflective and independent. It’s important to take the time to understand each learner’s preferences and provide multiple channels for feedback and check-ins to get a true picture of how engaged they are.
But there are some common signs that your learners are engaged with your programmes — and if several of these characteristics are missing, it may be cause for concern.
An engaged learner:
- Demonstrates enthusiasm and a positive attitude towards the learning opportunities available.
- Proactively participates in discussions and activities, bringing suggestions and contributions to the table.
- Asks thoughtful questions that show an understanding of the material, the programme objectives, and potential applications.
- Actively seeks out feedback on their learning progress and applies the advice and guidance they receive.
- Completes assignments and assessments thoroughly, ahead of deadlines and above the minimum effort level required.
- Shares what they have learned with others, and takes an active interest in their colleagues' progress.
10 practical strategies to unlock learner engagement
1. Start off on the right foot
In our experience, how well you launch and promote a new workplace training programme or learning objective is a good indicator of how successful it will be. Too often, L&D teams suffer because their contribution is seen as a box-ticking exercise — upload new courses to the LMS, send an email to all@company.com and wait for your employees to jump on board.
Here’s the key: We’ve worked with some of the world’s leading organisations on successfully launching L&D programmes — and we’ve distilled that wisdom into the Titus Marketing Service, helping our clients engage, inspire and excite their employees.
2. Make learning relevant
Nobody likes to feel that the training opportunities they’re offered are merely part of a box-ticking exercise. To engage learners, they need to be able to see the relevance of what they’re learning to their current roles and their future careers.
Here’s the key: Make sure that learning objectives are closely related to the specific roles and responsibilities of learners, and that it’s clear how they can apply the knowledge in real-world scenarios.
3. Explore microlearning
Everybody’s busy, and while in an ideal world, we’d all be able to carve out an undisturbed hour once or twice a week to focus on our professional development, sometimes it’s a matter of fitting in smaller steps when we can.
Here’s the key: Break down resources, source content and other learning materials into chunks, allowing busy employees to make tangible progress even when their available time is limited.
4. Use interactive formats
Some learners thrive on researching and digesting long-form text content, but it’s not for everyone. It’s important to consider multiple learning styles when authoring course content, resources and assessments, to ensure that employees have the opportunity to learn in a way that suits them.
Here’s the key: Take advantage of the wealth of content creation tools available to produce more interactive content — using quizzes, games or competitions in place of text-only resources.
5. Provide opportunities for collaboration
Very few of us work completely independently, so it doesn’t make sense to learn on our own either. Building team activities, group projects and peer-led discussions into L&D programs is a great way to foster the type of collaborative skills that are so vital in meeting real-world challenges.
Here’s the key: Use activities such as wikis, forums or chat rooms to encourage learners to work together on building their knowledge and skills and provide one another with peer support.
6. Create a culture of learning
Workplace learning isn’t just a part of onboarding — it’s a career-long process, whatever level of the organisation or role you end up in. Creating an environment in which learning is prioritised, valued and celebrated is crucial to success — and it’s up to leadership roles to set the tone.
Here’s the key: Encourage leaders across the organisation, not only in HR or L&D roles, to make learning part of their conversations and share examples of their own learning objectives and journeys.
7. Set clear goals
There’s nothing more frustrating than being tasked with achieving something when you don’t fully understand what’s expected of you. Effective learning starts with clarity of purpose, ensuring that learners grasp both the short-term tasks at hand and the longer-term goals that they are building towards.
Here’s the key: Make sure that learning objectives are developed and set in collaboration with each employee, and that they understand the impact that each step in their learning journey will have on their career progression.
8. Monitor retention levels
Designing learning experiences that draw learners in, maintain their attention and keep them motivated is one thing — but if they don’t recall any of the material a few weeks later, it’s a wasted effort. Keeping tabs on how “sticky” your courses are is an important part of continual improvement — ensuring you’re engaging learners’ memories as well as their immediate interest.
Here’s the key: Incorporate regular informal assessments and feedback sessions to test how well learners are retaining the information presented, and use this to refine programme design in the future.
9. Reward (all) learners
Well-designed incentive schemes work to keep employees on track to hit targets and achieve objectives in their day-to-day roles — and the same is true of their professional development. Ideally, employees will be motivated by the content itself, but a little extra encouragement can help keep engagement levels high, especially on more challenging programmes.
Here’s the key: Building in a reward system can encourage participation in L&D programmes — although look beyond whichever employees are scoring highest in assessments to reward participation, collaboration and other desired behaviours as well.
10. Prioritise accessibility
Making sure learners can access training, resources and courses in the most convenient way for their abilities and learning styles is paramount. Whether that’s using responsive templates so learners can take assessments on a smartphone, reviewing your code to ensure interactive quizzes work with a screen reader, or providing audiobook options alongside long-form text documents, the easier you make it to access, the higher your engagement.
Here’s the key: Enable multichannel learning by ensuring that your courses, resources and even assessments are available on multiple device types and in multiple formats, and designed in line with WCAG accessibility requirements for users of assistive technologies.
How to measure learner engagement
Measuring learner engagement isn’t just a case of collecting assessment scores and figuring out who achieved the most. It’s important to take a holistic view of the learning and development process, looking at a range of indicators to establish if the programme, content, resources and technologies used are keeping learners interested and motivated.
Completion rates
Course or assessment completion rates are a useful high-level indicator of how engaged learners are with your material. While high drop-off rates are a clear cause for concern, you should also be wary of any activities with 100% completion rates — if they’re not sufficiently challenging, that could lead to disengagement over time.
Time spent on tasks
Time-on-task is another valuable KPI, as long as you have a decent benchmark for how long a task “should” take. Interpret the results carefully, depending on the task type. For example, if learners are spending longer than average on a quiz, perhaps the difficulty level is too high — whereas if they’re taking more time over a research activity, it might be that the topic has genuinely captured their attention.
Active participation
Failure to participate is another warning sign that an employee may be disengaging from learning — especially where their level of involvement in L&D activities changes with no clear reason. Keep an eye out for passive participation when it comes to collaborative or group projects, as it might indicate a need for support.
Feedback surveys
Building short surveys into the flow of learning is a great way to get timely and relevant feedback on what’s working and what’s not. Rather than asking learners to assess an entire course at the end, you can introduce ratings and comments on individual activities or assessments to gather immediate feedback on completion of each step.
Interviews and focus groups
One-to-one check-ins or group feedback sessions can be a great way to get deeper qualitative insights into what aspects of your L&D programme are keeping learners on task, and what may be putting them off or creating barriers to learning.
LMS analytics
One key advantage of today’s learning management systems is the depth of analysis and reporting tools they offer — and as well as the inbuilt tools, you can also use tools like Google analytics for meta-analysis to drive data-driven decisions. To find out more about this topic, check out our guide to LMS analytics.
Looking for learner engagement experts?
At Titus, we provide the wrap-around support that makes the difference between good and great learning experiences. Centred on the world-leading LMS platforms Moodle and Totara, we create additional value with tailored training, strategic collaboration and marketing support to keep workplace learners engaged, inspired and motivated.
To learn more about how we could help your organisation meet key L&D objectives, contact us today.
