I learned at a young age that everyone has a different learning path. Things that come naturally to me might not come that way to others. And in a lot of areas, I required a different learning style to fully grasp concepts that my friends and classmates caught onto quickly. To be honest, it’s hard to be comfortable with this as a kid and as an adult. But the sooner people realize there is more than one way to catch a rabbit (so to speak), the easier it is for everyone to be confident and comfortable with the way they learn. Whether you’re dealing with young students in a classroom or adults in an organization, individualizing learning is so important. For extra clarity and context before you keep reading, we’re stressing the importance of an individual training plan for new employees and not so much how to catch a rabbit. So, let’s hop on and we’ll explain…
What is individualized learning?
At its simplest, individualism in this arena consists of customizing a training program, training delivery methods and best practice, training design approaches, and personalized learning environments to fit the unique needs of each learner.
Individualized learning also has 4 major characteristics:
- Learners own their learning journey
- There’s a focus on “learning” rather than “mandated training”
- It focuses on individual’s competencies including knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors
- It empowers “anywhere, anytime” learning
In our experience, organizations of all sizes, shapes, and colors can create highly effective learning initiatives by building an individual training plan template and learning strategies around these four points.
Why an individualized training program for employees matters
According to the Association for Talent Development (ATD), companies that offer comprehensive training programs have 218% higher income per employee than companies without formalized training. But it doesn’t stop there. These companies also enjoy a 24% higher profit margin than those who spend less on training. It would seem that continuing to invest in training and development, even when there are economic downturns, is the smart play, huh?
There’s no doubt that personalized experiences—from web browsing to in-store shopping, and even dining out—make for better outcomes. But until recently, the tendency for homogenization and a standard one-size-fits-all approach to training employees has been the norm. However, employers who put a training plan for new employees into place experience exceptional ROI.
5 reasons why individualized learning is important
If an organization wants to improve learning outcomes, personalized learning is the proven way to do so. An individual employee training plan creates a learner-centric training environment as opposed to a stale, standardized, schedule-based one. Here are just some reasons why personalized learning is so important these days.
- Improved Engagement: Highly engaged teams produce 21% greater profitability across industries, company size, location, and economic conditions. At its very core, engaging learners is basically the definition of personalized learning. And as a result, more engaged learners deliver more successful learning outcomes!
- Targeted training efforts: Personalized learning environments produce more focused learning initiatives. Instead of providing a whole slew of training for a wide group of employees, organizations can target their efforts to those who truly need to learn.
- Appropriate training delivery: Personalized training strategies are great ways to ensure that corporate learning occurs where it’s needed most. Examples of training plans for employees could mean that instead of every single team member going through the updated safety training, an individualized learning model only targets training to the group of employees who will benefit from or need it most.
- Greater customization: Each employee or even group of employees have unique roles within a company. As a result, training and content can be customized to fit specific needs.
- Training timeliness: For most organizations, learning is a thing that’s scheduled. Courses are typically recommended to learners during certain aspects of performance or skills review. However, when learning is personalized, it’s delivered at a time when it can be most effective—i.e. when the employee is most in need of it, and not several months later.
Turn training plans into business results as quick as a rabbit with Lessonly by Seismic
With the right personalized learning strategies, companies make training more effective and efficient—not just for the company, but also for individual employees. Now that you’ve spent a lot of time considering your training outline template, it’s time to get to work and we can help. Check out our free employee training plan template here!
