8 Best Practices for Training Remote Employees in 2024

Set SMART Training Goals

The essential first step in establishing clear goals for effective remote employee training is to identify what training is needed and how you will evaluate your employees’ progress. Based on the estimated resources needed, you can set up precise budgeting for your future training program.

To help with goal-setting and create efficient online training for remote jobs, you can employ the SMART framework’s five criteria:

• Specific: Goals need to be well-defined; instead of setting a general goal of “improving customer satisfaction,” set a more specific goal such as “increasing customer satisfaction rate within three months through improved response times.”
• Measurable: You should be able to measure your goal numerically. For example, a measurable goal could be “to increase employee sales performance by 15%.” By leveraging analytical tools and digitizing data, you can assess learning outcomes  and identify areas for improvement.
• Achievable: Set goals should be achievable and based on the current knowledge level of your employees, available resources,  time constraints, etc.
• Relevant: The objectives you set out should align with your business needs and development plans. Prioritize skills critical for remote work success, such as effective communication, time management, and self-motivation.
• Time-bound: Open-ended goals allow scope for delay. So, each goal requires a  specific deadline to generate urgency and hold both employees and the training program accountable.

This useful framework lays the foundation for a successful remote learning experience and helps you select the proper learning approach.

Choose a Relevant Learning Approach

The learning approach forms the backbone of learning sessions, impacting the level of content organization, learner tracking, collaboration, and support.

Choosing the appropriate training approach and utilizing modern systems can enhance engagement by offering convenient access to materials and interactive learning methods. You can also optimize learning outcomes through timely content updates and improve ROI by effectively tracking the performance of remote workers.

Below, we’ve compiled the most effective virtual training approaches to select, so your employees can focus maximum time and effort on the learning process.

Utilize microlearning

Microlearning involves delivering content in short, bite-sized sessions of 5-10 minutes that can be easily completed during small breaks in the day. This might include a short video, interactive module, or one-page guide focusing on one main topic.

For remote learners with busy schedules, microlearning promotes memorization of material out of long lessons. By systematically unlocking the new task content at any convenient time, employees feel a sense of progress and accomplishment, which further motivates them to continue their learning journey.

Microlearning is especially effective for onboarding new remote hires and updating knowledge on constantly changing policies or systems.

Develop mobile-first courses

Mobile-first courses cater to the on-the-go nature of remote employee training, enabling learners to engage with training materials wherever it suits them best. Whether workers are on their way to work, working from home, or in between tasks, they can easily access training materials from their smartphones or tablets, eliminating barriers of time and location.

Employees can access mobile-first courses in an offline mode. This feature is valuable for international employees who may have intermittent or limited internet connectivity. They can download course content in advance and access it even while offline, ensuring uninterrupted learning experiences.

Use a learning management system (LMS)

LMS is a centralized hub for hosting all training content, tracking employee progress, facilitating live sessions, and automating administrative tasks. Through the LMS, trainers can upload learning materials, including multimedia content, documents and case studies relevant to remote employees’ work, and set up online sessions.

In addition to facilitating real-time support for remote learners, communication tools such as forums or chats enable trainees to ask questions and receive timely responses.

To gain insights into the performance metrics of each employee, you can incorporate assessments functionality. This not only helps to identify knowledge gaps but also addresses them by consistently offering refresher courses tailored to performance metrics.

At HQSoftware, we can develop an LMS to help you store and manage educational content, information about students, and improve learning outcomes.

For instance, we have created an e-learning platform that enables users to efficiently train employees regardless of the distance. The solution can also track learners’ progress and key performance indicators across multiple devices.

The system features two key operational modes: content generation and performance assessment. The platform enables the creation of training materials based on performance measurements, facilitates performance observation, and supports the improvement of training materials through feedback on learning progress.

If you want to learn how to empower your remote employee training with highly engaging and high-impact features, you can read here about our services in developing LMS solutions.

Leverage AR/VR training software tailored to your business

Simple off-the-shelf e-learning solutions may not be enough for companies dealing with complex manufacturing, healthcare, or hazardous settings.

In such cases, the interactive nature of VR and AR uniquely enhances learning comprehension for remote employees across a wide variety of topics:

• Hands-on technical skills. Employees can virtually practice repair, maintenance or other occupational skills within the technical sector. For instance, at HQSoftware we have engineered a VR solution to train technical hand-on skills within the aviation, mechanics, automotive sectors.
• Product demonstrations. Via phone or special glasses, remote employees can interact with AR product models to better understand how they work.
• Safety training. In a safe environment, employees can experience hazardous situations, such as working at heights, or learn safety protocols.
• Communication skills. VR role-playing scenarios help to improve conflict resolution, customer service, and any other behavioral training.
• New-hire onboarding. Virtual plant tours, equipment familiarization, and product handling simplify onboarding processes regardless of the distance.

Compared to traditional online training courses, customized solutions supplied via AR/VR offer a more efficient training experience. However, regardless of the learning approach, the training falls short without a proper educational design.

