Work from Home and Other Changes in the Workplace Cause Training Challenges

In a recent article in Bloomberg Businessweek, comes some interesting statistics about working from home, which point to ongoing challenges for those involved in training. We all realize that working from home continues to occur, and the article supports this point by stating that since May 2021, approximately 40 percent of the workforce works at least partially away from their work settings.

Of particular interest in the article is the differences presented in educational attainment, which I view as a proxy for types of positions. The article states that only about 11 percent of those employed with a high school diploma said they can work from home. At the same time, 52 percent of those with at least a bachelor’s degree said they could work from home. Obviously, essential workers, as they are referred to these days, typically provide service directly to customers, and may not have the same education degrees as, presumably, do professionals or those in which technology is the major way they connect with others.

Perhaps there’s nothing too earth shattering about his information. We all know that the workplace is undergoing dramatic changes, and the location of employees is just one aspect of those changes.

But the article suggests particular challenges for those involved in training, especially when the learning directly impacts organizational outcomes, regardless of the educational attainment of the workers. Here are some questions we’ve encountered:

1. How can skills-based training be delivered when there might be health-related or distance constraints in getting trainers and trainees together?

2. How can performance checks be conducted to ensure that all trainees actually learned from the training?

3. How can skills-based training be delivered flexibly so that the training at times might be conducted either remotely or in person?

These questions are among the many new ones that managers and those involved in training now face. We continue to marvel the extent to which SiTUATE – the digital version of structured on-the-job training – seems so well-suited to address these types of questions. That’s not just our claim, it’s the experience of others.

S-OJT has its conceptual roots back in the hugely-successful Training Within Industry (TWI) project during World War Two. Today we face global challenges of a different sort. Having a planned approach to learning in the workplace – along with an appropriate use of digital technology – remains the most appropriate approach for ensuring employees learn actual job skills.

To learn more about how SiTUATE can alleviate your challenges with remote training and improve your training program through technology, contact us today!