Alex stared at her dashboard, a jumble of data staring back—courses half-finished, others not even started, red notifications blinking in frustration. She sighed, taking another sip of her now-cold coffee. As the Head of Learning and Development at a fast-paced tech company, Alex’s biggest challenge was becoming the bane of her existence: getting employees to actually complete their training.
“It feels like every email I send out is ignored. I’ve tried encouraging them, scolding them, bribing them—sometimes it’s like talking to a brick wall,” Alex shared candidly during a recent team meeting. “It’s not just about ticking a box. If they don’t finish this training, we’re exposed—compliance, safety, even our reputation as a serious tech player is on the line.”
This is a story about turning frustration into strategy. How Alex – and others in her position – can transform their organization’s training program using smart systems and culture change to turn incomplete modules into consistent, trackable success.
The Problem: Why Employees Don’t Finish Training
For Training Administrators like Alex, it wasn’t just about course completion; it was about everything that hinged on it. Without mandatory training, audits could fail, potential certifications would be off the table, and in the worst-case scenario, hefty fines could come crashing down.
“Every unfinished course is a risk,” Alex would say. “And it’s a risk that we cannot afford, especially with regulatory deadlines breathing down our necks.”
“The industry average for eLearning course completion rates is an abysmal 20-30%”
-360Learning
But here’s the reality – employees are busy. Training was something they could push aside, unlike their immediate tasks. It was easy to defer it, easier still to skip through it without engagement. And honestly, Alex knew it wasn’t just on the employees. “If they aren’t doing it, there’s something wrong with how we’re presenting it,” she thought.
To calculate your training completion rate at your organization, use this formula:
Training completion rate = Number of completions / Number of employees participating x 100 journey towards not just recovery, but improvement and innovation in their training processes.
The Role of Automation: Stop Being the Bad Guy
Knowledge Anywhere has talked to hundreds of Training Administrators in Alex’s position. The key is to start by admitting the truth—manually reminding employees to finish training just don’t work. “It’s exhausting, and it’s not even effective. I don’t want to be seen as the training nag,” Alex confessed. The key was finding a way to let the system do the nagging, while she focused on creating a better learning experience.
So to help, we’ve created a checklist for Training Administrators. Check these off to ensure that your Learners are sure to know that their training is due – without you needing to manually check up on them every few days and play the bad guy.
A Checklist For Reminding Learners to Take Their Training
- Automatic LMS Notifications:
Alex set up automatic emails triggered by certain behaviors. If someone hadn’t started their course, a friendly nudge was automatically sent. Missed deadlines? They’d get a reminder. Engaged halfway? A cheerleading message would arrive, encouraging them to complete. - Automated Reminder Frequency:
Timing was everything. Instead of bombarding learners, Alex configured strategic touchpoints: 3 days before the deadline, on the due date itself, and finally, a follow-up afterward. Your LMS should allow you to automate thoughtfully spaced out reminders in a way that feels consistent, but natural. - Social Recognition and Visibility:
Training completion should become visible to the team, giving accountability to those who need to catch up and credit to those who did well. If you have or are looking for a training platform, keep an eye out for badges and leaderboards, which achieve this! - Management Endorsement:
Encourage department heads to actively support training. Training wasn’t just an L&D issue anymore; it was a department priority. “When senior leaders push for it, everyone listens,” Alex pointed out. You can make sure this is clear in company-wide meetings, emails, and memos. You should also make sure managers are bringing up training in performance reviews and talks about promotions and career development, so the stakes feel higher. - Incentivize Progress:
Points, badges, and even small perks like extra PTO or gift cards can be enough to give a bit of extra incentive – people love rewards. They love feeling like their effort matters, even if it’s just for a $5 coffee card. This can live inside of your training platform, if your LMS has these features, or outside of it using a third party or internal system.
