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Formal learning has always had – and will always have – a place in L&D, and ASK will always support the formal learning programmes our clients request. But we also know that people learn in different ways, and that our approach has to be adaptable to support more of them through their learning journey: this is an age of learning evolution. We also appreciate that employees place widely varying value on different learning experiences, and that the training they get is not always the training they might want.
CIPD’s Employee Outlook Autumn 2016 report highlighted that 86% found instructor-led off-the-job training useful/very useful, but even higher percentages valued learning from peers, on-the-job training, job rotations and secondments. And while 81% valued blended learning, only 4% had received it in the last twelve months. Coaching was also valued by 81%, but received by only 8%. In looking at training that was both received and valued in the Autumn 2016 Employee Outlook report, it is striking to note that 35% received no training at all.
Facing this storm of factors, the learning landscape is shifting. Rather than following extensive formal learning programmes, many employees prefer to access shorter, more informal learning modules on an ‘as and when’ basis – taking control of their own learning and development and accessing new information when the need arises. This approach does not, however, dispense with the human roles of trainers, facilitators, coaches and mentors. In a self-service or self-paced environment of digital and computer-mediated learning, the learning expert has many important and beneficial roles to play.
