Creative Ways for L&D to Improve Online Learning Engagement

Experiment with recognition and incentives

The easiest first step is to simply call out and praise employees who are dedicating time to online learning. Use your internal comms channels to make sure your top learners get the spotlight they deserve. You can also:

All of the above are low-to-no cost ideas that can still have a meaningful impact.

If you have a little budget to create a rewards program, you can go from recognition to incentives. These can be as simple as gift cards or even a cash bonus. Get more creative with:

“We measure who spends the most time learning each week …  At the end of the month, we publicize the top five employees who spent the most time learning, recognize them at all-company meetings, and offer financial rewards. We have seen many employees double the amount of time they spend learning each week.”

Turn learning into a game (and a competition)

Society is becoming increasingly gamified. Everything from buying groceries to exercising has its own system of points, goals, challenges, and rewards. Humans like to compete, like to win, and like to compare progress with others.

However, while some people are motivated by competition, some may find it an added stressor to their everyday workload. It’s important to make sure competition is encouraged but optional.

Making the competition a team activity helps take the stress off of each individual. It can also help encourage employees to communicate with each other, motivate each other, and work together.

Encourage learning as its own reward

In the latest Workplace Learning Report, three of the top five factors that lead people consider new jobs involve learning, growing, and developing their careers:

Online learning is one way employees can realize all of the above.

These intrinsic motivations are far more powerful than even the most generous coffee shop gift card. Make sure to communicate to employees the benefits of ongoing learning:

Make learning part of the culture from day one

Employees are far more likely to stay and be engaged at a job that offers a path to ongoing development. Research shows that employees who have received an internal promotion by the two-year mark are 75% likely to stay with the company, versus only 56% of those with no internal move.

From a new hire’s first day on the job, it should be clear that your organization values ongoing learning and helps employees advance in their careers. Start with these steps:

“Career development is fundamental to our employee value proposition, and learning is a key business metric.”