5 Steps for Creating Effective Learning Content for Frontline Employees

“Learning is crucial for your employees”

“Your employees need to learn”

“Learning and development is the key”

You’ve likely seen variations on these statements plastered all over Linkedin, emails and the news. By now, you’re probably aware that learning is important for frontline employees. But what next? Understanding that learning is important is only the first step in making a commitment to employee development.

Not all employee training is created equal.

This post will explain how to create effective learning content for frontline employees in the form of a handy step-by-step guide.

Where is training going wrong?

Traditional frontline employee training has a range of flaws that make it unsuitable for effective learning. These include:

• Information dumps, where learners are overloaded with information and then don’t receive any refresher training thereafter.
• Unclear learning goals.
• Paper resources or classroom-style training which disrupts the flow of work.
• Dull, tedious content which fails to engage the learner.
• Training that’s irrelevant to the learner’s role.

Related: 6 Barriers to Effective Learning for Frontline Employees, and How to Avoid Them

Steps for creating effective learning content:

• Establish the learning objectives

Pinpoint what it is that you most want learners to remember. What is the main goal of the training? Don't expect learners to take in too much at once. Focus each session around the one most important piece of information you want frontline employees to remember. e.g. something about a new product.

Learning needs to be targeted to employees’ roles to give them the best chance of retaining the information that they need to remember the most. Lessons should be short, focused and to-the-point.

• Consider how learning best fits into employees’ schedules

49% of learners say that they don’t have time to learn at work. Learning needs to fit easily into the flow of work, or employees won’t be able to do it. For frontline teams who are on their feet or on the road all day, microlearning is ideal. 

Microlearning breaks up learning content into digestible, bite-size chunks so employees can complete training on the job and learn without needing to disrupt their work. Training using a mobile app is great for this as learners have instant access to learning content. 70% of frontline employees think app-based training would be easier.

Related: How to Use AI in Frontline Employee Training

• Decide on the most engaging format

Different learners prefer to learn in different ways - Gen Z employees will be accustomed to swiping and scrolling to consume new info, whereas boomers are more likely to prefer traditional teaching methods like personalized coaching.

Regardless of age, all learners will typically retain more information when training is interactive. As the Benjamin Franklin quote goes: “teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn”. Gamified elements like quizzes, battles, sliding scales and scoring not only make training more fun, but also aid the retention of information.

• Use relevant and accessible content

Nobody wants to read paragraphs of brain-numbing technical jargon. Use simple, accessible language that your employees can easy understand and matches the language they use on the job. Tap into your learners’ curiosity using scenario-based learning, framing information in the context of the learner’s role.

Test learners using realistic workplace situations where learners have to make decisions about how best to act. This makes training more meaningful as it mirrors the realities of learners’ jobs and rapidly builds experience handling relevant scenarios.

Related: Confidence-Based Learning: What It Is and Why Your Frontline Employees Need It

• Schedule spaced repetition

Learning is a process, not an event. Without repetition, 50% of knowledge is forgotten within a day, and 90% is forgotten a week after the initial training session. Spaced repetition cements information within the brain with refresher lessons to commit new information to long-term memory.

Implement spaced repetition by scheduling repeated lessons at increasingly spaced intervals. For example, the first refresher could be 1 day after the initial training, the second refresher one week after, and then one month, three months etc. This approach encourages continuous development and shows employees that you are genuinely invested in their progression.

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YOOBIC works with over 300 businesses including Lacoste, Roots and Peloton to create the ultimate empowered employee experience for their frontline teams. To find out how YOOBIC would take your business to the next level, schedule a demo today!