Nudging Training Enrolment

Enrolling people in training is a starting point. And it’s not an easy one. People are busy; they have other priorities; they don’t see the benefits; they forget to register…and the list of barriers goes on.  However, by nudging their environment through your communication, you may be more successful in this critical first step.

Leveraging the Power of Defaults 

What is your organization’s process for training? Are people actively asked to “opt in” in order to be included? Or are people registered by default, meaning they must “opt-out” if they don’t want to attend?

Defaults can be very powerful mechanisms. In the case of retirement savings, 98% of employees saved when it was the default option, as opposed to only 65% who had to “opt in.”[1].  So why not apply this knowledge to enrol people by default in important training sessions? 

Avoid the Paradox of Choice

Trainees may tell you that they prefer to choose between different options, different dates  or different time slots. But when registration time arrives, be aware that if they face too many alternatives (such as too many options for time slots), it increases their risk of not registering for anything at all. This is the Paradox of Choice.

So what is the best combination of choices? How many time slots should you provide? There is no universal answer – and asking people will probably lead you to propose too many options. The only way to know is to test, learn and adapt. In fact, “testing and learning” (through experiments) is a core principle of Behavioral Science.

Applying Pre-Commitment