Employee Learning & Development Excellence June - 2022 by Excellence Publications by HR.com

JUNE 2022 • Vol.9 • No.06 (ISSN 2564-2014)

BUSTING THE MYTHS ABOUT SOFT SKILLS - Matthew Neale,

IO Psychologist and VP, Criteria

Mentoring in the Workplace 2022 Use mentoring programs to develop leadership, engage employees, and improve organizational performance Sponsored by

Page 21 - 32

INDEX

Employee Learning & Development Excellence JUNE 2022

Vol.09

No.06

(ISSN 2564-2014)

Busting The Myths About Soft Skills Why are soft skills misunderstood?

On the Cover

- Matthew Neale,

IO Psychologist and VP, Criteria

Articles 10 Assigned Learning: An Outdated Modality Is your learning or training success level solely tied to completion? - Craig Weiss, CEO, The Craig Weiss Group, and Find AnLMS

19 4 Steps To Gain Talent Advantage With Upskilling Stay ahead of the competition and become future-ready - Dr. Evans Baiya, Co-author, The Innovator’s Advantage

39 7 Ways To Choose A Training Needs Analysis Company In Your Niche Learn to choose the right training needs assessment provider for your use case - Christopher Pappas,

51 Shared Language: An Essential Skill For Building High Performing Teams Creative tension is essential to high performing teams - Richard S. Hawkes,

Founder, The eLearning Industry’s Network

Author, NAVIGATE THE SWIRL and Founder, Growth River

44 Upskill Your Team Better, Faster And Stronger With Immersive Simulations What makes an immersive simulation experience to stand-out? - Conor Gaffney, Chief Product Officer, ETU

Mentoring in the Workplace 2022 Use mentoring programs to develop leadership, engage employees, and improve organizational performance Page 21 - 32

Top Picks

INDEX

The World of Employee Learning Is Changing Fast. Are You Ready?

It’s time for development to engage all employees — not just your high performers or those who are mid-career - Kristy McCann Flynn,

CEO & Founder, GoCoach

L&D: How Participation And Collaboration Boost Employee Engagement

It’s important that learners are at the heart of deciding what is relevant and meaningful to them - Matt Linaker,

Partner Onboarding and Enablement Lead, Totara Learning

Food For Thought: Why Businesses Must Embrace Life-Long Learning 5 benefits of implementation life-long learning - David Taylor, Commercial Director, Flogas

How To Fuel Employee Engagement In The Hybrid Workplace?

3 tips to improve your L&D efforts - Chris Tratar,

Director of Product Marketing, Inkling

EDITOR’S NOTE

Editorial Purpose Our mission is to promote personal and

Deepa Damodaran

Debbie Mcgrath

professional development based on

Editor, Employee Learning & Development Excellence

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Are Soft Skills Misunderstood? Excellence Publications Debbie McGrath

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Employee Learning & Development Excellence (ISSN 2564-2014)

s the pace of technological and social change increases, skills are rising and falling in demand more rapidly than ever. LinkedIn estimates that by 2025 the top skills for most jobs will contain at least three skills that did not exist prior to 2021. Despite this volatility, there is an underlying set of skills that remain critical year-in-year-out. These are the people-focused skills known as “soft skills”. It is common to hear people say that a role “needs soft skills” without any further explanation as if all soft skills were fundamentally the same. No one ever says that a role “needs hard skills” and leaves it there. If they did, the immediate question would be “which hard skills?” This level of specificity is often left out when we are talking about soft skills. It is true that there are general abilities, such as the ability to perceive and understand emotions, that support a wide range of soft skills. But on top of these general abilities, there is a vast range of soft skills that differ significantly from one another. Check out Busting The Myths About Soft Skills, where Matthew Neale from Criteria delves deeper into the topic to help us understand why soft skills are critical and why they are misunderstood to a large extent. Too many learning and development (L&D) leaders think that upskilling, reskilling, and offering programs to build soft skills should come later in the employee life cycle.

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Kristy McCann Flynn from GoCoach, in her article The World of Employee Learning Is Changing Fast. Are You Ready?, busts several misconceptions associated with L&D and discusses why companies must offer training and development opportunities to all employees — not just high performers or those who are mid-career. In L&D: How Participation And Collaboration Boost Employee Engagement, Totara Learning’s Matt Linaker touches upon why it is important that learners are at the heart of deciding what is relevant and meaningful to them. And, in Food For Thought: Why Businesses Must Embrace Life-Long Learning, Flogas’ David Taylor lists down the benefits of implementing life-long learning. Also, read Chris Tratar’s How To Fuel Employee Engagement In The Hybrid Workplace? to understand how you can improve your L&D efforts. That is not all! We bring you a handful of other insightful articles in this edition of Employee Learning & Development Excellence, and hope you find answers to your queries around employee learning and development that help you achieve excellence in our L&D initiatives. Happy Reading!

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COVER ARTICLE

Busting The Myths About Soft Skills Why are soft skills misunderstood? By Matthew Neale, Criteria

Where Did the Concept of Soft Skills Come from? Surprisingly, the concept was largely a product of the U.S. Army. In December 1972 the army held a conference on soft skills. It was a brand-new term back then, chosen to distinguish skills like fixing machines, operating weapons, and driving vehicles (hard skills), from skills that involved working with people, like commanding, counseling, and building morale (soft skills).

The concept took off in the civilian world in the ‘80s and ‘90s as the global economy became dominated by services rather than manufacturing. Suddenly, people were not getting jobs because they could assemble components or fix machines, they were getting jobs because they could communicate effectively, build relationships, and lead teams. Nowadays soft skills are essential to just about every job there is. Despite their importance, soft skills remain somewhat misunderstood. There are myths about soft skills that diminish their importance and

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subordinate them to hard skills. Four of these myths that live on despite being manifestly untrue are: 1. Soft skills are all the same. 2. Some jobs don’t need soft skills. 3. You can’t measure soft skills. 4. You can’t develop soft skills. 1. Soft Skills Are All the Same It is common to hear people say that a role “needs soft skills” without any further explanation as if all soft skills were fundamentally the same. No one ever says that a role “needs hard skills” and leaves it there. If they did, the immediate question would be “which hard skills?” This level of specificity is often left out when we are talking about soft skills. It is true that there are general abilities, such as the ability to perceive and understand emotions, that support a wide range of soft skills. But on top of these general abilities, there is a vast range of soft skills that differ significantly from one another. The U.S. Department of Labor’s O*NET database distinguishes between six broad categories of soft skills: social perceptiveness, service orientation, instructing, coordination, persuasion, and negotiation. These skills differ significantly from one another. A person can excel at service orientation yet not be an effective negotiator. Likewise, a job that requires coordination may not require service orientation.

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Busting The Myths About Soft Skills

When you’re writing a job description or identifying the mix of skills necessary for a job, it is critical to define the soft skills in just as much detail as the hard skills. Soft skills are not all the same and being focused on the specific soft skills you need is essential. 2. Some Jobs Don’t Need Soft Skills This may once have been true, but jobs today are more relational and people-focused than ever before. As an example, jobs that require math and social skills grew by 7.2% from 1980 to 2012 in the US economy. By contrast, jobs that require only math – as an example of “hard skills only” jobs – shrank by 3.3% over the same period. Software engineering provides a good example of the importance of soft skills. Clearly, there are essential hard skills in coding that are required in this job. But modern software engineering is team-based, incorporating team ownership of projects, team autonomy, and team rituals.

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Furthermore, agile development teams need to connect with users, understand their experiences, and develop solutions collaboratively. The reality is that software engineering requires a blend of hard and soft skills, as does almost every job. 3. You Can’t Measure Soft Skills One of the great success stories in psychology over the past fifty years has been the development of trustworthy measures of soft skills. A good example is the development of assessments of emotional intelligence (EI). EI assessment grew out of research in the ‘70s which showed that people differed from one another in their ability to correctly identify human emotions. Further research uncovered related emotional abilities. Today, there is a broad consensus that EI consists of at least three core abilities: the ability to perceive emotions, the ability to understand and reason with emotional information, and the ability to manage or regulate emotions.

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Busting The Myths About Soft Skills

These emotion-focused abilities can now be accurately assessed in online interactive assessments in much the same way that we can assess other abilities, such as numerical and verbal reasoning. And studies show that people who have higher levels of EI are more effective at work, especially in roles involving high levels of emotional labor, such as managerial and service roles.

