How to Resolve Pain Points of Associations and Deliver Successful Member Training

Members are the lifeblood of any association. It is crucial to retain, engage, and train members while enhancing their experience to power the growth of your association. One way to ensure the success of this approach is to leverage advanced digital technologies and up your member learning game. Effective eLearning and training can be a membership magnet.

However, there are some challenges that associations face, limiting their growth and success. In this blog post, you will get to know the biggest pain points of associations and proven ways to overcome these challenges. Furthermore, you will learn how to deliver member training effectively and augment your association growth.

Top 5 Pain Points of Associations and Solutions to Address Them

Pain Point 1: Low Member Engagement

One of the biggest challenges associations face today is low member engagement. Traditional methods of communication and learning often fail to capture the interest of members, leading to decreased participation and satisfaction.

Solution: Interactive and Immersive Learning Experiences

Start creating interactive and immersive learning experiences that keep your members actively engaged and motivated. Deliver custom-designed courses that are not only tailored to fulfill the unique needs of your association but also enable interactive learning. This will help ensure every member finds the content relevant and compelling and retains knowledge.

Harbinger helped a large non-profit organization develop a custom LXP with a dedicated web and mobile app to transform drug treatment and recovery. We helped them with Netflix-like learning program development for nicotine reduction and cessation in teenagers aged 13-18. We integrated the program with an interactive caricature and video-based self-paced learning format.  

Our solution improved learner participation, interaction, and experience. It provided better and real-time visibility into learners’ progress. The organization was able to minimize dropouts, enhance learner engagement, and broaden audience reach.  

Pain Point 2: Outdated or Ineffective Courses

Many associations struggle with outdated or ineffective courses that don’t meet the current learning needs of their members. This can result in lower retention rates and less effective training programs.

Solution: Custom Course Design and Development

Leverage custom course design and development services that can transform your existing content into dynamic and engaging learning experiences. Our expert team works with you to redesign courses that are not only informative but also highly engaging, ensuring your members get the most out of their training.

Harbinger created a success story for a non-profit organization by helping them modernize entrepreneurship course content for the underprivileged. Our team advanced existing courses into custom activity-based modules.  

Our solution reduced course duration from 4 hours to 3 hours. It improved learner engagement and delivered personalized eLearning. The organization created a lasting impact by gaining positive feedback from learners. 

Pain Point 3: Difficulty in Certifying Skills and Knowledge

Validating the skills and knowledge of members through certification programs can be a complex and resource-intensive process. Many associations find it challenging to develop comprehensive and credible certification programs.

Solution: Comprehensive Certification Program Development

Develop overarching and effective certification programs that validate the skills and knowledge of your members. Certification solutions are designed to enhance the professional growth of members and ensure they receive the recognition they deserve.

Harbinger assisted a renowned non-profit association in developing a certification-based eLearning program. Our eLearning and technology experts designed wholesome course content to convert their unstructured training format into seamless eLearning.  

Our solution reduced the eLearning program duration from 4 hours to 1 hour 30 minutes. It effectively chunked each training module into 15 minutes of microlearning. The association was able to enhance knowledge retention, improve skills validation, and increase learner satisfaction.  

Pain Point 4: Managing and Updating Content

Keeping content up-to-date and relevant is a continuous challenge for associations. Manual content updates can be time-consuming and prone to errors, leading to outdated information being disseminated to members.

Solution: Automated Content Processing

With automated content processing, you can streamline content management, ensuring your materials are always current and accurate. This not only saves you time but also ensures your members receive the most relevant information.

Harbinger enabled a well-established healthcare association to successfully shift their learning content from information-sharing to knowledge-application. With our R&D and content modernization capabilities, we rejuvenated legacy courses. Our team leveraged custom integration and automation to refine their technology infrastructure and improve member engagement.

Pain Point 5: Personalized Learning Paths

Many associations struggle to provide personalized learning paths that cater to the individual learning needs of their members. They adopt a one-size-fits-all approach that doesn’t fully address the different learning preferences and styles of all members.

Solution: AI-Driven Competency-Based Learning

Leverage the power of AI and use competency-based learning solutions that adapt to each learner’s progress and needs. With AI-driven competency-based learning, you can tailor the learning experience for each member. This personalized approach ensures every member receives the support and resources they need to succeed in their learning journey.

6 Steps to Deliver Effective Association Member Training

As an association, it is not only imperative but also beneficial for you to invest in the right member training initiatives. Effective member training can help ensure your membership is informed and possesses the knowledge they need now and in the future. Besides, it is a powerful way to increase member satisfaction, engagement, and retention.

Let’s look at the six key steps to implement member training that brings business results.

1. Understand the Needs of Your Members: Identify the knowledge and skilling needs of your members and develop personalized training programs. Leverage AI-based automation for skills gap analysis and creating custom learning pathways.

2. Establish Focused and Precise Learning Objectives: This is a crucial strategy to align training programs to the specific knowledge, skilling, and behavior requirements of your members while reaching the business goals your association is aiming at.

3. Design and Develop Learning Content: Based on the member needs, learning objectives, and organizational objectives, you can create a range of training materials such as nudge learning, microlearning, gamified training, video-based learning, and interactive eLearning. Ensure the content is engaging, relevant, and personalized.

4. Craft a Member Training Plan: Tailor your training plan to the goals and needs of your membership and association. Ensure your member training plan outlines the assessment criteria, timelines, delivery method, training format, content, and learning goals.

5. Finalize Your Delivery Method: Choose the right training delivery method that will positively impact the training effectiveness and learning experience. Ensure your delivery method supports accessible, interactive, and engaging member training.

6. Measure the Training Impact: Leverage reporting and analytics tools to collect, track, and assess member feedback, performance, engagement, and learning outcomes. Besides, track metrics for training success, including ROI, satisfaction, retention, and completion rates.

Digital Transformation of In-Person Training Increases Member Outreach

Harbinger digitized in-person training programs of one of the largest non-profit educational membership organizations specializing in the field of management. Headquartered in New York, the association also wanted to tie its online training programs to a competency-based model.

Harbinger’s eLearning experts developed over 30 hours of interactive self-paced online learning spanning across 90+ courses in a period of 8 months. The modules were mapped to unique competencies for individuals and managers and met the WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards.

Harbinger’s solution helped the association improve its member outreach efforts and diversify its business. Furthermore, the association was able to have an effective alternative option to in-person training.