Create learner-centric experiences that increase engagement
While employee engagement is determined by more than just learning opportunities, effective workplace training programs play a vital role in increasing engagement, especially in today’s remote and hybrid work environments.
So how can you keep your learners engaged? Let’s dig into the core aspects of learner engagement and explore actionable strategies to transform your training program into a dynamic, learner-centric experience .
E-book release
From good training to great training: How to combine LMS and LXP to maximize learner engagement
See how GoSkills combines the power of LMS and LXP to tackle engagement challenges head-on.
What is learner engagement?
Learner engagement refers to the level of interest and engagement shown by students, especially adult learners, in a learning program. Research has identified three key dimensions of engagement:
Behavioral Engagement: Observable behaviors that demonstrate learner engagement, such as participating in sessions, completing activities, and participating in discussions. Cognitive engagement: The mental effort and thought processes that learners put into training. This involves actively processing information, solving problems, and applying new knowledge. Emotional engagement: The feelings and attitudes that learners have towards the training experience. Positive emotions, such as excitement and curiosity, encourage deeper participation.
True student engagement occurs when these three aspects align, creating an effective and motivating experience.
Why learner engagement matters
When employees truly invest in their growth, companies can reap significant benefits, including:
Improved retention: Engaged learners absorb and retain information more effectively, reducing knowledge gaps and the need for retraining. Improved performance: Increased engagement allows employees to apply their skills faster, increasing workplace efficiency and fostering innovation. Increased ROI: Companies that prioritize engagement often see tangible benefits, including increased productivity and increased employee satisfaction.
Take Hampton Roads Transit, for example. By leveraging the GoSkills Learning Management System (LMS) and Learning Experience Platform (LXP), the company’s Leadership Educational Development (LEAD) program actively engaged learners. The results have been impressive, including course completion rates of up to 69%, increased promotions for participants, and a new, positive perspective on their training efforts, including increased job satisfaction.
5 strategies to maximize engagement
To fully engage your learners, it’s important to consider how your course content and learning process can emotionally connect, mentally stimulate, and actively engage your learners. Here are five effective ways to increase engagement.
1. Personalization at scale
Tailoring learning content to the unique needs of an individual or team significantly increases learner engagement. Effective tactics to consider:
Curated learning paths: Design personalized learning journeys based on job or skill gaps and ensure content aligns with learner objectives. AI Recommendations: Use smart tools to suggest training materials that match your learners’ goals and interests. Create custom content: Rapidly develop bespoke training content using AI-powered instructional design tools like Genie by GoSkills.
Delivering the right content at the right time allows employees to apply knowledge to their daily work, improve performance, and develop genuine curiosity about the course.
2. Gamification and interactivity
What do games and learning have in common (besides being fun)? Both thrive on challenge, curiosity, and accomplishment. Adding gamification and interactive elements to your training turns regular learning into an exciting and engaging experience. Here are some important strategies.
Game-based challenges: Design tasks such as quizzes, puzzles, and scenario-based simulations, where learners earn points and virtual coins as they progress. Leaderboards and Rewards: Inspire friendly competition with leaderboards and badges, and help learners level up by completing tasks and milestones. Scenario-based activities: Immerse learners in real-world scenarios that test their decisions and reward points for success and access to new levels. Interactive content: Contains clickable elements, drag-and-drop activities, or branching paths that allow learners to explore at their own pace, earning achievements and new challenges along the way.
Gamification and interactivity make learning fun and memorable by tapping into intrinsic motivation and increasing knowledge retention.
3. Social and collaborative learning
Learning grows when it is shared. Social learning leverages collaboration to deepen engagement by promoting emotional connection, shared responsibility, cognitive stimulation, and active participation.
Here’s how to incorporate it into your corporate training program.
Group discussions: Facilitate live or virtual discussions where learners exchange ideas, solve problems, and reflect on their experiences. Discussion board: Create an online forum or community where learners can ask questions, share insights, and support each other asynchronously. Collaborative projects: Assign team-based tasks that encourage learners to combine skills to achieve a common goal. Peer Mentoring: Pair learners with a mentor or colleague for guidance, feedback, and encouragement. Knowledge sharing: Promote user-generated content such as best practices and success stories to facilitate collective learning across your team.
