The learning profession needs to establish a new moonshot

Workplaces of today are completely unrecognizable as compared to what they were a decade ago. Work gets done anywhere, anytime with devices and technologies that did not exist earlier. While this is primarily the “Where” and “How” of work, the “Who” is also going through huge disruptions with some rapid strides in domains like robotics and artificial intelligence as well as the much talked about gig economy that is fast becoming a reality. While individuals are concerned about their job stability and skill relevance, leaders feel unsure about building organizational capabilities in the VUCA world. According to the 2017 Deloitte Human Capital Trends report, while 90 percent of CEOs believe their companies are facing disruptive changes driven by digital technologies, 70 percent say their organizations do not have the skills to adapt. Complicating the issue further is the huge supply-demand mismatch that exists. On the one hand, while there is supply; on the other hand, there is an acute shortage of right talent, leading to gaps impacting organizational performance and productivity.

It is the ever-evolving, complex world where skills change rapidly, and where individuals and business leaders feel inadequate to address capability needs without a steady supply of ready talent! But this presents a huge opportunity for the L&D fraternity, which in turn demands that they shift some of their operating paradigms and display even greater learning agility than what they would expect from their learners.

From a command and control mode, organizations are increasingly focusing on empowering learners and democratizing learning. We do not live in an era of 5–7 man days of training in year. It is not knowledge, but rather continuous learning that is the true competitive advantage and learning needs to happen on a continuous basis, on-the-flow by learners who can take charge of learning themselves. Learning professionals in many organizations have started wearing the hat of learning advisors or consultant, guiding people to the right learning resources. “Don’t offer structured training if the learner can learn it on his/her own” is the guiding principle, and a fundamental shift from training providers to learning promoters is needed.

Our policies should keep pace with the changes happening at the workplace and with the workforce. “If I need not and cannot provide all learning, then I should not try to monitor and control everything.” Some organizations have made this shift effectively. A portion of the learning budget is allocated for individual learning, and individuals can use it at their will and discretion. Someone may want to do a MOOC, someone else may want to do another course. As long as that lies within stipulated guidelines, the learner has the freedom to go ahead and learn. It can be termed as “You Learn and We Pay”. Learning is a key motivator and often the reason why millennials join an organization. And if the freedom to choose and execute is in their hands, it would not just be a motivator but would enhance the speed of learning and its effectiveness immensely.

We have heard it often that personalization is key. Contemporary Learning Management Systems are miles ahead as compared to legacy ones with respect to personalization. Learning recommendations based on the past activities as well as mass activities are a standard feature in almost all LMSs. And that is just scratching the surface of Artificial Intelligence. Its true potential is yet to be leveraged and that is dependent majorly upon how robust our people processes are and how well they are aligned to the business goals. Once that happens, suggestions based upon an individual’s key result areas, current and upcoming projects, career aspirations etc. would become a reality.

If learning needs to happen continuously, then one needs to think beyond the traditional platforms like real/virtual classrooms and e-learning. Stretch assignments, study missions, job shadowing, corporate exchange programs, speaker sessions are all elements that are yet to be leveraged fully. Managers as coaches are another aspect that one needs to pay attention to.

Peer learning is a potent source where one can learn from both successes and failures of peers. The value that it can generate is huge; however, having a mere social learning platform is not sufficient. Steering the culture of sharing and learning needs to be modeled in the organization and leaders need to share and collaborate. Recognizing best learning communities is another aspect that one needs to look into. When supported well, they have the potential to evolve into a top-notch community of practitioners platform leading to not just knowledge sharing but knowledge retention as well.

Dan Pontefract’s article on The Cultural Revolution sums up the L&D function’s future perfectly:

“The future with respect to L&D is not about developing courses, learning management systems or evaluations. While these aspects can continue, more is needed from L&D. The learning profession needs to establish a new moonshot. It must lead the charge and change its decades-old DNA from being tactical (and defensive) course builders to becoming proactive, progressive and practical thought leaders. The organization is in need of a culture change leader.” And a key culture change that needs to be driven is one of self-driven continuous learning. 

(The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the views of her employer.)