Performance support tools are the backbone of any company's performance improvement efforts. Read on to know how you can improve their effectiveness and produce maximum results from corporate training.
Any training without an effective outcome is just like a vehicle without wheels. The basic purpose of corporate training is to encourage employees to augment their skills and knowledge, which facilitates better productivity and job performance. But what if things don’t go as planned? There’s a real possibility of certain things like distraction, time crunch, inability to complete the training, and the most common (also, the hurtful) one — forgetting. Even with the best training material and top-notch instructors, retaining everything is just impossible. This factor can deeply influence the employee’s performance. To deal with this problem head-on, performance support is one of the popular and effective ways.
How to Design Effective Performance Support Tools for Corporate Training?
Given below are the three best practices for the same:
- Go for Microlearning: Micro lessons, macro impact
- Say yes to mobile-compatible format
- Have a robust LMS in place
But first,
What is performance support?
I’m sure you’ve heard a friend in need is a friend indeed. Well, that’s exactly what performance support is to the employees. It is a friend who helps the employees to improve their performance by providing them with exact information when needed. In formal terms, performance support is the method by which employees receive specific information as and when required by them. It is highly beneficial as it helps foster productivity, confidence, knowledge, skills, and, therefore, employee performance. Moreover, performance support maintains the continuity of the workflow as the information is provided just-in-time format. Further, it also helps in getting tasks done quickly. Therefore, more can be achieved in less time. It helps employees focus on matters of higher importance rather than just remembering the details or worrying about how they will find the necessary information.
Some of the popular performance support tools are how-to videos, PDFs, eBooks, infographics, tables, mobile learning, online FAQs, etc. Well, with the concept in light and benefits and popular performance support tool formats enlisted, I think it is the right time to talk about what you can do to make your performance support tools more effective.
→ Mobile learning can be an effective tool for performance support. Click to know more!
3 Best Practices to Design Effective Performance Support Tools for Corporate Training
To start with something very simple, you can eat fruits any time of the day but combining them with some sort of exercise proves to be more effective. Both activities in their standalone form are fine, but it is the “effectiveness” that counts. It is this component of effectiveness that makes all the difference in helping you achieve your goals and success. Well, continuing on similar lines, here are the 3 best ways to improve the effectiveness of your performance support material.
Go for Microlearning: Micro Lessons, Macro Impact
This practice can work wonders for your performance support tools. Microlearning refers to converting a lengthy eLearning course into smaller, easy-to-understand units of information. These micro lessons will help your employees to acquire knowledge and skills without overwhelming them. Since the information is provided in small units, it can be adjusted in the daily schedule rather than it feeling like an additional task. It also fits well with the challenge of reduced attention span as the learning modules are short and aligned with learners’ attention duration. Moreover, if the employees forget any piece of information, they can easily reinforce it by going through the bite-sized module again. It saves their time and improves their rate of retention.
Microlearning also reduces the element of dependence on others and boosts self-confidence. As the employees can find the required information in an easy and convenient way without having to spend time on lengthy eLearning courses, microlearning doesn’t hamper the workflow. Rather it enhances the productivity and performance of the employee.
Say Yes to Mobile-compatible Format
Let me ask you something. What’s that one thing you can’t leave home without? If not all, the majority would agree that it is a mobile phone. In today’s technology-led world, it has become an indispensable part of our lives. Without us even realizing it, mobiles are already playing multiple roles in our lives… a friend, a teacher, a health guide, and more. Tap into this unattended potential of mobile phones to leverage them for performance support in your corporate training initiatives.
You can make job-aid formats mobile-friendly, which will enable your employees to take up the learning courses at their convenience, anywhere, anytime. It offers them a certain sense of freedom and comfort, which augments their interest and knowledge retention for better productivity and performance. Even better, mobile learning matches their style of learning without leading to boredom. The courses can be designed by integrating different interactivities, such as videos, gifs, quizzes, etc., which improve learner engagement and participation. Mobile is a handy tool, and mobile learning is a great way to ensure readily available performance support.
Have a Robust LMS in Place
The above two practices are futile if you don’t have a robust LMS in place to host your eLearning courses. Learning Management System (LMS) is an online platform for training delivery. It helps you store all the learning and training material in a single location which can be shared with the learners in a quick and easy manner. As the information can be accessed by the learners at any point in time, it facilitates flexibility in the learning schedule which can prevent cognitive load among the employees.
Whether you are a small-scale business or a large enterprise, hosting the training material on your LMS is always a good practice. You can easily create learning pathways, assign eLearning courses to employees that will help them improve their performance and productivity. LMS enables you to even track your employee’s progress and support and guide them accordingly. Incorporate this practice in your corporate training and give your performance support tools an effective edge.
Summing It Up!
Performance support tools are valuable for helping your organization with the process of performance improvement and organizational learning. It is important to integrate a performance support system with your company’s strategy and processes to enable it to deliver effective results. Performance support tools can help organizations achieve business goals by improving employee engagement, increasing productivity, and reducing costs. And they can help employees by providing information as and when required, thereby fostering better job performance. So consider converting your already existing training material into more effective and friendly performance support tool formats now!
Microlearning is a one-stop destination that attends to modern learning habits and provides performance support along with other multiple benefits such as improved retention, cost-efficiency, etc. Check out this eBook to learn how microlearning helps in accelerating employee performance.
