Organizations are facing several critical pressures, including short supply of leaders, the need to develop and engage employees, and issues with turnover. Finding and keeping talent is no longer an HR challenge but a strategic business priority. Yet, most companies are unable to build lasting relationships with their employees in an effort to overcome these challenges. Instead of empowering employees with the tools they need to succeed, many companies feel threatened by their workforce and fearful of change.
In fact, when asked to define their company culture, 41% of companies described it as “controlling,” or a highly structured and informal place to work with little collaboration. With the emergence of a younger generation and the rise of independent worker, companies must rethink their approach to talent and begin to prioritize the “individual.” They must provide a new mechanism for learning such as using new technologies —one that can adapt to the needs of a changing workforce and align closely with organizational objectives.
Following are the five key trends and best practices that companies should consider to transform their employees.
MEASURING EFFECTIVENESS
To determine if the learning strategy in place is driving business outcomes, companies must find a way to consistently measure its effectiveness. Companies should determine metrics in advance and include both business metrics and learning/HR metrics. Currently, most companies are considering team encouragement, employee engagement, and employee satisfaction over more concrete business metrics such as retention, turnover, and revenue per full-time employee.
ALIGNING WITH BUSINESS OBJECTIVES
The learning of the past operated in silos where learning professionals had little interaction or input from other areas of the business. The learning of the future must be closely aligned to overall corporate strategies in order for companies to achieve results. Any program or technology investment should involve input from business leaders to ensure that learning is driving retention, engagement, and performance. For those companies that did align learning and business priorities (48%), more than 70% were able to improve company revenue.
CONSIDERING ADAPTIVE LEARNING
Adaptive learning is a methodology that breaks traditional models and allows employees to learn at their own pace. It has gained popularity with educational institutions, referred to as “adaptive teaching,” Employees can be monitored individually and in real-time to determine what learning approach will best suit their needs. It has advantages for younger generations (Millennials & Generation Z) entering the workforce that have expectations around flexibility and interaction. Adaptive learning can be effective at improving efficiency, as well as employee engagement and retention since it allows employees to build confidence and overall expertise.
UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL
Companies are quickly embracing social media tools, as well as investing in social collaboration tools to better engage employees and foster a learning culture. Although social has become mainstream, companies still lack the knowledge and insight around how to use these tools for learning and development. Of the 59% of companies using social for their learning strategies, only 24% say they are effective. One reason is that companies are limited in the social tools they are using. Companies are using document sharing, discussion forms, and blogs, but they aren’t generally using video or micro-blogs—which our research shows are more effective—to improve their learning functions. Companies must educate themselves on the value of social learning and invest in providers that offer solutions that drive business outcomes.
“WHILE INVESTING IN THE LONDON PROPERTY HAS ALWAYS BEEN A SECULAR DECISION BUT INCREASINGLY SHARI’A SENSITIVITIES HAVE ALSO BEEN OBSERVED BY SOME DEVOUT INVESTORS HAILING FROM THE COUNTRIES WITH PREDOMINANT MUSLIM POPULATIONS”
GOING MOBIL
Mobile has transformed the way companies work, interact, and collaborate. Some 8 percent are using mobile learning apps, most companies recognize that mobile learning solutions can improve adoption, expand global reach, and engage users better, but do not understand how to execute a mobile strategy. Additionally, some organizations find it challenging to determine what options are available and which providers to consider. Regardless of the barriers they are facing, organizations looking to improve their learning functions will need to make mobile part of the equation and determine what requirements they have in order to select a technology partner.
Most organisation spend large amount of money on Training budgets but most of them doesn’t know how effectively it has contributed to the organisational goal. Rather spending on traditional methods, organisations should look into “The Next Big Thing” in Learning & Development, which will be an appropriate move with the next generation workforce.
