It’s no secret that training is a key component of every business. Especially in our instant-gratification culture as corporations struggle to hire, train, and retain millennials to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting fees. Many companies are trying to train and hire candidates for positions who are often just out of college with little experience in the specific role they are being hired for.

The truth is, the secret to hiring millennials and helping them succeed is not much different than hiring anyone, anywhere, ever. Millennials specifically want to be rewarded for contribution and find meaningful ways to grow and develop within an organization. They want communication, coaching, clarity in their performance indicators, and a clear path to moving up within the organization.

The biggest difference is that with the speed and delivery mechanisms available through Lynda.com, social media, LinkedIn, and other learning and networking resources; millennials know that waiting until the next big training meeting in six months is not necessary or warranted. If they have a problem, there must be an efficient way to get an answer.

The difference is getting out of the mindset of one-off training and working to design a comprehensive system that helps your team grow, develop, learn, and make real progress in their career – every day.

Here are some critical components to making your training system robust, comprehensive, and effective:

First, be mobile friendly.

There is not a lot of explanation needed here. Have a responsive system that allows your team to work anywhere and on any device.

Second, everyone learns differently.

Use a combination of tools such as podcasts, audio recordings, video, text, templates, live training, and more structured courses to create a bended program that meets the needs of varying learning styles in the organization.

Provide a clear career track.

What does it mean to move from level one in a position to level two? What internal requirements do you have for promotions and what steps or training needs to happen to get there? Make it clear and understandable so your team can get from their entry-level role to a senior-level role by putting in more effort and training time.

Make it fun.

Use interactive training and incorporate gamification to make it enjoyable to train, earn, and provide more value to your company. Things like leaderboards, badges, and manager kudos help to make the system more of a daily activity and less of a chore

Make it centralized.

Integrate with systems like a CRM or other systems your team is in every day. Integrate chat or messenger programs into your training system. Incorporate your knowledgebase, help and FAQ, and other key resources into one centralized location to ensure that your team can go to one location to get everywhere within the organization.