Just like hard skills, soft skills are easier to develop if you focus on specific skills rather than broader abilities. A training program that is intended to improve “general” soft skills is likely to fail (remember – soft skills are not all the same!). A program focused on a particular skill, such as facilitating a meeting, is much more likely to succeed.

Embracing Soft Skills

We have come a long way from a conference in 1972 where Army generals argued about whether “reading a map” should be regarded as a hard skill or a soft skill (this happened). We now have good data on what soft skills there are, how to assess or measure them, and how to develop them. Despite this knowledge, myths about soft skills persist to this day. Hopefully, this brief outline has dispelled some of those myths for you! And it serves as the basis for some key recommendations:

We now have good data on what soft skills there are, how to assess or measure them, and how to develop them. Despite this knowledge, myths about soft skills persist to this day.

More broadly, a variety of other methods have been used successfully to assess a narrower and more focused set of soft skills, including 360-degree surveys, situational judgment tests, and structured interviews. If what is important is what is measured, then there is no excuse anymore for failing to measure soft skills in your applicants or your workforce. 4. You Can’t Develop Soft Skills You often hear people say that people either have soft skills or they do not, and there is no point in trying to develop or grow those skills. As an example, a Deloitte survey showed that only 13% of people thought that leadership training actually improved people’s leadership skills.

● Make sure that your job descriptions and the KSAOs you identify pick up on the full range of hard and soft skills relevant to the job. It can be all too easy to focus on the hard skills and neglect the soft skills. ● Make sure that your competencies and skills taxonomies fully represent the range of hard and soft skills needed across the organization. ● Don’t lump soft skills all together – focus on the specific soft skills needed in each role. ● Measure soft skills in your selection, appraisal, and promotion processes, or you’ll end up in an organization that is lacking skills in these critical areas.

Matthew Neale is IO Psychologist and VP of Assessment Products at Criteria.

Despite perceptions like these, soft skills are no different than hard skills when it comes to training and development: People who invest time and effort into practicing the skills, applying the skills, and getting feedback on the skills do in fact improve over time. Indeed, a scientific analysis of leadership skills training, aggregating the results of over 300 studies, showed that training did significantly improve leadership skills. Similar results have been found for other soft skills, such as negotiation and empathy.

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Assigned Learning: An Outdated Modality Is your learning or training success level solely tied to completion? By Craig Weiss, FindAnLMS In preparation for this article, which is likely to stir emotions on both sides (supporters of assigned learning vs. those who are not), I went about and did an exploration of various sites on the web. I stayed clear of academic journals and academic articles because academics are not the ones taking the online learning courses/content at the corporate level. They are not a new employee. Nor are they the blue-collar worker on the manufacturing floor who is lucky if they are provided time during their day to go online and take some courses/content. The academics are not mid-managers, managers, let alone C-level suite executives. They do not run an association’s training/education, non-profit learning/training, nor customer education in various industries. There isn’t anything wrong with academia, I speak from experience, but when relying solely on academic data even with online learning (they usually

focus on the higher education/ed type of learning – synchronous based), is a detriment. For those who cover online learning, asynchronous based, it is always with the “completion” angle in play.

Completion rates are something that is learned at an early age. When were you first assigned learning? The first homework assignment? The first read this entire chapter and let’s talk about it the next day?

This was clear in the web searches with the term “assigned learning success rate”.

The process simply repeats itself each and every year in school. Going to college or a university? Assignments are everywhere (Not every faculty member does this, but the masses do). The term though is listed as “homework”, as if the one word will change the perception of what is merely assigned. Going to grad school? Flexibility starts to appear, but assigned does show up depending on the professor/ instructor/etc.

Every site that I went to, matched assigned learning and thus success with completion. As completion equates to success. On one hand, there are a lot of L&D, training and other folks (HR, sales, edtech) who truly believe that the best way to show the proof of success for their employees, customers, members, and even students is through completion rates. A completion rate though doesn’t tell you whether the learner really is interested, let alone will retain, or the goal of online learning – synthesize the knowledge and build upon that.

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Shared Language: An Essential Skill For Building High Performing Teams

What is left is an embed on the type of learning that I’d argue most people were never fans of, to begin with. Yet that embedded form of learning is not discarded in online learning for adult learners; oh no; it is embraced with all the extra trimmings. Synchronous-based learning (SBL) is highly used in EdTech Online. You can easily recognize it the moment you see a syllabus or similar. You go step by step. You complete assignments with specific due dates. You complete the entire online course. In turn, the university or college or school can show those completion rates – the high rate – and say, “See – success!” Brown University has a web page dedicated to “effective online assignments and activities.” One section says the following, “The first assignment is a good indicator of whether a student will complete the course.” (https://bit. ly/3z08q2u). Note the words, “complete the course”. Brown isn’t alone in this thinking, but it reinforces the idea of assigned learning. Coursera offers a report called “Drivers of Quality in Online Learning”. In the executive summary alone the following is presented to the reader ● Under Instructors – Keep lectures under 10 minutes to improve completion rates by 16% and increase learner satisfaction.

Courses that are “roughly” a month-long have the highest completion rates. ● Actionable Takeaways for learners mention completion multiple times. ● Under the section, “How to Increase Engagement” – “we use completion rates among the population of learners who are eligible to complete and are the most likely to have a goal of course completion” The rest of the report taps into the completion aspect, even bringing up MOOCs whose own completion rates are beyond poor, and have been since they arrived on the scene. Who typically takes MOOCs? Adult learners – nontraditional learners (usually refers to adults over 25). Who tends to buy Coursera? Adult learners – whether they are getting reimbursed by their company, or doing it themselves, or the company is buying it for their learners.

Corporate Assigned Learning

Corporate learning/training with learning systems continues to push the heavy usage of assigned learning. They mention it in the marketing of their system – “assigned learning”. They note in when folks ask about it, “yes, you can do assigned learning”.

The Argument for Assigned Learning on the corporate side Mandatory. That’s the term we use for assigned learning. It

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sounds extreme. Do you know who else over-abundantly uses the term “mandatory”? Prison. Mandatory learning – and for our purposes – online, is cited as essential for ● Compliance of any kind. Let’s not kid ourselves, compliance required training is because companies do not want to be sued. This isn’t about being proactive from the learner standpoint, it is from the corporate, state/ province, government, and regulatory commission. When do people tend to take compliance courses? Usually at or near the deadline to complete it. Check your data – and let me know how many times Mike went back into that “How to drive a forklift” course? OR how many times did your VP of HR go back into any of the compliance courses they had to take and complete? Compliance creates a conundrum for those folks who believe assigned learning is not an effective way or means to retain and synthesize learning and acquiring knowledge. It is required, do not pass go – which for now, has to be followed – no exceptions. Could compliance content be turned into something more engaging via interactive labs, with short modules, with benefits to return to the courses/content for continuous improvement?

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Shared Language: An Essential Skill For Building High Performing Teams

Could it be achieved without making it mandatory by the end of the quarter or month? Or is it something that has to be done, just as you have to wait at the DMV for hours just for them to tell you, you do not have the appropriate form? What else is mandatory? ● Onboarding – Not always all the content, but a chunk of it – sure this is dependent on who is overseeing this, but we are talking generally here. A friend of mine who started a new job was given access to the learning system and assigned a set of courses. The courses included such items as company’s procedures, values, navigating the office (they work remote), welcome to the company with the CEO thanking them (pre-recorded), and a video of various employees talking about how much they enjoy working at the company. What value! Any mention of where to find your parking spot? ● Tasks – The worst. This implies that you have to complete this task – perhaps daily, and in turn, it will increase your knowledge and retention because it is often. They are right in one way – your retention – from the standpoint of how much you will dread taking it. Daily assigned tasks are ideal if you want to

reside in a flat/home with a significant other who expects (understandably) for you to take out the garbage, mow the lawn, wash the car, water the plants, get the mail, listen to your Dad tell you that they mowed lots of lawns for free, so getting a quarter should be a happy blessing. Seriously though, task assignments, are assignments – like homework but for adults. ● Job role-related – This one makes zero sense. It is as though we are all back at school learning a specific subject and to prove that we know said subject, we are given due dates/ completion requirements. Many times, it comes from the manager of said individual. If you are telling an employee that you believe in their learning/ training of X skills, and “open exploration”, it kind of goes out the window, the moment you tell them, that they have to take this and complete it. Couldn’t you achieve the same objective by putting together a catalog of courses/content for that individual or group, let them select from it, (which will tell you far more about them and learning goals for skills and insight), and then monitor from there. If I see that Melissa selected three courses around leadership, then my guess is going to be she is a)interested in this

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subject b) planning to tap into it or has a reason for seeking that information, c)if she is a manager, then this is an area she wants to improve or build upon, d) if not, she may be looking to develop these skills for future opportunities to be a manager.

