Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2017 - 53

GEN WHY
MICHELLE EGGLESTON

GOING THE DISTANCE:

SPEED
AND OTHER CONCERNS

Today's workforce is on the move. Between
flexible hours, remote employees and
global teams, organizations need extra
bandwidth to go the distance and meet
the training needs of a dispersed workforce.
In fact, training all employees globally
in one cohesive way is cited as one of
the main objectives by learning and
development (L&D) professionals in
LinkedIn Learning's 2017 Workplace
Learning Report. But, developing a
consistent training experience across
the organization proves challenging for
many L&D departments.
With so many moving pieces and
people, how can we develop an effective
training strategy that targets business
objectives and transforms the behavior
of learners in the face of constant
change? For starters, L&D must open the
lines of communication with business
executives - and the learners.
START TALKING TO BUSINESS EXECS
In many ways, L&D professionals act as
mediators between business executives
and the learners. Learning professionals
must understand the goals of the
business, design training solutions that
will deliver on those goals, and "sell"
learners on the value of this training.
To achieve all this, L&D must first sit down
with senior executives and stakeholders
and actively listen to the challenges,
vision and direction of the business. These
conversations will become the foundation
for the development of any and all training
programs. Training should begin with the
business in mind - and, when executed
effectively, should deliver results that
drive bottom-line value.

TALK TO THE LEARNERS, TOO
Business executives are not the only ones
who are interested in hearing about the
value of training. Learners want to know
what's in it for them, too. Learners need
to understand what training is available
to them, why it's important to their job
role or function area, and how to access
the information.
It's those details - like communicating
value, setting expectations and managing
performance - that need to be emphasized
to learners. Employees will appreciate
the transparency, especially the valueseeking millennials who want to
understand how they influence and
impact organizational goals.

TRAINING SHOULD
BEGIN WITH THE
BUSINESS IN MIND.
Communicating with learners should
not wait until programs are ready to
be deployed. Getting learners invested
in training prior to deployment
will generate added buzz and help
employees understand what is expected
of them once the training is available.
THE SPEED OF CHANGE
The average shelf life of skills is less
than five years, according to LinkedIn
Learning's study. That's not very long
when you consider the amount of time it
takes to plan, design and develop training
programs. Just when L&D is ready to
deploy its "cutting-edge" program, the
content is already outdated. L&D must
strive to become more responsive and

flexible to meet the evolving needs of
their organization.
While today's learners are embracing
technology to find answers and
information outside of work, organizations
are still primarily investing in instructorled training as their delivery method
of choice. Although in-person training
remains king, organizations can offer
coaching opportunities, e-learning or
even videos to provide more flexible, justin-time learning solutions. In fact, highperforming organizations use three to
five delivery methods to enhance the
learning experience.
For example, many people turn to
videos to learn how to do something.
The popularity of YouTube is increasing
every day. Garnering over a billion users,
YouTube has captured the attention of
almost one-third of the people on the
internet. Corporate training can take a
cue from YouTube and develop a library
of video content focused on navigating
software challenges, inspiration and tips
for young leaders, and do's and don'ts for
giving presentations. These videos can
be utilized as part of a training course or
as standalone content.
MOVING FORWARD
The business world is rapidly changing,
requiring L&D to keep up. Improving
the flow of communication within the
organization and developing learning
solutions that are responsive to change
are necessary steps to help organizations
go the distance and provide a seamless
training experience across boundaries.
Michelle Eggleston is editorial director of
Training Industry, Inc. Email Michelle.

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