7 Mistakes to Avoid while Designing an Online Training Course for your Employees

As businesses go global, today’s workforce is spread across offices and even across countries. Having a robust and comprehensive online training program – for your employees – is essential to ensure that all your employees are on the same page, and to boost your company’s development.

With that said, designing an online training course for employees is harder than you imagine. You need to design a course – that engages and inspires participation. If your course material is dull and boring, then employees are not likely to participate in it fully. Both knowledge retention and employee engagement go downhill when the online training module is not designed according to their needs.

Here, in this post, we take a look at the 7 mistakes to avoid while designing an online training course for your employees.

Mistake #1: Failing to Define your Learning Objectives

If you want to design an online training module, the impacts employee performance, it’s not enough having a generic goal. Let’s say that you want to launch an online training course to boost customer service. The goal here should not be simply – improved customer service.

Instead, you should define the specific skills that you want your employees to cultivate at the end of the training course. For instance, you could specify goals like – effective crisis management, in-depth product knowledge as objectives of the course.

Once you have a clear picture of the learning objectives, you can develop a training program using your LMS Software like the Qafie LMS to reach the specific goals. This helps you get the most out of your training programs.

Mistake #2: Not Conducting Training Needs Analysis

Are you having a hard time setting specific learning objectives? Training needs analysis can come to your rescue. Training needs analysis helps you determine the knowledge gaps in your employees. Only when you conduct an in-depth analysis of training needs, you can find out the current knowledge levels of employees and what they require from the training.

Without this information, your training programs may be irrelevant to employee needs. The training needs analysis also helps you to create personalized learning paths to meet the needs of each employee.

Mistake #3: Forgetting to Make the Training Program Fun 

Ok, let’s be honest. No one likes to wade through pages of text. If you want your employees to be interested and engaged, then you have to make your training programs fun. This is where having a robust Learning Management System (LMS) Software like the Qafie LMS is quite handy.

Qafie has plenty of interactive features and multimedia options that add a fun quotient to your training programs. From awarding employees with fun badges and points for completing each level to using leader boards to promote friendly competition among employees, Qafie makes it easy to improve employee engagement. You can use interactive videos, simulations, animated stories, drag-and-drop quizzes to keep employees intrigued and connected.

Mistake #4: Dumping Tons of Information

The human mind can only process limited information at a particular time. And, all employees can't stay 100% focused at all times. Bombarding employees with huge amounts of information is not only frustrating for them, but knowledge retention takes a hit. If your courses make them feel overwhelmed, they are likely to give it up altogether.

To ensure the success of your corporate training program, you have to avoid redundant information. Keep each unit short and to the point. Break it into small chunks, manageable paragraphs, and add infographics and short videos to keep it engaging.

Additionally, make sure to provide a quick recap of the unit’s material at the end to increase knowledge retention.

Mistake #5: Poor User Experience

Your training program should provide your employees with great user experience. While there’s no doubt that content is important, the way you present the content is also equally important. Choosing an LMS Software with an intuitive user interface is a must. Look for programs that offer familiar drop-down menus, navigation controls, and more.

Apart from looks, you have to focus on other elements of the user experience like using small files for shorter page load times, mobile accessibility, and more. Additionally, you have to focus on the needs of technically lacking employees. Using a short video, explaining the usage of the training program will help them get started quickly, without feeling overwhelmed.

Mistake #6: Not Providing Employees with an Incentive to Take Up the Course

One of the biggest challenges of online training programs is getting employees to sign up for the course. Very often, employees consider these programs as a waste of their time, requiring extra effort on their part.

The easiest way to avoid this challenge is to be transparent. Disclose the learning objectives of the program to your employees. Once they see what they gain from the course, they are most likely to be involved in it. Additionally, you can point out that completing this training will play a decisive role in their career later on. For instance, it could give them an advantage for a potential pay rise or future promotion.

Finally, you can also tempt employees with a certificate at the end of the course.

Mistake #7: Failing to Collect Feedback

You have completed the course. What next? You need to collect information from employees about the training offered. Include a small survey at the end of the program to hear what employees have to say about their experience – what they liked and what they didn’t like, what improvements they would like to see in the next course and so on.

When you use an LMS like the Qafie, you can use it to get feedback on the course. For instance, you can track various metrics like average time taken to complete the course, pass percentage, and more. This gives you a clear picture of the success/failure of your training program.

Avoid these Pitfalls while Designing an Online Training Program for Employees

Designing an online training program is hard work. It requires careful planning, developing the content, and plenty of other things to consider. Make sure to avoid these seven mistakes to create a winner online training program for your employees that meet your learning objectives.