8 Nudges To Motivate Corporate Learning

 Published in elearning industry on July 13, 2016

Summary: Nudge theory is being discussed worldwide and used by administrators to motivate people to take the right decisions. Nudges have also been used in learning motivation, but perhaps not consciously or extensively. This article suggests 8 “nudges” that employers can use to motivate corporate learners.

Corporate Learning Motivation: 8 Nudges To Use 

Many companies have either mandated or prescribed a certain number of hours of learning as an annual goal for each employee. Of course, this learning is not just any learning, but that which meets one or more of the following conditions:

• The learning improves the employees’ existing skills that are useful to the organization.
• The learning imparts new skills that are relevant to the employees’ area of work.
• The learning helps the employees advance towards their career goals.
• The learning helps meet the organization’s business goals.

Now, if you like what you do, this target is not hard to meet – there are numerous books, articles, webinars, and discussions available on every subject on earth, and new ones are created every day. Moreover, employers who set such targets are duty-bound to provide relevant learning, either in the form of e-learning or instructor-led classes, or even role-shadowing assignments.

Philosophically speaking, 30 or 40 odd hours in a year is too little time to absorb the ocean of knowledge generated in 8760 hours by your peers in your own profession across the globe. Yet, most employees struggle to meet this target, citing busy work schedules and personal commitments. What they need is a little ‘nudge’ in addition to the employer’s prescription or mandate, to get them interested in learning.

The Nudge Theory 

Nowadays, everybody is talking about the Nudge theory. Ever since Thaler and Sunstein came out with their book, Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness, it has become a rage, especially with administrators. Apparently, some governments have taken inspiration from this book to introduce behavioral change interventions in their public policies. Here is an example of the use of a “Nudge” to help citizens take more informed decisions: Nudges and Learning: Evidence from Informational Interventions for Low-Income Taxpayers.

Nudges And Learning 

Has anyone used a nudge or two in motivating learning? Here’s an instance of nudging students to complete college education: Nudge Nation: A New Way to Prod Students Into and Through College.

Actually, Instructional Designers have been using nudges for ages. What are Gagne’s nine events if not nudges to stimulate learning? There exist many other models and methods to make learning interesting. But these stimulants are meant to work once the learner commits to the learning.

How would you get employees to learn voluntarily? Here are 8 nudges that can draw your corporate learners towards their required learning:

1. Get The Timing Right. 

“Just -in-time learning” is the current byword, and rightly so. Time is the key. Make the learning available when it is sought: During an organizational change event, when annual appraisals are due or when the target employees have a lighter workload.

2. Post The Availability Of The Learning On A Prominent Location. 

Grab attention by posting a link, with an attractive visual, at a place where everyone can see: The notice board or the intranet home page.

3. Communicate Directly Through Email And Text Messages. 

Email or send text messages to the prospective learners about the availability of the learning and its objectives. Do not forget to include the link in your message. Recipients are more likely to click the link in the message rather than open a new browser to search for the course.

4. Inform The Managers Of The Prospective Learners. 

This is one tactic most HR learning providers use. Employees are more likely to enroll in a course and complete it when assigned by their managers to complete it.

5. Make It Exclusive – To Be Provided On Nomination. 

When access to a course is by nomination only, the nominated learners automatically get a privileged status. This motivates them to complete it.

6. Provide A Social Forum To Discuss The Learning. 

Discussion helps to create awareness and eagerness for participation. It also provides feedback about the general acceptance of the course.

7. Solicit Feedback To Improve The Learning Content. 

People like providing feedback. Ask them how they think the course can be improved.

8. Gamify Learning. 

Last, but not the least, use points, badges, and leaderboards (PBL) to gamify learning within the organization. Enable employees to compete with one another to complete the required learning. You may also provide awards to successful learners.

An innovative HR mind may come up with other ideas, depending on the organizational culture. A little “nudge” can go a long way in building a culture of learning within an organization and also in inspiring and motivating instructional designers to design and develop learning.

10 cool, non-conventional job titles for niche professions

 First published in Youngisthan on August 10, 2019

Have you seen career news lately? Thousands of seats in engineering colleges have no takers! Surely, the number of students has not declined? Where are these students going? Which career paths are they taking?

A friend of mine studied to be an engineer – an architect, to be more precise. Today, he’s a “landscape designer” – a job role that did not exist when he chose to become an architect. As for me, I never became an engineer; yet, I am in an enviable profession – instructional design.

Not all new-age professions are about design though. Let’s take a look at some cool new professions:

1. Technology Evangelist: This profession requires you to be so passionate about a particular technology, that you can persuade other people into adopting it. It does sound a bit like marketing, but it’s not wholly that. You may be required to secure buy-in from your own company’s management or staff – in this, it’s a bit like change management. You may also be required to train people or just disseminate information.  Your tools in this trade will be mainly social media and your own communication skills.
2. Adventure Consultant: You may be hired by an adventure club, an activity resort, a travel company or even an event management company. What would you be doing? – providing exciting adventures to your clients. The adventures could range from trekking, and rock climbing, to kayaking, white water rafting, paragliding, bungee jumping, and so on. You needn’t be an expert at any of these, but you would need to coordinate between the expert guides and your clients and ensure fun as well as the safety and security of all.
3. Kids Club Host: It is apparent from the title that this involves playing with kids. But that’s not all – you have to be trained in first aid and kindergarten teaching. You have to spend hours with children, sometimes travel with them, while ensuring they have fun and stay safe.
4. Curator: “Aha!” you might say, “Caught you! Curators have been around for ages, looking after our museums.” But the curators I am talking about are music curators, data curators, content curators, and fashion curators. Depending on your interest, you could be any one of these. Essentially you would do a lot research on a particular topic and gather a lot of information to be consumed by your customers.
5. Social Media Strategist: No business can afford to ignore social media any more. In fact, there is a mad race to be on top of social media. If you are one of those who understand the dynamics of how things work in digital social media, you would be perfect for this job. You would decide what to post, where, and when – the precise time, day of the week, and month, to get the maximum eyeballs. You would be a content strategist, marketing strategist, business strategist, and brand strategist – all rolled into one.
6. Career Development Facilitators: With so many varied professions around, one could be confused about which path to pursue and which career to opt for. As a career development facilitator, you could help individuals decide which career is the most suitable for their particular talents. You would start with a simple psychometric test to determine the person’s abilities and interests and then draw up the perfect, fail-safe option through an interview with the person.
7. Identity and Access Manager: With data security becoming increasingly important for all businesses, all companies need a person for security, maintenance and access Administration of information and data. To be in this role, you would have a comprehensive understanding of multiple operational and security technologies
8. Growth Hacker: This job role is available in start-up companies. As a growth hacker, you will aggressively promote the company’s business in every possible way.
9. Food taster: There are wine tasters and tea tasters – now there are food tasters. I wish I could say this job is for anyone who loves to eat. But no! This job is for the discerning eater – you have to know your spices and flavours. You have to taste the food not only from your company’s kitchens but also from the kitchens of competitors and advice the chefs. If you become really good at this, you may be called upon to judge culinary competitions.
10. Resource Allocation Planner: In companies that employ thousands of people with a wide variety of skills, working on hundreds of projects, the people and other resources need to be moved around and distributed. In this role, you will need to have a clear picture of the company’s resources and new and expiring business projects. This is a combination of human resource management and general administration.

This is, by no means, a comprehensive list of new professions. More are emerging every day. These are exciting times. So, keep an eye on the recruitment pages.