Compliance training is a crucial aspect of any manufacturing organization to ensure health and safety, but expanding your organization’s learning opportunities beyond compliance can transform employee engagement. Focusing on providing learning opportunities that meet the diverse needs of employees from the shop floor to the C-suite helps them see a future within the company.
One such manufacturing company, Duravant, which operates 16 manufacturing and sales and service locations globally, wanted to center learning with a revamped L&D offering to meet every employee where they are with personalized content for different roles and skills. Through their domestic platform, they have seen significant adoption of learning and training, with over 1,600 courses completed in just a few months. We spoke with Jess Wright, director of talent management at Duravant, to learn how they created a learning ecosystem beyond ticking boxes.
The Power of Varied Content Formats
The modern workforce is diverse, with different schedules, technical capabilities, and learning styles. Each generation has a different preference in how they want to learn.
“To effectively engage and retain our employees, we need to provide them with various learning formats beyond long-form online courses,” said Wright. “Switching our training to shorter, bite-sized snippets has increased completion and satisfaction rates.”
This microlearning and video content can be completed between tasks and is much more accessible for front-line and office workers. These formats can capture attention and make learning feel less like a chore and more like an opportunity for growth.
Harnessing the Future with Upskilling
Investing in employee development outside current roles helps recruit and retain top talent and foster a more engaged and productive workforce.
“Survey your employees about their learning interests outside their current roles, and identify internal experts who can create or curate content in various formats,” said Wright.
Duravant offers management training essentials so talented production line workers can envision upward mobility and DEI courses so women in the organization feel included in a traditionally male-dominated industry.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Here’s the hard truth: one-size-fits-all training programs fit none. Each employee’s aspirations and ideas of growth are different. Adds Wright, “We must think about learning as whole person development, not just moving people through a managerial track.”
By tailoring learning content to individual aspirations and skills gaps, you’re not just improving skills but boosting employee engagement and retention. Learning opportunities could offer technical skills like Microsoft Excel, Six Sigma certification, or cross-departmental knowledge. Conduct regular skills assessments and career development discussions to create personalized learning journeys. This can involve one-on-one meetings where employees can express their interests and goals, allowing you to align training opportunities with their aspirations. Myriad tools can integrate with your LMS to help curate these pathways, so you don’t have to do it all yourself.
Centering learning beyond compliance isn’t just about filling skills gaps in your organization – it’s about creating a culture where every employee feels valued and nurtured.