Data Doesn’t Lie: Using LMS Insights to Your Advantage
One of the biggest shifts in Alex’s approach came when she truly started using LMS data, beyond just tracking who completed what. The insights she gained helped her transform frustration into a focused plan.
Here are just a few key LMS metrics that Administrators should be tracking if they’re worried about completion rates:
- Time Spent on Modules:
The LMS tracked how long employees spent on each module. The data showed a significant discrepancy—some were zipping through 30-minute sessions in under 10 minutes, clearly not engaging. “It’s like they were skipping through just to say they did it,” Alex noted. - Drop-off Points:
Alex noticed that there were consistent drop-off points, particularly after longer videos. Instead of waiting until the end to quiz learners, she introduced more frequent, shorter quizzes and interactive checkpoints throughout. - Assessment Performance:
By analyzing assessment data, Alex realized that certain concepts were consistently misunderstood. She brought in subject matter experts to revisit the training material and make the content clearer, breaking down jargon-heavy sections.
Where exactly these live in your training platform depends on your provider, but these metrics should be able to be found under the Reporting section of your LMS. Based on these numbers, you should be able to analyze the results and optimize your training to drive engagement.
Here are the two most common takeaways Training Administrators see from these results, and what actions can be taken to drive training forward:
- Simplify Content and Utilize Microlearning:
Based on drop-off and time-spent data, Alex worked with her team to break down long training modules into smaller, bite-sized pieces. Instead of one daunting 45-minute session, they made five 9-minute segments. - Personalize Training with Learning Paths:
One of the biggest issues was that employees felt training was irrelevant. “People need to see themselves in the content,” Alex realized. Working closely with subject matter experts, she revamped training to reflect actual scenarios the employees faced and used dynamic learning paths that allow managers to assign only necessary courses that pertain to each Learner’s department and responsibilities, so their to-do list is personalized to them. - Pre-course Assessments:
If your Learners feel like they already know all the information the course has to offer, why would they take it? By allowing employees to take a pre-course quiz and setting a pass/fail percentage, only employees who struggled with particular topics are required to take courses on information they don’t know, while others who excel move on to more advanced content without needing to wade through the basics.
Building a Culture That Values Training
Automation and data were the backbone of Alex’s strategy, but the real shift came with changing company culture. If training continued to be perceived as a nuisance, no amount of reminders would help.
Align with Business Goals:
Alex made it her mission to align training with broader company goals. She helped employees understand why each module was important—not just for compliance but for their personal growth and job performance. “When you make the ‘why’ crystal clear, people pay attention,” she said.
Recognition Matters:
Employees who completed their courses not only got badges in the LMS but were also acknowledged during team meetings. Sometimes, that recognition was as powerful as any financial incentive.
Sharing Impact Stories:
Alex began sharing stories of how completing certain training modules helped employees succeed—whether it was a better client interaction or avoiding a costly mistake. Real-world impact made the training feel relevant.
How to Make Training More Engaging
Training doesn’t need to be synonymous with boredom or chore-like mandatory sessions. By rethinking the format, content, and accessibility of training, you can turn it into an experience that is both enjoyable and impactful for employees. Here’s how you can achieve that:
1. Interactivity: From Passive Learning to Active Problem-Solving
One of the most effective ways to make training less of a “tick-the-box” activity is by adding interactive elements. Rather than relying solely on static content and multiple-choice assessments, replaced them with real-world scenarios, approved by Subject Matter Experts, that required learners to make decisions and see the consequences of those choices.
Instead of simply reading about a compliance rule or a new procedure, employees were presented with dynamic simulations where they had to navigate through practical, real-life situations. For example, rather than just listing steps to follow in a data breach, the training presented a mock data leak scenario, with multiple possible responses for learners to choose from. Each decision led to different outcomes—some good, some disastrous—giving learners a safe space to understand the impact of their choices.
2. Variety in Content: Catering to Different Learning Preferences
Another key aspect of keeping learners engaged is understanding that everyone absorbs information differently. Traditional formats like lengthy PowerPoint presentations or text-heavy modules might work for some but are often uninspiring for others.
