Prioritizing learner engagement, employee retention, and instructional design business growth is necessary to foster effective learning experiences, maintain a skilled workforce, and ensure a company’s success in a competitive market.
There are four tips from the Learning Matters podcast that drive at the root of these issues, offering ways in which each goal can be accomplished. From utilizing gamification to drive learner engagement to creating a growth strategy to grow an instructional design business, reskilling and upskilling talent for retention, and utilizing AI tools to create better learning experiences. The Learning Matters podcast is the go-to source for learning and development tips and news.
Utilizing Gamification to Drive Learner Engagement
Gamification has become quite the buzzword in recent years as people realize the potential it holds for learner engagement. Gamification occurs when typical game elements, such as competition or point scoring, are applied to other use cases beyond typical video game scenarios.
So how can it help drive engagement? It taps into basic human tendencies, tendencies that drive us towards rewards and winning via competition. In a digitally dependent world, gamification allows organizations to offer immersive and interactive elements that resonate with people and encourage their engagement because people simply enjoy winning.
It’s being utilized by creating personalized game paths for learners. Think of it like a book where the reader chooses the ending, they hold the power to make decisions and decide how situations play out. All while leading to different outcomes depending upon the path they chose. Or they can follow a set story arc, getting immersed in what is happening and seeing how it plays out naturally.
Lastly, there are opportunities to create competition and encourage people to compete to win rewards or simply win against their coworkers. Friendly competition is a strong motivator, especially if some employees are a bit more competitive than others.
Catch the full Learning Matters Podcast episode, Cultivating Empathy: The Art of AI Storytelling in Learning, below.
Having A Growth Strategy to Grow an Instructional Design Business
A growth strategy is essentially the blueprint people will want to follow to grow their business. There are four primary strategies that we’ll cover , each one offering a different way for a business to grow without having its hands on too many projects at once. For instructional design businesses a growth strategy is key to ensuring that they can expand their impact and reach, diversify their service offerings, and acquire new clients while potentially tapping into new markets.
The four main strategies are market penetration, diversification, product development, and market development.
- Market penetration, which focuses on expanding sales of existing services/products into established markets by leveraging their customer base with the hope of growing their market share.
- Market development, which occurs when existing products/services are introduced to new markets, with the goal of gaining new customer segments to drive expansion.
- Product development, which is when new products/services are created for existing markets intending to meet customers’ needs through innovation.
- Diversification, which occurs when new products/services are entering new markets, with the hope of generating new revenue opportunities. It’s also the riskiest strategy.
After learning a bit more about each strategy type, we can assume that based on the example Debbie Wooldridge shares in Learning Matters that ttcInnovations chose a product development growth strategy when creating Innovators on Demand® which is staff augmentation . She found a need in the learning and development industry and created a service to help fill it.
Interested in learning more? Listen to the full Learning Matters episode, From Corporate Instructional Designer to 6-Figure Freelancer in 1 Year, here:
Upskill and Reskill Employees to Boost Retention
Upskilling occurs when employees are provided with additional education or training to help enhance their current skills or acquire new ones in relation to their current or future role.
Reskilling, however, involves employees learning entirely new skills to take on roles different from their current ones. Typically, this shift occurs due to organizational needs, industry requirements, or changes in technology.
As industries change and companies adapt, there will be moments where decision makers need to restructure their workforce to better align with their new trajectory. As roles shift and priorities change, gaps in skills can become apparent, gaps that need to be filled. Upskilling and reskilling offer great alternatives that enable a company to help their employees with career progression and development thus retaining their talent.
Instructional design plays a major role in retaining employees through reskilling and upskilling. They are the ones creating the training programs needed to equip employees with the new information or skill set required for their next career move. Utilizing instructional designers enables companies to provide engaging and effective learning experiences for their employees as they prepare for changes.
Utilize AI Tools to Create Better Learning Experiences
A question on everyone’s mind lately is, how are instructional designers using AI tools to create impactful learning experiences? We have an answer to that question and additional resources available to help elaborate on what we are saying.
Instructional designers are utilizing AI tools by using them to supplement the general stock content that they used to rely on with new AI generated content. This enables them to have a wider variety of content to use, being as descriptive or specific as they feel necessary. It can really help a vision come to life.
There are some tips to consider trying when generating AI content. The first being to start with a background image. It can be easier to focus on one layer at a time rather than trying to get the whole image in one go. When requesting a background image try to be as descriptive as possible, including the mood and tones that should be reflected. More detail is best when detailing with AI tools.
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Another tip is to remember that AI generated content is rarely ready to use immediately after being generated. Whether it needs to be edited in photoshop or regenerated to better fit the look needed. Edits and tweaks will always be needed to reach that final image. AI is a great resource to help streamline content needed but it is not an all-in-one solution.
The Main Takeaways
The Learning Matters podcast provides four essential tips addressing common challenges such as driving engagement, retention, and growing an instruction design business, offering actionable strategies for achieving each objective. From employing gamification to enhance learner engagement, to formulating growth strategies for instructional design businesses, to investing in reskilling and upskilling for talent retention, and leveraging AI tools to optimize learning experiences.
On-Demand Webinar
In “How to Create Better Learning Experiences Using Generative AI Images”, dive into real-life use cases and gain insightful best practices along with a step-by-step walkthrough for seamlessly integrating AI into your content creation workflow.
