12 Time-Saving Training Tactics for HR and L&D Teams

What should keep HR and L&D team leaders up at night as well as senior leaders? Discovering time-saving training tactics that help employees build new skills, advance in their roles, and close key skill gaps.

The State of Learning in the Flow of Work in 2022, found that nearly half—47 percent—of 2,961 respondents said they don't have time to engage in structured, tailored learning at work. They said the only way they see their learning and development improving, they said, is if their manager lightens their workload.

“I understand training is beneficial to my career growth, but I can't afford to spend time away from my daily responsibilities, especially if the training requires travel.” —an increasing number of American Employees

One of the biggest challenges is how to get employees to make time for training. This is a bigger challenge for formal training requiring hours and days away from work. There are also costs to not training employees: safety, harassment, and legal risks, lower sales results, cybersecurity breaches, lost productivity, and the list goes on.

So, what’s the business strategy to cut training time for employees, trainers, and administrators without cutting corners? Here are twelve best practices:

#1. Adjust Workloads

Just as work-life balance is important, so is finding time for training. Employers need to rethink employees' workloads and schedules to carve out time for learning and development, says Jennifer Moss, author of The Burnout Epidemic: The Rise of Chronic Stress and How We Can Fix It.

"We need to create space inside the workday to develop those skills," she says. "People right now are feeling so exhausted, so tired. Their workload is so high" that there's no time for training except on mandatory topics such as sexual harassment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations were operating with a sense of urgency, and "we're still behaving kind of like that," Moss says. "Everyone feels like [what they're working on] needs to be done immediately, and we haven't gotten out of that habit, … even managers."

#2. Rethink Meeting Options

Before scheduling yet another meeting, consider if the meeting is really necessary. If the meeting is to give team members direction on a project, can this be a simple email or Microsoft Teams chat?

#3. Show The Value of Training

Employee development programs are key! Employees need to see value in pulling themselves away from their busy, deadline driven schedules and devote time to training. A well-designed training program not only helps employees absorb new knowledge—it equips them with the right new skills to support business growth. When job training is aligned with strategic business goals and its impact is measured, it becomes a powerful strategic asset of both employee and business success. Employees need to see and experience how their time spent training paid off!

#4. Provide the RIGHT Training for Each Individual

This tactic ensures time is not wasted on the wrong training topics! This is a very important role for all managers. Managers should schedule quick 30-minute weekly check-ins with each team member. It’s a great way to see how everyone’s doing, learn what drives them, and build stronger connections. Use this time to discuss what the direct report is working on, ways to lighten their workload, and how to tackle any current challenges they may have. This will help identify training needs such as filling in skill gaps or upskill training. It’s also a good time to check training progress to ensure it aligns with each employee’s skill set and career goals.

According to a SHRM study, how often training happens, how it's delivered, and how relevant it is all impact job satisfaction—and gives companies a competitive advantage.

#5. Make Learning a Habit

Investing in a personal development strategy is one of the best decisions employees can make for their career.

• Use nudge reminders. Sometimes the days get away from employees and learning gets left behind. One way to help it remain top of mind is to utilize reminder nudges. HSI can provide nudges by pushing out lessons through IM channels, such as Microsoft Teams, as well as emails containing today’s lesson.
• Schedule learning. Empower employees to pick a time and block it off their calendars to focus on learning. For example, some of HSI’s customers pick a day to push out lessons to their teams to build traction and create a built-in scheduling opportunity.
• Pair learning with a ritual. Adding learning to another task, such as grabbing a cup of coffee, helps associate these activities together and makes it easier to commit to daily learning.
• Drive employee engagement. Keep the conversation going. Encourage employees to talk about training that sparked their interest. Promote social learning by having discussions with team members and colleagues to build an internal learning community and help each other grow. Download HSI's employee engagement calculator to learn more.

#6. Outsource Content

How can internal teams realistically develop all the training content needed for every employee—while still ensuring effective learning experiences? It makes sense to outsource some or a large amount of an organization’s training needs. HR professionals and L&D teams should focus on creating training that is unique to the company, such as benefit package specifics, company mission, internal processes, etc.

HSI makes it easy... access to a full library of off-the-shelf up-to-date content that is accessible to all employees.

• Utilize HSI’s safety videos on topics such as fire extinguishers, PPE, electrical safety and the organization’s staff can create job training materials specific to the organization’s procedures, an evacuation plan for example.
• Leverage HSI’s foundational sales and selling skills through online courses on uncovering customer business needs, handling objections, making sales calls etc. The internal team can create custom content with the organization’s value proposition, messaging, and features/benefits.

#7. Adopt a Microlearning Approach

Spend less time training with a microlearning approach. Research shows that employees get interrupted every 11 minutes. That is why HSI’s training averages around ten minutes.

