3 L&D Trends That Every Chief Learning Officer Needs to Try in 2021 | Mace Virtual Labs
The importance of learning and development at the enterprise level has never been greater. Gone are the days when simple lunch & learns would suffice as upskilling initiatives; many companies have built entire robust departments, where honing employees' skills not only benefits the company, but is seen as an (expected) value add for employees. This should be the goal for L&D officers–lead entire teams to great solutions, such as those we discuss below.
What is L&D?
Learning and development or "L&D" is the process by which a company's personnel are taught new skills that help them align more closely with leadership's vision for the business's future. It is an integral component of every growing organization's long-term objectives.
This process falls under the umbrella of human resources as it centers on employees, but L&D diverges from HR by taking a more personal and ongoing approach to upskilling, where continuous learning (not just initial training) is the goal.
The Strategic Role of L&D Officers
L&D officers are expected to lead the initiative for real human development within an organization. They are called on to help develop employees in ways that best suit the various objectives of a given company. For instance, by optimizing learning and development strategies, L&D officers also achieve the following:
They draw in and retain top talent.
They motivate employees to improve and perform to the best of their abilities.
They help instill a sense of value in a company's culture.
They help develop employees' capabilities in practical ways.
In 2021, a shift from lifetime employment at a single company to serial employment wherever an individual can contribute value has taken hold. In light of this, a number of trends have emerged that could be useful to CLOs and L&D officers in their effort to retain and enrich employee talent. Among these are the following:
1. Microlearning
Microlearning is a powerful new learning trend that capitalizes on shrinking attention spans and employee free time. The goal of microlearning is to deliver digestible chunks of information. Learning sessions imparted through a microlearning approach can be completed in as little as two minutes - perfect for busy workers with other responsibilities to attend to.
How it Works
Microlearning can take on a few different forms in the workplace, but it always involves condensing training initiatives to bite-sized bits, for easier comprehension that can be compounded over time. Gamification–making learning more like play–pairs well with this strategy and further improves employee engagement with learning materials.
Benefits
Microlearning poses a few core benefits for organizations and employees:
Higher engagement - Many workers in the millennial cohort have come to expect seamless integration of upskilling opportunities at their place of employment. Offering a host of microlearning activities helps convey your company's commitment to their professional development.
Less distraction from other daily responsibilities - Microlearning takes up very little time in an employee's day, making it a very efficient alternative to traditional training strategies.
Relative ease of implementation - A microlearning session can be both quickly digested and quickly designed.
Improved comprehension - Each microlearning installment requires only minutes to complete and contains an intentionally limited amount of information. This can improve comprehension considerably and boost knowledge retention rates by up to 20%.
2. Learning Led by Data
2021 is slated to be a breakout year for data-driven learning. This could help prevent a more aimless approach to L&D, in which employee educational content is based on arbitrary requests from business leaders, or broad, industry-focused trends.
How it Works
The data gathered for different companies’ L&D initiatives can vary wildly. A manufacturing company might query how long it takes factory workers to complete a given task, while others might investigate KPIs around customer satisfaction with call center representatives. However, using this data, leaders can quickly identify their organization’s shortcomings and design learning systems to close those gaps, accommodating both learner and organizational goals.
Benefits
Learning led by data can be iterated based on its relevance. Data can also break barriers in producing more personalized learning solutions that bolster genuine engagement. For example, instead of a general training initiative, organizations can utilize data for specific departments, pinpoint underperforming areas, and build training and development solutions around them.
3. Virtual Reality
With an increase in remote work and limited office access, the capacity of virtual reality technology to improve scalability, reduce necessary resources, and lower risks otherwise inherent to certain types of training is especially useful. Virtual reality training enables employees to practice specific procedures in a safe, realistic environment.
How it Works
When used at an enterprise level, VR training can be leveraged for many purposes, ranging from hands-on practical skill training exercises to soft skill scenarios and empathetic reasoning. Employees can simply slip on a pair of VR headsets (along with a suite of other equipment) and be immersed in a new environment, one where they can practice otherwise risky tasks, hone their situational awareness, and simulate the emotions they would feel in real life on the job.
Getting a VR training system in place for your employees can be as easy as partnering with a turnkey VR training company. Your VR training partner would then handle all aspects of system setup, such as hardware fulfillment and installation.
Benefits
VR training presents learners and organizations with a unique opportunity to model a wide range of situations and tasks. Whether employees are required to learn special safety procedures in case of emergencies, or they need to know how sensitive workplace issues should be addressed, VR training can be of assistance. The applications of virtual reality for enterprise training are largely limitless. Soft skill VR courses alone impart knowledge up to four times faster than their classroom equivalents.
Leap Toward Virtual Reality Training with the Right Partner
The reality is, a successful L&D officer should utilize each of the discussed trends–all of which can be combined into a VR training strategy. Lessons can be designed for brevity, helping learners get up to speed with new concepts in a controlled environment. Plus, the wealth of data tracked and interpreted from VR training sessions can be used to further enhance the learning process.
Of course, achieving all of this involves first finding the ideal VR training partner to provide reliable, modern, high-quality tools for your team and guidance along the way. By making MACE Virtual Labs your organization's VR partner, you can count on flexible purchase and rental financing for your VR equipment, budget-friendly custom virtual reality solutions, seamless hardware fulfillment, shipping and installation, and curriculum design assistance.
Choosing MACE Virtual Labs is your first step toward easily adopting effective L&D trends and leveling up your organization as a whole.