Training Industry Magazine - November/December 2017 - 43

for learning leaders is clear. However,
depending on the size of the
organization, a lot of L&D teams don't
need to start from scratch (although,
perhaps some should). Many mid- to
large-sized enterprise organizations
have mountains of stored content,
ranging from new product and service
offering information to competency
lists and compliance documents.
The list could go on. The point
is-organizations are quick to overload
their employees with information,
but the information is just as quick
to change.
The value of L&D should not be
measured by the volume of content
created. Businesses are not colleges
or universities, and employees are not
students. Employees don't come to
work to learn, they come to perform a
job. They are motivated to learn subject
matter that can directly improve their
job function. Likewise, they shouldn't be
measured on test scores or completion
of learning modules. They should be
measured on their performance and
the impact they're making on business
results-that's what truly counts-
and content should be at the center of
these efforts.

TOP FIVE STRATEGIES
FOR DEVELOPING MODERN
LEARNING CONTENT

one

Start with the
Business Outcomes

two

Create Agile Content

three

Make it Micro

four

Embrace Employees'
Desire to Learn

five

Pick the Right
Development Option

PUT THE EMPLOYEE
EXPERIENCE FIRST
Businesses need to forget about their
massive (and most likely, outdated)
content libraries they've created and
compiled over the last few decades-
for just a second-and start thinking
about the employee's needs first. This
doesn't mean existing content should be
thrown out or disregarded completely.
Rather, a modern organization should
look at what business outcomes it
hopes to achieve. Then, work backwards
to map what objectives employees
need to accomplish to attain those
outcomes. This mindset shift demands
the employee experience be the focus
of content development, instead of the
content-first mentality that many L&D
teams are used to pursuing.
If organizations want to develop
content that has a measurable impact
on business results, L&D must start
with re-evaluating their learning
content strategy and map it to modern
learning principals.
Here are the top five strategies to think
about when developing a modern
learning content strategy.

Start with the
Business Outcomes

Again, it's absolutely crucial to first
determine the goals of the business
and the type of results that need to be
achieved. Then, map the overall content
strategy to align with these goals. This
requires L&D teams to really think about
the strategic development of content in
a different way. Instead of trying to figure
out how existing content can help train
an employee, or creating new content
before determining the actual needs
of the staff, start by thinking about the
individual doing the learning.
What are the overall business outcomes
that need to be achieved for success?
What do employees need to learn?

What sort of content would influence
their knowledge and behavior, so they
can be successful in their individual
roles? How will their success impact the
company's bottom line? This will fuel the
overall content strategy and make sure
learning objectives are closely tied to
the company's corporate strategy.
By having this close alignment, each
business goal will be brought to the
attention of each employee. They

The new era is
about a shift
in mindset
toward a design
focused around
the employee.
will feel like they have a stake in the
company's success. What's even better,
the development of all future content
resources will be more accurately
mapped to achieve these clearly defined
business outcomes.

Create Agile Content

It's important for corporate learning
and training content to be built in a
way that evolves as the business grows,
instead of holding it back. The thing
about content is that it can expire, and
it can very quickly become outdated
and irrelevant. But many companies still
hang on to resources that provide little
value. No need to toss out all of the old
content that's built up over the years.
But businesses need to start thinking
a little more critically about what's
actually impactful.

T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MA GAZ INE - BUSINESS OF LEARNING 20 1 7 I WWW. T RAI NINGINDU S T RY . C OM/ MAGAZ I NE

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