Apps can be an essential tool for training, whether it’s onboarding new employees or teaching existing staff.
Global companies like Coca-Cola are already using app-based training and reaping the rewards in both increased results and decreased costs. App-based learning has higher completion rates than more traditional methods of training, as learners demonstrate more interest and engagement with the highly interactive form of training.
What Can I Use Apps For?
The short answer is, anything! Digital solutions are generally more customisable and flexible than traditional training methods. Apps are even more flexible, as they can be used on a range of devices such as smartphones and tablets. Being able to access training on your phone on-demand provides much more flexibility than classroom-based learning – but there’s no need to choose between the two.
Apps can easily be integrated to support classroom-based learning – through quizzes to reinforce and test what was learned in the classroom, to providing material for the class beforehand, or making footage of the class available afterwards.
Apps can even be used to support the trainers themselves; making the relevant material available for all trainers in one easily accessible place. They can be updated whenever necessary, and users can be notified of this via push notifications – making them a long-term and flexible learning solution.
Apps are especially effective at delivering bite-size learning. They can be accessed anywhere at any time, even without an internet connection, meaning employees can fit learning in around their schedule, on the move, or whenever they have a few minutes spare. Receiving a lot of content in one go can be overwhelming for learners and they are unlikely to retain much of it, however, if they are able to train in short bursts at their own pace, their retention rates will be significantly higher.
Geographically diverse companies were quick to jump on the benefits of app-based learning, as it provides the same message to all learners, removing the possibility of “patchy” training. It can also be rolled out to all learners across the globe in the same instant. Alternatively, if you’d rather tailor the content for each learner, this is also possible through an app.
Apps can be useful beyond training too. You can set up message boards for staff, or checklists for jobs. Short job aids can be made easily accessible to help jog an employee’s memory in the moment it is needed. Users can have news pages with push notifications to keep all employees, or even just select employees, well informed.
If you want to have Daily Tips or a Question of the Day to keep the knowledge fresh, there’s an app for that. If you want to motivate learners with competitive leaderboards, there’s an app for that. If you want to gather opinions and make staff feel valued by taking polls on anything – from what they liked about the training, to what they want for lunch – there’s an app for that. In fact, they could all be the same app!