Our everyday lives have become unpredictable, moving in multiple directions and at different speeds. The effects of global warming are no longer deniable, the financial crisis and recession are re-shaping how we live. Even in the aftermath of the Covid-19 outbreak, despite business returning, more or less, to normal, we are reminded that we need be adaptable, resilient and agile if we are to rise above such challenges.
Despite this – or perhaps as a consequence of this – an increasing deficit of talent and skills is becoming apparent across multiple sectors and industries.
While technology provided a quick response to some of these challenges during the recent Pandemic, L&D faces a far more complex mandate. Building a culture of continuous, and inclusive learning that reflects – and is in sync with – the ever-changing reality we live in.
L&D: New challenges ahead
Traditionally, L&D teams have focused on the careful crafting of training programmes aimed at measuring specific learning outcomes. This short-term vision focuses on targeting competencies needed in existing roles and relies on the use of technology (often Learning Management Systems or LMS) as a repository of resources and static knowledge shared by content experts.
The shift to hybrid and remote work during the pandemic period massively accelerated the transition and wider adoption of methods for digital delivery, even where technology was not an option before. Nevertheless, as often happens in teaching and learning design, relying on technology alone doesn’t translate into good pedagogy and effective L&D models and approaches.
As a result of this disconnection, while technology could offer more opportunities to explore personalisation and non-linear learning journeys, the models and educational approaches have remained largely linear and increasingly out of sync with the new rhythm of work and learning that characterises post-pandemic industry. A “one size fits all” approach has been moved from a face-to-face to an online or hybrid environment, with little further exploration. As a consequence, disengagement and loss of sight of what both employees and organisations would need to thrive has made such programmes unfit for purpose.
L&D: The next generation
At a time where information and opportunity are available at seemingly everyone’s fingertips, and a more technologically adept generation of learners have higher expectations over what a digital education should provide, L&D has an ever-growing responsibility and exciting opportunity of designing meaningful and intuitive experiences for learners. Providers are faced with a need to adapt their much-outdated models and design fresh approaches which better suit the needs of the fluid and complex reality we are all living in.
From learning to performance
This can happen by shifting from a design focused on learning, and ticking boxes for completing learning outcomes, to one that focuses on performance. As much as designers love measuring learning and gathering immediate feedback, experiences designed for adult learners must have a longer-term vision. They need to focus on developing current capabilities as much as laying the groundwork for future ones – exploring lifelong learning rather than reviewing existing skills. According to David James, an L&D expert with Loop, a forward-looking approach is essential in unlocking the potential of new and emerging technologies for the service of impactful learning. Providers must go beyond viewing technology simply as a system of output to one of engagement, experience and productivity that is user centric.
To be truly effective, learning must become non-linear, personalised to each individual user’s needs and adaptive to their experiences. Furthermore, it must be ongoing, combining the formal with informal learning opportunities.
When this shift happens, transformative learning takes place and technology becomes a tool that can help users and designers to extend their learning journey and support their careers, where the actual application of learning takes place. Moreover, technology becomes a tool built around users which enhances their experience, opens new professional opportunities and supports them in their individual journeys to create impact and make a change in their organisation.
Being embedded within an education institution which prioritises STEM and digital capabilities, Executive Education programmes at Imperial College Business School are designed from the outset with to embrace new learning models that aim to be in sync with the needs of the world we live in. In our upcoming open programme ‘Executing Sustainability Strategies’, a blended model extends the learning experience beyond the in-person phase. Participants are supported prior to the programme as well as after its end, as they execute their sustainability strategies within their own organisations and reflect on its effectiveness. The Learning Management System (LMS) becomes a place where participants can create a community and find support for solving the challenges faced in their own organisations, with formal and informal opportunities for coaching and mentoring.
Going forward, L&D teams will be tasked to strengthen such engagement further with the adoption of user-centric models across all modes of delivery. Such approach will empower learners and allow them to choose their own path, self-assess and personalise their learning experience, with ongoing mentoring, coaching and constructive feedback provided through formal and informal opportunities. Such an attitude invites learners back again and again to refresh update and widen their skillsets.
It is not just learners that need to widen their skillsets but providers too. Partnerships, such as the one Imperial College Business School has with training agency Corndel, allows both organisations to offer data, leadership and management skills programmes for the UK workforce. The programmes developed are designed to provide a personalised learning experience with tailored one-to-one mentoring and ongoing support through Corndel’s award-winning coaching model.
Participants benefit from a transformative learning journey, which combines Imperial’s academic expertise and future-focused teaching with a flexible mode of delivery that enables participants to fit their studies around their careers. Another benefit is access to learning. As many of these programmes are supported through the government’s Apprenticeship Levy, a greater range of learners can access and benefit from the programmes.
Non-linearity and personalised learning
In addition to skills and performance, our roles require us to be adaptable, innovative, forward looking, agile to respond quickly to changes, inclusive, sustainable and mindful. L&D offering should go beyond retention and high-quality content. A performance-oriented model can create transformative experiences that are designed around real-life challenges where learners can rethink their role at work and in the world. It empowers them, goes beyond knowledge transfer and allows them to choose how to grow and take ownership of their development.
A user-centric learning culture
Now – more than ever – we need to embrace uncertainty. We need to be ready to unlearn skills that might no longer be relevant and learn new ones. We need to be comfortable failing, learning from our mistakes, trying again and failing multiple times. And, in doing so, we need to take ownership and responsibility for our learning and create our own path towards ours and our organisation’s success.
If L&D wants to be in sync with this evolution and develop its organisation’s future talent needs, a user-centric and non-linear models are non-negotiable.
L&D has so far favoured design approaches that were responding to generic needs to ensure scalability, and easiness of reporting. An evolution from supporting employee potential to evolving employees’ skillsets would ensure a more compelling mandate for L&D, which would become a strategic department for any organisation.
