How to create an interactive training program for employee?

What is training without interaction? Just a group of people staring ahead while their minds dwell elsewhere.

The only way to bring them back to the present and keep them from getting lost in their train of thought again is to maintain constant interaction. 

Ask questions, do quick drills, assign team activities. This applies to both students and professionals.

You would think that providing online training instead of instructor-led training would prove more effective. Well, that's a myth. Simply providing training decks on computers or laptops or even on the phone won't be very effective unless it's interactive. After all, they are the same long lines of static text and images. 

Your employees will not like to sit at their workstations and read simple texts, neither on paper nor on the computer.

And what about the training program for retail employees? Those who are not attached to a desk. These are the employees who primarily patronize customers in a store. 

You can't really expect them to go through training materials that sound like a new one. Retail employees are constantly needed in the field, and therefore, they need training content that can be accessed and read anywhere and anytime while on the go.

And that is why interactive training programs are needed. In this blog, we'll focus on ways to create interactive training programs for retail employees.

But let's first see how an interactive online training module benefits employees.

• It keeps learners engaged
• Keep them focused on the course module
• Helps them memorize content better
• Track and understand progress with instant reports
• Motivates them to continue and complete the training program

Here's how SeekLMS can design an engaging and interactive training program for retail employees.

1. Create video content

A staggering number of videos are consumed by people around the world every day, thanks to the increased use of smartphones. On average, there are 1,000,000,000 mobile video views per day, and the average mobile viewing session lasts over 40 minutes. It shows that people never get bored watching videos.

Your retail employees are undoubtedly part of this video-consuming generation. Providing retail training in the form of videos will therefore be effective in engaging learners and helping them remember useful information. Video content should be supported by effective narration to increase knowledge retention. 

You can opt for ready-made video training materials or even cost-effectively create one yourself.

2. Create audio files

You will find the majority of youngsters using headphones or earphones while performing mundane tasks. Leverage this habit by providing them with good-quality audio files of training materials.

This way, when the employee is busy stacking products, organizing shelves, or perhaps traveling, they can listen to the audio learning materials and keep up to date and complete their training programs. But audio shouldn't be considered the only resource for learning forms. It should be an additional resource that employees can use at their convenience.

Also, some people are good at remembering things they hear rather than reading them. So, by creating an audio version of your training program, you cater to both types of learners – visual and auditory.

3. Use augmented reality

Augmented reality is when you point your mobile phone's camera at a certain image or object and an enhanced digital version of it is projected onto the screen. In retail training programs, you can use augmented reality by allowing employees to point their devices at products, which would then display product details and specifications. 

Learn more about how organizations can get a better return on investment using AR in training

This interactive and immersive way of learning helps them stay engaged and learn facts in a fun way. This technique can also be used by retail employees to introduce product features to the customer and help them in their buying journey. Here's how to deliver retail training to remote employees

4. Provide branching scenarios

The branching scenario is a style of training in which the learner chooses the course of action that determines the end result. Employees are given a virtual scenario, along with options to determine what they would do in such a situation. Depending on the options chosen by the employee, the learning path proceeds at each stage with other choices. Each choice leads to a different path and one of many possible conclusions.

This continues until the employee achieves the desired result. Branching scenarios are a good way to develop employee decision-making skills. This helps them identify what to do in a particular scenario in the real world and prepares them to handle various situations they might encounter on the job.

5. Interactive Assessments

Interaction occurs when each party involved in the formation responds in some way. In this case, the interaction is between a learner and most likely a smartphone. When the course throws in questions and features that compel the employee to take action, it becomes an interactive experience for the employee. So whenever an employee clicks a button, plays an audio file, etc., an interaction happens right there.

Include quizzes to test employee understanding of various concepts. These assessments can take the form of multiple-choice, drag-and-drop questions, tags, and more. This allows employees to understand their rate of progress and gauge their understanding.

6. Gamify Content

Gamification has become a common practice in employee training. This includes using game principles such as levels and reward points to motivate learners. Gamification acts as a catalyst that pushes the employee to score more points at the next level of the learning program.

And how do they do that? By completing each module within a time limit, solving a problem within a time limit, or scoring strengths in online assessments. Features like points and timers play on the storyline and win over the audience.

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