Learning Trends in 2016

In recent years,  the talent world undergoes dramatic changes - from the way of recruiting and attracting employees, how employers manage and reward, and to the way of learning. It seems even harder than ever to predict the future, but also more important than ever to keep close eyes on the trend to avoid being left behind. Here are some of the observations for learning trends in 2016 based on recent research studies I'd like to share and discuss. 

1. Corporate Learning Continues to Grow and Evolve 

The 2015 Deloitte Human Capital Trends research shows that corporate learning is the number three priority around the world (only after culture and leadership). Many individuals are looking for ways to improve their professional skills. When employees do not find the learning they need, they often look else where, or even change jobs. Research shows that "availability of learning" is one of the biggest factors in employee retention and engagement - two very important topics in today's tight labor market.

In the area of learning, the world has changed from that of "instructor-delivered" to "informal" to now "employee-owned". Employees now have total control of their own learning, and expect the companies to offer video content, massive open online courses, and lots of external access whenever need it. There is an increased passion and desire for self directed learning. Today's modern learner is short on time, rushes to learn, and wants to learn his or her own way.

2. Mobile Learning

No matter where you live, digital and mobile life are everywhere. Research shows more than 1.8 billion people now have smartphones; more than three billion people are on the internet; people check their mobile phone eight billion times a day! Advances in technology are revolutionising training. Increasingly portable tablets and smartphones are reshaping how employees access information and learning. People are increasingly turning to their smartphones to find just-in-time answers to unexpected problems. These devices help learners get the most from training by providing anywhere access to content. This makes training more relevant and self directed than ever.

However, it is not to say that highly crafted learning experiences are going away. People need structured education and training as much as possible. The job of L&D function is not only to create great formal education, but also to deliver a every-changing learning experiences that can be curated by the employees.  L&D leaders and professionals need to shift their roles from "instructional designers" to "learning experience designers", who study employees' learning experiences and creating an end-to-end experience that is highly engaging.

3. Blended Learning

 One of the best practices is the "blended learning" approach - combines the online delivery of learning content with the best features of the classroom interaction and live instruction in such as way to personalised learning, allow employees to learn at their own pace and have the support they need if and when required. Choosing the right blended learning model will help you break the monotony of corporate training, reinforce employees on their online training, and increase the engagement and motivation levels of the overall training experience.

Classroom trainings are expensive, and the logistics of organizing a number of corporate seminars and workshops can be a real headache. However, it is not always possible for companies to fully replace their traditional training programs with online ones, as they still need some of the benefits that traditional training has to offer, such as social interaction among employees. This is where blended learning comes in: by using a blended approach you can easily distribute training materials through your learning management system and contribute to the follow up by offering further discussion by live classroom trainings.

Blended learning allows employees to participate in their training program using mobile devices or their laptops anytime, anywhere, and it offers them control in a way that traditional corporate training cannot. Providing employees with supplementary online material gives them the opportunity to use the additional information when needed and at their own pace. When  employees are given power over their learning, by being able to combine their face to face training sessions with online self study, they feel that their unique learning needs are met, and in this way, the training will become much more effective.