For quite some time now, leaders within professional development communities have searched for the most efficient ways to train employees. Of course, while there is no single solution to this universal question– especially when trying to address it in remote work settings– this community has undergone new shifts and explored innovative trends over the course of the pandemic in order to find what works best for individuals and teams. An approach that we’re particularly enthusiastic to share with you is the power of HIVE learning.

Perhaps the greatest urgency of integrating recognition into your retention strategy is the fact that employees who report low-quality or infrequent recognition are at a much higher risk for turnover. When employees do not strongly agree that recognition in the workplace is fulfilling, authentic, equitable, or embedded in the company culture, they are twice as likely to be on the hunt for a new job. Similarly, these unappreciated employees are also at least two times more likely to state that they do not plan to be employed with the same organization in one year.

WHAT IS HIVE LEARNING?

HIVE abbreviates the term “High-Impact Virtual Experiences,” or the name for a training structure that’s growing in immense popularity across professional development spaces. Though its execution certainly varies from company to company, HIVE Learning has universally incorporated some pretty important knowledge that’s been emphasized during the pandemic.

A prime example of the efficacy of HIVE Learning stems from its approach to the duration and frequency of training sessions. As opposed to a single, lengthy Zoom training session each week, HIVE Learning sessions often break the same content up into shorter, more frequent sessions to more easily keep attention.

The Your Brain at Work Podcast tells us that while “it’s a little bit harder to keep attention [virtually]... it’s much easier if you do it regularly in short bursts.” Many companies may feel compelled to compress all training into a constrained period of time, but featured industry experts Dr. David Rock and Katherine Milan advise us to opt for a focused 50-minute session that enables employees to engage their network in between sessions. HIVE Learning may even feature social components or activities to increase engagement across teams.

Additionally, this approach has even been implemented using asynchronous or self-paced learning to better accommodate employees’ busy daytime schedules. It’s been estimated that most employees can only spare about 1% of their weekly time– roughly 24 minutes a week for a 40-hour work week– on professional development.

With this in mind, it's no wonder that self-paced training is leveraged in HIVE Learning models. Without a prescribed schedule, virtual learning sessions can be completed at employees’ discretion, protecting work hours and increasing levels of participation.

THE PROOF BEHIND HIVE LEARNING

A recent Gallup study has found that approximately one in 10 managers have the intrinsic talent to excel in their role. This staggering statistic is a nod to the fact that many companies promote employees to managerial positions based solely on experience or tenure in their respective field. No matter one’s background, a lack of these innate skills or the training resources to really cultivate them can make it nearly impossible to excel as a workplace leader. Fortunately, leadership and managerial skills can be refined through virtual training, especially with the help of HIVE Learning. 

When evaluating the efficacy of leadership training through HIVE Learning, it’s helpful to note that when IBM adopted its new eLearning program, the company found that employees were able to learn between 3-5x more while training, as opposed to using physical manuals, books, and classroom education. In fact, virtual learning has been shown to significantly improve employee skills and knowledge on its own, and the real needle-mover occurs when there is follow-up coaching or skills practice labs. Even a 2021 study of learning and development professionals by research and advisory firm Gartner, titled Boosting the Impact of Virtual Learning, found that when compared to virtual learning alone, employees were 1.5 times more likely to apply a newly learned skill when they received both virtual learning and coaching together on the skill. In all, this supplementary coaching may just be the cause of increased retention rates among participants.

HOW IS LEADOLOGY TAPPING INTO HIVE LEARNING?

Activate, our professional development program specially designed for managers, also follows the best practices of HIVE Learning. Because it's largely based upon self-paced learning, Activate enables managers to move through content when it’s most convenient for them.

Additionally, Activate’s group coaching component instills not only a sense of accountability in participants, but also consistent skills practice and the opportunity to work through challenges in the company of enthusiastic peers. These small cohorts regularly convene in conversation, bringing their challenges, successes, and questions to the table for the chance to socialize and engage in insightful peer learning. In our experience, this is the thing that drives skill improvement and helps managers make these habits a daily practice!

Lastly, this virtual program is easily accessible to a growing number of managers and industry professionals. With the help of digestible pieces of content spread over time, Activate gradually pushes leaders on their way to navigating change, holding productive conversations, and building a healthy, high-performing company culture that speaks a common language of leadership.

As the world begins to drift away from fully remote or fully in-person work models, it’s clear that HIVE Learning is needed now more than ever. The events of the last few years have taught us that there is a new way to lead and a better way to learn. Professional development communities have recognized the endless value of flexible, engaging, and human-centered content, particularly as it pertains to employees’ development and engagement.

Interested in learning more about the power of HIVE Learning? Connect with the Leadology Team to hear more about transformative results of our coaching programs and what they can do for your team.