By embracing the collaborative nature of learning, organizations can create a sense of community, inspire diverse perspectives, and drive growth and innovation.
4. Microlearning for busy professionals
In today’s fast-paced work environment, professionals often struggle to find time for long training sessions. Microlearning offers a solution that focuses on easily digestible content and is delivered in short, focused modules that fit seamlessly into packed schedules.
Here’s how to integrate microlearning into your program.
Bite-sized videos: Provide 5-minute videos that explain important concepts and skills, allowing you to study during short breaks. Quick Reference Guide: Provide a concise guide or infographic that summarizes important points for quick reference when learners need it. Interactive quizzes: Create easy and engaging quizzes to enhance learning and assess learner progress. Mobile-friendly modules: Design content optimized for smartphones and tablets to enable learning on the go. Just-in-time learning: Deliver training when you need it, including quick tutorials and checklists of practical tasks.
Microlearning not only meets the needs of busy professionals, it also simplifies course design while keeping learners engaged and information easier to retain.
5. Timely feedback and evaluation
Timely, constructive feedback helps learners identify areas for improvement while strengthening their strengths and fostering a growth mindset. Combine this with meaningful assessment to create a learning environment where progress is celebrated and learners feel valued.
Depends on:
Real-time assessment: Tools that provide instant feedback on quizzes and assignments allow learners to correct mistakes and apply insights immediately. Personalized feedback: Tailor feedback to your individual performance and provide specific guidance to support your growth. Recognition programs: Celebrate milestones with badges, certificates, or out loud to foster a sense of accomplishment and motivation. Diverse communication channels: Use email and chat apps like Slack to deliver feedback and recognize successes efficiently. Opportunities for peer feedback: Encourage learners to provide constructive feedback to each other, fostering collaboration and shared accountability.
These tactics not only increase engagement, but also strengthen trust between learners and instructors and foster a culture of continuous learning and open communication within your organization.
How to measure learner engagement
Tracking the right metrics is essential to evaluating the effectiveness of your learner engagement strategy. Pay attention to the following key metrics:
Course completion rate: Measure the percentage of employees who complete their assigned courses to assess engagement and identify areas for improvement. Time spent learning: Monitor how much time learners spend training. Increased time often correlates with increased engagement. Learning path progression: Evaluate how learners progress through defined paths and track skill development and growth efforts. Quiz and assessment scores: High scores indicate understanding and application of knowledge, while low scores may highlight the need for additional support or content adjustments. Learner feedback: Collect direct input through feedback forms to discover what learners find valuable and challenging about your content.
(True) ROI for engaged learners
By fostering learner motivation and engagement, organizations achieve more than effective training. The impact ranges from:
Increased productivity: Engaged learners learn and apply skills more efficiently, allowing them to work smarter and produce better results. Improved customer satisfaction: Better-skilled employees are better able to understand and respond to customer needs, increasing satisfaction and loyalty. Improve morale and retention: When employees feel valued through meaningful training experiences, they are more likely to stay with your organization and reduce turnover costs.
This highlights the critical importance of linking training outcomes to business impact and clearly demonstrates the need for learning.
Unleash the power of learner engagement
Learner engagement is the foundation of the entire meaningful learning experience. When teams are motivated to fully invest in growth, the benefits translate into measurable business impact.
Achieving this level of engagement requires the right strategy and the right tools. The blended LMS and LXP model combines the best of both worlds: structured training with the flexibility and personalization that modern learners expect. By leveraging these capabilities, organizations can create dynamic and engaging learning experiences that deliver real results.
Want more details?
📥 Download eBook: “From Great Training to Great Training: How to Combine LMS and LXP to Maximize Learner Engagement”
Find practical strategies to:
✅ Increase learner engagement and completion rates
✅ Connect learning outcomes to improved performance
✅ Prove the ROI of your training efforts
Take the guesswork out of measuring success. Download your e-book now.
Originally published at www.goskills.com.
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