Learning the 2021 way

In spite of 2020’s challenges, many organisations are able to point to a silver lining or two that will change their organisations for the better.

For some, that might have been discovering that productivity soared when employees were working remotely. For others, it could have been the streamlining of processes when they were forced to do things differently.

At AHRI, one of our silver linings was the opportunity to rethink the delivery of our products and services. We surveyed our members to understand the skills they believed were necessary in a post-pandemic workplace. we discovered that many HR practitioners were concerned that their HR teams didn’t have the skills required to support their organisation to thrive post-pandemic.

The findings supported our decision to transform our learning offering by introducing online blended learning courses to our suite of professional development options. These courses are designed to upskill HR professionals and workplace leaders in a myriad of important areas, such as change management, bullying and harassment, and having difficult conversations.

Our new approach is based on the neuroscience of learning, which creates higher levels of connection with the course to maximise knowledge uptake and accelerate capability. Our blended learning short courses run in 90-minute, facilitator-led sessions and are supported by a learning journey map which includes pre-work tasks, online discussion boards, relevant case studies and reflection exercises. These new courses have been developed in collaboration with AHRI specialist members.

Our blended learning offering also includes a fantastic line-up of on-demand content and micro-learning sessions following some of AHRI’s flagship events. For example, we’ve created a special bundle of content around our International Women’s Day virtual event for those who purchased our corporate package. This includes a micro-learning course on how to prevent sexual harassment in the hybrid workplace.

Expectations around learning opportunities have shifted dramatically, and in a relatively short period of time. These new courses respond to that shift. The future of training and development will be learner-centric, and it will be enabled by the practical application of learning into their own workplaces. This, of course, will be enabled by technology platforms that are designed with the end user in mind, to help to drive learner engagement, motivation and capability uplift.

We’re very excited by the opportunity to take our silver lining and do something impactful with it, and we look forward to creating courses that reflect the challenges and upskilling needs of HR practitioners in 2021.

At AHRI, we’re riding the momentum that we gained last year to make sure our products and services keep apace with the workforce’s changing needs, and our blended learning offering is only the beginning.