Most L&D teams face a similar challenge: low training adoption rates. Actually getting employees to enthusiastically take part in the training that’s been designed for their benefit is far from easy, and too often employees either ignore it or mindlessly complete it without taking any of the learnings from it.
Solving this requires L&D teams to take the friction out of learning and turn training into something that’s:
- Easy to access and use
- Relevant and personalized
- Engaging for learners
VirtualSpeech’s latest feature, Assigned Learning, is built specifically to address these three key areas and help L&D teams to deploy targeted training programs that drive true adoption.
Assigned Learning allows organizations to build deeply customizable learner pathways and training modules within VirtualSpeech, meaning learners can find tailored training sooner and fast-track their skill development.
What Is VirtualSpeech Assigned Learning?
With Assigned Learning, L&D teams can build custom learner pathways directly from the platform’s Admin Dashboard before deploying them to the VirtualSpeech platform. This means the instant that learners log into VirtualSpeech, they’re met with their tailored pathway ready to begin – no menus to navigate, no choice paralysis, no distractions.
For L&D teams, Assigned Learnings provides the ability to:
- Create tailored learner pathways based on role, skill gaps, or business objectives.
- Curate employees’ learning experiences within VirtualSpeech.
- Track learner performance across training modules and set customizable completion criteria.
While for learners, Assigned Learning means:
- Training modules have been tailored to your exact learning needs.
- It’s easier to find and start the training that’s been assigned to you inside VirtualSpeech – no need to spend time searching for the right piece of content.
- You can see exactly how much progress you’ve made towards your skill development.
“I think Assigned Learning is brilliant. It makes our approach much more scalable and is a great fit for self-paced learning. Being able to create combined learning paths across all our users gives learners a consistent experience, and it’s incredibly easy to use.”
Nancy Norman, Learning & Development Leader, Georgia State University
How Building Learner Pathways With VirtualSpeech Improves Adoption Rates
Too often, L&D teams send out a newsletter or announcement with a link to an LMS packed with training content and think that’s enough to get learners actually learning. What really happens is most learners don’t go into the platform at all because the content doesn’t feel tailored to their actual needs – and those that do log in are hit with choice paralysis.
The result is the same: a checkbox attitude to upskilling and low rates of true training adoption. With this approach, L&D doesn’t actually lead to real workplace behavior changes and instead ends up wasting both the L&D team and the learners’ time.
Building custom learner pathways with Assigned Learning in VirtualSpeech changes this dynamic.
Creating a pathway, while simple, requires L&D teams to be deliberate about what training content is included and why. This decision-making process involves thinking about:
- The length of the pathway – is it too long? Is there enough time for it to actually help skill development?
- The relevance of the content within – will learners care about the content? Is it speaking to the challenges they face on a day-to-day basis?
- What successful module completion looks like – is completing the module enough? Or should it require a minimum score?
L&D teams can sometimes make the mistake of not asking these questions, but you have to ask them when creating a learning pathway with Assigned Learning. This ultimately leads to the creation of training that’s more relevant and engaging for learners, resulting in stronger adoption rates.
But the benefits of Assigned Learning go deeper than just pathway creation. Once you’ve deployed the learning pathway to your target audience of learners, the real driver of training adoption begins.
“Assigned Learning is incredibly effective. I found myself thinking, ‘How long would this have taken me to get users through the content manually?’ Having everything organized in one place, where you can easily view and access all your content and assets, is incredibly valuable.”
Kasey Clawson Hudak, Assoc. Professor of Corporate Communication, Penn State University
Why Assigned Learning Is Great For Learners
Employees are used to training content being generic, difficult to find, time-consuming, and generally unrewarding. Once again, Assigned Learning changes this.
Assigned Learning transforms the learner experience into something intuitive and enjoyable. Rather than taking time out of their day to train and having to spend even more time searching for training material, Assigned Learning immediately presents learners with everything they need to get started, including:
- Their assigned training content – no ambiguity, no distractions.
- The order they need to complete the training content in.
- Their learning pathway progress and how they stack up compared to the completion criteria.
From a learner’s perspective, Assigned Learning removes the friction from training. All they have to do is log in, and everything they need to start their skill development journey is visible.
This means less time spent in menus and more time spent engaging with a tailored selection of VirtualSpeech’s training content that really makes an impact on skill development.
“Assigned Learning makes it much easier for trainees, especially first-time users. The fewer choices they have, the better it works, giving them a clear, structured path to follow.”
VirtualSpeech User
What VirtualSpeech Assigned Learning Looks Like In Action
What does Assigned Learning with VirtualSpeech look like in practice? Let’s look at an example.
Imagine that you’re launching a leadership development program for a group of new managers. You want them to develop their communication skills, but you don’t want them to have to search through the full VirtualSpeech library to decide where to begin.
Using Assigned Learning, you can create a dedicated learning experience for this group, selecting relevant courses and exercises, organizing them into a custom pathway, and then presenting this set of learners with a tailored set of activities built for their specific learning needs.
Repeat this simple process for various learning cohorts, and you’ll find yourself with tailored pathways for each target audience, allowing you to tackle a number of different business learning objectives and skill gaps without overwhelming your learners.
“With so many great features and activities to choose from, having a clear path helps users easily find and focus on the experiences I’ve selected for them.”
Renske Overman, Lecturer, Communication Skills, Avans University
Want To Bring Assigned Learning To Your Organization?
Assigned Learning is already making a brilliant impact on how VirtualSpeech is being deployed across organizations worldwide. If you’re ready to join a group that includes PwC, Deloitte, Vodafone, and more, speak to our team about adding VirtualSpeech immersive learning to your L&D team’s arsenal.
