Training Industry Magazine - July/August 2018 - 53

WHAT'S NEXT IN TECH
ERIC SHARP

WHAT THE CTO WISHES

THE CLO KNEW
The future of work is already here, and
it looks like this: 60- to 70-year careers,
jobs that weren't around 10 years ago,
and a decreasing half-life of skills.
These factors necessitate a change in
how we manage both the tools and
approaches to delivering learning to
our employees. While many of us are
struggling to keep up, and unsure of how
to engage our employees, our workforce
is pushing forward and finding the
information on their own. Don't be fooled
into thinking that the workforce will wait
for us. The following suggestions will put
you in front of this change.
For starters, a mindset change is needed.
In software, when a code base is old and
hasn't grown with new technologies and
approaches, we call it legacy software.
Legacy software is brittle to support, not
extensible (easily extended to support
new features/changes) and can lead to
dissatisfaction for those working with it.
In some ways, we have been supporting
a legacy learning paradigm that has
been difficult to support, unadaptable
to learning landscape changes and
hampered with dissatisfaction from
employees. It is time to move on from
this legacy mindset. Supporting learning
versus mandating training is the new
paradigm. This is a new way of working
for most L&D professionals, one that
requires new tools.
With an oversaturated sea of vendors
and tech, how do you go about picking
the right tools? Upgrading doesn't need
to be as painful as "rip and replace."

Integrating an ecosystem of best-inclass solutions can be much more agile,
more cost-efficient, and more effective
than a monolithic, integrated, all-inone system.
Building a short-list is simple. Few
products will be checkmarks on your
feature and function boxes on the RFP.
But is that because we're relying on old
criteria, choosing next-gen solutions
from last-gen requirements?

SUPPORTING LEARNING
VERSUS MANDATING
TRAINING IS THE NEW
PARADIGM.
We see our most sophisticated clients
doing three crucial things differently:
1. Investing in adaptivity, not efficiency.
2. Focusing on value, not price.
3. Selecting an experienced partner,
not software.
It's great that two-thirds of L&D leaders
are looking to invest in new technologies
to better meet the needs of their workers
and their businesses. But systems are
truly only part of the answer. When
General Mills' former talent development
leader, Susie McNamara, evaluates new
technologies for learning, she scrutinizes
more than the technology itself: "I not
only look at what the technology does
and the experience that it's creating, but

I also think about the entire package,"
she told us. "What do I get when I buy
this? Do I get a team of curators? Do I get
a marketing team? Those answers have
made my decisions for me in a lot of
cases. I'm not just buying a technology
or a product. I'm buying an entire team
of people. I see them as an extension of
my team," she explained.
Learning happens across different
systems and devices, between people
and in the real world. Weaving it all
into a seamless learning experience
takes some work. It takes L&D, HR and
IT teams shifting their paradigms and
working together.
In many organizations, the tech team is
seen as a barrier to implementing new
technology. But the truth is, they can be
one of your biggest assets. Technology
teams are experienced in moving from
legacy software/platforms to more
cutting-edge technology. They can assist
in aligning the detailed technology tasks
with the L&D/HR strategy. As you set a
clear view into the future of learning
at your organization, you will find
advocates across your business.
While the future of work can be
intimidating, with a few key tools and
a strong, strategic approach to
employee learning, it can be exciting,
enabling and result in a more content,
skilled workforce.
Eric Sharp is the co-founder and chief
technology officer at Degreed. Email Eric.

T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MA GAZ INE - TRAINING TOOLBOX 20 18 I WWW. T RAI NINGINDU S T RY . C OM/ MAGAZ I NE

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