Employee engagement drives company success. This is the critical element required for growing a business in the next decade and beyond. But this is a relatively recent concept. For decades, business leaders viewed employee engagement as an added bonus to another, more important concept: employee productivity. Companies were built on the tenets of productivity, efficiency, and a strict separation between an employee’s feelings about their work and the actual work that they do.
We’ve seen this value for personal investment in work multiply this last year, especially as the pandemic forced employees to evaluate their careers and think toward the future. As companies adapted to new work styles, leaders also re-evaluated how they could retain employees in the age of The Great Resignation.
Employee engagement problems range from highly technical issues like inadequate devices or software to more personal issues that pertain to workplace culture. While these are two very different types of challenges—only made more difficult when companies are managing in-office, hybrid and remote work styles—technology solves both sets of issues. To be more specific, a digital learning management system or LMS platform can address the top 5 problems of employee engagement. Here’s how.
- Application overload causes employee burnout
A study by Citrix found that 64% of employees are using more applications now than they did before the pandemic. Furthermore, 71% of those same employees said the applications are hindering workplace productivity.
Author Ramesh Ramani
The concepts of application overload and digital transformation create a Catch-22 for companies. Digital transformation requires that companies use applications to communicate with employees and complete work. Application overload is the result of that digital transformation—and from too many required pieces of tech in a given workplace.
A digital LMS platform should provide a comprehensive platform for learning that integrates with commonly used workplace apps. First, whether used for onboarding initiatives or upskilling, an LMS should have all of the necessary learning tools built into the app, such as a content player, embedded quizzes, data and metrics for learning managers, and even in-platform video conferencing. This prevents an abundance of tabs, windows, or applications to complete a single task. Integration with Slack, Salesforce and Microsoft Teams is also critical for beating application overload because it makes the most of technology employees are already using in their day-to-day work.
- Siloed communication reduces productivity, efficiency
Communication was one of the greatest challenges during the pandemic, and it is still a massive challenge with the adoption of remote and hybrid workstyles. Without clear communication, projects are delayed, employees spend hours on rework, and productivity is lost in the battle to find the right information. This negatively impacts employee engagement because the process is, in a word, exhausting. Employees must communicate with their colleagues and managers, but they cannot do so effectively if communication is siloed or answers are hard to find.
A digital LMS can solve this problem in two ways. First, as companies adjust to remote and hybrid work environments, it may be beneficial to institute new processes, so communication is clear and effective. The best way to implement these processes is through company-wide training on an LMS platform so that employees across the board understand how they can best communicate with their colleagues.
Second, a digital LMS reduces siloed communication because, by nature, it makes information accessible. For companies with large workforces and multiple people within a given department, an LMS platform is the perfect place to house vital information so that employees can access it on their own time. This way, when training, resources, and references are offered in the platform, employees can log on and find information easily.
- Employees don’t feel connected with their teams
When employees feel isolated, work loses meaning, and workplace satisfaction decreases. This is especially true as companies settle into hybrid and remote habits where employees are less likely to spend time with their coworkers on a regular basis. Disconnection from teams can negatively impact morale and thus reduce a company’s success as well.
A collaborative learning environment can help employees feel engaged with their coworkers. Companies can cultivate this with tools like a digital LMS platform that offers multiple learning opportunities and engaging course content. HR leaders should look for an LMS platform that includes in-platform video conferencing, interactive quizzes, extensible apps, and insights. Current platform also allow for gamification so that healthy competition is facilitated among employees. They can learn alongside peers and interact with each other based upon the learning content.
- Employees don’t see a future at their company
Employees want to know they have a future in their careers. Leaders can promote retention and encourage employee engagement by providing clear steps to promotions and career advancement. This helps facilitate a sense of belonging among employees and demonstrates that the company is invested in employees for the long term. The most impactful way companies can communicate this is through training. Using a digital LMS platform, corporate learning and development managers can craft clear training trajectories that help employees understand which steps are required to make it to the next level in their careers.
When companies offer courses that help employees move up the ladder, they provide another avenue for engagement and collaboration. This promotes employee satisfaction and helps employees look toward the future to understand their role in the company and how it can progress.
- Employees are bored in their jobs.
Corporate leaders are talking about “The Great Reshuffle,” a movement that LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky says is changing how workers and employers view their jobs. The term came after LinkedIn’s team noticed a significant increase in users changing their jobs over the course of six months. While this may seem daunting to companies, the reshuffle can have a positive impact on a company’s success if it is optimized. A learning management system can help with this. Employees are choosing to leave careers, in part, because they no longer have an interest in their work.
Company leaders can use an LMS platform to encourage employees to upskill, pursue new endeavors within their field, take advanced certification courses and give themselves a competitive edge in the market. Some LMS platforms supports rely on artificial intelligence that learns from a user’s behavior, job title, and course selections and then offers personalized course recommendations to support their interests. This can help employees feel more engaged in their work, and artificial intelligence makes the process automatic, offering an impactful return on investment.
Implementing a digital LMS solution is a practical first step to promoting employee engagement.