Raising the Bar on Corporate Learning: The 5 Essentials. #3: Agility

In this 5-part series, I will post One Essential in each post to start a dialogue about advancing the learning function to help better prepare the talent and organizations for the Future of Work. Please join me in the discussion and reshare it with your peers and networks.

The current state of Corporate Learning is being heavily influenced by two dominant factors. The first is a colossal transformation of the entire job market centered around advances in technology and world trade. Millions of jobs are disappearing, while millions of other jobs, requiring brand new skill sets, are emerging. The rapid rate of change is undeniable and its effect on Corporate Learning is substantial. To get a better picture about what jobs are declining, rising, or what skills to develop for the future, check out the article from Stephane Kasriel CEO at Upwork, “Skill, re-skill and re-skill again. How to keep up with the future of work,” published on World Economic Forum.

The second is a new breed of free or almost-free consumer-driven online and mobile learning resources that are improving every day. These include high-quality videos, MOOC courses, podcasts, and industry reports on just about any imaginable topic that are available anywhere — anytime outside the company’s firewall. Consequently, this has “outsourced” some of the curricula that previously needed to be provided internally. At the same time, the standards for what is acceptable have risen.

Learning has become ubiquitous and is paramount to the future success of businesses and individual careers. How then, can a company’s learning function, whether it’s made up of just one individual or a sizable team, better assist talent and organizations to reach their full potential through learning?

In the quest to answer this question I discovered, what I believe to be, 5 essential undertakings. My wish in sharing my thoughts on this topic with you is that we can start a dialogue between as many of us as possible. Each of us sharing our insights and experience in an attempt to raise the bar on Corporate Learning.

Essential # 1: Embrace the Democratization of Learning

Essential #2: Design Learning Experiences

(If you would like to read more about the Essential #1 & #2, please click the links above to see my previous posts)

Essential #3: Adopt Smart Digital Learning & Remain Agile

The evolution of technology is continuing at a breakneck pace with new players joining the learning technology market all the time. The ability to select and effectively put new learning technologies into practice has become a highly-desired and hard-earned competency. Understandably, many have fallen into the practice of making do with what they have or have found themselves stuck in a dated platform or subscription on an enterprise contract for multiple years, despite being aware of a better option.

When it comes to the digital learning markets and the changing landscape, Josh Bersin has his finger on the pulse. If you would like to read more about his latest insights and trends, I would recommend reading “The Disruption of Digital Learning: 10 Things We Have Learned.”

The speed and variety found within the Digital Learning space makes remaining agile more important than ever. Let us take the LMS (Learning Management Systems) category for example. Which is usually one of the biggest items in the budget and is roughly a 4 Billion dollar market. Every three to five years, up to 50% of the players on the Top 10 list can change. Depending on which ranking you refer to and which year you need to make the decision on the new LMS, the choice you ended up with can be very different.

Over the years, I have learned to seek out agile features and possibilities in the following areas:

• Delivery Channels & Media: Mobile is on the rise. Platforms built for multiple delivery channels on tablets and smartphones that are video-friendly will surely have an advantage. This micro-learning, mostly delivered through mobile devices, is better fulfilling the growing demand of “finding an answer now” or “accessing only what I need right now” within a faster-paced work and life environment.
• Third-party Plug-ins: Open-source platforms like MOOC can support more than 500 plug-ins. This would allow you to seamlessly leverage the best tools in the market faster, rather than getting stuck with only a few out-of-the-box options that are already dated when you open the box. Getting the plugs-ins right sometimes takes a little extra work. It is not as easy as putting lego pieces together yet.
• Learning Analytics: Traditionally, SCORM-compliant systems are good at tracking both the completion and pass/fail rate. However, xAPI-enabled platforms, such as Blackboard, are capable of showing broader and deeper patterns of user behaviors, which may include platform traffic, media preferences, etc. This type of analytical feedback is great for the instructional designers to make the e-learning more efficient and effective.
• Customization & Authoring: Both content platforms and classic LMS may contain tools to generate new content or update existing e-learning content. These tools are mostly straight-forward and don’t require programming skills. It is a good option to be able to make small updates without going back to the developer all the time. However, to build more sophisticated e-learning platforms, professional tools like Articulate can get you better results. The cloud version (Articulate 360) is quicker and simpler when it comes to version upgrade and running the latest patches to fix “bugs”.
• Pricing Themes: The higher possibility of user base changes demands a more flexible cost structure and pricing themes. No one wants to pay for the seats or features that don’t get used. Rollout plans or adoption rates can get stalled due to other organizational changes. Negotiate flexible “Pay for Use” terms with this in mind as well as the possibility of regional rates aligned with the cost of living under one enterprise contract, if that brings you an overall lower cost.
• Individualized Experience: Last but not least, look for the platforms that are smart and flexible enough to deliver an individualized experience for your end users that better support their changing learning needs. Consider content recommendations, external content integration, internal user content generation, connection to knowledge communities and AI-enabled bots that answer questions immediately.

Imagine for a second a future in which new employees no longer must sit in an orientation session on their first day. Instead, they would receive a personalized, AI-enabled device or app that could answer any questions they might have, proactively recommend people they should consider connecting with and remind them about the essential things they must do to get settled in.

This device or app could then go on to act as your personal learning curator, making recommendations according to your needs and preferences, stimulating connections among people who are consuming the same content, as well as asking individualized reflection questions, perhaps from the highlights you made in the digital text or the video titles you labeled with a “clap.” Furthermore, this app could learn which projects that you are working on to provide you with individualized reminders to help you more effectively turn content into ideas, knowledge and practical applications.

Maintaining one's agility within this technological landscape is no easy task, but it is precisely this for which I would like to advocate for. It is crucial, training professionals attempt to keep the best tools at their disposal at all times, as swords usually don't win gunfights. However, the latest and greatest tools aren't enough to guarantee victory, just ask any stormtrooper facing a Jedi knight. What allows technology to really shine, is when it is combined with the science of learning, great design and a sharp focus on desired outcomes. Like a master chef, you then have the key ingredients one needs to create a magical learning experience that delivers phenomenal results.

If you could have your wish come true for the wildest and smartest learning tech, what would it be?

How would it function?

What would it feel like?

Let your imagination run wild and be as descriptive as possible.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas! Stay tuned for the Essential #4 next week. (Essential #4 post on Deliberate Practice is available now. )

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