“In the general population, the distribution of the three learning styles is: 65% visual, 30% auditory and 5% kinesthetic.”
– National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Below are just a few of the types of content to use to mix up your training, so it’s not monotonous:
- Video-Based Content:
Short, engaging videos were used to break down complex concepts into digestible bits. These videos included animations, interviews with experts, and “day-in-the-life” style walkthroughs to illustrate key points. “Seeing a concept in action can be way more impactful than just reading about it,” Alex noted. Videos provided an effective way to keep learners interested and helped them connect theory to practical application.
- Microlearning Modules:
The training program also introduced microlearning—short, focused learning units designed to be completed in just a few minutes. Microlearning aligns well with modern work routines where employees are more likely to engage with content that doesn’t feel overwhelming. These modules allowed learners to complete a unit whenever they had a few minutes to spare, which contributed to reducing training fatigue and improving knowledge retention. - Interactive Quizzes and Simulations:
Quizzes were reimagined with interactive elements. Instead of just answering questions at the end of a module, learners had to complete challenges during training. These included simulations where learners performed tasks virtually, practicing new skills before they applied them in the real world. - Gamification Features:
To add an element of fun, gamification was integrated into the training experience. Learners earned points, collected badges, and were ranked on leaderboards, incentivizing them to complete courses and engage with content more actively. This competitive aspect added a sense of achievement that kept learners coming back.
3. Mobile Accessibility: Learning Without Boundaries
Accessibility is a key driver for engagement. Employees are busy—training must fit within the constraints of their hectic schedules, not the other way around. Making sure your LMS is fully optimized for all devices, allowing training to fit seamlessly into employees’ daily routines.
By ensuring the LMS was compatible with smartphones and tablets, employees could access their training anywhere—while commuting, during lunch breaks, or even in the waiting room of a doctor’s office. The mobile-friendly interface allowed for easy navigation, making it as convenient as possible for learners to stay on track.
Your LMS should also provide flexible learning options where employees could pause a course and pick up right where they left off, without losing progress. This feature made learning feel less rigid and more accessible, helping employees integrate training into moments that best suited their personal schedules. “Instead of demanding they make time, we provided training that fits into their lives,” Alex explained.
4. Shadowing and Mentorship Programs
Training becomes significantly more engaging when learners see its direct application to their roles, and have someone teaching them personally. Organizations with the best results tend to pair training with hands-on learning by incorporating mentorship programs where new or struggling learners could shadow experienced employees. This bridges the gap between theoretical learning and real-world application, and it provides another way to reinforce the knowledge learned during training modules.
The Turnaround: From Frustration to Success
The results didn’t come overnight, but with each incremental change, the needle moved. Over the months, training completion rates climbed steadily, reaching a level Alex could finally be proud of.
Compliance was no longer a mad scramble, and audits were no longer a looming threat. Employees were more engaged—not because they had to be but because the training began to feel genuinely relevant to them.
Alex’s journey is a testament to what’s possible when training is approached strategically—leveraging the power of automation, data, cultural change, and creative engagement. For anyone out there trying to get employees to finish training, remember that it’s about more than reminders. It’s about creating an environment where learning is supported, valued, and relevant.
“Small changes can lead to big shifts. It’s not just about forcing them to click ‘complete’; it’s about making them want to learn and see the value in doing so,” Alex shared. And when that happens, everyone—employees, administrators, and the company—wins.
Worried about your own training and interested in upgrading or optimizing? Try an LMS now or talk with an training expert for free. With over 25 years of experience in eLearning, Knowledge Anywhere will transform your program and give you peace of mind that you can reach your L&D goals.
[1] Please note that “Alex” is a stand-in name, and is a persona that reflects the experiences and challenges faced by numerous Learning and Development professional we’ve engaged with at Knowledge Anywhere.
