Personalized Learning Strategies – The Key to Workforce Success

When it comes to employee learning, L&D professionals need to adopt personalized learning strategies. A “one-size-fits-all” approach is no longer efficient or proactive.

Individuals in the same role can be at different points of their learning and upskilling journey. That’s why companies around the world are moving towards personalized learning strategies that drive employee learning and set unique milestones for each employee.

What is Personalized Learning?

Personalized learning is a learner-centric L&D approach that focuses on the employee’s personal learning needs and interests. Implementing the right personalized learning strategies has been the key to building successful workforces for organizations around the world. In fact, studies show that 77% of learning and development professionals believe that a personalized learning path is critical to employee engagement.

In addition to increasing employee engagement, implementing personalized learning strategies for your employees enables you to… 

• Save the learner’s time that would otherwise be wasted on concepts that are not relevant to them.
• Increase learner engagement as your employees are more likely to interact with content that targets their pain points and area of work. 
• Drive productivity and motivate employees to put in more effort as the knowledge is intertwined with their daily routine. 

Research also shows that high-performing organizations are more likely to deliver personalized learning strategies than other companies. When surveyed:

• 93% agreed that a personalized learning program supports an employee in reaching professional goals more efficiently.

• 91% strongly agreed that personalized learning improved the link between learning objectives and organization performance. 
  
  

3 Personalized Learning Strategies to Drive Employee Performance and Workforce Success 

Low completion rate, learner disengagement, poor performance, and a low level of L&D adoption are some of the most common challenges that companies face when implementing an employee learning program. Sadly, traditional learning strategies aren’t effective in the modern world of Netflix and Amazon where people have become accustomed to receiving personalized recommendations. Employees expect the same personalization throughout their learning and development journey. 

Today’s employees are interested in a “just for me” learning style. Something that one employee finds useful won’t necessarily be helpful for the others. Their problem areas might differ. Here are 3 personalized learning strategies to ensure you provide an effective customized learning experience for your employees.  

1. Discover individual employee skill gaps 

To build a successful personalized learning experience for your employees, it is important to have a holistic view of each employee’s learning needs and skill gaps. Start the process by determining the skills that are essential for a specific job role. Then determine if an employee possesses these skills. This process can be simplified by leveraging a skilling suite that aids in role-based benchmarking.

Once you assess the skill level of each employee, you must map them to the skills you have identified as being most important for a specific job role. You can use a skill score here that will help you understand how strong an employee is in a particular skill and which skills they are missing.

Once you’ve implemented this learning strategy, design a personalized learning program for each employee. Invest time in planning the courses required to develop a certain skill. The more energy you put into personalizing learning the better results you will get to see. 

2. Leverage AI to personalize the learning experience

Implementing the right personalized learning objectives will change the game when it comes to employee learning. So, it's important to be extra careful when implementing an upskilling and learning platform.

An employee learning platform powered with AI capabilities – like our Learning Management System (LMS) and Learning Experience Platform (LXP) – can be your helping hand in this personalized approach for your employee learning experiences. 

AI helps in creating personalized learning pathways tailored to each individual’s specific needs. AI-based recommendations facilitate on-demand learning. Content is suggested based on an employee’s learning interest, learning history, and job role. It gives learners the control to access learning material at their pace and convenience. AI not only aligns learning with an individual’s performance goals but also allows you to predict course maps and make relevant changes in real time. 

Businesses of various sizes are tapping into the potential of AI for personalizing learning. For instance, Angel Broking, one of the largest retail broking houses in India, used an AI-powered skilling suite to create a hyper-personalized learning journey for its employees.  

The personalized learning strategy helped them capture the attention of the employees. They could achieve a higher level of learner engagement and witnessed a 2X increase in active users within two years. 

3. Embrace multi-format microlearning 

Some employees like to learn by watching videos, some by listening to podcasts, and others by reading content. Embracing a multi-format blended learning style is a personalized learning strategy that gives your learners the flexibility to choose how they want to learn. Use videos, podcasts, and various forms of bite-sized, engaging content. 

Microlearning is a great way to personalize learning. Through mobile learning, you give them the flexibility to learn what they want, whenever they want. The bite-sized content seamlessly merges into the flow of work. This has a positive impact on the completion ratio. Learners are getting the information they need at the right time and place so they feel motivated to complete the courses. 

Learning can even be personalized by adding the fun element through gamification. The gamified approach is highly engaging and effective especially when it is clubbed with personalization. 

Studies found that 90% of employees feel more productive when using gamification.

Conclusion

Employees show more interest in learning when they find the experience relevant to their career path and professional development. Implementing the right personalized learning and employee upskilling strategies is the best way to motivate employees to learn more and improve their skills for excelling at their jobs.

Businesses that implement personalized learning strategies for their learning process are able to see better performance scores. The right skilling suite makes a huge difference when it comes to personalized learning. 

Request a free demo to see how disprz, an AI-powered skilling suite can help you personalize the learning journey for your employees.