Over 60% of the world’s population uses social media, allowing businesses to tap into that. A recent survey showed that 50% of U.S. diners visited a restaurant for the first time, and 22% revisited a restaurant because of a social media post.
Social media’s utility goes beyond marketing. As a business owner or manager, social media can be an effective tool for staff training. Social media makes learning accessible, and techniques such as employee training videos make learning more engaging for a majority gen z employee base. In essence, social media has and can further redefine learning in the workplace. This piece looks at learning strategies inspired by social media to get your staff in tune with your processes.
Advantages of using social media tactics in staff training
There are numerous advantages to utilizing social media in training staff. Some of these advantages include;
- Helps staff members stay up to date with the latest training materials and trends
- Encourages feedback from staff members to help improve the quality of training content and delivery
- Fosters engagement and improves motivation among staff members
- Improves online interaction and collaboration between staff members
- Enables staff members to access information and support 24/7 from anywhere in the world.
Learning strategies inspired by social media
The modern workforce consists largely of a gen z employee base that relies on social media for virtually everything. Thus, social media shapes a big part of their lives and can make a difference in training efficiency Here are some social media-inspired learning techniques for your staff members.
Microlearning
The gen z employee typically has a short attention span. This means that it’s hard to get complex concepts through to them using long-form content. However, if we’ve learned anything from TikTok and Instagram, it’s that youths can learn a whole semester of astrophysics if it’s broken down into 30-second reels. This is known as microlearning.
What is microlearning?
Microlearning is a form of learning that involves breaking long, complex, and usually boring content into bite-sized content. It is a more engaging, less time-consuming, and cheaper learning method inspired by social media. Microlearning may not be the best learning method for every need, but research has shown that it is highly efficient for corporate training.
As a training manager or business owner, you can utilize a mobile learning platform to produce fun and interactive microlearning content for staff members to consume at their convenience The one rule with microlearning is that content must be short to capture employee focus. Micro training content can take different forms, including;
- Short texts
- Illustrative photos
- Short videos (less than a minute)
- Voice overs
- Games or pop quizzes.
Training videos
Video is the most dominant content form on the internet today. Virtually every organization has a repository for depositing various employee-focused video content for onboarding, staff training, upskilling, etc.
Video content is more efficient and engaging for employees to learn compared with text and even physical classes. One advantage of employee training videos is that staff members can review them to relearn any concepts they have missed. Moreso, they can learn remotely and at their convenience. Creating employee training videos on your enterprise mobile learning platform helps save cost and time for your business, allowing you to focus on other important business aspects without sacrificing staff competence and upskilling.
Connecting with experts
An excellent way for staff members to learn is by connecting with experts in their field. These experts serve as mentors, constantly providing insights and motivation to help your staff members improve.
In the past, staff members had to travel miles to attend conferences to meet and connect with these experts. However, social media changed the game. Social networks like Linkedin and Twitter provide a platform where staff members can easily connect with experts. In turn, experts publicly share their knowledge and experience with their mentees. Connecting with experts exposes staff members to real-world scenarios in addition to the practical concepts learned through an employee training video.
Group interaction
One of the most efficient ways for employees to learn is by communicating. Social media has helped drive the trend of employee-driven learning through the creation of focus groups and forums that enable coworkers to interact with each other remotely. Group members may leverage forums to share their ideas, discuss the contents of an employee training video or share their real-life experiences in work-specific situations.
Internal group interaction may be affected through an enterprise mobile learning platform. However, employees may utilize widely recognized social media platforms to interact externally.
Which social media platforms are best for learning?
Training managers and employees can take advantage of different social media platforms to share knowledge. Some of the most commonly used social media platforms for learning include:
Facebook is a valuable multimedia social platform that promotes internal and external learning. Facebook allows you to:
- Connect with experts in therelevant field
- Post opinions and engage with others
- Share experiences through text, pictures, or videos
- Form internal or public groups to connect with like-minded colleagues
Instagram is a highly visual platform that is ideal for employee training. With Instagram, you can;
- Share long-form employee training videos.
- Share short videos for micro training, e.g., a video teaching staff how to greet a customer.
LinkedIn is probably the premier platform for employee training. LinkedIn is a professional social network made to enable staff members learn by:
- Connecting easily with industry experts who share their experiences
- Creating discussion groups and forums with like-minded colleagues
- Accessing helpful blogs dedicated to simplifying complex topics
YouTube
You can hardly mention eLearning without mentioning YouTube. YouTube is the world’s largest video repository, offering numerous video-related services to promote staff training. YouTube allows you to:
- Create enterprise video channels
- Upload long or short employee training videos
- Upload executive company-wide communication, e.g., guidelines on closing the office
Make employee training more efficient with Bites
Social media is indispensable in the life of the modern workforce. Social media has significantly influenced the workplace learning culture, and as a restaurant manager, you must be able to harness its power to get your training across to your majorly gen z employees.
At Bites, we understand the learning needs of the modern employee and how difficult it can be for restaurant managers to meet those needs. Bites provides a range of interactive content to make training easier, helping to improve communication and staff engagement and yield better outcomes. So contact us today to start your journey to a better work base.
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