Want to create an AR/VR solution for employee training?! We’re ready to help!

HQSoftware has a team of skilled professionals ready to tackle the project. Ask me!

Anna Halias
Business Development Manager

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Elaborate on Educational Design

As experts in creating educational design from scratch, we can suggest some useful practices you can employ to create effective educational materials:

• Use modular design. Break content into digestible modules that can be consumed independently.
• Include interactive elements. Besides using a variety of content types, such as text, videos, and audio, incorporate AR and VR elements to increase employee engagement.
• Include real-world examples. Anchor concepts to practical work scenarios for better understanding.

A robust educational design involves strategic planning, but  it sets the stage for an effective remote training experience. So, choosing a reliable e-learning software provider is perhaps one of the most important stages when developing remote employee training.

Andrey Kazakevich
Head of Production
at HQSoftware

Training can be more effective if it is developed with professional educational materials, empowering both organizations and employees to navigate the path of learning.

Whether starting from scratch or enhancing what’s in place, our educational design expert can create optimal training experiences that will strengthen learning outcomes.

Make Virtual Learning Self-paced and On-demand

Self-paced virtual learning respects the constraints of remote distributed teams, allowing them to learn independently. Clear instructions and guidelines ensure they have everything they need to complete the remote employee training successfully. Below are some effective approaches that help in managing remote employee training:

• implement flexible due dates rather than strict deadlines, so workers can learn at their own rhythm;
• include features like bookmarks, progress tracking, and reminders so employees can pick up from where they left off; and
• allow self-assessment opportunities through online quizzes, for reinforcement at each training step.

By being given personalized learning paths, employees can concentrate on areas they truly need to perform their jobs.

Respect Your Employees’ Time

If you prioritize the most critical skills that your employees need to acquire, you can avoid overwhelming them with unnecessary content, ultimately saving on your training budget. Here some useful tips for providing autonomy while keeping learners motivated:

• coordinate training sessions with consideration for your employees’ time zone;
• allow for pausing the course smoothly instead of requiring it to be completed in one sitting;
• send scheduled reminders about training rather than last-minute notifications; and
• limit live sessions to critical topics and provide recordings for flexibility.

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Document Employees’ Progress

To ensure employees stay on track with their milestones, you’ll need to incorporate reporting mechanisms. By documenting employees’ progress, you can track completion of courses, modules, assessments, and time spent on activities.

For instance, VR training solutions offer efficient tools for learners’ performance and progress tracking. One of the tools available is xAPI, a learning specification that enables you to collect  data on how students learn.

Using xAPI, businesses can track student performance, identify which parts of the program require more or less time for comprehension, analyze how students interact with educational content, etc.

Having access to this data enables you to conduct robust analytics on learning efficiency, automate reporting processes, and collect necessary data to enhance VR training.

Request Feedback

One of the keys to successful remote employee training is to collect feedback from your staff on the training process. Here are some of the most efficient approaches for review collecting:

• Built-in course surveys. Many virtual training platforms have short surveys at the end of individual lessons to gather immediate reactions.
• Comment widgets and live quizzes. Small apps that can be added to specific pages on an LMS or other learning portal to invite comments at any time.
• VR scene annotations. Applications like Gravity Sketch permit highlighting areas and leaving comments directly over 3D models or scenes in VR. Responses are automatically captured in a spreadsheet for easy analysis.

Once you have gathered valuable information regarding the gaps or milestones achieved in your remote employee training, you can proceed with a thorough analysis.

Assess Training Outcomes

Specific, well-defined goals allow for effective evaluation of online training for remote jobs. Key parameters that can be tracked include completion rates, assessment scores, and time taken to complete milestones.

Comparing these metrics to a goal developed within a SMART framework sets a benchmark for success. Let’s consider an example.

If the objective was to train 80% of sales staff on a new product launch within 2 months, tracking the number of salespeople who finish the course and pass the certification test within the deadline clearly shows whether the goal was met. Any deviations from the set targets can help identify specific areas for further attention.

Overall, by following these strategies focused on communication, content delivery, and participation monitoring, you can establish strong remote training practices.

Recap & Conclusion

An employee-centric approach to virtual training provides the best means of developing skills regardless of location. By implementing the virtual-training best practices we have mentioned in this article, you can support your employees’ professional growth.

By moving to a digital training approach, you will be able to:

• Enhance learning availability at any location and on any schedule.
• Enhance engagement with immersive elements, live-chat, and mobile-first courses.
• Improve knowledge retention through interactive, self-paced modules and assessments.

Thanks to our experience in developing e-learning solutions across various industries, we have the expertise to create a seamlessly integrated, flexible, and user-friendly e-learning system. Our approach includes creating educational content from scratch or redesigning your current one, incorporating responsive design elements, and implementing localization features. We also ensure that your e-learning system can seamlessly connect with third-party solutions when needed.

Contact us to learn more about e-learning development services.