Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2023 - 34

agile to diversity, equity and inclusion
employee resource groups. The
relatively newly formed social learning
team in Mars, Inc.'s L&D organization
is working to create and promote a
directory of these groups so that they
can be found by a broad audience
across the globe.
The challenge is to create deliberate
social learning channels that enable
learners to have efficient access to
a wider pool of experts.
Additionally, this team has created a hub
of supportive tools to help community
leaders learn how to grow and sustain
their community, as well as create
content and curate existing materials
to support ongoing development.
Reskilling and upskilling via communities
not only help to connect employees
across the organization, but also occur
in a more business-paced approach
since they are focused on timely topics
being raised by their members. They
also allow for personalized support via
community questions or connections
and do not require substantial
resourcing from the social learning or
broader L&D teams as leaders are being
equipped to learn from each other.
Another way to incorporate social
learning into the workplace would be
to look outside of the traditional L&D
space for inspiration on how people
connect and learn from each other
around the world. For instance, when
conducting interviews with a very small
sample of new graduates entering the
workforce in 2020, at least half of those
interviewed stated they utilized platforms
such as TikTok and Instagram to learn
about topics that interested them or
hobbies they pursued. The reasons they
gave for doing so included the fact that
there were short videos, but also that
they could interact with the expert (or
influencer as they are commonly known
in the social media world), as well as
others who were watching the video.
This concept could be (and has been)
translated into the L&D space through:
* Hosting " watch parties, " where a group
watches a short course on a topic and
interacts with each other and an expert
during the session.
What Does a
Social Learning Team Do?
In February of 2021, Mars, Inc., a
large global corporation with over
140,000 employees, designated a
social learning team to be a third of
the learner experience team in the
L&D organization. This team was
originally comprised of a manager
and three social learning coaches.
The team conducted research
and created a vision for the social
learning strategy at Mars. They
incorporated principles
from
not only learning theory but also
design thinking and user centricity.
In the first year, the team spent
most of their time creating tools
that would support employees
in developing user-generated
content, curating existing
materials and leading workplace
communities. Additionally, they
consulted individual employees
and project leads on ways
to include social practices in
their programs.
During 2022,
the
team has
continued their consultation,
but spent more time focused
on supporting workplace
community leaders, embedding
social practices into existing
and newly created training
programs and sharing what they
have learned with other L&D
professionals. Mars' investment
in a dedicated social learning
team demonstrates a clear
understanding of the potential
that this important area of
learning can have.
Conclusion
It is easy to get wrapped up in the day-today
of developing courses and forget that
we are developing them for humans who
need and desire to have connections with
others. This connection helps to link what
they know, what they've learned and what
they need to know to do even better. If you
can create experiences that help them to
do that, you will be tapping into their core
needs. So, as we say on my team, let's get
social, L&D!
Andrea Whittaker is a social learning
coach for Mars, Inc., where she supports
associates in crafting learning solutions
that support the holistic needs of their
audience. Email Andrea.
| 34
* Providing managers with a toolkit to
help them lead a " course club " (similar
to a book club but centered around an
existing course) with their teams.
* Live office hours with experts, where
course instructors present small topics
in their area of expertise and engage
the audience with prompts and
Q&A sessions.
Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2023

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