Emerging Trends of Learning and Development

Learning and development defined

Learning and development is defined as the process of ensuring that the organization has the knowledgeable, skilled and engaged workforce it needs. (Armstrong.2014)

Trends and Recommendations

With recent technology advancements and the rapid adoption of social collaboration, learning and development has come a long way. Five key trends and best practices that companies should consider include  the use of mobile  technology,  adoption of  social learning tools, alignment with corporate objectives, use of adaptive learning principles, and the ability to measure effectiveness.

   

Going mobile has transformed the way companies work, interact, and collaborate. With global penetration rates skyrocketing, organizations that are not considering mobile in all areas will have a difficult time competing for talent. Despite this reality, companies are still slow to embrace mobile learning solution. Most companies recognized that mobile learning solution can improve adoption, expand global reach, and engage users better, but do not understand how to execute a mobile strategy.

Companies are quickly embracing social media tools, as well as investing in social collaboration tools to better engage employees and foster a learning culture. Although social has become mainstream, companies still lack the knowledge and insight around how to use these tools for learning and development. Companies are using document sharing ,discussion forms, and blogs, but they aren’t generally using video or micro-blogs shows are more effective to improve their learning functions.

Adaptive learning is a methodology that breaks traditional models and allows employees to learn at their own pace. It has gained popularity with educational institutions, referred to as “adaptive teaching,” where a teacher will gather information on individuals students to learn what they need to do to improve their learning.

Other one is aligning with business objectives. The learning of the past operated in soils where learning professionals had little interaction or input from other areas of the business. The learning of the future must be closely aligned to overall corporate strategies in order for companies to achieve results.

Measuring Effectiveness is to determine if the learning strategy in place is driving business outcomes, companies must find a way to consistently measure its effectiveness. Currently, most companies are considering team encouragement, employee engagement, and employee satisfaction over more concrete business metrics such as retention, turnover, and revenue per full-time employee.

References

Harrison,R Learning and Development(2009)

Armstrong M (2013)handbook of human resource management 13^th ed

Training magazine (2015 July) (https://trainingmag.com/5-trends-future-learning-and-development)