Essentially every company we work with varies in one way or another in their approach to how they conduct their workplace training. This includes what topics are of the greatest importance, who communicates the information, and what technology, if any, delivers the content.
However, there are certainly similarities that emerge overall. Here are the top 5 trends in workplace training so far this year:
01. Workplace Bullying and Harassment Training
The latest laws mean that all employers should not only be aware of their responsibilities in regard to bullying and harassment but must have plans in place to address inappropriate behaviour and deal effectively with any complaints.
The fines for managers and organisations who fail to do this are substantial.
In 2016, Worksafe Australia published a report outlining how improving management commitment to psychological health and safety could be an innovative strategy to reduce lost productivity, as well as substantially improve the wellbeing of workers.
With this in mind, it’s little wonder that our bullying and harassment training programs are amongst our bestsellers this year.
02. Induction
A hugely important component in the health and safety of every organisation, the induction process is also often the best opportunity to create a great first impression for future workers.
Whether an organisation chooses to produce a program from scratch, or acquires an off-the-shelf product, a common theme is that the training must be relevant, relatable and up to date with the latest health and safety laws.
Using video based content to communicate their induction message allows for consistency and can be extremely cost-effective. Particularly if inductions are delivered from various locations.
Our range of induction videos are a perennial performer, as clients are offered a multitude of health and safety subjects to choose from and adapt in almost anyway they desire.
03. Use Your Workers and Their Families
A couple of years back, we produced a series of videos for Ingham Ltd that featured not only their workers discussing safety but also the families of their workers talking about what safety at work for their loved ones meant to them.
The videos were massively engaging and according to all reports, made a huge difference to the safety culture at that organisation.
Since then, we have produced a multitude of productions for organisations where we have either had a worker at the start of the program talking about some safety aspect of their work through to an induction video presented entirely by the organisation’s workers.
Feedback for these productions has been consistent… “Effective, engaging, really hits the mark!”
04. eLearning
Whilst the trend in eLearning has long been in an upward trajectory. Its popularity has certainly not waned in 2019.
There are numerous benefits of eLearning for workplace training.
- eLearning allows staff and students to get through training at their own pace. Information can be communicated in the form of video, text, and images, and participants can also be assessed via a broad range of questions and activities to test for understanding.
- It is also interactive and can provide instant feedback to the participants, making this mode of workplace training highly engaging.
- For employers, it also offers an affordable, time-efficient way to train employees. eLearning can be delivered via electronic devices such as computers and mobile devices like tablets and mobile phones, provided they are connected to the internet. This makes it super easy for users to learn anytime, anywhere, with few, if any, restrictions.
- Many organisations now have access to a LMS platform for training employees. This formalises training delivery and makes it more efficient, allowing management to easily track who has completed their training.
Click here to find more information on video based eLearning and available SCORM content for easy upload to an LMS platform.
05. Toolbox Talks
It’s a well recognised fact that consultation is by far the best means of approaching health and safety issues at work. If you want a strong house – you must start with good foundations. Consultation is an WHS foundation stone.
An important component of consultation is the toolbox talk.
In our travels we have witnessed many ineffective toolbox talks where the presenter stands in front of a group of workers and reads in a monotonous and uninspiring fashion from an A4 sheet.
It quickly became quite obvious that a series of videos on different health and safety topics all about 1 to 2 minutes each that would briefly touch on a WHS subject and set some guidelines for ensuing discussion could hit the mark.
Check out some Toolbox Talks videos here.