This is Learning & Development’s Moment

How to capitalize and continue this momentum to be champions of Learning Cultures.

By Madison Wright, Senior Consultant @ Thoughtium
Published June 2021

1. Increasing Appetite for Online Learning

In 2020, LinkedIn reported a 3X increase in the number of hours spent in online learning courses. People are ‘turning to learning to adapt to our new reality’ (source); they are finding resources to help navigate work challenges, develop new skills and become better team members. The rise in online learning is happening for many reasons. One is that only learning content continues to become more available and consumable. Another reason for the rise is that it is second nature for many professionals to leverage online learning resources. Millennials are now the largest proportion of the workforce. They grew up learning with courses on Google, Khan Academy, YouTube, etc. This is L&D’s moment because people are interested, willing and comfortable with using online learning as a personal and professional development tool.

2. Reconsidering Career Growth & Career Fit

Our working lives have changed. For many people, these changes served as a wakeup call about our lifestyles and work/life balance. People found themselves asking big career questions; ‘Is this role or company right for me?’, ‘What do I want to do with my career?’, etc. Instead of hoping that people stay in their roles, there is an incredible opportunity to help people answer big career questions. People-first companies can help talent identify their work life purpose, and build skills that will help pursue their career passion. There are long-term benefits of enabling personal and professional growth, such as improved employee experience, retention and internal promotions and hires. This is L&D’s moment because learning is a meaningful way to invest in people’s growth and pursuit of professional purpose.

3. Resetting of Corporate Conferences

Corporate conferences and retreats are undergoing a big reset. Dare I say — thank goodness. In the past, conferences would include company training jammed packed into days-long agendas. We have all left conferences exhausted and feeling like our brains were jammed with knowledge. We have all struggled to remember what we learned and apply it back on the job. Packing learning into isolated events is often ineffective. Adults learn best when the learning is timely, relevant and applicable to real-world work.

Transitioning to virtual work was an opportunity to deliver learning differently. Most businesses took one of two paths to convert learning experiences to virtual. One path was to convert a carbon-copy agenda of the in-person training agenda into zoom meetings. On the other path, businesses took advantage of the opportunity to make learning more integrated with the cadence of work. They did so by overhauling old training approaches and making learning experiences that meet the needs of adult learners.

Common characteristics of great virtual learning experiences are…

1. Bite-sized

2. Spread over time

3. Leveraging diverse learning mediums beyond instructor-led zoom meetings

4. Requiring on-the-job application and team accountability between sessions

5. Simplified and digestible for learners

This is an opportunity to use corporate retreats for networking and celebrations instead of learning sprints. This is L&D’s moment to use adult learning best practices to redesign learning to be timely, relevant and applicable. Doing so will increase the ROI on learning initiatives.

4. Enabling Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Priorities

Many companies have a shared priority; making leaps in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Making DE&I progress requires that people learn how to think and act in new ways. There is an opportunity for a partnership between DE&I and L&D. A close partnership will help create meaningful learning experiences that enable the empathy, understanding and actions required to make a meaningful change. DE&I leaders will be subject-matter-experts that define the key lessons and messaging. L&D teams will be design advisors on how to create and deploy effective learning experiences that bring about constructive knowledge and actions. This is L&D’s moment because learning can be an enabler of progress in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

5. Cutting Out Excuses for a Lack of Results Measurement

Many learning professionals are comfortable with the idea that ‘learning is difficult to measure’. We are comfortable with that statement because it is challenging to directly tie learning to profitability. However, today there are more ways than ever to measure results by assessing engagement, adoption and behaviors.

• For engagement, you can measure hours of learning completed (quantitative) and collect feedback on learning experiences (qualitative).

• For adoption, you can measure the number of users who engage with learning resources (quantitative) and collect insights on how people approach skill development in their role (qualitative).

• For behavior changes, you can measure time saved or effectiveness improvement on tasks (quantitative) and collect behavioral observations from learners, managers and leaders (qualitative).

This is L&D’s moment to embrace results measurement and make a case for how learning is benefiting the business. With data and insights, L&D teams can better create learning experiences that best fit the needs of the people and the business.

Let’s Get to Work

L&D professionals have an opportunity to capitalize on this moment and step up as a strategic player. C-Suite leaders are aware that learning is an enabler of people and performance. They are hungry to see effective learning that leads to new knowledge, behavior, strategy execution and improved results. L&D professionals, this is our moment. Let’s get to work!