Completion Equates to Success Malarkey. Utter rubbish.

We in the corporate world (and education too) look at those completion rates as though they are the validation we need to show someone, anyone that online learning works and is successful. Successful for the department. Successful the institution, entity, business, association, and so on. Learners complete – therefore they know the information/skill/ whatever and this equates to success. High completion rates – we are successful with our online learning. It means NOTHING. NOTHING. You are not in fifth grade here. You are working at a company. You are not in Ms. Willard’s class staying after school to complete the book report, you failed to turn it in during class. There are learning systems whose entire machine learning algorithm (noted as A.I. by the vendor) is based heavily on the completion of the content. Fail to complete? No worries, it is not computed with the algorithm – skipped. Fail to complete? No

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Shared Language: An Essential Skill For Building High Performing Teams

worries, you are given less weight than if you complete it. Fail to complete? No worries. Just click the “complete” button. I like Degreed, but from day one (and yes, I saw the system when it first came out, so many moons ago) their system was set up with completion as a key indicator. I remember getting into a discussion with then CEO and Founder, David Blake on whether or not he knew why WBT was created (it wasn’t about completion), because of their instance on completed with the system. Telling someone to click “complete” so that it shows it is completed, skews data. Skews how you say? The recommended playlist? Based on completion. So even if Mark spent 29 seconds in course X and clicks complete, the system says he completed it. Despite the fact that Mark never went any further, never went back, did nothing. Assigned learning? Well, if the majority of the company is assigned six courses of the same subject and topic, what do you think will appear skill/topic wise with recommended? Suggested or most popular? If assigned is the backbone of your employees’ learning or customers, then most popular is skewed. The data you are looking at with systems whose algorithms weight heavily around completed,

or penalize (okay, ignore in some cases), non-completed, is IMO, data misrepresented. This is why I always ask every vendor the question around weights, completion or non-completed, bringing up a core reason on why WBT was created in the first place. To empower the learner – to learn what they are interested in, when they want to, wherever they are. They are not forced nor required to complete the course/chapter/etc – because synthesis is the better data point here, not completion. If your learning system presents as a key data indicator – completed vs non-completed and you are relying on this data as the CORE for proof of validation, you need to go back and re-think this thru. If assigned learning is the ESSENTIAL to your learning for your employees, students, customers, or members, then you need to go back and re-think whether this is how you felt when you were assigned learning during your days at school. If you ever have had the pleasure of listening to employees gripe about having to attend a training session and take away from their time to do their job, you will recognize first-hand, how required really play here. What is the completion rate for attending? 100%. What is the comprehension and synthesis for these happy err less than enthralled employees on this subject? Very low. They are still stewing about attending.

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Bottom Line

If you have a learning system, take a look at whether or not completion is one of the data points you are seeing. My guess is it will be. Ask yourself, what completed really means to you? What does it really tell you about the learner? Their retention and synthesis of the content? Is your learning or training success level solely tied to completion? Because if that is the case, please assign yourself a task. To re-think your approach.

Craig Weiss is CEO for The Craig Weiss Group, and FindAnLMS. Craig has been identified as one of the most influential people in the world for e-learning and the most influential person in the world for learning systems. Craig’s experience in the corporate world as a training director/ manager overseeing divisions and departments which included developing and implementing e-learning programs and the finding and selection of learning systems makes him uniquely qualified in the analyst and consulting industry.

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TOP PICK

The World of Employee Learning Is Changing Fast. Are You Ready? It’s time for development to engage all employees — not just your high performers or those who are mid-career By Kristy McCann Flynn, GoCoach

et us face it. You could be offering the best products your market has ever known — and you may even be holding a good chunk of market share — but you are never going to keep that edge if you constantly need to refill your talent pipeline with

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new hires. It is the most expensive, time-consuming, frustrating, and productivity-busting route to success you could possibly take. You know it. We know it. The facts prove it.

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The World of Employee Learning Is Changing Fast. Are You Ready?

● The average cost of hiring an employee today is around $4,000 and takes 52 days on average. Plus, it ties up people across your organization — job sourcing, recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and training. ● An increasing number of employees are seeking to work with companies that clearly prioritize career development and learning — and businesses are responding. JPMorgan Chase added $350 million to its $250 million plan to upskill its workforce. Amazon is investing more than $700 million to provide upskilling. PwC is spending $3 billion to upskill all of its 275,000 employees over the next three to four years. ● New hires need job skills that higher education is not giving them. A recent Cengage survey of over 1,600 working Americans, who graduated from a two-year/community or four-year college in the past five years, found that over 1 in 5 (21%) felt their college did not provide them with needed job skills and nearly 4 in 10 (38%) “occasionally” or “rarely” use the skills they learned in college. If it is not obvious by now, here is the bottom line: One cost-effective, proven solution for many of today’s hiring and retention problems is for leaders

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to be much more aggressive about upskilling and reskilling employees.

Wondering Where to Start? Why Not Your New Hires?

Too many learning and development (L&D) leaders think that upskilling, reskilling, and offering programs to build soft skills should come later in the employee life cycle. The tradition persists that these types of programs are carrots to be dangled in front of employees for the employer to show a commitment to career development. Or they are offered as a reward for staying with the company or only intended for top performers or career fast-trackers. That is all mistaken thinking. Learning that starts from Day 1 on the job will not only boost learner engagement, it will also reduce turnover and better prepare your organization and employees to be resilient, adaptable, and continuously more productive. Even more immediately, learning for new hires meets a critical need: giving all employees the tools to be engaged and successful. Consider that nearly half of the respondents to the Cengage survey mentioned above did not believe their education was worth what they paid. A whopping 1 in 3 did not believe their education helped them land the job they did finally get.

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The World of Employee Learning Is Changing Fast. Are You Ready?

A May 2021 article in Harvard Business Review (accurately titled “The U.S. Education System Isn’t Giving Students What Employers Need”) summed up the whole situation very well: “There’s a direct disconnect between education and employability, where employers view universities and colleges as the gatekeepers of workforce talent, yet those same institutions aren’t prioritizing job skills and career readiness. This not only hurts employers, but also sets the average American worker up for failure before they’ve even begun their career, as new employees, who have been hired based on their four-year educational background, often lack the actual skills needed to perform in their role. To create change as an industry, we must provide greater credibility to alternate education paths that allow students to gain employable skills.”

One last point: Just as students receive grades for their classroom acumen, you need to be able to measure the impact of your experiential learning programs and career coaching. You will need a platform that can provide you with company-wide analytics on skill gaps, goal progress, and engagement. You will also want to be able to track the acquisition of newly targeted skills, measure employee interactions with content, and track changing levels of engagement with ongoing career support programs. In short, you want a learning and development partner that can help you prepare all of your employees to thrive in the new world of work — everywhere in the organization and anywhere in the employee life cycle — for a more successful business. Period.

So, What Are You Doing About All of That? As the research shows, smart employers will benefit from maximizing the value of their employees’ degrees. One solution is to embed the acquisition of identified needed skills and career coaching directly into your L&D initiatives.

Kristy McCann Flynn is CEO & Founder of GoCoach. Kristy has 15 years of experience as a strategic human resource leader, change manager and organizational development expert. She has served in senior leadership positions throughout her career most notably with Pearson Education and Constant Contact. Kristy’s goal has always been to help and educate others to meet their ultimate success. She is now converting this energy into a company whose mission is to help and educate others to own their career.

Optimally, this will be delivered by a learning company that partners directly with universities and colleges to offer their alumni the kind of career coaching and skills development they did not get in the classroom. Directly linking skill-building and career coaching to an employee’s alma mater ensures greater learner engagement while bringing real-world applicability that complements what they learned in their coursework and delivers skills you need going forward. It is also critical to offer the widest possible range of on-demand coaching and courses. Don’t limit your learning platform to either soft or hard skills. Business leaders and team managers have learned the power of soft skills to successfully navigate the rapidly changing way we work and the nearly constant changes in organizational structures. It is why they are seeking job candidates who are, for example, skilled at problem-solving, being agile, attentive listening, and change management — regardless of their role or job title.

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4 Steps To Gain Talent Advantage With Upskilling Stay ahead of the competition and become future-ready By Dr. Evans Baiya, The Innovator’s Advantage

alent development is key to building a competitive organization.

