3 ways your eLearning program can solve recruiting struggles

Does your company’s top talent seem to have less staying power than it once did? If so, you’re seeing the impact of what’s been dubbed ‘The Great Resignation’. With people exiting their roles en masse, global companies are scrambling to meet business needs.

Don’t worry. This is L&D’s chance to turn your eLearning program into the ultimate tool for your recruiters. But, what if your L&D team is one of the teams affected by the very problem you hope to solve?? Let’s explore three ways even pressured L&D teams can continue to thrive:

1) Lean on your subject matter experts for content creation

What we hear from our customers is that the last thing a stretched L&D team needs is for subject matter experts to only provide a bunch of PowerPoint decks to be converted into eLearning courses. This is not a fun task for an already pressed team. Instead, this is a chance for your subject matter experts to shine.

Remember that an internal subject matter expert probably understands your business needs and has specialized information that your learning designers might not otherwise know. They can become your learning team’s greatest resource—so long as you make the content authoring process easy for them, and reduce the amount of work they have to shift back onto learning designers.

Empower your SMEs to create learning content on their own. You can do this by making sure you have the necessary tools to create and deliver eLearning content. Your eLearning authoring tool should be simple enough for an SME to create content with minimal oversight from learning teams. Done right, you’ll have the double benefit of making your SMEs feel valued as a source of expertise, too.

2) Focus on learning content quick wins

L&D teams can focus on quick wins by refreshing or upcycling existing learning content. This approach helps your team create relevant learning materials that your learners need as soon as possible. It also helps you avoid spending months planning a learning program, especially when you’re already short on resources. Of course, you’ll still need to spend some time refining the content, so be sure to factor in that extra time needed!

Using Gomo, you can also set up branded templates to speed up content production and delivery. Visually-engaging eLearning content is more important than ever, especially with many teams remaining fully remote. These templates will help you create a cohesive, company-specific look and feel—an important component of personalizing a learner’s experience. It’s also critical when you’re onboarding new hires as it can help immerse them into your organization’s culture at a faster rate than if you were to offer non-branded, generic learning courses.

3) Bring the human element back to your organization

If you’re up against an understaffed learning and development team, low retention rates, and a lack of quality candidates, it’s time to take action. If you’re having trouble attracting and hiring talent, make sure you do everything in your power to retain the talent you have. Whether it’s with learning opportunities or other approaches, here are a few immediate ideas that actually work:

Create a culture and work environment that enables a people-first mindset. Give learners the opportunity to reskill or upskill themselves. You’ll want to make this apparent to candidates going through the interview process, too. Career development is as attractive as ever to top talent. Don’t miss the chance to include it in your job descriptions, and, be sure to let recruiters and hiring managers know they should mention it to candidates.

Managers are also key to addressing the recruitment challenge. Employees who have regular check-ins or touchpoints with their manager are 75% less likely to leave their role. Be proactive, not reactive. Encourage managers to have informal meetings or conversations with staff. Sometimes, a person’s level of productivity can indicate that they’re no longer invested in their role—or the company. If someone is noticeably disengaged, a manager can catch this (and fix the issue) before the employee is on their way out the door.

Above all else, you should provide both managers and employees with the eLearning tools, time, and environment needed to grow their careers. For managers, this might be new eLearning courses that help them identify when employees are struggling to keep up. Remember: when you empower people to grow, you signal to them (and to potential employees) that they’re valued and appreciated.