It’s impossible not to be aware of the latest trend for mobile learning. Learning like everything else in life has become more flexible recently as we move towards a 24/7 society. Most people don’t work 9-to-5, we are all striving to achieve worklife balance and flexibility is increasingly important. I guess that’s one of the reasons that mobile learning is so attractive.

Before I go any further, it is important to stress that I have had very little exposure to mobile learning specifically, but flexible learning won’t go away… and neither should it.

In some ways mobile bite-size learning makes a lot of sense. It ticks a lot of the boxes. But one of the boxes I doubt it ticks is the employee engagement box. Employee engagement is very much on HR professionals’ radar. Engaged employees are productive employees and we are all working out how to engage our workforces.

In its simplest terms, engagement is about value: how we show it and how we feel it. Individuals are more likely to feel engaged with the company when they feel that that company values them and their contribution. It’s like in any relationship: a text doesn’t make someone feel is valued as a call, which in turn isn’t as good as a visit. That’s not to say that texts and calls aren’t welcome – they often are, and sometimes more appropriate than a visit.

If we use this analogy for our approach to training, mobile learning can seem a bit impersonal. It may be flash and trendy, but it does lack the human touch. Employees will not be engaged by technology, they will be engaged by people. So if you want your employees to feel valued, make sure that they are trained, coached, and developed by a human being for the most part. Leave the technology to fill in the gaps.

Sheridan Webb

Keystone Development – For bespoke training design