A common mistake is to think your organization’s competitive advantage only comes from products and services, but this is not true. A competitive advantage is a result of superior talent—who are then able to make more contextual products and services, and deliver them to the right customer, in the right context, and at the right time. Your talented employees are truly the ones who drive the success of your business. As you are building the future of your organization, consider the level of talent your employees have, the size of your talent pool, and the development opportunities you have in place. This is where creating a practical and goal-oriented upskilling program comes in. When it’s done well, it allows you to take the current level of your talent and raise it to the next level. It’s about developing five-star talent, so that an employee who has been performing only specific tasks can now out-think and out-perform the competition. A few years ago, I worked with an event planning company that focused on large, in-person events. Though the company was doing well, the leaders had realized a potential opportunity. They had plenty

Employee Learning & Development Excellence presented by HR.com

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of employees who were good at providing an amazing experience, but they didn’t have many ongoing customer relationships. As soon as an event ended, so did the relationship. So, this company began the upskilling process. To better follow up with the organizations that hired them and the event attendees who experienced their services, they saw a need for skills in technology, negotiation, creativity, and customer relations, in addition to typical sales skills. The level of skill needed to grow significantly—when mapping their sales team, these skills landed at a level 3 out of 5. They knew that these were the skills their employees would need to create the future of the organization. For the next 14 months, the company focused on training the sales team on these skills. And at the end of the upskilling process, they found the team’s skills had risen to a level 4 out of 5. Team members said they felt more prepared for the future and more marketable within their industry. They were now able to complete virtual events due to their focus on digital skills and saw an increase in revenue due to better negotiation, more creative services, and more followup with current and potential customers.

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4 Steps To Gain Talent Advantage With Upskilling

decisions on how to increase the level of competencies required to stay competitive within your industry.

Define the Skills that Need Developing

Focus on the individuals in your current team to determine which specific skills or skillsets they each need to develop. Identify any gaps that you may need to hire for, and create timelines for both current and future team members’ upskilling processes.

The future always rewards organizations that invest in upskilling. This was four years ago, and the company has continued to grow despite disruptions from Covid-19. If they had not invested in growing their digital skillsets four years ago, the pandemic would have wiped out the organization. But since the leaders were creative and forward-thinking, the company was able to keep its talent, its customers, and its revenue.

Consistently offer upskilling opportunities and evaluate your efforts. Create a baseline of current levels and regularly measure the level of skills that are being developed. Whether through training, on-thejob experiences, or other opportunities, keep detailed records of the skills your team focuses on and their level of competency in each new skill.

You Cannot Grow and Remain Competitive Without a Talent Advantage Depending on your business growth needs, follow these four steps. Understand your business’ context, map your employees’ skills, then upskill and evaluate regularly. This is how you stay ahead of the competition and become future-ready.

To gain a talent advantage, out-perform your competition, and prepare for the future, develop an upskilling mindset by following these four steps:

Dr. Evans Baiya is a trusted guide to business leaders and innovators. Using his 6-stage process, he helps companies identify, define, develop, verify, commercialize, and scale their ideas. He is the co-author of the award-winning book, The Innovator’s Advantage and co-creator of The Innovator’s Advantage Academy, a detailed step-by-step innovation training. His latest book, Optimizing Strategy for Results, was released March 2022.

Assess Your Current Context and Business Needs

What talent do you currently have? What is the current context of your business? What skills would it take to beat your most formidable competition? This strategic exercise allows organizations to map out their current situation against real-world factors—context, competition, and current talent resources.

Identify Your Current and Future Talent Requirements

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Create a talent map to clearly demonstrate both the current and future needs of the business based on your organization’s strategy. What is the current level and size of your talent, and what will they need to be in the future? This talent map will inform strategic

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Special Research Supplement June 2022

Mentoring in the Workplace 2022

Use mentoring programs to develop leadership, engage employees, and improve organizational performance

INTERACTIVE

JUNE 2022

Sponsored by:

INDEX RESEARCH REPORT SUMMARY 23 Survey conducted by:

Survey conducted by:

Mentoring in the Workplace 2022 Sponsored by:

Why Mentorship Programs Derail (And What To Do About It) Sponsored by:

The HR Research Institute, powered by HR.com, the world’s largest social network for Human Resources professionals, is a key part of our mandate to inform and educate today’s HR professionals. Over the past three years, the HR Research Institute has produced more than 85 exclusive primary research and state of the industry reports, along with corresponding infographics in many cases, based on the surveys of thousands of HR professionals. Each research report highlights current HR trends, benchmarks, and industry best practices. HR Research Institute Reports and Infographics are available online, and always free, at www.hr.com/ featuredresearch

CUSTOM RESEARCH

Mentoring in the Workplace 2022 Use mentoring programs to develop leadership, engage employees, and improve organizational performance

he concept of mentoring has been around

mentoring program in their organization, but there

for ages. Today, structured mentoring

is clearly much room for improvement in this area.

programs in organizations have become a

powerful tool for learning and development.

Responding organizations are about equally likely to say they have strictly formal mentoring

The HR Research Institute partnered with the Art

programs (18%) as strictly informal ones (20%). A

of Mentoring, an organization that specializes

plurality, however, says that they have both formal

in mentoring program delivery and design, to

and informal mentoring programs (26%). This

organize a research study to understand the global

suggests that organizations approach mentoring

state of mentoring today, the characteristics and

in a variety of ways and that there is no consensus

purpose of mentoring programs, success and

about which ones are optimal.

satisfaction with mentoring programs, and more. Here are the major findings from the study:

Finding #1: Almost two-thirds of survey respondents report that their organization has a mentoring program Mentoring is recognized as an important component of employee development, especially in today’s highly competitive labor market. We find it encouraging that almost two-thirds (64%) of survey respondents report having some sort of

RESEARCH REPORT SUMMARY

CUSTOM RESEARCH

Finding #2: Mentoring is happening both virtually and in-person

mentoring programs. For example, they may begin

With the increasing usage of remote work as a

launch, progress into participant training, engage

result of the Covid-19 pandemic, it seems natural that mentoring adjusted. Indeed, almost twothirds (64%) of respondents report using a hybrid approach in their mentoring programs, with mentors and mentees meeting both virtually and face-to-face. Note that respondents answered this question from the perspective of the mentoring program with the largest number of participants in

with a published code of conduct and program in the mentoring itself, and follow up with surveys and a program close event. But which program's characteristics are most common? Five characteristics emerge as most common to the design of mentoring programs: 1. Mentors and mentees are matched by an

their organization.

administrator (54%)

Finding #3: There are five key characteristics shared by most mentoring programs

3. Training for mentees (45%)

2. Training or briefing for mentors (54%) 4. A designated program manager (45%) 5. Formal application process for mentees (42%)

There are many potential characteristics of

RESEARCH REPORT SUMMARY

CUSTOM RESEARCH

Survey Question: Which of the following characteristics are included in your mentoring program design? (select all that apply) Mentors/mentees matched by administrator

54% 34%

Training/briefing for mentors

54% 34%

Designated program manager

45% 34%

Training for mentees

45% 34%

Formal application process for MENTEES

42% 34%

One or more program evaluation surveys

39% 34%

Formal application process for MENTORS

38% 34%

Informal feedback to administrator by email

37% 34%

One or more progress review events

34%

Program launch event for participants

29% 34%

Published code of conduct for the program

28% 34%

Mentors and mentees self-match

25% 34%

Program close event

25% 34%

Database of educational & support resources

24% 34%

Online program management platform

17% 34%

Other matching process

13% 34%

Editor’s Note: Respondents were asked to answer from the perspective of the mentoring program with the largest number of participants in their organization.

Only 39% use one or more program evaluation surveys

RESEARCH REPORT SUMMARY

CUSTOM RESEARCH

Finding #4: Most have an internal program manager for their mentoring program Most organizations with mentoring programs report the use of an internal program manager (86%), making this by far the most widely used management approach. Other approaches include a volunteer steering committee (29%) and online mentor program administration software (19%).

To learn more about Mentoring in the Workplace 2022 survey and to get strategic outcomes and 9 key takeaways from this exclusive HR.com Research Institute research, please read the complete report here:

Mentoring in the Workplace 2022

In the comments, several respondents noted the deep involvement of executives and department/ division leaders in their organization. A majority of organizations of all sizes use an internal program manager, but large and midsize organizations are more than twice as likely as small firms to have a volunteer steering committee.

