The nature of work seems to have changed forever over the past two years and companies of all sizes are now adapting to hybrid home and office working. Advanced video conferencing technology along with the services provided by digital transcription agencies allow meetings and conferences to proceed smoothly and keep teams on the same page. Having a flexible, well-trained workforce is key to keep pace with potential future changes and challenges and digital transcription support can help standardize employee training programs.
Importance of Employee Training
With new technologies and competition on the rise, training is crucial for employees to function at their full potential. With many working from home, organizations are looking to training them to perform their jobs well. According to a 2020 survey from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the knowledge and service industries are giving employees more training on new technology and equipment.
There are many reasons why employee training is important:
- Untrained workers tend to make mistakes which costs time and money to correct.
- Proper training reduces risk of mistakes and inefficiencies and can protect your company’s reputation with clients.
- Providing mindfulness and resilience training can reduce stress and anxiety and help employees handle the recent changes in work-life balance
- Upskilling your employees builds confidence in them and creates a better working environment.
- Training can create a team of motivated, engaged and skilled employees.
“Despite these unpredictable times, many employers are maintaining their upskilling and reskilling initiatives, which is critical to maximizing talent and bridging the skills gap,” said Trent Burner, vice president of SHRM Research (www.shrm.com).
Types of Digital Employee Training Programs
Digital employee training programs are important given the trend towards a hybrid work culture. Talentlyft identifies five ways to implement online training sessions for staff:
- Augmented Reality enables hands-on learning in a structured, interactive way and helps employees practice tasks without risk of injury or endangerment.
- Short-term learning programs or microlearning are ideal for employees who have very busy schedules and cannot focus time on training every day. Learning activities conveyed via videos and podcasts supported by audio transcription, etc.
- Adaptive learning involves using computer algorithms for interactions with the trainee
- Social learning: In social learning, employees learn continuously from their colleagues through blogs, discussion forums, live chats, videos, podcasts, etc.
Innovative learning expert Jim Guilkey advises managers and trainers to review technology options to find what works best for their organization’s needs. Like many other experts in the field, he recommends a using a blended learning approach of short, self-paced digital modules that feature foundational knowledge and performance-support tools that allow employees to use their new knowledge in the field (www.shrm.org).
Forbes Human Resources Council member Cara McCarty of Cognite observes that using a blend of live and recorded sessions with a diverse group of business leaders for training new employees will encourage them to build relationships, learn company strategy and better understand ownership.
Training Programs – Role of Digital Transcription Services
In this digital world, problem solving, digital skills, creative thinking, and collaboration have become increasingly important. Before undertaking a task, employees want to be informed and trained to do it well. They want material that is readily available and can be used and reused. In the current scenario, companies can make this possible with effective e-learning practices and tools, including transcripts. Digital transcription supports training programs in various ways:
- Quality content: Quality content is one of the biggest challenges when implementing training. Using video transcriptions as part of your training material is a great way to ensure quality content. With transcripts, you can present virtual training programs in a text-audio-video format. Interactive transcripts show text phrases as they are spoken. Users can select text in the transcript and go to that point in the video.
- Update information easily: Information and concepts are always evolving and training materials need to be reviewed frequently. Transcripts make this task much simpler and can save time and money. Compared to content in video or audio format, transcripts are easier to edit and bring up-to-date.
- Make training material available for review: Some employees may need additional time with the concepts. Trainees can review the transcripts at a convenient time to understand the content better. If someone had technical glitches during the session, providing transcripts will also ensure that they don’t miss vital information.
- Improve accessibility to the content: Some people find it challenging to understand audio-visual training material completely. Digital transcripts are important for those who process text information better than audio and visual information. They are useful for those with physical or learning disabilities and language barriers.
- Save time: e-learning tools and digital transcripts save time on training. Employees can log in when they can and complete their training faster, which increases the organization’s overall productivity and revenue.
Transcribing an audio files takes time and that’s why many organizations choose to outsource this task. An experienced business transcription company can ensure accurate and timely digital transcripts to support your employee training programs.
