EVOLVING STRATEGIES
for Corporate Learning
The days of training and workshops may not be totally in the past—the ways companies are advancing
corporate learning initiatives today is changing as much as the shifting information landscape.
According to Bersin by Deloitte’s
research on modern learners, people
today are more distracted and over-
whelmed than ever. Consider it a
product of the outpouring of infor-
mation people interact with on a
minute-by-minute basis—checking
a smartphone, looking for email
alerts—as usage of mobile devices
and social media outlets boom.
Americans are more connected
than ever before. The Pew Research
Center estimates 77% of Americans
own smartphones, up a staggering
amount from the 35% of Americans
who owned them in 2011. According
to Pew, seven out of 10 Americans
also use social media to connect
with one another, engage with news
content, share information, and
entertain themselves.
But how does all this translate
to corporate learning?
Ways to Engage
Let modern media and communi-
cation habits guide new corporate
norms. As employees rely on social
media and smartphones to interact
and engage, static corporate training,
workshops, and classes will likely
become less common, and may also be
less effective.
Single-Point Access + Connectivity Flipped Classrooms
With today’s connectivity, the ability
to quickly connect and access small
“bites” of information makes learning
and training more accessible. A
training portal accessed via a smart-
phone, for example, might enable
employees to check-in to learning
opportunities when they have a few
minutes of downtime.
Online learning is growing by
leaps and bounds, from the academic
Khan Academy to Lynda training
and edX courses. People increas-
ingly have access to massive open
online courses, or MOOCs, offered by
academic institutions, universities,
and industry organizations. Similar to pulling information,
hands-on workshops and collab-
orative opportunities provide
employees with more engaging
ways to learn or train. Instead of
lecturing and presenting informa-
tion during sessions, rethink and
reorganize the structure.
In a flipped classroom, the
instructor provides lecture mate-
rials ahead of the scheduled session.
Employees read and review the
materials on their own time.
Instead of hearing all the informa-
tion in a lecture form, they
collaborate and discuss in a work-
shop format, either in a physical
room or together online.
This format uses time to prac-
tice and apply concepts instead
of simply listening. Employees
are more likely to learn from one
another, ask questions, and uncover
issues while they’re still in the
classroom.
Push vs. Pull
According to a study and report by
Deloitte, the employee learning culture
is shifting from a “push” culture to a
“pull” culture. Whereas employees in
a corporate setting would typically
attend seminars and speeches and
return to work, they’re now absorbing
content in a variety of different ways.
They’re “pulling” information on-de-
mand at times and places that work for
them, instead of having information
and training “pushed” at them during
specific training times.
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