In recent years, corporate training has become a crucial factor in many companies’ successes. HR and L&D departments have recognized how significant quality training is to results across all organizational levels.

Seventy-nine percent of CEOs worldwide have expressed their concerns about the lack of core skills in their workforces and how that could affect their organizations’ growth. To tackle this challenge, many companies are investing heavily in e-learning in 2021. According to Gamelearn’s survey of 1,000 HR professionals, 60 percent of companies will increase their online training budget this year. The emphasis will be placed on a few key aspects: digital training, change management for the “new normal,” and the need for updated formats and skills.

Let’s examine a few trends to see what some of the main features of training plans will be in 2021:

Innovative E-learning Formats

Gone are the days of traditional e-learning. Employees now demand innovative formats capable of teaching them useful content and keeping them motivated to learn. Among the most popular solutions is game-based learning and, specifically, corporate training through video games, whose 44 percent growth rate was the highest of all the training solutions in 2020. Additionally, 80 percent of employees in the United States consider game-based learning to be the best format for generating engagement, and companies have used that allure to achieve never-before-seen training results.

Continuous Training via Learning Pathways

If training helps staff perform better, why only focus on it once or twice a year? If you want to get the most out of your time and resources, continuous training ensures your teams have the tools and skills they need all year round. Learning pathways that focus on various training areas to sharpen skills will be one of the most widely used resources by HR departments this year.

Gamification Paired With Instructional Design

One of the most powerful combinations that we can find in corporate training is the duo of gamification and instructional design. The latter is useful in combining different elements of learning and ensuring they work well together, while gamification has been proven to:

• Boost employee motivation at work.

• Increase productivity by up to 50 percent and engagement by 60 percent.

• Increase staff energy and reduce stress levels.

Learning That Can Be Personalized and Quantified

As workforces become more varied and diverse, talent development managers see the need to personalize employee experiences in their online training plans. Metrics play a key role in this because they give managers the ability to take a step back and see what’s working and what isn’t. In fact, in 2020, being able to effectively quantify the ROI of training became one of the main objectives of HR managers across the board, especially when moving from in-person to online.

Microlearning

Online learning has become much more immediate and accessible with the advancement of e-learning platforms, and more is possible with them than ever before. Short lessons, which can be absorbed by students in little time, offer more flexibility to fit training into their busy schedules. However, though convenient, there are some minimum requirements for these tools:

• Adaptable design

• Online access

• Cloud-based functionality

One methodology that fits with all these trends is game-based learning. It’s innovative, measurable, uses elements of gamification to engage and motivate learners, and is highly customizable through the use of e-learning authoring tools, such as Gamelearn’s Editor. With game-based learning you can satisfy your employees’ and your business’s needs at the same time. Are you ready to meet employee expectations and generate the results your business needs with game-based learning?