A shift in who is seen as responsible for learning

We need to foster an ecosystem supporting a successful learning organisation where the responsibility for learning doesn’t primarily rest with the L&D or HR teams. A learning culture must be role modelled by senior leaders who visibly act as champions of the learning process.

Managers also play a vital role in defining needs, facilitating the time and space for learning engagement and in monitoring outcomes and impact. Learning should be a part of the agenda for team and 1-2-1 meetings.

And learners must drive the process. As key stakeholders, their input is crucial in determining what support is needed and optimal delivery methods. To that end they must be invited participants in the design process. It should be no surprise that engagement increases when learners have a part to play in the learning solution.

A shift to speed up learning design

Performance-driven learning requires the swift creation and deployment of solutions. Gone is the luxury of lengthy development timelines; performance support needs to be agile and responsive. Striving for perfection creates unnecessary delays. ‘Good enough’ solutions can drive the desired performance and be improved with learner feedback and iterative design developments.

A shift to learning in the flow of work

For performance-supporting learning, a vital shift is integrating development seamlessly into the workflow. Employees should be able to learn while working and work while learning. This entails creating performance support resources accessed in the moment of need and essential for performance enhancement.

A shift to collaboration

Conversations play a vital role in integrating learning into the workplace. While learning communities aren’t new, we need to foster lively discussions and collaboration using technology to facilitate meaningful interactions. Investing in a underpinning coaching culture is crucial, requiring a broader strategy to enhance coaching competencies across all staff and making it the primary management style.

A shift to learner-centred technologies

Learning technologies underpin performance-driving learning; however, solutions must be tailored to specific needs rather than systems in search of problems.

Too often the focus of learning technologies has been on implementing the right learning management system (LMS) over creating a learner-centred interface. As smartphones revolutionise personal lives and artificial intelligence empowers personalised solutions, both should be central focuses for learning teams.

And as digital and social technologies have the potential to revolutionise workplace learning, those responsible for IT solutions need a “can do” approach to enable the use of devices in common use outside work.

So, it’s time to shift on several fronts!

If we are serious about learning that drives performance, there has to be a seed-change in mindset and methodology.

Learning teams must have a laser-like focus on organisational needs, moving from ineffective analyses to consultative conversations that diagnose opportunities for performance improvement.

There must be a widespread ownership of the responsibility for people development from senior leaders, managers and staff, with learning teams seen as the enablers not the drivers.

Learning solutions must be deployed through agile design methods to provide rapid support with learning prioritised in the flow of work through content, communities and coaching, supported by learner-centred technologies.

Grace Hopper, the renowned computer scientist and United States Navy Rear Admiral, famously cautioned against the most perilous phrase in organisations … “We’ve always done it this way.” Those words must be a wake-up call for the learning profession.

You can find out more about personalised learning in Andy’s books “Driving Performance Through Learning” and “Organizational Learning Communities”.