How has frontline training changed during COVID-19?

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be an extremely stressful time for most people. Take frontline employees, for instance. They work long hours, keep changing their job duties and profiles, deal with all types of customers, and worry about their health even more.

From working in stores and showrooms, most employees are now working from home. Almost every industry has also most of its business online to make it easier for people to avoid getting sick. However, this hasn’t been possible for some people such as grocery store workers, retail employees, delivery drivers, and healthcare workers. They are the ones who need to actually report to their workplaces to keep the community running. 

There have been so many changes in all aspects of life due to COVID-19. This kind of unprecedented situation has also had companies trying to figure out how to improve their operations. This has meant that employees have had to switch from traditional training methods to online training without missing a beat in day-to-day operations.

Below, you will learn about the kind of impact COVID-19 has had on training for frontline employees.

Mobile Training is now everyone’s best friend

Earlier, training sessions were held in a traditional, classroom setting or they happened at meetings. All this served to give employees the information they needed to navigate their jobs. However, it’s not to say that everything worked smoothly. There were been times when information slipped through the cracks and staying up-to-date on anything was quite difficult. If the workload was heavy, it became difficult to schedule training sessions, as well.

Today, mobile training is easily accessible and therefore gives employees a chance to train at their own pace. Training information has been reduced to bite-sized chunks that can be read at the tap of a button. Communication has also become easier with the introduction of platforms like Skype and Zoom for training sessions that can’t be managed with mobile learning. However, this kind of training is a rare occurrence with the focus leaning more towards mobile learning.

Health and Safety has taken precedence

When employees first joined a company, health and safety training formed a part of the traditional orientation sessions. What they learned were the basics such as First Aid and in some cases, CPR training along with how to use a fire extinguisher. This was mostly done to ensure that everything was in compliance with rules and regulations set for possible situations that could require employee assistance. Eventually, it stopped being an important thought or action.

Today, COVID-19 has companies stressing on health and safety as a part of the online training that employees must go through. Basic health and safety protocols now include things like learning how to put on a PPE kit, how to practice physical distancing along with washing hands or using hand sanitizer, among others. The online training sessions also include information on how to prevent getting ill and home care for anyone who has gotten sick and other related topics.

Basic skills and job roles get a revamp

As already mentioned, first-time employees went through an orientation session when they joined an organization. This session covered a range of topics that would help them navigate a routine while on the job. They would have also received on-the-job training for a particular task and could ask questions or for help if required. Or they might have been hired for a specific role only. Training would only be given if the job specifically required it or if there was some big change in the organization.

Today, there’s no time to give employees any in-depth training. Older employees have to re-learn their jobs in a short time so that they can do them differently. Classroom training no longer works since everyone is working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mobile training with shorter training courses containing more specific content that focus on specific job behaviors are at the center of everything. 

Job roles have changed as well. From doing one specific thing, employees must now take on different roles and responsibilities, in a short amount of time. Therefore, they need to use mobile training to get ready to take on each role and the responsibility that comes with it.

Conclusion

While COVID-19 has disrupted the future of work and of learning, it has also paved the way for us to change the way we work. We may not go back to workplaces, we may have a hybrid model of work where we work remotely, and in the office, we would not know how our space is impacted. But it has become clear that every progressive L&D function needs a mobile learning platform to keep it going.

Learn how the HandyTrain mobile learning app can help you keep moving forward with your training needs and improve your training experience by writing to [email protected] or simply book a demo by clicking here.