The Curious Case of Creating Engaging Learning Videos

An engaging learning video is only half the battle. Here's the second of the three-part series where I've shared some of the best inputs I’ve received from learning leaders on how to deliver successful learning outcomes.

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What is important for creating engaging learning videos? Avant-garde video software? An unrivaled subject-matter expert? Small & concise videos? Long & explanatory videos? All these questions live rent-free in the minds of learning leaders 24/7.

One thing I’ve learned from interacting with leaders all these years is that nothing matters more than creating videos that address the skills that employees need! Thus, understanding what employees lack in terms of skills and training is the top priority of learning leaders.

The skills gap is a term used to describe the fundamental mismatch between existing skills in employees/ learners and the ones required by the organization to achieve its goals. The skill gap makes it difficult for employees to contribute effectively to the organization’s goals.  

Spotting skills gaps is a 5-step process that can be adopted by Learning leaders across all industries.

Analyze the company goals - Understand which roles are needed in the short and long term. Will these roles evolve over time, or become redundant? What kind of learning needs to be imparted to help with the evolving role?

Pinpoint roles that are needed to reach the goals - Conduct an “industry profile” survey on your company and identify skills needed for your workforce to evolve. This will automatically shed light on the skills that will become redundant.

Build an inventory of skills for the relevant role - Skill inventories are necessary to set the standard when training employees.

Understand what skills the employees already have - Use the skill inventory for this activity. Surveys, assessments, regular observation of employees at work, etc., can also be conducted to understand their proficiency of a particular skill.

Spot Skill gaps - Comprehensively understand what skills are possessed by employees and what is expected from them. Involve their direct managers to assess what skills are necessary over a 6, 12 and 18 month period, and map these to current skill inventory. Peer feedback is one more method that can be explored to get an understanding of the skills gap.  This specifically helps put a stop to training on obsolete skills, and helps focus on training for the future.

The data from the above steps will help Learning leaders reduce the skills gap and invest in creating the right learning videos that truly target the skills required for employees’ and organization growth.

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Source: This blog first published on LinkedIn.