Building High Performing Teams through Mobile Learning

This article explores today’s workforce training challenges and outlines how mobile learning drives high engagement and productivity.

In today’s globally-connected business landscape, employees are being asked for more than ever, in less time. We’re working longer hours across time zones, we’re producing more and with the availability of mobile devices, we’re always on. A recent study shows that the average American checks their smartphone 80 times a day[1] on average and 70% of on-the-go teams will complete business tasks on their mobile as the workload online increases.[2]

Time constraints and a globalized, dispersed workforce can make training one of the most pervasive business challenges. Even the most thoughtfully planned instructor-led trainings can result in impatient eye rolls from those with busy calendars. If organizations want to build a culture of learning and encourage employees to continuously upskill, mobile learning solutions are a simple answer to what keeps learning leaders up at night.

The future of online training will no longer be a static experience on a desktop or even a singular device. Nearly half of U.S. organizations are leveraging mobile learning as part of their training programs.[3] This figure is predicted to boom as mobile learning sets the scene for new training experiences in a $12.2 billion industry. Forward-looking organizations are driving critical business outcomes by building learning experiences that employees can engage with on the device they prefer, in the moment of need.

In this weekly blog series, we’ll share 5 ways mobile learning can increase productivity and employee satisfaction and drive the results that matter most to your organization.

1. Engaging a Diverse & Remote Workforce with Mobile Learning

Fulfilling the information needs of a global, multi-generational workforce is a complex task.

With the rise of a global workforce, mobile learning can provide a high-quality, seamless learning experience to employees across your organization, in the office or in the field. Easy-to-use, bite-sized learning can help unite your extended workforce by breaking down often divisive regional and hierarchical walls with a culture built on the foundation of knowledge sharing.

Mobile learning also directly caters to the different generational needs of your workforce. The self-directed nature of mobile learning creates the ultimate engagement for the largest generation in your workforce – Millenials. A recent Gallup poll shows that opportunities to learn and grow top the list of things that Millenials want out of their job with nearly two-thirds of them expressing they would be “deeply committed to their role and to work for a manager who will invest in their development.”[4]

graphic for mobile learning by generations
And even though Boomers didn’t grow up with the same access to mobile technology as their younger counterparts, recent research shows that 74 percent of boomers own a smartphone – a sharp spike in ownership, up 30 percent since 2015. This kind of data sends a clear signal that both mobile adoption and life-long learning are trends that supersede generational stereotypes.