It has long been established that the best way to keep employees motivated and satisfied with their jobs is to provide learning opportunities side by side with other workplace amenities. Among these learning opportunities, some training programs are more popular than others. They significantly impact a professional’s learning curve and help them grow through the hierarchy in the long run.
The clear focus is on self-paced, autonomous e-learning trends.
Here is a closer view of microlearning, gamification, adaptive learning and augmented reality or virtual reality:
Microlearning: It is a learning module that comprises infographics, games, podcasts and small videos. An entire module is delivered within 10 to 13 minutes. In this duration, the learner receives pointed information that he/she can absorb easily. This module is small enough to be digested by a professional without interfering with his/her workday and adding to their knowledge bank in small, sure increments.
Gamification: Another way to capture small attention spans is by introducing instructional games that teach useful concepts. This is a trend that has taken the corporate learning space by storm. It presumes a certain level of knowledge which most professionals possess. Gamification allows mixing up of real conditions and imaginary ones to simulate concepts. Learning through gamification can also be made as personalized as necessary. For this reason, it is suited to create learning modules for top management.
Adaptive learning: This is a self-paced trend in corporate training programs where the focus in on grasping concepts than on competing with others. It can offer young professionals who newly enter the workforce a lot of confidence. A high amount of flexibility is the main merit and selling point for adaptive learning modules. Among organizations, this is an option that helps rein in attrition and advances engagement with one’s team and role.
Virtual reality: Virtual reality and augmented reality enhance the course content and help with the retention of knowledge by introducing interesting visual and audio content. 360-degree photographs, interactive visuals, and graphics overlays are adopted to make it not only interesting but also easy to recall. Engagement with concepts in VR and augmented reality is high.
With these tools in place, some of the most popular training programs trending through the job market are:
- Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification – for project managers looking to enhance their strategies, and other strengths
- Certified Scrum Master – for managerial level IT professionals
- Six Sigma Green Belt – for managers in CRM, strategy, consumer behavior and quality assurance in manufacturing and processing domains
- The Open Group Architecture Framework – for architects in Enterprise Architecture Development, IT Architecture
For each domain of expertise, there are several training programs trending. All of these programs tend to be influenced by the advancements in IT, and thus benefit from adopting trends from instructional design such as adding videos, podcasts, infographics and other strong audio-visual content.
For example, in business studies, business intelligence, business administration and entrepreneurship courses are trending.
In design, instructional design, design thinking, user experience design, user interface (UI) design are popular courses.
In accounting, the greatest value is currently placed on financial accounting and fraud detection, financial management in public sector, fiscal planning etc.
These course suggestions can help established professionals seek further growth and also offer guidance to their teammates.
