The question of the engagement of employees on energy reduction is a very real one, and one that GAIA is very much involved in; both in our consultation work and in our training development.
Engagement is an emotional response, so it’s not just about relevant information, but about how we control its flow and about receiving acknowledgement for the way we use it.
From our own experience as participants we knew that for us to be engaged, three things had to happen:
1. We had to get the information we needed when we needed it
2. We needed to get value from the information by using it to make choices
3. We wanted feedback on the choices we’d made.
On our Energy Management EMA Stage II course, the delegates have roles that include an element of energy management. The one-day workshop provides a format where the delegates discuss the information they want with the course leader. Whilst the delegates can’t influence the content of the videos, they can choose the information they want to hear about. The associated homework provides delegates with the opportunity to receive feedback and acknowledgement.
But what about the rest of an organisation; the people who don’t manage energy, but use it as part of their everyday working lives? Where are the opportunities for information, control and engagement there?
How to engage using e-learning
These are questions that GAIA has been answering in the research and development of our Energy Awareness EMA Stage I training. It was obvious to us that this needed to be an e-learning course as workshops and webinars aren’t practical for thousands of users.
Our experience of e-learning was that it tended to be information heavy, which required lots of on-screen reading. It felt patronising when we had to wade through lots of information that we already knew, and our attention wandered or was lost completely.
So we looked at what that meant, and we re-framed the principles of engagement so that they became:
1. Get the information we don’t know
2. Make it valuable
3. Get instant feedback
And that’s how we built our Energy Awareness EMA Stage I. We’ve had great feedback on how engaging it is. If you’d like to see this for yourself, then contact us.
