The first few days of a new employee’s time with your company can set the tone for workplace culture, expectations, and the level of energy expected. So that last thing you want to do is subject a new hire to hours of boring lectures and textbook work. Employee training can move to exciting dimensions with the help of emerging technology.
Here are five new areas of technology that can help you train employees with more accuracy and insight:
3D technology – Both online and offline courses can be greatly enlivened with 3D technology, especially for those courses that require high levels of realism. Health care workers are finding it increasingly useful to practice on 3D simulations of diagnostic equipment and in labs, scientists are learning new things about molecular biology using 3D models. There is one caveat, however, make sure that your company has access to substantially higher bandwidth if you are using 3D technology, as the rendered files can be quite large.
Automated Virtual Assistants – Programmed 3D characters can be summoned by employees seeking answers as they learn new processes. The characters can respond to the most frequently asked questions in a course, for example, and can add a great element of fun to learning. Some companies develop a whole pool of these virtual assistants to handle a variety of questions related to different aspects of training.
M-Learning – Following hard on the trial of e-learning comes mobile-learning, or m-learning. As phones get smarter and smarter and gain computing tools, they will become major devices for training. Already language training is being pioneered effectively on smartphones in countries like Japan.
The 24/7 trainer – The advent of mobile learning systems has created ways that employees can access the corporate intranet 24 hours of the day, seven days a week as they need it. They can access training materials from anywhere their phone goes. Instead of waiting until Monday to figure out a problem, they can find the appropriate manual online and deal with the problem.
Social media – Not just for friends anymore, social media websites are effective at building business relationships as well. As a learning tool, they can be effective in linking coaches and mentors to employees. As an added bonus, they can also be used for team-building activities that demand cooperation and collaboration.
Can you think of any new technologies boosting employee training? Let us know your thoughts and opinions about the technologies listed above.