For example, an organization’s conflict management training could be broken up into shorter “chapters” and converted into microlearning modules. This is how HSI breaks up the series on understanding harassment:

• The Realities of Conflict Management: 4 minutes
• Maintaining Self-Control: 4 minutes
• The EASY Conflict Management Process: 5 minutes

Rather than blocking a full hour on the calendar, an employee could squeeze this important training into natural breaks between meetings and other projects. HSI’s microlessons are designed to be completed within 10-15 minutes, allowing employees to prioritize learning within their flow of work.

#8. Incorporate Video

Video training is perfect for topics where trainers find they are repeating themselves over and over. Onboarding new employees is a perfect example. HR teams have the same benefits conversation with every new hire. Why not record that content in an informative video the new employees can watch before Day 1. They can easily complete the online onboarding forms for health benefits, 401(k), and more, with the help of a step-by-step video guide.

Video training offers several additional benefits.

• Consistency: Ensure everyone receives exactly the same information in the same way. Live instructors may vary their delivery or storytelling with each class or person. A video will not.
• Accessibility: Videos can be viewed anytime, anywhere—making it easy for shift workers, traveling sales team members, and learners across time zones to access the same content on their schedule.
• Efficiency: The training team records the learning content once, but it can be used by hundreds and thousands of employees.

#9. Integrate Article-Based Lessons

Learners can dive into article-based lessons anytime, making them a great fit for daily learning routines. This ultimately saves time for both employees attending training sessions and HR and L&D teams alike.

Article-based training offers great value.

• Unique Approach to Employee Learning: Article-based lessons make learning fun! HSI’s lessons also include Leadership Briefs and Learner Briefs which provide key summary points, actionable takeaways, and additional reflection questions that allow learners to apply new ideas to their everyday work.
• Multiple Delivery Methods: Can be delivered ad hoc or curated to fit your organization's business needs!
• Consistency, Accessibility, Efficiency: Article-based lessons provide the same benefits as video training.

#10. Allow Self-Directed Employee Learning

Instructor-led classes have to occur at a scheduled time and place which may be inconvenient for an employee’s work schedule.

The combination of microlearning in video and/or written form makes self-directed employee learning ideal. With the right platform, managers or admins can assign required online courses with a deadline but allow the learners to complete the training at their own pace.

Microlearning videos can be squeezed into a schedule in between meetings, while traveling, or after hours.

In addition, with a full training library learners can explore topics aligned with their interests and career path—empowering them to grow and advance.

• Newly promoted managers may be interested in taking a leadership development course on running meetings with ease.
• Remote workers might take a course on assertive communication to ensure their voice is heard in virtual settings.
• New hires might need soft skills training for communication and collaboration.
• From entry-level to leadership, artificial intelligence courses offer valuable insights for all employees.

#11. Ensure Learning Goes Where Your Team Goes

In today’s world, training must be readily available anywhere and anytime. Eliminating the time to travel to a training session whether it is out of town or to a different building on the company’s campus is another important time-saving training tactic.

HSI’s bite-sized training is designed for the pace of employees’ workdays—anytime, anywhere. Many of HSI’s clients use smartphones and tablets for training in factories and warehouses, with vehicle-based employees like truck drivers and maintenance workers, and for traveling sales team members in the field.

#12. Leverage Blended Learning

With time-saving methods for training programs, organizations should never compromise on quality or effectiveness. By combining instructor expertise with training videos and article-based lessons, in-house teams can deliver more efficient and effective blended learning experiences.

Several examples include:

• Trainers can run a more interactive classroom environment by assigning eLearning videos or content as "pre-work." All learners come to class with this new knowledge in common. Classroom time can be spent discussing more meaningful, real-life application scenarios.
• Instructors could use videos in the classroom to reinforce training points and encourage discussion.
• Managers can use videos in 1:1 coaching meetings with their direct reports for more targeted conversations.

This tactic may sound like a complete overhaul of an organization’s current training program, but it doesn’t have to be intimidating. It’s simply a reallocation of resources using the team’s time more effectively with the benefit of a more far-reaching training program.

HSI Can Help

HSI offers comprehensive online employee learning experiences that cater to diverse learning styles and preferences. We offer a multi-modal approach for every learner. Our video-based microlearning provides engaging visual learning content that captures attention and facilitates comprehension. Alternatively, we also offer bite-sized, interactive lessons reinforcing key concepts and promoting long-term retention. Together, these approaches create a synergy that maximizes culture change, encourages a growth mindset, and empowers employees to achieve their professional development goals in the flow of work.

“HSI is utterly AMAZING! So many relevant topics and applicable approaches to valuable solutions. One could very easily spend all day here studying and learning, sharpening up their People skills and improving upon productivity through the inter operable insights and techniques” —United Way Learner

Check out a few of our lessons on us or request a consultation today!

Additional Resources

• What Kind of Learning Culture Does Your Company Have?
• The Power of Microlearning: A Proven Learning Strategy for Workplaces
• Training and Development: An Integral Part of Employee Recruitment and Retention