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Any business that has identified employee training as a fundamental component of organizational success also has an investment in ensuring that training is as effective as possible. Within the AECO, design, and manufacturing industries, it has become a truism that skilled workers are in short supply, and that training the talent base from within is the most effective remedy. However, building a successful internal training program is easier said than done.
Traditional training, whether at a conference, a lunch-and-learn, or a generic eLearning course, still has value. Learners gain a lot from networking with peers, asking questions and receiving feedback in real time. However, for sheer skill growth and knowledge retention, something more is needed. Specifically, an applied learning approach that helps employees learn more by making training relevant.
It’s easy to understand, intuitively, that learning is absorbed more effectively when the time between receiving and applying information is as short as possible. But the value of placing training within context also aligns with what scientists and education researchers have discovered with regard to how people absorb, process, and retain information.
In the 19th century, the German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus conducted a memory experiment by attempting to memorize nonsense syllables, and then testing his recall over the course of several days. He found that his ability to remember the nonsense syllables diminished as time passed. The graph he made to plot the loss of knowledge over time has come to be known as the “forgetting curve.”
If you’ve ever felt like your brain was a leaky sieve, that was the forgetting curve at work. But it’s not the end of the story. Further research into the mechanisms of memory have shown that knowledge is retained more effectively when there are more context clues supporting it. Repetition also plays a key role, especially when learners are engaged in actively recalling information rather than passively reviewing it.
In short: Learning is most effective when it happens in context, when there is immediacy to the knowledge application, and when active repetition requires the learner to keep that knowledge close at hand.
Applied learning isn’t a feature within Pinnacle Series that can be turned on or off—it’s a foundation of the platform. We’ve built Pinnacle Series around applied learning because it is the most effective way to deliver training that lasts. And when training programs are effective, the downstream business benefits are felt organization-wide.
Below are four big picture business benefits of Pinnacle Series. Each of these benefits integrates with applied learning, and is supported by specific features within the platform.
Many businesses are knowledge rich but training poor. They have many employees highly experienced in their own specialization, as well as in organizational processes and compliance standards. What they lack are effective mechanisms to transfer that institutional wisdom from their most skilled workers to junior employees.
Traditionally, companies have relied on mentorship programs or occasional internal knowledge-sharing seminars. However, these training methods are time and labor intensive, do not always reach the people who need the skills most, and are not available at the moment of need. Pinnacle Series makes it easier to both collect and catalog internal knowledge and distribute it effectively.
Features that support applied learning:
Efficiency losses stem from a range of sources: user errors that require rework, wasted time as employees search for answers themselves or wait for team members to help them, or delays caused by essential resources that are hard to find or access. Training, particularly when it comes to internal standards, provides the most direct solution to these problems. However, being able to track training progress and tie it to efficiency gains is its own challenge.
Pinnacle Series helps track training progress across organizations so that managers can see which teams are using and accessing training, measure skill growth, and cross-reference against KPIs such as project completion rates.
Upskilling consistently ranks high in surveys of the most sought-after employee benefits, and opportunities for learning and development are strongly correlated with increased job satisfaction and employee engagement. However, the kind of learning and development opportunities provided matters. Rote coursework that is unaligned with desired skillsets won’t cut it.
Meanwhile, employers need deeper insight into the skill sets of their current workforce so they know what gaps to fill, and which potential hires have just the resume of skills they’re looking for. Applied learning quickly brings new hires up to speed in any areas where their skills are lacking, and the personalization of Pinnacle Series keeps hires engaged long-term.
The best insurance against future uncertainty is to create a culture of learning within your organization. This promotes workforce agility, accelerates technology adoption, and prevents stagnation from setting in. Pinnacle Series feeds curiosity by incorporating short, personalized learning content into the workday.
Pinnacle Series has made its reputation off the quality of training content available to AECO Design and Manufacturing professionals. But effective learning is about more than the right materials—it’s also about making sure the training sticks. By making content accessible and delivering essential learning at the moment when it’s needed most, Pinnacle Series ensures that industry leading training is received and retained.
Request a demo today to see how applied learning with Pinnacle Series can help your organization level up your skill building strategy.
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