7 reasons your employees aren’t learning

There are many ways to measure the impact L&D has on an organisation. From engagement rates to customer satisfaction to productivity levels. But what happens when those levels turn out to be less than expected? For L&D professionals who are always looking to defend the benefits learning brings to an organisation, knowing the barriers to effective learning is essential. Let’s look at the top 7 reasons your learners might not be reaching their full potential.  

The platform is difficult to use 

A guaranteed way to discourage proactive learning is by providing users with a platform that is difficult to access and tough to use. It is crucial that every user, from the most tech-savvy to the least, can equally engage in learning through an easy-to-access, easily navigable platform.   

Learning is not practical

Actionable learning topics are those that are aimed at providing employees with solutions to real-life challenges. While it may be useful to know the statistics behind how often employees requesting a wage increase are successful, learning the most effective ways to approach a manager to ask for a raise or promotion gives employees the practical knowledge that allows them to most successfully navigate their lives.  

Learning materials are too long

Today’s employee is busier than ever and throwing soft skills development into the mix can seem overwhelming, particularly if employees are met with materials that are dense, difficult and take ages to complete. Because the average attention span is shrinking, long-form content tends to cause employees to switch off and become reluctant towards learning. In order to encourage busy employees to become self-directed learners, it is crucial that those in charge of L&D provide them with learning content that is as short as possible and only as long as necessary such as bite-sized modern eBooks or short-form courses.   

There is not enough variety 

A common cause of reluctance to learn is that employees are unable to access learning content that is of interest to them or relevant to their specific needs. The first step to engaging employees who are reluctant to take their learning into their own hands is to give them the choice of the areas they can develop. Learning platforms should provide content on a variety of topics so that every learner, regardless of skill level, experience or position in the company has an equal opportunity to develop the area that they personally require upskilling in.    

Content is not promoted internally

Unawareness of the relevant learning content available to them is often the real cause of employees who appear reluctant to learn. Learning materials and the tools themselves should be promoted to employees so that they are fully aware of the development opportunities available to them. This should be done both through internal communications, such as an intranet or newsletter, as well as through the learning platform itself which could recommend content that will benefit the individual learner specifically based on previous searches and content consumed.   

Materials are not added or updated regularly  

Social media, the 24-hour news cycle, and entertainment streaming services all capitalise on the basic human need for novelty and continuously add new content. What engages people as consumers, will also engage them as employees learning.  If content is static, employees will quickly lose interest and be reluctant to return to their company’s learning platform. It is important for organisations to work with learning platforms that regularly update and add new content that will engage and intrigue employees far more than recycled information they have already consumed.  

Learning is not available on the go  

Today’s employee is busier than ever and throwing soft skills development into the mix can seem overwhelming, particularly if employees are met with materials that are dense, difficult and take ages to complete. Because the average attention span is shrinking, long-form content tends to cause employees to switch off and become reluctant towards learning. In order to encourage busy employees to become self-directed learners, it is crucial that those in charge of L&D provide them with learning content that is as short as possible and only as long as necessary such as bite-sized modern eBooks or short-form courses.   

By making these changes, organisations can ensure that their learning solution is optimised to promote real change and development.