Upskilling is a saturated market and it's not working

Can’t see the woods for the trees when it comes to L&D? For many, the paralysis over decision making sets in, resulting in upskilling being resigned to the bin of disappointment; HR Grapevine reports on the quiet danger of ‘choice’ that’s killing learning.

Overabundance is the real danger

Caroline Evans, VP of Enterprise Sales at FutureLearn says, “In today’s fast-paced world, the challenge isn’t a lack of resources … it’s an overabundance of them. We all know the feeling: spending countless minutes scrolling through Netflix, paralysed by the sheer volume of options – and now employees are facing a similar dilemma when it comes to upskilling. The overwhelming number of courses, videos and workshops available often leaves employees stuck in decision-making mode, with little time left for actual learning.

It's a thought shared by Mark Cole, Director Radical OD Ltd, “A while back, I went with my colleague John Higgins to visit one of Amazon’s fulfilment centres. We were keen to experience at first hand these modern workplaces. Certainly, the tour we were given revealed interesting insights into the systems used, the employment practices, and the thinking that undergirds this mega-corporation.

“However, the biggest impact that this experience offered didn’t relate to business practice. Instead, I recall standing in an aisle of shelving, which climbed up to the sky like something from Jack and the Beanstalk, and suddenly becoming aware of the sheer volume of stuff that surrounded me.”

He adds, “The IT system that manages the storage in these depots doesn’t shelve things based on category, merely in terms of what space is available and what might fit there. This leads to disparate products ending up alongside each other … and so revealed to me the crazed consumerist culture of which I was part, where these days we are largely driven by wants as opposed to needs. It is defined by a desire for more, regardless of whether those additions are purposeful and useful for us beyond meeting some strange longing.”

Batting off the white noise

As to the problem this causes for Evans, the real danger is that it is presents a critical challenge for HR teams: “How do you cut through the noise and ensure employees can easily access the right development opportunities? Where do you invest your money? Which course will be the most worthwhile and give your employees the skills they need to navigate a changing workplace?”

It presents the problem of more decision making which, for time poor HR & L&D professionals, is exactly what they don’t need.

She adds, “HR teams need to not just curate great learning content but make it relevant and easy to access. Just as Netflix succeeds by surfacing the right content for the right viewer at the right time, HR needs smarter, more intuitive ways to guide employees towards the development opportunities that suit their roles, goals and time constraints.

“The key lies in curation and clarity. By streamlining learning pathways and tailoring recommendations to individual career goals, HR teams can help employees spend less time searching and more time growing.”