Read the Research Report

RESEARCH REPORT SUMMARY

CUSTOM RESEARCH

Why Mentorship Programs Derail (And What To Do About It) Melissa Richardson, Art of Mentoring

n 2016, 2017 and again in 2022, we surveyed

●● Provide useful insights into people

organizations and found that only just over

management undercurrents – broader issues

half were actually satisfied with the results

that can lead to improvements in HR policies

being delivered by their mentorship programs. An analysis comparing those that were satisfied (leaders), with those that were not (laggards), revealed once again in 2022 that lack of program

and processes. ●● Give leaders greater confidence in succession plans. ●● In the context of diversity, equity and

success is highly correlated with a lack of program

inclusion, have a clear and substantial

structure, training, support and resourcing.

contribution toward the achievement of equal opportunity targets and have a measurable impact on cultural awareness.

Yet, mentoring can deliver a high return on investment, when designed and implemented

If your current program is not delivering outcomes

well. According to our colleague, Professor David

like these, or you are about to create a new

Clutterbuck, highly effective mentorship programs:

program, here are some simple design guidelines and traps you can avoid:

●● Deliver substantial learning for at least 95% of mentees and at least 80% of mentors. ●● Lead to at least one third higher retention amongst people mentored, than peers who are not. ●● Demonstrate measurable improvements in mentee job commitment, engagement and relationships at work (particularly with their bosses!). ●● Improve and reinforce mentors’ confidence and ability in coaching their own direct

1. Start with the end in mind: By far the most important element to get right is the program purpose. If you can not tell a convincing story about why your organization needs a mentorship program, you might as well not even start. Everything else flows from this—the program design, measurable objectives, eligibility, matching and training strategy and a compelling reason for mentors to sign up.

reports.

Custom Research

The best programs we see are those that are well-targeted and designed to achieve a specific purpose. Here are some examples: ●● A professional association mentoring program that supports graduates in their first year, when they are prone to burn–out, mental health issues and leaving the profession. ●● A government program designed to help people from different generations to work in reciprocal mentoring relationships to foster cross-generational learning and experience transfer, as well as to build a collaborative culture. ●● An enterprise-wide mentorship program to build career mobility and provide development options for employees who miss out on other training opportunities. ●● Mentoring to encourage and support women into more senior roles to meet diversity goals.

Without a clear purpose, mentorship programs become a ‘tick–a–box’ exercise to which no one in your organization will fully commit to. They need direction, commitment, and a little bit of love to help them flourish. So, the best place to start, is to ask: What is my organization trying to achieve in the next 1–3 years and how will mentoring help? 2. Get your ducks in a row: Programs with low commitment, particularly from senior leadership, suffer from poor program management. When senior leaders commit to a mentorship program, they indicate to others the program is an organizational priority. The truly committed participate fully as mentors themselves, by role modeling and gently creating pressure for those below to step up. Find people in your organization who are passionate champions of mentoring and get them involved.

Custom Research

3. Find the glove that fits: Getting the degree of

lack of confidence in themselves as mentors gets

structure right can be tricky. Too much structure

in the way of authentic communication, which is

(templates, tools, forms, reporting, guidelines)

at the core of good mentoring.

causes disengagement. Remember, mentoring is a very human process! On the flip side, not enough structure can leave people feeling unsupported, especially first-time mentors. The degree of structure needed will vary across industries and professions – some like more and some prefer less.

Fully unsupported, unstructured mentoring initiatives often lead to what we call ‘fast knowledge transfer’ rather than true developmental mentoring. Good mentoring requires skill on the part of the mentor, which can be trained. Mentees, too, need to be well-prepared to engage. So, do not just match people up and then walk away –

By far the most common mistake we see is a lack of structure. It simply is not true that if given digital access to a portfolio of mentor profiles, potential mentees will seek out and choose a mentor who is right for them. And left to their own devices, novice mentors can feel out of their depth,

make sure you equip everyone involved, mentors, mentees, and program managers and sponsors, with what they need to ensure mentoring success. Even line managers of mentees and mentors may need to be briefed so that they can support the time devoted to mentoring.

resorting to “telling” rather than “guiding”. Their

Custom Research

4. Plan and take time to execute: Smart

before commencement and for larger programs,

organizations plan their mentorship program

software that automates and streamlines program

design, starting with considering whether

management.

mentoring is the right intervention to achieve the organizational objective. They involve key stakeholders at the beginning who can help steer the program once launched. They also do not rush the execution. Just as with any development program, it can take a few months to rally key people, promote the program internally and then invite people to apply. Rushing the execution to meet a deadline

When mentoring pairs fail to engage well, or stop engaging altogether, it most often is because they have not been matched well or have not reached a shared understanding of their commitments to each other. Preparing mentors and mentees to articulate clearly what they each want and can offer, and helping them to discuss this together once matched, can make all the difference.

almost always ends up with something being compromised; usually, the application and matching time are cut short, and poor-quality matches result. 5. Measure, measure, measure! This is linked to the first issue: If there are no clear objectives, then measures of mentoring success are unclear. This leaves a mentorship program open to being shut down on a personal whim by a leader, who does

Melissa Richardson is Founder of Art of Mentoring. Melissa is an expert in mentoring and coaching with over 20 years of experience. She has designed and implemented mentoring programs across public and private sector organizations, with a particular focus on programs for membership organizations.

not understand the organizational benefits. If you want your mentorship program to be sustainable, be able to demonstrate the ROI.

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6. Don’t compromise: You can have only two out of the three - high quality, speed and low cost. We have already warned against rushing. If you have high program dropout rates, low goal achievement by mentees, or low satisfaction rates from all participants, you are almost certainly underresourcing your mentoring program. Well-resourced programs have a dedicated program manager, who stays in contact with the pairs and nudges them along, educational resources to prepare the mentors and mentees

Custom Research

Strategic Mentoring Solutions That Deliver Results Servicing over 26 countries, our team of subject matter experts offer decades of mentoring experience. We combine evidence-based mentoring expertise with the latest technological innovations to enable organizations to develop impactful, scalable and cost-effective mentoring programs that get results.

• Reverse Mentoring

• High Potential Talent

• Women’s Programs

• Graduate Programs

• Indigenous Mentoring

• Middle Management Mentoring

• Leadership Mentoring • Ethical Mentoring

• Project Based Programs

Expert, Evidence-Based Mentoring Program Design in line with your business objectives developed by a team of mentoring experts.

Powerfully Simple Technology Our platform embodies powerful simplicity using automation, scalability and a fully customizable user interface, always with the user at the forefront of design.

Attract Engage

Develop

Program Delivery Solutions That Suit Your Needs

Deliver your program in-house or fully outsource to the Art of Mentoring team.

Retain

Learn more

World-Class Mentoring Training Resources Completed by over 80,000 people globally.

www.artofmentoring.net

Mentoring in the Workplace 2022 Employee Learning & Development Excellence • June 2022

For more information: 1.877.472.6648 sales@hr.com www.HR.com/epubs

The HR Research Institute tracks human resources trends and best practices. Learn more at hr.com/featuredresearch

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L&D: How Participation And Collaboration Boost Employee Engagement It’s important that learners are at the heart of deciding what is relevant and meaningful to them By Matt Linaker, Totara Learning

hen you think of your own training and development, do you feel actively engaged and involved in deciding what and how you learn? For many of us, the answer is complex. Formal training is essential and can be

a great experience. However, for many people, their interaction with training content may stop once they have completed the work the learning and development (L&D) department has given them.

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However, learning should not have limits. We have quicker and easier access to more information than ever before, and with access to so much information, there is always an opportunity to learn more, grow and get better at our jobs.

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L&D: How Participation And Collaboration Boost Employee Engagement

want passive learners just as we do not want passive colleagues and employees!

How Can We Facilitate Deep Learning?

If we want to stay engaged and continually improve our performance at work, then it is essential that we have the opportunity to take an active role in our own learning. Too often employees have little to no influence on the type of content that training departments offer. When people are not involved in any of the decisions surrounding the content of their training it can lead to the disengagement and the pacification of an employee.

question it. Learners, who take a deep approach to learning, will make connections between ideas and seek out new, connected content, whereas learners who only participate in surface-level learning will do little more than consume training content like entertainment. Learners who only take a surface-level approach to their own training are likely to become dissatisfied and ultimately disengaged with their own professional development.

To take a truly learner-centric focus on employee training and development it is important that learners are at the heart of deciding what is relevant and meaningful to them. Learners need to have an active role in deciding which content should help to inform themselves and their peers.

Often in L&D, we hear phrases like the “Netflix of learning” as if it is a sort of holy grail of learning technologies. Entertainment tools, such as Netflix, etc., are so prevalent that they can have a tendency to shape our educational tools and bend them to be something that they really should not be.

