Five Strategies to Create Compelling Virtual L&D Programs

We recently explored the importance of training to increase employee engagement, demonstrating the connection between virtual training engagement and employee satisfaction, loyalty, and overall organizational success. With the linear relationship evident, let’s identify strategies to help your organization create compelling, engaging learning and development programs that nurture and cultivate those results. Below, we’ll explore five essential factors for developing virtual training modules that increase learner engagement.

Bring sessions to life with media-rich, interactive content

The content you disseminate is at the core of your learning and development offerings, so it stands to reason that the first place to investigate opportunities for engagement would be that very content. By leveraging a best-in-class virtual training platform, your organization can bring a whole new level of interaction to information and activities.

Utilize multimedia elements directly within the platform, allowing your community of learners to watch videos at their own pace, wholly participate in live documents, and communicate with peers and instructors throughout the process. Incorporate quizzes, polls, simulations, gamification techniques, and more to take dry, uninspired information and transform it into highly engaging and rich content your learners will actively seek.

Build community to improve learner engagement

Another critical aspect of a compelling virtual training program is the communication and relationship building that takes place among your community of learners, as well as with the instructors. With feature-rich virtual training platforms, your organization can leverage breakout groups for virtual group discussions, cross-departmental brainstorming sessions, peer-to-peer tutoring/mentoring opportunities, and more.

Within training modules, seek to increase learner engagement by utilizing collaborative tools and communication mediums, from interactive whiteboards to chat groups, and from video conferencing to topic-based forums.

Implement modality-agnostic training best practices

Before your community of learners even begins to engage with your virtual training programs, it’s vital to have a solid foundation underpinning the coursework. Aligning your training modules with best practices ensures your organization and your community of learners will get the most out of the experience.

Set clear expectations and guidelines for how your community of learners will participate in the virtual training modules and what they should gain from their involvement. Bob Helbig notes in his article for The Washington Post, “Expectations are a key predictor of employee turnover, especially for employees who have been with an organization fewer than five years. The best organizations meet employee expectations across all levels of the organization.” Ensure that the virtual environment is visually appealing and mimics the successful dynamics of an on-premise training session. Incorporate consistent feedback, provide frequent breaks, and vary the activities to heighten your community of learners’ attention and reduce the impact of mental fatigue.

Create a supportive learning environment

Among the best practices discussed above, continual, regimented feedback should be a top priority. Transparent communication between participants, instructors, and program managers should be encouraged not only by individuals actively using the platform but also by previous participants.

Ensure all participants are aware of dedicated support channels for technical assistance, as well as learning-related inquiries they may have. Upon completion of a module or entire virtual training program, solicit input from those who have participated in improving the efficacy and efficiency of your offerings. Record and standardize this feedback so that it can be evaluated over time, as well.

Use data and analytics to improve and optimize instruction

As noted in the sections above on best practices and providing support, it’s vitally important to identify standards and expectations upfront and solicit measurable feedback on how your organization is meeting these goals. Additionally, with a best-in-class virtual training platform, various data points can be obtained through effortless automation that helps inform this process.

Top virtual training platforms gather relevant data, from instructor and learner talk time metrics to the number of hands raised to time spent on-platform versus off, and more. These data points are incredibly valuable, in addition to the continuous feedback being solicited, in identifying the effectiveness of your virtual training program and the ability to increase employee engagement. Discuss which key performance indicators (KPIs) best demonstrate program success, as well as how often your organization will revisit strategies to meet and surpass those goals.

As noted in Gallup’s 2024 Employee Engagement Strategy Checklist, “Measuring engagement signals to employees you care about their feedback and want to know how they are doing. Whether you already have a tried-and-true method or need to develop a way of gauging your employee’s enthusiasm, measuring engagement is essential to having a baseline understanding of your workforce and its needs.”

Go fast alone or go further together?

When building out a compelling virtual training program to enhance the learning and development experience of your community of learners, as well as increase virtual training engagement, these five strategies can help create the foundation for success. Additionally, working closely with a trusted partner who understands the needs, concerns, goals, and challenges surrounding your implementation and ongoing improvement of a virtual training program can make a huge difference.

Reach out today to speak with a Class team member. Let’s start laying the foundation for a robust virtual learning and development program that will set your organization apart and skyrocket your virtual training engagement.