The evolution of technology has today created different parameters of success. The traditional lines of innovation and bringing changes within one's system are slowly eroding, being replaced with a more decentralized form of using technology to solve problems. So has been the case with human capital challenges around creating efficient but intuitive learning processes. The ubiquity of technological applications has led to the creation of many LMS, using technologies like AI, Virtual Reality that has sent the Learning professionals into a dizzy. Figuring out the best LMS for the company is no longer simply about following market trends. 

So how does one navigate this external ecosystem where on one hand the changing demography of the workforce comes its own set of varied expectation and learning preferences, and on the other hand, the plethora of learning systems which have spawned as a result of decentralized technological advancements. This has got many within the HR stuck. 

One way to approach the problem is to look at how other companies are navigating the same situation. In an attempt to facilitate such a knowledge sharing, the People Matters TechHR 2017 conference conducted a session with Kavita Kurup from Axis Bank and Rajiv Jayaraman from KNOLSKAPE, to share their experiences on the new learning program that was implemented with the various branches of Axis Bank. Following is a snapshot of what was shared during the session. 

Key areas of Focus

One of the key things to take into account while setting up a learning system is to ensure a focus is more on the learner than the learning system. Nuanced learning systems often have low adoption rates, often because rather than keeping the learner at the center of process design, employers and learning professionals begin by choosing the learning system first. Understanding top managements expectation, mapping employee preferences on learning and then going for the best technological solution out there, then, becomes an intuitive and logical process of implementing a new learning system. This ensures relatively higher rates of adoption and leads to the creation of a learning environment, a necessary ingredient for better productivity. 

By keeping learners at the center of process design, learning professionals within Axis Bank also realized how important it is to offer options of different learning programs that enable employees to choose the best fit for them. By empowering, engaging and enabling employees to chart their learning journeys within the company, learning professionals can ensure higher adoption rates of their respective LMS. Providing a cookie-cutter solution doesn’t work in today’s age dynamic learning paradigms. It also becomes imperative to have a smooth connection between learning outcomes and performance objectives. 

The 'Learning binge'

'Binging' as a term refers to the human capacity to take in information in long stretches. 'To binge' has often been to take in entertaining content (movies etc) for an extended period of time without, or minimal, pauses. Axis Bank along with Knolscape as a partner designed and implemented a 'learning binge.' A holistic learning program, it sought to tie all the loose ends in their learning system and implement a new end-to-end learning solution within the company. The program successfully utilized technologies like AI and Virtual Reality to create an engaging form of corporate learning. Right from the onboarding process, which was an interactive 360-degree virtual reality session,  to ensure that managers know how to have performance related conversations (a program executed with the help of AI) the bank was successful in piloting a new ‘learning binge’ session with great success. 

Today, the weakest link in the entire corporate learning chain is often identified to be talent readiness. Often managing digital capabilities and the digital culture within the company is within the control of HR professionals.  By supplementing this with the right digital strategy within the company they can enable employees to chart successful learning journeys.

(The article is curated from the session - Learning @ the speed of digital by Kavita Kurup, Head - Learning & Organizational Development, Axis Bank, Rajiv Jayaraman, Founder - CEO, KNOLSKAPE at TechHR'17)