Workplace Learning in Singapore : A Brief Glimpse of its Current State & Opportunities

Introduction

Singapore has always relied on education as one of the key factors to ensure its continued growth and economic success. With human capital as its primary resource, the focus on education has provided it with a highly trained workforce that is capable of meeting the demands of a knowledge-based economy.?

With an ever increasing rate of change and disruptions happening at an accelerated pace in a post-COVID world, it is no longer sufficient to rely on formal education and training. The workplace needs to be maximised as a significant place of learning where employees are able to learn on the job as and when needed.

With the launch of the National Workplace Learning Framework in 2020, it supports Singapore-based companies to put in place workplace learning practices and capabilities. In doing so, the intent is to develop performance and ensure relevancy and retention of the workforce.

As defined by the International Labour Organisation, Workplace Learning is the “acquisition of knowledge or skills by formal or informal means that occurs in the workplace.” The 70:20:10 Model for Learning and Development by Micahel M. Lombardo and Robert W. Eichinger indicates that 70% of our learning comes from on-the-job training, 20% learning from observation, being coached and mentored, and the remaining 10% from formal learning programmes. As 70% of Skills Development comes from on-the-job, workplace learning stands out as an essential and critical component in Singapore’s high performing economy.

Current State of Workplace Learning

Since the pandemic, the wave of the Great Resignation, numerous tech disruptions and the ongoing AI disruption etc, Learning & Development (L&D) in organisations has risen in importance and this trend will continue to rise. Although 94% of managers believe that L&D to be important, the importance of investment in L&D is correlated in proportion to the size of the company.?

Global mobility and the ease of remote working has also opened up tremendously and the need to compete for work at a global level has shifted the playing field somewhat for certain industries. This norm is expected to rise in the years ahead.

Based on the NTUC LearningHub’s White Paper Report on the State of Workplace Learning (2022):

• Employee sentiment towards the importance of learning and development (L&D) has dipped from 99% in 2021 to 81% in 2022.
• 73% employees willing to participate in both company-offered and external L&D programs, yet 26% have not enrolled or attended any training in the past year.
• For SMEs this number is higher at 38% not having attended any training.
• Overall 30% say there are insufficient L&D programmes
• For SMEs it was higher at 41% of employees saying there was insufficient training opportunities offered. 35% of managers in SMEs agreed on this point.
• 27% indicated a lack of official communication on the programmes offered
• 19% revealed their managers did not conduct a L&D roadmap review with them
• Main 2 reasons employees cited for not attending are a lack of time (52%) and heavy workload (45%).
• 39% of employees rate L&D programmes offered by their company as “fair”
• 30% of SME employees revealed that L&D is not important for their organisation.
• 54% of managers will wait for their employees to request for training before sending them, with 39% of managers saying their primary reason for not sending employees for training is because employees simply do not request for it.
• Only 25% of managers say that there are the main stakeholder in building a culture of lifelong learning

In its report of Workplace Learning in Singapore 2023, LinkedIn has indicated the following trends:?

• Career development and internal mobility make people — and organisations — agile.
• 81% of global leaders agree that the HR function is more critical now than it has ever been
• Learning is a cross functional effort together with HR and deeper collaboration with Talent Acquisition is needed
• People who aren’t learning will leave.
• 91% of organisations are concerned about employee retention.
• Employees’ number one motivation to learn is “progress toward career goals.”
• The No.1 way organisations are working to improve retention is by “providing learning opportunities.”
• 3 of the top 5 factors that drive people to pursue new jobs reflect their desire to stretch, grow, and develop new skills.
• Skill sets for the same job are expected to change more than 50% by 2025
• Skill sets for the same job have changed by 36% since 2015
• The Top 4 Focus of L&D in Singapore in 2023:- Upskilling their employees- Creating a culture of learning?

- Aligning learning programs to business goals?

- Make learning more agile and measure success of learning

• 98% of organisations are concerned about employee retention.?
• 77% of organisations use learning opportunities to improve employee retention.

Potential Challenges & Opportunities?

The key challenges from the current state of Workplace Learning in Singapore, primarily revolves around:

1. Improving employee’s sentiments towards L&D. This would involve clearer communications and understanding of the responsibilities of both line managers and employees when it comes to L&D. It also necessitates a more coordinated approach by organisations in offering a more cohesive and congruent training roadmap. Simply getting employees to watch training videos online may no longer be efficient or relevant.?
2. Increase in Participation of Training: This works in tandem with the previous point and a holistic experience design intervention. It also necessitates the mode of how training is done in order to manage the issues of insufficient time or heavy workload.
3. Relevance and Quality of Training: Organisations would need to align the training offered to the business goals of the organisation as well as providing relevant training for its employees. For education vendors, trainers and content providers, there is a need for improving in the quality of the training that is offered and how it is facilitated to optimise participant engagement and learning.
4. Job Displacements Due to Technology: As technology continues to disrupt at a faster pace, it displaces jobs faster than reskilling and retraining can happen. While there are current programmes in place to support career transitions, realistically it takes time for employees to be reskilled, and the down time translates into numerous impacts on organisations, employability and society.?

On the upside, there are opportunities as well for interventions to improve and grow the state of Workplace Learning. With an increased understanding and awareness that employee growth equates to a higher employee retention, more organisations are willing to spend on L&D and invest in upskilling employees.

It also has given rise to L&D professionals seeing their influence grow as they become more cross-functional over the years and begin to work closer with C-suite and senior leadership in planning the training roadmap. Supporting this piece of work upstream through doing a skills-gap analysis and designing a training road map remains a strategic piece of consultancy work. With increased cross-functionality, most L&D professionals are also overwhelmed and may not possess the necessary experience, bandwidth or skill sets themselves to conduct such work.

Summary

The state of Workplace Learning in Singapore reflects the dynamic landscape shaped by the challenges and opportunities presented in a post-COVID era. In the face of rapid technological disruptions, formal education no longer is sufficient to continue to support the high growth economy of Singapore and its workforce. Opportunities abound where organisations are growing in awareness and willingness to invest in upskilling.

In our bid as a nation to stay ahead in the global economic arena, strategic interventions and a collective commitment to nurturing a culture of lifelong learning will be paramount. As we navigate these various challenges and opportunities, it is evident that the evolution and growth of workplace learning will be more critical for sustaining Singapore’s high-performing economy and ensuring a resilient and adaptable workforce.?

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