Moving from Surface Learning to Deep Learning

If we want our people to be truly engaged and to develop deep learning skills then they need to participate and contribute, not consume. Learning is not about consumption. It requires active reflection and action! We do not

Ideally, adult learners will take a deep approach to learning. Engaged learners will reflect on the training content that they interact with and they will

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Learning can happen anywhere, and useful content is everywhere. To ensure learners take a deep approach to learning our educational tools need to allow teams to find resources they deem to be valuable and share them with their peers. Nothing that is educational in nature should be off limits. Articles, blogs, podcasts, videos, and journals - in fact, all forms of media - can help influence, develop and inform teams’ decisions on how to act and what work to prioritize in their roles. And when content is not already available learners should be able to create their own content and easily share new content with their peers. Making videos with phones and laptops is easier than ever before and when subject matter experts can upload their own videos, learners get access to relevant content when they need it most. While polished, professional videos have their place, so does user-generated content that can be produced quickly and cheaply by subject matter experts, who know the best. Mitchells & Butlers’ employees create videos of themselves creating new cocktails or recipes to help their hospitality colleagues learn, which is proving hugely successful.

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L&D: How Participation And Collaboration Boost Employee Engagement

Our aim should be to design learning spaces that allow learners to upload and share any content that can help them develop and improve. By allowing learners to contribute to spaces with a set of resources around a particular topic or project then we are starting to facilitate deep learning.

Social Learning Helps Employees Remain Engaged

Working and learning in isolation have been found to be disengaging. When MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses) and COOCs (Corporate Open Online Courses) first started happening they were seen as revolutionary. Never before had learners had access to structured high-level content that they could access from anywhere. While uptake in these types of courses was extremely high, they also had very high dropout rates with many learners not completing the training. Many learners cited the lack of support from tutors and peers as a core reason for lacking engagement and dropping out. Think about exercising, it is always easier to go for a run or get to the gym if we know someone else is going to go with us. It is the same with learning, which is why we need our tools to have social spaces where learners feel recognized for their contributions. By adding social elements to our learning tools we ensure learners are able to feel part of something

bigger than their own personal development. Learners become part of a community where they can contribute to both their own personal development and their colleagues’.

Getting others in the business to share the load of curating and uploading essential information is a sure-fire way to get everyone on the same page quickly so that they can get back to focusing on the task at hand.

So, by adding social learning elements to our training tools we encourage employee engagement in two ways: 1. We foster deeper learning by allowing learners to connect ideas and share resources. By building on content that another peer has added, learners make connections and can learn more effectively than in isolation.

need to learn. Getting others in the business to share the load of curating and uploading essential information is a sure-fire way to get everyone on the same page quickly so that they can get back to focusing on the task at hand. These components are essential to a modern learning experience, which is why LXPs are becoming so popular in organizations. Individuals are more likely to feel engaged when they are part of a community of learners and they can work collaboratively.

Matt Linaker, MSc, is Partner Onboarding and Enablement Lead at Totara Learning. Matt has over 10 years of experience working in adult learning, creating digital learning solutions for organizations, such as Heineken, Orange, and AXA.

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2. We ensure individuals feel part of something bigger and feel part of a learning community.

Business Moves Fast. So Should Learning It is hard for learning and development teams to stay on top of everything that teams

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Looking to train employees on a global level?

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7 Ways To Choose A Training Needs Analysis Company In Your Niche Learn to choose the right training needs assessment provider for your use case Christopher Pappas, The eLearning Industry’s Network

raining needs analysis is stressful enough. You don’t need to compound it with outsourcing headaches. However, there are so many vendors to choose from that finding the perfect partner is nearly impossible, right? Fortunately, there are a variety of free ways to vet vendors and identify top TNA specialists in your industry; reference tools that give you the opportunity to evaluate solutions, user reviews, and selling points to maximize value for money. No need to pull up a Google Search, click a random link, and hope for the best, or visit landing pages until your head starts to spin and all the testimonials blur together. These tried and tested research methods will help you land the right training needs assessment provider for your use case.

7 Ways To Choose A Training Needs Analysis Company

1. Exclusive Directories Online directories give you a head start because they feature all the buying essentials, including company bios, specialization areas, and solutions.

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There should also be general information about their support services, how long they’ve been in business, etc. The secret is to look for listings that are geared toward HR and L&D managers. These directories know what you need to improve ROI and simplify vendor vetting. For example, every listing has a complete list of training solutions/interventions, broken into distinct categories. You can quickly scan the page to see if they’re worthy of your shortlist or you should skip to the next vendor. 2. User Ratings User ratings give you a preview of what’s to come if you choose to hire the training needs analysis outsourcing partner. The overall rating consists of six evaluation criteria: quality of service, deadlines, responsiveness, value for money, communication, and achieved results. Do they score high on the satisfaction scale? Is the user likely to recommend them to a colleague? You can also sort results by overall rating to see which training needs assessment vendors to rise to the top.

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7 Ways To Choose A Training Needs Analysis Company In Your Niche

3. Social Media Groups Social media groups may not be the most reliable source of information. Group members don’t have to justify their opinions and some may even be sponsored by competitors. The trick is to focus on the whole instead of the individual parts to find genuine reviews. For example, 50 people rave about this training needs analysis company and how it surpassed their expectations. All their opinions or recommendations are unique. Meaning there’s no cookie-cutter response the vendor asked them to post. You can also look for pinned lists that feature all past suggestions and/or rank vendors by overall CX. 4. Vendor Landing Pages Training needs assessment landing pages are another biased research method. Every vendor wants to put their best foot forward. So, you probably won’t find negative reviews on their site. But you will get detailed information about their training solutions, past projects, and professional background, as well

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as samples of their work so that you can evaluate their skills for yourself. In the case of TNA, vendors typically provide case studies or examples for the sake of confidentiality. They can’t air clients’ dirty L&D laundry just to prove their industry experience. Another thing to look for on their landing page is press or accolades that show off their achievements. 5. Referrals If any members of your team have worked with outsourcing partners in the past, ask for their advice. Can they refer a training needs assessment company in your budget? At the very least, they’re able to offer pointers to find the perfect partner and avoid common pitfalls. For instance, you should consider vendors who offer bespoke content and leadership development training in addition to TNA so that you don’t have to go through another round of vendor selection after the training needs assessment. Another way to gather referrals is to post-project specs on online forums or your internal LMS.

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7 Ways To Choose A Training Needs Analysis Company In Your Niche

Conclusion

How do you know if your top outsourcing contenders will live up to expectations? Aside from industry experience, training needs analysis companies should possess tech expertise and other key qualifications. For example, they’re adept communicators who collaborate with your team and value feedback. An RFP isn’t the only way to assess their talents and professional background, though. You can also schedule a one-on-one meeting to discuss the project and address concerns. Come prepared with a list of questions and share the results with your team so they can offer input.

6. Online Reviews Most of us have outsourcing horror stories. It wasn’t that the company lacked the necessary skills or tech tools. The problem often lies with miscommunication or high expectations. For instance, you discovered that their work practices didn’t mesh with yours or they weren’t as responsive as you hoped. Online reviews give you a firsthand look at the training needs assessment company’s performance. What did reviewers like best about the experience? Was there a downside to working with the TNA vendor? Is there one review that stands out because the user has a similar use case?

Are you looking for a reliable directory that features all the top TNA service providers? With years of industry experience, we understand what organizations expect from training needs analysis outsourcing partners. Our listings highlight vendor solutions, specializations, customer types, and use cases. You can also read user reviews to find a training needs analysis company that delivers the best CX.

Christopher Pappas is the Founder of The eLearning Industry’s Network. Christopher, who holds an MBA, and an MEd (Learning Design) from BGSU, is an eLearning blogger, EduTechpreneur, eLearning analyst, speaker and social media addict.

7. Requests For Proposals This is the most involved method but it’s also the most personalized. Submit to your top choices RFPs that include project details, budget, and use case. Vendors send their proposals, which have their cost estimates and implementation schedules. It’s the company’s opportunity to highlight their skills, background experience, and TNA methodologies. How do they differ from competitors? Do they also offer training solutions to fill newly discovered gaps? Are they in your price range, or should you continue the search for more affordable consultants?

