Several years ago, the golden rule was that every company needed a website. Now, every company needs its own mobile app. But mobile apps aren’t just for loyalty programs, online sales, and customer service. Top companies in every industry are also turning to mobile apps for training.
Let’s face it: knowledge is power. Training your employees on policies and standards, keeping them abreast of new products and trends, and improving their skills in the workplace gives your company the edge it needs to succeed in an increasingly crowded market. Mobile training combines revolutionary pedagogical approaches to learning with the convenience and flexibility of mobile technology to drastically improve your training efforts while also reducing your training costs. And in the business world—that’s called competitive advantage.
Still not convinced? Below are four important reasons why your company needs to invest in a mobile app for training:
Reduce Costs
Training employees—whether it’s onboarding new employees or training existing employees—can be expensive. Onboarding new employees requires a lot of training hours and resources dedicated to one person or a small group of new hires, while training existing employees on new procedures, standards, or products involves getting large groups of people in the same room at the same time. Both can cause training costs to skyrocket, but neither has to.
Mobile apps not only utilize revolutionary pedagogical approaches, but they’ve also been shown to reduce training costs by up to 50 percent. With your own mobile training app, you can easily distribute training materials to your entire team—even remote employees—update information quickly and efficiently, and monitor employees’ progress. Employees also benefit because they can assume control over their own training and development, accessing the app at their own time and place rather than being forced to spend productive work hours in a more traditional classroom setting.
Motivate & Engage
We’ve all sat through boring training seminars or endured all-staff meetings focused on new company policies. And we all know just how difficult it is to stay engaged with the material—let alone be motivated to learn. So why not improve the process with a mobile app?
A 2017 study reports that 70 percent of respondents felt more motivated to learn when able to navigate courses using mobile technology, and a 2015 study reported that 72 percent reported increased engagement. Training materials on mobile apps are designed in small chunks and are task- or goal-oriented, which makes lessons more focused and easier to complete. Keeping lessons short and focused means your employees are less likely to get bored and become disengaged, while the sense of accomplishment gained from completing a specific task increases motivation to continue learning.
See also: How to Create Great Microlearning Content
Retain Knowledge & Improve Skills
Not only are employees more motivated and engaged, they are also more likely to retain knowledge and improve their skills. As stated above, mobile training materials are designed to be task- or goal-oriented, delivering short, 2-10-minute lessons that focus on the development of a specific skill or retention of certain knowledge. This focus blocks out the noise and makes it easier to understand what knowledge or skill the training is trying to impart.
Also, mobile technology presents an opportunity for personalized learning schedules and push learning. Since each learner is able to engage with the material at their own time and pace, training progress can be tracked and the lessons tailored towards the individual’s current skills/knowledge. Push notifications can then be sent as reminders to keep the employee on track, promote natural memory formation, and combat the forgetting curve.
Support Just-In-Time Learning
Mobile technology has become ever-present, and access to the internet is almost ubiquitous. This presents an important opportunity for just-in-time training (JITT)—or delivering key points of data at the point of need. When information is organized and available at any time, employees no longer have to memorize every piece of information necessary. Instead, training can occur whenever it’s needed, and important information can be accessed immediately. This not only helps learning blend with practice and performance, but it also increases employees’ confidence. With just-in-time training, employees can cross-check facts, review training materials, or go over checklists to confirm their decisions and improve accuracy.
