Training Industry Quarterly - Spring 2009 - (Page 23)

[ S T R AT E G I E S ] Learning Today: Collaborative, Social and Learner-Driven BY JOSH BERSIN Throughout the past 20 years, corporate training has seen a steady shift from instructor-led training toward learner-driven training. (See Figure 1.) Today, when there’s something to learn or information needed, the immediate reaction for many employees is to go online. Similarly, many employees also expect to be able to build their own learning plans and programs. From an employee’s perspective, the role of the L&D organization is to provide the tools, enabling technologies, support and content resources to help them with these functions. Besides taking new forms of delivery, learner-driven training is not just employee-centric but business-centric. Business leaders— in sales, customer service, finance, IT and marketing—expect employees to keep up with process changes, new products and competitive updates largely on their own, provided appropriate information and support resources are available. Much less emphasis is now placed on instructional design, and there’s certainly less tolerance for lengthy rollouts. As we study today’s transitions and trends in corporate learning, we find a variety of words used to describe the changes taking place. Examples include informal learning, collaborative learning, Learning 2.0, social learning, learning on-demand and next-generation learning. But none of these fully embraces the scope of change. In our view, the changes taking place are too profound to be embodied by a single word or phrase. These changes impact virtually all facets of corporate training. Consequently, we find it helpful to use a graphical framework when discussing how the structure, strategies and disciplines of the modern training organization must adapt. (See Figure 2.) As seen in the graphic, the modern training organization relies heavily on informal training. In fact, corporate managers estimate that approximately 20 percent of job-related learning occurs through formal, traditional training, while 80 percent occurs informally or on-the-job. While formal training is still appropriate for portions of some learning programs, informal training is becoming much more predominant across all programs. Besides being more cost- and time-efficient, informal learning also supports how most learning takes place. IBM, for example, has a growing workforce of 100 in China. Most of these are new hires who have been with IBM for less than a year and have no time for traditional training in this emerging market. Using Small Blue, an online community building tool developed by IBM, these employees can easily locate and connect with experts in the organization with knowledge on related clients, technologies and projects. Informal learning generally takes these forms: ■ On-Demand Learning: In our model, the term “on-demand” refers to learner-led activities, such as self-paced e-learning, books, reference materials, simulations and other forms of Figure 1 Evolution of Corporate Learning Collaborative, Talent-Driven Learning Formalize informal learning Collaboration and talent management by design Blended and Informal Learning Mixing all forms of media with informal learning Learning on-demand and integrated programs The E-Learning Era Put materials online, information vs. instruction Web-based courseware, virtual classroom, and learner-facing LMS Traditional and Computer-Assisted Training Instructor and computer-based (CBT) Implement the LMS as administration platform Source: Bersin & Associates. All rights reserved. Training Industry Quarterly, Spring 2009 / A Training Industry, Inc. ezine / www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ 23 http://www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Quarterly - Spring 2009

Training Industry Quarterly - Spring 2009
The American Heart Association: Learn and Live
Contents
Index
Winning Organizations Through People
The Business of Learning
Learning Technologies
Best Practices for Certification Training
7 Strategies for Employee Self-Development
Learning Today: Collaborative, Social and Learner-Driven
Driving Corporate Performance through Learning Partnerships
Meet Dale Towery
Meet Milynda Weis
The American Heart Association: Learn and Live
Closing Arguments

Training Industry Quarterly - Spring 2009