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Food For Thought: Why Businesses Must Embrace Life-Long Learning 5 benefits of implementing life-long learning By David Taylor, Flogas

s the well-known cliché goes, “you learn something new every day”. Whether it is a historical fact or a peculiar tip on how to flower your garden in the winter, we absorb new information on a constant basis. It is fair to say that learning random and unexpected content always gives you a small thrill. But what if you were to consistently acquire new information? In the world of work and business, gaining information is crucial. In fact, as an employer, providing your workers with life-long learning will make you more competitive. What is more? By regularly developing new skills, staff can achieve better results, boost their professional careers, and help your company thrive. With this in mind, we outline some of the valuable benefits that the implementation of life-long learning can bring to both your business and employees.

Indeed, it allows staff to develop an array of handy qualities that can aid them in both their personal and professional life. This is because while learning something new you need to utilize other skills too. For instance, learning how to produce copy for the business’ website involves developing creativity. From problem-solving and critical thinking to leadership and adaptability, there is a wide range of soft skills your team can benefit from that life-long training can boost.

2. Boosts Motivation

Performing repetitive tasks can soon become a tedious practice. This can have a negative impact on the productivity and dedication of your staff. On the other hand, an employee that is interested in their job is more likely to be motivated to work to their full potential.

1. Improves Personal and Professional Skills

One of the most obvious advantages of life-long learning is that it gives workers the chance to enhance their professional skills. Whether it is training in how to navigate a specific software or how to tailor a perfect written document, it offers new, useful knowledge. But that is not the only benefit.

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Food For Thought: Why Businesses Must Embrace Life-Long Learning

Life-long learning within the business can ignite the spirit of your team, encouraging them to pursue their targets. In fact, offering them the chance to learn new skills, perfect their current skill set, and vary their usual job duties will work wonders on their motivation levels. Needless to say, stimulated and driven employees will be a huge asset to your business.

3. Creates Opportunities for Social Learning

Providing your staff with the opportunity to hone new skills can substantially promote team development. In this respect, research by the Center for Creative Leadership shows that 20% of learning occurs through “developmental relationships”, whereas only 10% comes through training and coursework. This suggests that people learn more and better when they are in a group. The remaining 70% of learning is gained through challenging assignments and experiences. Regular group learning sessions are an excellent opportunity for managers to get their staff together to build a strong connection within the workplace. Not only will these lessons provide workers with crucial personal skills, but they will also effectively enhance team spirit and overall employee performance.

5. Safeguard Your Team’s Well-being

Learning new things is not only about advancing your abilities and progressing your professional career. It is also about realizing what drives you and your employees. By pinpointing what tickles your curiosity and by taking on work challenges that keep you engaged, you are likely to appreciate your job more. Ultimately, a satisfying and rewarding role can work magic on a person’s mental well-being. Hence, life-long learning is a great way for managers to keep their team happy. By offering them courses that can solidify and consolidate their skill sets, you are also taking active steps to safeguard their mental health – both at home and in the workplace. Learning is one of the most significant aspects of life. Acquiring new knowledge and skills at work is equally as important. With an array of benefits for employees’ personal spheres and professional careers, life-long learning is an essential tool to both develop your team and enhance your business. Sources https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/elearning/theimportance-of-lifelong-learning/ https://www.valamis.com/hub/lifelong-learning https://www.forbes.com/sites/ forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2021/09/30/embrace-lifelong-learning-to-thrive-in-the-future-of-work/?sh=46f648347631

4. Recognize Employees’ Strength

Life-long learning is a brilliant tool that allows managers to identify the personal strengths and interests of their team members. In fact, by acquiring new techniques and knowledge, employees will be able to advance their qualities and discover ones that they really enjoy. In return, managers have the chance to consciously delegate tasks that best suit each individual.

https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/7020-10-rule/ https://www.efrontlearning.com/blog/2018/07/ways-encouragelifelong-learning-for-employees.html https://realbusiness.co.uk/why-both-employers-and-employees-needto-embrace-lifelong-learning

David Taylor is Commercial Director at Flogas.

Has your trainee shown a real interest in web development? You may want to let them have a go at a web-related project. Did the course on marketing spark the curiosity of one of your team members? Make sure they get the chance to put their newly acquired skills to the test. Following this method will fuel success and efficiency in your company.

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Upskill Your Team Better, Faster And Stronger With Immersive Simulations What makes a stand-out immersive simulation experience? By Conor Gaffney, ETU

iring, training, retaining, and managing a workforce were never easy tasks, but they’re different today than three years ago – or even last year. Human capital management has never been more challenging, thanks to the pandemic, the exponential growth of hybrid and remote work, the Great Resignation, and the ongoing shortage of right-skilled workers.

Immersive simulations use video, logic systems, media annotation, branching scenarios, and other technology to support complex learning scenarios for individual employees. Beyond job-specific hard skills, talent teams can use high-quality immersive training to boost soft skills, such as critical thinking, that are nearly impossible to assess using conventional training methods accurately.

In the face of these challenges, new L&D technologies are revolutionizing talent management, letting companies meet some of their toughest human capital management challenges head-on. One of these powerful new tools is immersive simulation, enabling talent management teams to rapidly train, reskill or upskill employees, ensuring corporate workforces have the skills to thrive. These simulations allow users to learn and apply skills in scenarios based on real-world situations. Learners stay engaged because they take a first-person role in deciding what to do or say next in the scenario.

Companies urgently need to bolster leadership skills and develop employees’ critical thinking skills to adapt to changing situations. The need isn’t new, but the accelerating pace of change in the workplace has shown how vital critical thinking can be for a company’s ability to thrive.

Learner engagement is the touchstone of skill and talent retention. One recent survey found that 40 percent of employees who receive poor job training are at risk of leaving within their first year, citing lack of skills training and development as their main reason for not staying with an employer.

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Upskill Your Team Better, Faster And Stronger With Immersive Simulations

Simulation-based learning enables learners to develop these skills by experiencing the cause and effect of often difficult decisions in real-time. They retain that knowledge, accelerating lasting behavior change in the organization. Advanced analytics allow talent and learning teams to gather data that measures what matters – skills acquisition and retention – well beyond simple knowledge checks or one-off assessments.

What Makes a Stand-out Immersive Simulation Experience?

Making Learning Personal: In today’s highly distributed workforce, it’s critical to implement personalized training strategies, platforms, and processes to meet employees where they are - which in today’s times can feel like everywhere. Personalization is a part of our daily digital lives, from what we stream on Netflix to what we listen to on Spotify to ads that make us buy the product we’ve been stalking for weeks. Learning and development training can be approached similarly regarding how employees learn. Personalized training can involve identifying skills gaps and creating programs to address your team members’ needs or proficiency mapping, to name a few ideas. An Intuitive User Experience: A powerful, intuitive platform interface engages learners, so they learn more effectively in less time. Look for a straightforward, concise interface with little or no introduction or training required for learners to take the simulations. The interface should be reactive to learner decisions and create emotive situations. Constructive Feedback: Every learner should receive a personalized outcome page configured by the instructional designer for the cohort’s needs. Learners should be able to replay options to understand and review their path through the simulation. For example, they might access the simulation in task mode, getting high-fidelity character interaction, or in practice mode, where they get the same level of fidelity with additional input or coaching.

immersive simulation experience in days or weeks rather than months or years, and must be ready to change their training process or style promptly. The underlying immersive simulation platform should accommodate the content creation applications and devices that make it easy for instructional design teams to create or modify programs and launch them quickly. Creating a Unified Focus: The common denominator across all aspects of talent management is an understanding of the skills needed for each employee to do their job today and in the future. The different technologies across the technology stack must also have this common currency. The technology must enable an organization to identify the right skills, effectively measure employees’ skill levels, and allow them to upskill or reskill. The authoring tools in the platform must allow learning designers to adjust scoring and get measurable skill data instantly. Realistic Scenarios: Technologies such as AI, VR, and AR are improving, and the metaverse will play a significant role in immersive simulation in the future. However, current VR-based immersive training offerings get mixed reviews from corporate users and learners. Realistic situations and emotional engagement are the keys to corporate learning, and 3D-game-like environments still lack some of the realism and emotional engagement necessary for learning. The metaverse is in our future, but it’s not ready for the level of scalability that’s needed in corporate learning today. Corporate HCM teams must train, upskill, and reskill their workforces quickly – and accurately measure progress. As more companies turn to L&D technology for these needs, they’ll find that a robust, immersive simulation learning experience can help them nurture, engage and retain talent at all levels, no matter what the future holds.

Conor Gaffney is the Chief Product Officer at ETU.

