How long should employee training be?

How much training does the average employee need?

Understanding how much training the average employee requires can be challenging, as it often varies based on their specific job roles and the topics at hand. Yet, one truth remains clear: employees thrive when they have regular opportunities to learn new things and refresh their existing knowledge. Many companies currently hold just one training session per year that focuses on relevant industry standards. While it might help adhere to regulations, it is far from good practice for two main reasons.

Firstly, we are not skilled at remembering new information and must continuously reinforce what we learn. If employees do nothing to review what they've learned after a training session, they can lose up to 75% of that information within two days, and by day 30, up to 98% may be forgotten. This can be frustrating, as it means that all the effort put into the training can feel like it’s going to waste.

If your employees do nothing after a training session, they will lose 75% of what they learned within two days

Why does this happen? Our brain constantly receives new input from our external world, most of which we don’t need to remember. Because of this, our brains tend to categorize unused information as unnecessary and let it go.

Unfortunately, this means that even valuable new insights from training sessions can be lost. However, by regularly reviewing material, we can signal to our brains that this information is important and should be kept. Spending just 5 to 10 minutes each week with the material can help individuals retain everything they’ve learned. Incorporating tests and fun quizzes after training can also make the learning experience engaging and reinforce retention!

Secondly, employees want continuous opportunities to learn new topics and skills. According to a survey of 666 employees, 86% of employees highly valued learning and 74% were even willing to learn things outside of work hours.

Employees want continuous opportunities to learn new topics and skills

The main benefits were job performance, self-confidence, time management skills, and pay increases. By creating structured learning opportunities and fostering a supportive culture around learning, companies can create environments where everyone thrives. In fact, organizations that prioritize employee training see 281% higher revenue per employee and 24% greater profit margins than those who don’t.

How long should employee training be?

We've established that your online employee training program should provide continuous opportunities for learning and review. However, the length of the training courses themselves is also important. There is no one-size-fits-all answer, but several factors can help determine the appropriate duration.

Attention span

In general, shorter training sessions are more effective. Can you expect your employees to focus throughout a two-hour-long course? The average attention span is only eight seconds! One effective approach to address this is called microlearning, which breaks material into small chunks that take only 5 to 10 minutes to complete. Research indicates that this method improves note-taking and reduces distraction.

Our average attention span is eight seconds

If microlearning isn’t suitable for your topic, consider incorporating regular breaks during longer lectures. High-quality courses that include videos and illustrations can also help maintain attention.

Time

When designing your content, consider how much time your employees have to devote to training. In 2020, the average employee spent 102 hours learning! That is only 1% of their time, which equates to 24 minutes a week for full-time workers.

Given these realities, adopting a microlearning approach might be more suitable, as it takes significantly less time than full or half-day in-person training sessions. This flexibility enables employees to learn at their own pace and on their own schedules, making the process much less intimidating.

Learning topic

It is not always possible to condense everything into a series of short courses. Complex procedures, operative techniques, and practices that require a physical environment will require a more prolonged duration. However, more repetitive topics and compliance training are well suited to microlearning.

Check out our top-10 topics for employee training and development.

Making a final decision on the length of your employee training

While we can’t prescribe a strict rule for training durations, we do know two important things: employees are eager for opportunities to learn, and by making learning more accessible and convenient, we can foster a more supportive environment.

Remember human limitations when it comes to learning retention and attention

To create a culture of continuous learning in your organization, start by carefully identifying your learning topics. Then, design your courses with the tips we’ve mentioned in mind. Remember human limitations when it comes to learning retention and attention! Then, consider which delivery method is the best fit for your employees.

An online learning management system (LMS) is a great tool to set up continuous training for your employees. They include tools to easily create courses on a variety of topics and skills that you can share through a central location. In turn, it gives your employees access to a course catalog where they can take courses at any time and from any mobile device! Everything they need to brush up on existing skills or learn something new will be at their fingertips.

Easy LMS can help you make training the ideal length!

Easy LMS will help you create engaging courses! It is possible to combine text with images and video, which will increase retention and attention. Our plans include an unlimited number of Courses so you can break them down into as many short Courses as you need.

Easy LMS tracks the progress of your participants so they can leave when their attention wanes and continue later. You can also create exams and Quizzes to provide them with exercises to refresh and practice what they learned in their Courses or in-person training sessions. 

The Academy is the ideal solution for providing your employees with continuous opportunities for learning new things and refreshing old material. The Academy includes group creation that can be based on topic or job role. Then, you can structure your short Courses into a learning path to give your participants guidance on what to learn first. Participants can access everything in their Academy with just one invitation and set of login credentials.