Don’t Miss Your Daily Dose
While immersed in work, racing to meet deadlines and keeping your head above water at work, you often miss the important daily dose. That dose is learning. Investing in yourself. Upgrading your skills. Improving your market value.
Organisations understand the importance of learning. They are constantly exploring different methods. A case in point is Starbucks. They are offering low-cost college degrees for all their employees, including part-timers. They have tied up with Arizona State University for an online degree course. The fee is highly discounted, and employees can choose from a number of subjects. And wait, there is no ‘bond’ involved. That means, they don’t need to commit to continuing serving at Starbucks post completion.
Some may say that that is a risk: is the investment worth it if the employees are not even going to come back? Well, those who do are now qualified to take on a leadership position. And those who don’t could be viewed as recipients of Starbucks’ community service.
Current Trends: Summary
Source: American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) 2500 firms that offer comprehensive training compared to those that don’t:
Have 218% higher income per employee than those with less comprehensive training,
Enjoy a 24% higher profit margin than those who spend less on training, and
Generate a 6% higher shareholder return if the training expenditure per employee increases by $680.
The fact that training improves not just the employee but also benefits the organisation has been proven time and again. But with workplace complexity and appreciation of diversity growing, organisations have deployed various modes of learning. That has been to ensure that people with different temperaments and work schedules are all able to subscribe to learning. But, which of these are most effective?
Below: CIPD report
Another interesting comparison is of which methods of learning have been growing versus declining over the last few years. Predictably, training imparted in classrooms has shown a decline. Critics say that not only do employees hesitate going away from work to attend a training event, there have always been questions around the transfer of learning on the job.
Below:
What should a CLO be measured on?
At a basic level, the feedback sought is whether the learning initiative was engaging enough. Participants are polled on whether they found it useful. At a next level, they are polled on whether they or their managers spotted any transfer of learning to enhance performance. And, of course, the ultimate litmus test is whether there was any return on investment.
So, what are the kinds of Key Performance Indicators a Chief Learning Officer should, ideally, have?
Keeping the Young Learner Engaged:
Let’s look at the life and preferences of the modern learner which will give us a nice insight into how learning can be reached to them.
This slice into research related to learning and development must have given you food for thought. Hoping you don’t miss your daily dose of learning!
