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Want To Improve Performance? First You Need Psychological Engagement
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They say too much knowledge is a dangerous thing and they may just be right.
We live in a world of rapid change and information overload, and every day we’re inundated with an enormous amount of information.
Teasing out what’s important and turning it into knowledge that sticks has never been more difficult.
So how do we build workplace knowledge and improve performance?
It all comes down to “psychological engagement” or how the brain processes information and acquires knowledge. Simply put, when learners are psychologically engaged, new knowledge is more likely to be retained in long-term memory, the ultimate destination for eLearning.
But for optimal assimilation and understanding to occur, a very specific set of parameters needs to be met.
Research shows that a mix of visual and verbal cues – such as combining on-screen pictures, engaging narration, effective examples, pop quizzes and relevant questions – spurs psychological engagement.
This type of multi-faceted approach to learning has been proven to be much more effective than traditional learning methods.
When we’re immersed in the process of integrating visual and verbal information, it first goes into the working memory (the sense-making space) and eventually makes its way to the all-important long-term memory. This is what creates the reliable expertise organizations need.
It’s not just about different learning styles – the belief that some people learn better through pictures or reading, while others are auditory learners. In fact, evidence-based practice shows that visual and verbal materials need to complement one another in order to take advantage of the full capacity of people’s information processing ability, and their resulting knowledge gain.
Never before has this been more important.
While knowledge is key to gaining the competitive advantage, in today’s hyper paced, complex and high-tech world, it’s difficult to determine what knowledge will drive performance and what won’t. Today’s learners are inundated with a flood of trivial knowledge daily (hello, social media and “expert influencers!”).
Against this backdrop, organizations are also weathering the challenges of digital disruptions, from talent preparation and branding to intercultural competence and safety.
Helping employees capture and retain the right kind of knowledge learned in a way that sticks has been shown to boost performance, productivity, wellness, business impact, and sustainability. And it can all be done through curated eLearning.
Designing learning programs that not only psychologically engage the learner but also meet the content, technical, cultural and learner needs of the organization is what we call Knowledge Experience (KX) – and what you call your competitive advantage.
Welcome to the KX effect.
We develop digital knowledge solutions. Our team makes heroes of learning and development professionals. We improve workspace experience (and lives) across the globe, with better learning.
