Learning at the age of ‘something else’

For the past several years, a revolution is underway, completely changing the way organisations support their workforce (6 different Generations working together now!) in achieving improved performance and engaging with their work. New models of performance management, learning and deploying the workforce are being implemented to better align with how people work with new technologies that have emerged. Work and learning are becoming more connected, mobile and collaborative and the workforce now brings their own learning.

Together with colleague Sofia I attended the MERITsummit for corporate learning and executive education and we distilled the major L&D trends and highlights straight from Barcelona.

#TheFutureOfLearning is blended, collaborative and definitely not just about technology. It’s clear we’re in the middle of a huge transition, urging us to rethink the learning function and to switch to a more holistic approach. It’s also clear we need to bring back humanity in the business. It’s no more profit over people. It’s people over profit. Learning is becoming intimately personal.

Happy to share our ideas and thoughts about the importance of continuous learning for leaders & the future workforce and about trends shaping the future of learning.

#Always Learning

In a connected world, driven by technology, learning is being revolutionized. Experiential learning will thrive: a more dynamic approach for learning is key for agile leaders. For most people becoming obsolete is more concerning than unemployment. Therefore lifelong learning is key for everyone at 3 levels:

1. business: you need to continuously update your skills needed to perform the business you’re in.
2. world: you need to go out into the world, learning cannot happen in a homogeneous classroom or only at work where people all look through the same lens.
3. yourself: you need to be aware of your own bias and the impact of your behaviour on others.

You need to experience the world beyond the classroom and address challenges from a multi-lens perspective

Are we Sleepwalking into a crisis?

There are 8 trends impacting the importance of learning:

1. Drive: what used to motivate people at work, doens’t motivate them anymore: the future of work is about autonomy, mastery and purpose, not about reward and punishment #PerformanceManagement
2. Emerging workforce: we have 6 generations at work together
3. Employer brand loyalty: the war for talent is about scarcity of the right skills in an abundance of different types of expertise and life experience >> how to find the right fit and how to make sure your skills are updated all the time?
4. machines taking over: thanks to technology, people can focus on added-value activities as machines can not do human customer service
5. people insights are just as important as financial information and marketing
6. facebook-isation of work: digital at home >> digital at work?
7. human productivity crisis: although technology is booming, human productivity keeps going down, because there has not been enough investment in people and in aligning them with technology. The solution, according to Tim Ringo is PEIP: people, engagement, innovation and productivity
8. social learning: the future of work is all about networking and collaboration

Do you have the updated skills to get the right job in #TheFutureOfwork?

Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as future innovation source

The superstars of innovation have Autistic Spectrum Disorder! Bill Gates, Marc Zuckerberg and other big shots all have one thing in common: they have ASD: autistic spectrum disorder.

>> Question? Are we recruiting people with the skills we need to innovate?

Employee experience as the new talent management

Through learning and job offers, employees are considered customers now making employee experience the new talent management. Companies with a strategic workforce planning definitely are at least one step ahead. Talent management should be about

• anticipation for tomorrow
• transformation for today
• development for all, segmented and above all flexible

When discussing talent management strategies with companies such as PepsiCo, Sonae, and Solvay, everyone agreed that Strategic workforce planning, a holistic approach to talent management and learning agility are key.

>> Question: if we’re all convinced it’s key? Why aren’t we implementing it (yet)?

Start-up vibe also in learning

When discussing education and learning in HR, the first step is demystification of what digital really is. Let’s make HR more creative and learning more entertaining (gamification), shorter (microlearning), and more accessible (mobile).

#FailFast and Learn Fast

Let's stop Looking for blue ocean Innovation in Learning and HR, better to tap into social Learning and experiment + learn from it

It’s all about finding innovative solutions with limited resources because the impact of digital has been huge on the cost saving side.

New paradigm for learning

In a world with 100% digital density a new paradigm for learning is needed. Digital is an enabler allowing us

• to connect with people and things
• to interact
• to generate data and information as a window to past and future.

100% digital density is permeating in our lives, making us do things differently and wanting to learn differently.

We need to change the framework! This comes with New roles for L&D: Data scientist, design thinker, co-creator, UX-designer, maker & tinkerer, prototyper, optimizer, disruptor

The adaptability quotient

The ability to learn and adapt has become the most important competitive advantage for people and for business. It's not about learning anymore, it's about your capability to adapt and unlearn.

Some final thoughts for you to think about...

• Development is more then just Learning
• And Learning is more than just your diploma('s)
• Should L&D be inside or outside HR?

Want to learn more?

• Frederiek Van Tornout about #TheFutureOfLearning and Digital HR
• Emergence of digital learning redifines skillset of L&D professional (Andy Lancaster CIPD)
• #mustread: “why leadership development isn’t developing leaders”
• learning 2030, Evolved Education for the 21st Century