Scalability: Companies that are adding personnel quickly must be able to effectively deploy the

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How To Fuel Employee Engagement In The Hybrid Workplace? 3 tips to improve your L&D efforts By Chris Tratar, Inkling

t is just not field workers today who are working outside the office. As a result of Covid-19, employees have become accustomed to working outside the traditional office, and expect to be able to continue to do so at least part of the time following the pandemic. The role of the office is changing, according to PwC’s U.S. remote work survey, “It’s Time to Reimagine Where and How Work Will Get Done.” More than half of employees have indicated they would prefer to be remote at least three days a week going forward, and an even larger percentage (68%) of executives believe that employees should be in the office at least three days a week to maintain the company culture. One of the top factors for returning to the office, the surveyed employees noted, was training and development. So, as the hybrid workplace becomes more of a reality in the near future as more employees return to the office part-time, organizations must consider strategies that will increase both the engagement and effectiveness of their learning and development (L&D) programs in this new work environment. There are three tips you can employ now to improve your L&D efforts and ensure that employees have the knowledge and skills needed to remain productive

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in their work, satisfied in their jobs, and continue advancing in their careers.

#1 – Make Learning and Connection Easier with Digital Platforms

Over the past 18 months or more, learning has been a lonely endeavor as many employees worked in the isolation of their homes during the pandemic. But this is not the most effective way for employees to learn. Employees who feel a sense of belonging are 5.2 times more likely to be engaged, according to LinkedIn’s 5th Annual Workplace Learning Report. However, this number drops dramatically if they are feeling disconnected and lonely. In fact, 91% of L&D professionals agree that teams who learn together are more successful, according to a LinkedIn report. In a hybrid workspace, L&D professionals need to reinvent learning to accelerate employees’ onboarding and ramping to feel like they are truly part of the team and part of the culture. Onboarding, reboarding, upskilling and reskilling, should all be easy to find and complete using a blended learning approach (virtual instructor-led learning plus digital learning) with features like organized, easy-to-use knowledge libraries, search, course recommendations, checklists, online groups, or surveys. Learning is enriched as employees take courses together, then discuss what they have learned through chat.

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How To Fuel Employee Engagement In The Hybrid Workplace?

is why it is critical for learning teams to ensure that employees feel they have opportunities to learn, grow and advance in their careers. While most L&D programs do not focus on internal mobility, it is an area of importance for your employees. In the LinkedIn survey, 71% of Gen Z learners, 61% of Gen Y learners and 56% of Gen X learners said that learning is key to success in their careers. And 47% of Gen Z learners, 51% of Gen Y learners, and 31% of Gen X learners want to learn new skills to perform a different function.

#2 – Create Learning Pathways

Many employees are likely to experience decision fatigue after the last year and a half. To make it easy for them, create a learning path that is intuitive to find and follow, and relevant to their roles and career goals. Whether it is onboarding, development of new skills, or gaining certifications, it is important that employees can navigate their learning so they know exactly what courses to take and when. Learning pathways also can be more accessible if offered in multiple languages and made available on any device, anytime. The advantages of learning pathways are clear when your learners have assigned learning paths and managers can easily check their progress and stay engaged with them every step of the way with convenient dashboards. Learning teams should make sure that the content included in the learning pathways is also available to employees in the flow of work after the initial class is taken. This requires the initial training to be searchable a few weeks or months after the initial training through a powerful online search, voice search, or search through barcodes.

Given the importance of this to employees of all ages, L&D professionals have a huge opportunity to capitalize on this as part of their content development activities. Since many employees are spending more of their time learning how to be more productive—including mastering hard skills, like learning how to code or performing online marketing functions – it is important to make sure that course recommendations are highly personalized to the individual’s role and career goals. Even though most companies were expected to start welcoming employees back to the office already, many of the largest companies have pushed back those return dates until the first few months of 2022, due to concerns about Covid variants. As organizations prepare for bringing employees back at least on a part-time basis, now is a good time to ensure your company’s success in today’s modern learning environment. Assess your L&D strategies, prepare your team to lead and deliver the power skills your employees want, and ensure your employees are able to successfully work and thrive in a hybrid environment.

Chris Tratar is Director of Product Marketing at Inkling.

#3 – Drive Career Growth

The hybrid workplace of today has made it harder to retain employees and we are in the midst of what the press is referring to as the great resignation. That

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Shared Language: An Essential Skill For Building High Performing Teams Creative tension is essential to high performing teams By Richard Hawkes, Growth River

he amount of ink that has been spilled in an effort to improve the performance of teams is daunting. And yet, we forge ahead. Why? Because any little advantage in the quality and performance of teams is like discovering a vein of gold in the walls of a business. It yields extraordinary dividends. Here are a few important lessons I’ve learned from observing and creating High Performing Teams (HPTs) over several decades. HPTs are: ●● Built by design. They are intentional. They are built consciously. ●● Not too big, not too small. Teams should ideally be about 6-10 people but not more than 12. Too many people on a team will inhibit performance and reduce its effectiveness ●● Authentically a team. This may seem obvious, but it’s crucial. Members authentically feel like they’re “in it together.” Team members are accountable to each other, develop camaraderie and trust, and feel a sense that each person has the other’s back. ●● On a mission. Perhaps most important, high-performing teams don’t just exist in a vacuum. They are on a mission—a continuous improvement journey, fulfilling their own purpose and the purpose of the organization.

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In addition to these basics, there is another key element of High Performing Teams that is easy to take for granted. It involves the shared information ecosystem that will inevitably develop among team members. This needs to be explicit and transparent. How are we going to work together? What role is each person representing? What skill sets do we need to achieve our team goals? Don’t assume the answers to these questions are naturally understood. Make sure that everyone is singing from the same hymnbook, and understands the words to the songs! Such clarity begins with the most simple but underappreciated cultural achievement that all high performing teams exhibit—a shared language.

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Shared Language: An Essential Skill For Building High Performing Teams

Shared Language

and goals of the team are transparent, it’s much easier to have productive discussions and even disagreements. In that context, the energy of creative tension has the power to move the team forward, not waste energy in unproductive conflict, often driven by miscommunication.

They might use the same words and utter the same sentences, but their meaning is continents apart. You might be sitting in a meeting discussing a business problem when someone exclaims, “We need marketing!” Everyone agrees. And then you leave the meeting and the sales guy walks out thinking he’s going to create a brochure, while the product guy thinks he’s going to do a study to design a new value proposition. Both of those are meanings assigned to the word “marketing.” This happens all the time in business. Trains crash and lots of damage are done only because people use the same words to mean different things. It’s little wonder they often find it hard to align and coordinate, let alone to grow and thrive.

Shared language needs to be developed intra-team, but that also highlights the importance of inter-team communication. Do different teams in different parts of the organization communicate effectively? Does the organization as a whole have a shared language for common business activities and protocols? When language gets codified across the organization, we begin to develop more effective cross-functional business processes. All the little confusions and disharmonies that come from singing in different keys begin to work themselves out. Suddenly, and often surprisingly, disparate teams and functional silos start to sync up.

George Bernard Shaw once described England and the United States as “two nations divided by a common tongue.” The same could be said of many individuals working together in teams and organizations today.

High Performing Teams are conscious and deliberate about the language they are using. It’s important to know that everyone is on the same page. It will help bind the group together. In a very real sense, the shared language of a team creates a kind of cell membrane around the team that defines what is inside and what is outside. Don’t ever take for granted the importance of developing and cultivating a shared language that everyone understands. And this is not something that is done once and put aside; it’s a process, a shared experience that must be continually cultivated.

Developing a more conscious, explicit method of communication, and knowing—not hoping or assuming—that team members understand exactly what you are saying, is an indispensable step in the process of forming and sustaining a high performing team. It is a journey worth taking. This article is adapted from Navigate the Swirl by Richard Hawkes, CEO of Growth River

Richard S. Hawkes is the author of NAVIGATE THE SWIRL and Founder of Growth River, an international consultancy that guides leaders and teams to create higher performance in businesses and organizations. Hawkes helps companies identify and resolve constraints to success. Clients include Edward Jones, GENEWIZ, Hitachi, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Mars. Hawkes received a B.A. in Computer Science and German Literature from Hamilton College and an M.B.A. in Marketing and Organizational Development from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Creating a shared language, clear roles, explicit ways of working, and a clear structure for team interactions doesn’t have to result in a team dynamic of conformity. We’re trying to inspire autonomous team members, not create drones! Diversity of opinion is fine. Disagreement is fine. Creative tension is essential to high performing teams. But tension is much more likely to be creative if that diversity of opinion and disagreement is happening in the context of a shared language, and the basic structure of team interactions is understood. If the roles that team members play are clear, and if the overall direction

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