How to Improve Student Engagement

Episode 46

Are you finding it challenging to keep your people engaged in learning? Are you the learner and are feeling burnt out or turned off? Join Mark and Jonathan as they break down the pain points and share proven strategies to improve student engagement.

Host(s): Jonathan Saar from Market Me Social and Mark Howell from Howl Creative Concepts

Show Highlights

Jonathan and Mark are both veteran industry speakers and educators. They understand the ups and downs learning development departments encounter as well as the hurdles learners themselves have to overcome. Today, we will look at the different perspectives of learning engagement and how to overcome some of the more frequent challenges faced.

Key Questions/Topics Covered

Understanding the student perspective

The first thing needed to increase student engagement is to truly understand the students. Training has changed significantly over the last few, years especially with Covid. Staff is experiencing a level of burnout like never before. They are dealing with residents full of attitude and frustration due to Covid, which leads them to dread their jobs. 

On-site staff is still in survivor mode; their minds are bogged down, not allowing them to train effectively. The last thing on their minds is training for better customer service when they already feel they are tapped out in what they can do. So how can we help staff find the space to become engaged learners?

Learning and Development Department – Tips to increase student engagement

Do you know what your people want to know? Does your team have an open platform they can share their thoughts, feelings, and frustrations? People who don’t feel acknowledged and valued will have a hard time engaging in their training. 

Surveying employees can serve as an excellent resource to fine-tune your training. Do this frequently as people change as their circumstances do. Take this feedback and ask yourself, what, as a company, can you do to reengage your staff in learning? Become leaders in building an environment and company culture that embraces and, dare we say, enjoys training.

It is unrealistic to expect every student to be invested in their growth. There will be ones that are nothing more than seat warmers. Focus on the ones that want to learn and grow. 

Engagement – Everyone’s responsibility

We have discussed what companies and their learning and development teams should be considering and doing. What about the students? The old saying fits well here. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink. Students bear the responsibility of being open to learning. Even if it isn’t their favorite topic or it’s one more thing in their already busy schedule.

Not making time for your education is tantamount to career suicide. If you aren’t learning, you aren’t growing. Take a moment and create a list of rules for yourself while engaged in training. Shut off your phone if possible and focus your mind on what is being presented. 

Even if you cannot find anything of value in what’s being said, you can take this time to work on your personal skills of showing respect to the speaker and staying engaged regardless of what’s being discussed. 

Final Takeaway

Training is part of property management, and everyone involved needs to be committed to the process. Whether you are the education developer, the trainer, or the student, work together to create a culture of learning engagement. 

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