Performance-based eLearning tips: focus on eLearning course content design

Well-prepared content plays a crucial role along with perfect eLearning design in boosting employee performance. First of all, you need to be clear about what your content aims at achieving. Need analysis and task analysis would help you in this regard.

eLearning need analysis

Need analysis would help you determine if your eLearning course is relevant and required. Conducting this analysis might seem strenuous, but it’s an easy process.

So, getting this analysis right can help you in designing a performance-based eLearning course. Below are the practical steps for conducting an eLearning need-analysis:

1. Check to determine the desired level of performance

The first thing to consider when conducting a need analysis is to determine the desired level of employees’ performance. The desired performance level usually gets decided by the stakeholders employing your service.

But it doesn’t have to end there as you can also make a further search on the topic to know the best performance.

Knowing the desired level of employee performance will give you an insight into how you can design a performance-based eLearning course.

2. Check to determine the current level of performance

This second step is important to determine the performance gap. Most employees find themselves taking eLearning courses for one reason or another. But whatever the reason, the goal is to achieve a boost in their performance.

You can determine the current level of performance in many ways depending on how you choose to do it. One way to check for employee performance is through 180-degree or 360-degree feedback. Another way is by checking the number of sales or units produced.

3. Check to determine the cause of the performance gap

Having determined both the current and desired level of performance, you can identify with ease, the cause of the performance gap. Performance gap may be due to a lack of motivation towards work which does need that you leverage intrinsic motivation into your eLearning course.

eLearning task analysis

Task analysis is good to determine what employees need to perform a specific task. The task analysis is an analytical process of determining how a company’s task reaches completion.

With this analysis, you can be sure that your course performance goal relates directly to the employee’s task. The task analysis will also help you to get the entire scope of what you’re able to teach.

There are 3 steps involved in carrying out eLearning task-analysis:

1. Recognize the primary procedure

Recognizing the primary procedure is the first step to conducting an eLearning task analysis.

However, when trying to recognize the employee’s primary procedure, be sure to make it less complex. That’s to avoid carrying out eLearning task analysis on the complex procedure.

For instance, you want to conduct a task analysis on vegetable oil refining. Conducting a task analysis on oil refining might be too complex. That’s because there are several procedures/processes involved when it comes to refining vegetable oil.

2. Identify and make a list of the main tasks

Having recognized your primary procedure, what is next is to identify and make a list of the employee’s main tasks. These will help you when you’re trying to design your eLearning course.

3. Breakdown the main tasks into different subtasks

It’s important to breakdown your main tasks into subtasks. By doing so, you can find it easy to give  step-by-step explanations on what your learners need to know.

Performance-based eLearning tips: design repetitive eLearning courses

Another way to boost employee performance is to design repetitive eLearning courses. It’s often said that practice makes perfect, so a repetitive course can help employees to master new skills.

So, while trying to create new eLearning courses for employees, it’s advisable that you blend it up and make it more interesting.

Performance-based eLearning tips: making learning a process

Another important tip to consider is to avoid making your eLearning course a one-time event. For you to achieve a high-performance rate, it’s best you design your course as a process.

For instance, an L&D program that trains employees on “analyzing and visualizing data with Excel” might start by setting up a lab environment.

Data set and examples usage can, then, follow, which will give the employee insight into what they’re about to learn. But it shouldn’t end there; make the course to be more interactive to avoid getting them bored.

Employees should receive adequate training and then get assigned to practice what they learn through live practice at work. Learning is a process, not a one-time event.

So, the L&D team should make a habit of designing a long-term course to boost employee performance. L&D team can also consistently share articles and videos to remind employees or learners to apply their new skills at work.

If you have any specific queries, please, leave a comment below.