Our business world is changing and the role of training is changing as well. We see employees, partners, and customers becoming increasing responsible for their own development and more comfortable with technology. The pace of business is increasing with less tolerance for wasted time or resources. New products and processes are being introduced faster than ever and the business world has become increasingly competitive with no room for mistakes or false starts.
These changes in todays business environment are forcing us to rethink how we maintain a skilled and knowledgeable workforce as well as how our workforce can help us develop and maintain competitive advantage. The introduction, maturation, and wide spread acceptance of e-Learning and communication technologies offer businesses an efficient as well as cost effective alternative to traditional workforce skills development methods. In addition, these new technologies offer businesses new opportunities to reach and service their customers. In our newsletters will discuss the new e-Learning and communication technologies and how they can become essential tools for success in todays business environment.
Some of these new technologies are:
>Blogs
>On-line communities
>Self paced e-Learning
>Facilitated e-Learning
>Wikis
>Self service reference and performance support
>Newsletters
>Webinars
>Web Tours
In subsequent newsletters, we will discuss each of these technologies in more detail; developing definions, giving case studies, and sighting practical actionable steps to utilize e-Learning and communication technologies for business success. Let’s begin by talking about workforce development and the differences between the “old” and “new” models of how we look at our employees. We will begin by looking at what I call the “old” model of training and workforce performance. This model had the following characteristics:
- The organization was responsible for employee training and the development of human capital
- Employees were passive and did not actively seek the knowledge necessary to perform their jobs
- Time and productivity were not critical
- Classroom training was the standard and comprised of multi-day lecture-based classes with little interaction
- Travel costs and associated productivity loses were not a concern
- Student employees retained all relevant content of a five day instructor-led class from day one to day five and immediately put it to work when they returned to the office
- Investments in training unquestionably created desired performance improvements and facilitated business objectives
I know what you are thinking… this is a bit extreme but in many cases, it really was not. These characteristics represent a business environment that doesn’t exist any longer and requires a “new” model that has the following characteristics.
- Employees are responsible for their own training, development, and performance
- Employees will actively seek the knowledge necessary to perform their jobs
- Time and productivity is critical
- Classroom training needs to be engaging, contain meaningful interaction, and use technology when appropriate
- Travel costs and associated productivity loses are a major concern
- Just-in-time training, performance support, and self-service reference are accepted and viable performance interventions that can be delivered directly to an individual workplace
Our workforce generally “know what they don’t know” and will seek information in a style that best suits their needs and goals. The future of workforce development may be confined to employee on-boarding and orientation followed by getting workers “jump started”, self sufficient, and utilizing knowledge tools to support their job functions. Stay with as we discuss these issues in future newsletters.
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