One of the on-going problems in today’s workplace is the lack of engagement and inspiration within employees. This problem affects the employee retention, as well as the overall productivity and performance. Many are finding that implementing the use of a learning management system (LMS) in the workplace can help.

Based on the latest report by training software research site Software Advice, we’ve rounded up a few key statistics on employee engagement and how to increase it in the workplace. Let’s take a look.

A shocking 70% of full-time employees don’t feel engaged or inspired in the workplace.

67% of organizations say that user engagement is the top barrier to adopting technology-enable training, possibly for the lack of compelling functionality.

Only 39% of LMS users in a recent survey gave their system’s feature set a high rating.

Most employees, 58%, would be more likely to use their company’s online learning tools if the content was broken up into multiple, shorter lessons. This can be accomplished with content chunking or micro-learning.

35% of surveyed employees said that real-life rewards based on learning progress would be the top gamification incentive for using their company’s LMS. Learn more about gamification and game-based learning here.

Social learning could help encourage younger employees, as 88% of millennial workers prefer a collaborative work culture over a competitive one.

Of the different types of social learning elements within an LMS, 24% said that discussion boards would be preferred and 21% would like the ability to view or give ratings for courses and lessons.

Many LMSs are mobile compatible and accessible 24/7 – but how likely are users to actually use this feature? A combined 48% say they would be “more likely” to use an LMS with smartphone or tablet access and 39% say it would make “no difference”.

How Does DigitalChalk Compare?

There are many different ways to engage your employees within your LMS. For example, although DigitalChalk does not have built-in discussion boards, we do have other tools to increase engagement. Within the DigitalChalk LMS, there are a number of different elements: Tests, Assignments, Chalkboards, SCORM and more. One easy way to engage the user is to add checkpoints within your video presentation – you can easily add these directly within the Chalkboard element. Checkpoints ensure that the user is watching the video presentation and not missing any critical information.

Perhaps you are looking to add gamification to your online training? It’s easy. Create a SCORM presentation using a tool such as Raptivity or iSpring, and you can import it directly within the system without loosing any engaging features.

Lastly, it is clear that the majority of users prefer an LMS that is mobile compatible and accessible 24/7 anywhere, anytime – DigitalChalk is just that.

Commentary
“Learning management systems have an image problem from being associated with the drudgery of onboarding and compliance training. But these tools offer so much more in terms of on-going education and encouraging engagement in employees. Software Advice, a company that researches employee training systems, wanted to find out what features and incentives would get employees to use their company’s LMS more.

Micro-learning was one key feature—breaking up learning content into lots of short, five- to seven-minute lessons, as opposed to a few hour-long lessons. Fifty-eight percent of full-time employees in our survey said they would be more likely to use their company’s online learning tools if the content was broken up in this way. Thirty-five percent of respondents said real-life rewards, such as gift cards or personal electronics, based on learning progress would get them to use these tools more as well. In terms of social learning, 24 percent of respondents said discussion boards would be the module most likely to encourage engagement.

Mobile access turned out to have less of an effect on engagement. Forty-eight percent of respondents said they would be more likely to use these tools if they had access on a mobile device, but this was followed closely by a large segment (39 percent) saying it would make no difference.

Companies could see huge benefits from having employees engage with their online learning tools more, so they would be wise to hone in on these incentives and features.” – Market Researcher Brian Westfall, Software Advice

All data courtesy of Software Advice.