You are probably all familiar with the latest buzzwords in Training & Development, correct? Among you there are surely those who are implementing a responsive, social and gamification-enhanced Microlearning course, or those who are already creating Artificial Intelligence-enhanced training paths to support learners to the fullest in their course of study. All very right, of course, but what is really behind these useful and effective concepts as well as worthy of analysis? What do modern L&D buzzwords really mean? What really defines Modern Learning?
Today, we want results
What we really want is to be able to show that our efforts are leading to great results, such as improved performance of our employees, increased satisfaction of our customers, as well as the creation of a more energetic corporate culture and consequently lower risks for the Company. We want to be able to see at all times that our programs are perfectly aligned with business goals, and that profits are growing. In fact, recent studies show that 76% of companies consider compliance and alignment of the E-learning strategy with the company’s core business of paramount importance. Here, this is exactly what is meant by Modern Learning.
Recently, Mike Martin (CLO of Litmos) attended a webinar with ATD (Association for Talent Development) on this very topic – here is his speech.
Expectations have changed
Achieving results and the success of your E-learning strategy comes through a deep understanding of your learners and their expectations. This analysis is vital, especially considering the speed at which content changes and increases in the midst of Digital Transformation.
First-time learners, for example, have a factual need for more content. They expect to be able to find the content they need on the fly, which means they need to be placed in a position to access a wide range of on-demand courses, instead of only taking mandatory “push” courses. In addition, workers today want to be the direct creators of their own education and enjoy learning paths that are personalized as well as closely related to their specific career needs, as well as their specific interests.
As shown in a recent ADP survey, 65 percent of employees say they would like to take advantage of specific training courses that are functional to their career goals. This underscores how employees nowadays attach great importance to learning. It is time to listen to learners, looking at change as something positive and exciting, always trying to rise to the occasion and thus provide them with exactly the kind of education they really want, in exactly the way they want it.
What modern Learners can do?
Indeed, modern learners are being called upon to learn new skills faster today than at any other time in history. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average time spent by a resource on a specific role has now shrunk to about four years, down to two years – or less – within the world’s top 10 technology Companies. People are reinventing themselves more frequently than previous generations and – according to statistics – will have to do so many more times over the course of a single career. The World Economic Forum loudly declares how “[…] 35% of the skills workers need, regardless of industry, will have changed by 2020.”
In addition, the modern Learner desires a new concept of office and desk. He desires to be able to train from any device, at any time. This, of course, is no longer new. This is Modern Learning.
We all know perfectly well how much the world of work has changed its space-time parameters in the modern era. Mobile, responsive, adaptive…these are essential characterizations of today’s conception of the workplace. The same is true for in-Company training; the learner-worker wants his or her training in the palm of his or her hand, anytime.
Technological tools for a modern generation
Changing demographics related to the modern workforce are now – overbearingly – entering the analysis parameters, in the modern learning landscape. Research shows how Millennials (anyone born between 1981 and 1996, and between the ages of 22 and 37 in 2018) will be able to learn faster than at least one in three adult Americans by 2020, and will represent 75% of the workforce by 2025.
A training program will therefore be effective and valuable only where it is able to attract the attention and engage the minds of those who have practically grown up with technology in their hands. For example, those who have never lived at home without an IBM PC (1981) or the first Apple Macintosh (1984), and who have likely been fed Nintendo and MTV. For these reasons, Gamification and video content should be an integral and predominant part of the design of your corporate training program, where they are not already.
Conclusions
To sum up: once we have analyzed your audience in detail and thoroughly aligned your corporate business objectives with your Training & Development strategy, the subsequent challenge will be to properly transmit this strategic knowledge to the rest of the Organization. This will be the key to building an effective corporate training culture, based on the reporting system and data analysis.
As a Training Manager, therefore, shift your focus to the actual dictates of Modern Learning, don’t stop at keywords and…Never stop learning!
Thanks a lot to Mike Martin, Chief Learning Officer – Litmos by CallidusCloud.
Find out how to start an online training project in half the time and with no stress thanks to e-learning platform Litmos LMS. Ask for a demo.
