In the first part of this series we tried to give you a brief on the key issues surrounding organizations i.e. attracting & retaining top talent, Impact of disruptive technologies and developing the next generation of leaders. We also tried to give a brief on how Learning and Development programs could help address these challenges. While we understand that it cannot be the only factor to help overcome these challenges, it does have a significant role to play. In this second article of the series, we will try and highlight factors that L&D leaders should consider when designing training programs to overcome the above-mentioned organizational challenges.
Trends and Recommendations
Training Needs Analysis: This is the most crucial step in the development of training programs and is largely responsible for the effectiveness of the program. Learning and Development managers must make it a point to study the Business objective, workforce profile, prevailing competencies, budget and compliance requirements before starting to design the program. They must aim to align Business goals with learning objectives in a HR role and in product or technical training align customer (role) requirement with learning objectives for optimal results.
Create a Learning Culture: Organizations should make effort to create a learning culture within the different business units. New Hires should be exposed to Learning from the very moment they step foot into the company. Organizational Leaders can contribute in a big way to this by providing formal learning opportunities, recognizing learning initiative, being open to feedback and providing promotion opportunities as career advancements.
Personalize Learning Design & Delivery: Personalization has been around for a while and its benefits are well known. In fact, a survey of L&D professionals suggested that 77% L&D professionals consider personalization of training as a great way to enhance engagement which is the core objective that L&D professionals hope to attain in the first place. Efforts should be made to provide learning anytime, anywhere and on any device as well as making it relevant to job roles and experience levels. Using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning would help deliver highly tailored learning experiences.
Implement Social Learning: Social learning is one of the oldest forms of learning. Only since the last few years organizations are recognizing it as an important element in corporate training and development and are now quickly embracing social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, discussion forums, virtual communities, Blogs, Videos and more. The key here for L&D leaders is to constantly monitor activity on the social media so as keep it all in the realms of learning.
Measure Effectiveness:
To determine that the learning and development program in place is effective the idea is to measure it on tangible grounds like on retention rates, employee turnover and more. At the end of the training program L&D leaders should be able to identify if the training resulted in any positive impact in terms any knowledge or skill learnt and application of that knowledge on the job. Results from training can be seen as critical indicators when planning any future training activities. This also includes embedding feedback mechanism into the course which will help you know which part of the program was most liked and what could have been better.