An organisation's customer experience may make or break it. Eighty-six per cent of shoppers are willing to pay more for a better brand experience, according to Oracle. As a result, major firms have made the concept of continuously improving the customer experience a top priority. But what about the employees who work for those businesses? Is there any role of workplace training in such a scenario? Let us find out.

Companies with highly engaged employees beat their competitors by 147 per cent, as per Forbes. Furthermore, employees working for companies that provide an above-average customer experience are 79 percent more engaged in their jobs than employees who work for companies that provide an average or below-average customer

experience, 49 per cent engaged.

So how do you enhance employee engagement? Well, there is a vital role of workplace training at play here. Employee training that is both enjoyable and beneficial is one approach for a firm to improve the employee experience and increase employee engagement.

The Role of Workplace Training in Enhancing Employee Engagement

Employees flourish in a setting that emphasizes their development as valuable assets. The role of workplace training is critical for boosting employee engagement. Employees feel appreciated due to career advancement and development, which promotes motivation to meet company goals. In fact, employees who have many learning and development chances in their workplace are more likely to be engaged and happy in their careers, he said.

Boosting Employee Engagement

Implementing industry-leading open source learning management systems is the most obvious way to increase employee training. More and more businesses are now transitioning to digital learning platforms to get the job done. Despite the eLearning market's rapid growth, many companies continue to use traditional staff training methods.

Legacy systems and offline training courses are not tailored adequately for the millennial age. Learning in organizations is frequently not engaging enough because it is not individualized enough. Artificial intelligence (AI) can help in the personalization or contextualization of learning supplied to an employee, using information about a person's previous experiences and background, as well as their aspirations.

Another recommendation for businesses is to use a micro-learning strategy and make training materials and resources mobile-friendly. We should also understand the value of social and gamified learning. Learning and development managers should prioritize social and informal learning, knowledge sharing, and timely access to the correct information or subject-matter expert. Learning may be more entertaining and engaging with gamification aspects.

Learning and development managers can additionally use advanced learning experience platforms, specifically xAPI standards, to track all learning activities inside and outside the learning platform. This way, organizations can identify parts of the learning process that aren't engaging enough and need to be adjusted.

There is also the necessity to provide appropriate resources for employees to execute their tasks, in addition to personal development. Here, we are talking about technology. One of the most effective methods to promote employee engagement is to remove roadblocks to growth. Unresolved hardware, software, and other IT issues should no longer hinder completing the task at hand.

Conclusion

The trend of problem-solving directly links to discovery-based learning, which can empower employees. Learning models or applications based on discovery can empower employees and improve their motivation and overall corporate learning performance. It would be best if you tied everything back to these practical workplace applications for training to attain the company's beliefs and objectives. So, how do you plan to improve employee training and engagement in 2021?

Why is Lisa hanging around Peterborough Station - she’s dead, shouldn’t she have “moved on” to the next stage? This is mainly told by her ghost self but we also learn how she got to be in this situation, after falling for the “good” doctor, Matty, who isn’t really what he seems. It is annoying how once strong women find themselves turning into wishy washy “yes dears”. I thought there was too much emphasis on the minor characters, the people who worked at the station, so I skim read those sections. Despite that I loved the book and the idea of basing it in a railway station of all things! It was captivating, amusing and sad and I was sorry to reach the end.

For the last couple of days, I've been in a bit of a slump so I wanted to mix things up by reading a classic children's story. For years now, I've heard about The Secret of Platform 13 being a great children's classic so I went to my library and checked it out. This book is a great, fun read and I enjoyed myself quite a bit. However, I did have my issues with it.

Eva Ibbotson did an excellent job in writing an adventurously fun children's book. It has magic, it's fast-paced, the characters are entertaining, and it's a romp of a good time. Her writing style is easy to follow and she writes in a way that keeps the reader engaged. My issues with her writing has to do with her female characters, however. Most of them were just over the top, dramatic, whiny, and pathetic. And if they were strong, they were seen as ugly and monstrous. There were only three female characters I can think of that were decent. Those were Melisande, the nurse in the hospital, and the nun who runs the hospital. Unfortunately, all three of those characters are minor to only appear in a few pages out of the entire book. 

I was highly disappointed with our main female lead, Odge. At first, I thought she was great. She was tough and took no-nonsense from anyone. She was brave and can be kind... if she stopped to think a little. But then, towards the end, she decided to mistreat herself in order to "show" a boy, the male lead named Ben, who "forgotten" about her that he was wrong. What? Why? Mutilating yourself is no way to "get revenge" on those who have harmed you. And the thing is, she is not the first character to do that. There are three nurses who have done that to themselves throughout the entire book because they "deserve punishment" for losing the prince. They did this to themselves for nine years and no one thought to stop them! The queen is no better! All she did was wail about the palace, nearly throwing herself out the windows because of how she was mourning her son. Meanwhile, her husband tried to console her because he's a "man" and can control his feelings properly. Give me a break.

Another problem I had with this book was a bit more subtle. For instance, I don't like the fat shaming throughout the book. Ibbotson described, during multiple occasions, how fat people were "disgusting" and "lazy." This perpetuates a harmful stereotype that anyone heavy is like that because they want to be and they should be ashamed for it. This is not something you should be teaching to kids. Some people are just bigger because of their genes. Sometimes it's health related. We do not know and to assume anything else is wrong and callous.

Also, there might be a bit of racism in this book. I say might because it's not overtly obvious. I shall explain. There's this one scene where the characters are in a restaurant and their little animal friend escaped from his box. The waiter tried to "catch" the animal by spraying a fire extinguisher at it, but he ended up foaming two Arabian men in fine clothing. Now, that doesn't seem to be too bad, right? But why did he have to get the only two people of color in the room and no one else? I don't know... that scene just didn't sit right with me.

All of this makes it sound like I didn't enjoy the book. I did. Like I said, it was a fast and fun read. I think if you're looking for something to escape into for a couple of hours, this might be a book for you. But I just couldn't say I like this book without explaining its flaws first. If you like classic children's fantasy, if you like portal fantasy, if you like fast and fun reads, then give this a try. Just keep in mind everything I said about the book if you tend to not like reading about those topics. There's also quite a bit of violence and talk of blood so bear that in mind as well when recommending this book. Otherwise, I hope you have fun reading this book despite its flaws.

BLURB:

This is a nostalgic, visual account of the best time and place to be a graffiti writer. In the 1980s, brothers Kenny, a.k.a. KEY, and Paul, a.k.a. CAVS, immersed themselves in the graffiti scene in the Boogie Down Bronx, dutifully photographing hundreds of pieces on now-discontinued MTA subway cars and capturing their proud comrades before, during, and after the act. “Bombing” “White Elephants” with their pilot markers and documenting them with their cameras, which they always carried, they were on the ride of their lives—until 1989, when the last painted train was removed from service. Tags by names like QUIK, IZTHEWIZ, and many others appear here in color exposures, and dozens of artists share stories and drop knowledge with no filter. A foreword by graffiti historian Henry Chalfant, coproducer of Style Wars—the seminal documentary on New York graffiti and hip-hop culture—kicks things off.

REVIEW:

I have always loved graffiti. I live near two cities that both sport a lot of graffiti. I never tire from seeing it. 

I really enjoyed this coffee table book. It is amazing what someone can create with some spray paint. I can only imagine the amount of time and dedication it took for the brothers to photograph all these subway car masterpieces. The text boxes tell the story of their jouney.

Highly recommended.

REVIEW copy provided by Edelwiess.