Gary Cattermole explains why staff feedback surveys are vital to keep mobile learning on track.

Mobile learning has many advantages to employers and employees, such as flexibility, cost savings and highly-focused courses for the individual. But it may also have its downside - lack of motivation by employees, time management and difficulty to track progress by employers. By creating ongoing feedback surveys companies can ensure staff enjoy elearning and get the most out of their training and development.

How do I set up staff surveys to ensure effective mobile learning programmes?

Most companies run a short questionnaire at the end of each in-house training course to ensure their staff are reaching the goals set for them at the beginning of their learning and development programme. The same needs to happen when delivering mobile learning courses, but at the same time managers need to take into account that staff are getting used to a new (or different) way of learning, which will affect each individual differently.

At the beginning of a new training plan, the pros and cons of taking part in mobile learning need to be discussed with the individual in depth. It is not necessarily the best option for a company to pursue mobile learning for just a cost-saving measure. Employees need to feel comfortable with the new technology and be given work time to take part in training programmes otherwise staff may feel very disengaged with the whole process, and will not pick up the vital skills and knowledge that have been pinpointed as necessary for themselves/your company to move forward.

"Employees need to feel comfortable with the new technology and be given work time to take part in training programmes otherwise staff may feel very disengaged with the whole process"

Following each module, evaluate the usefulness of the course to ensure your elearning provider is offering you exactly what your employees’ need. If changes need to be made, make them, otherwise staff will feel the course was a waste of time and will not be keen to take part in other learning opportunities.

Develop a feedback process with managers to ensure staff can balance their work commitments, training and home life. Offer tips on how they can manage workloads and listen to their feedback as it can help you develop other training programmes in the future. Ensure all staff are rewarded for taking part in training, as their new skills and knowledge will help move your business forward, and a fully engaged employee will also help boost profits and productivity too. Remember a reward doesn’t necessarily mean a pay rise – a personal well done from management, certificate, or a news piece in your internal magazine all help to praise employees and keep them motivated.

Collate feedback from all managers to help you strategically move your learning and development forward. By compiling a 'big picture' of feedback from across the company you will begin to see what is an isolated issue, or something that needs to be addressed. As with all staff surveys anonymity is the key to success, this is harder to achieve when the surveys are conducted in-house, but consider bringing in a specialist survey provider that can offer highly-targeted surveys and follow-up focus groups to really get to grips with the issues effecting your mobile learning programmes.

TOP TIPS

• When planning training programmes ensure mobile learning is suitable for your employees
• Allow work time for staff to undertake mobile learning
• Support staff getting used to new ways of learning and new equipment
• Ensure feedback from each course is analysed and react to employees’ concerns/needs
• By making mobile learning work you can save money, reduce time spent travelling to training days, quickly educate staff in new practises.
• Ensure managers are on-hand to offer advice and support and reward employees for completing training programmes.

Gary Cattermole is a director at leading employee engagement and staff survey provider, www.surveyinitiative.co.uk.