Improving Learning Strategies in Companies: 5 Questions & Answers

Perhaps you've seen an image on LinkedIn or Twitter in the last year asking who is driving digital transformation: a) the CEO, b) the CTO, or c) COVID-19? The pandemic has given digital transformation a huge boost and forced companies, educational institutions and governments to use innovative technologies to meet new challenges — including in personnel development.

What is a learning strategy for companies?

A learning strategy for companies is a planned approach that outlines the goals of a company's learning and development initiatives. It defines the required skills and knowledge that should be imparted to employees and determines the methods and resources for imparting knowledge. The company-wide learning strategy aims to support the growth and development of the workforce and ensure that they have the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed in the roles. In view of the accelerated digital transformation caused by COVID-19, the development of a future-oriented learning strategy for companies is becoming increasingly important.

In view of the constantly changing world of work and accelerated digital transformation, personnel development is of crucial importance for companies. To help you improve your HR development strategy, we've formulated five questions that address current challenges:

1. How can I convert my learning strategy for companies to digital solutions as offline learning is declining sharply?
2. In light of the accelerating digital transformation, how can I react to the rapidly growing learning needs in companies?
3. How do my learners get the necessary guidance from the wealth of online content available?
4. How can we help our employees structure their self-determined digital learning?
5. In view of the increasing “digital learning gap,” how can I ensure that no one is left behind in our corporate learning strategy?

These questions are crucial for designing effective and future-oriented personnel development that meets the requirements of the changing world of work. Let's explore these questions together and find solutions to guide your employees on the path to successful learning and growth.

Question 1: How can I convert my learning strategy for companies to digital solutions as offline learning is declining sharply?

The challenge

This is probably the most obvious change taking place in the world of learning right now. And, let's be honest, off-line training was declining before that, as it wasn't really effective for most of us. Now, “digital-first” (but not just digitally) is officially the only way to go. Perhaps that is even the good thing about the current crisis that we can draw a line under a development that was long overdue.

But we know that the challenge is turning much of the training your employees need into digital experiences and finding a replacement for all offline training (e.g. onboarding training, IT training). Some inadequate solutions that can't solve the problem alone:

• NOT: Simply record your offline training In this case, learner engagement will usually be quite low, as online learning in a digital context is radically different (e.g. most learners require smaller blocks, more interactivity, and higher quality).
• NOT: Simply buy a library of 4,000 professional online courses to “cover all learners' needs.” We have often seen learner engagement wane even in this case, as there is no guidance or transfer of these external “one-size-fits-all” courses to your specific business challenges.

The solution

So what can you do?

1. Prioritize First, the most important parts of your current “offline-first” training, which must be digitized as quickly as possible.
2. Second, you must Identify the content that meets your training needs. HR managers often have to work under great time pressure and deal with the wide variety of content libraries and providers.

It makes sense Working hand in hand with partners who support you with operational processes and curate relevant content for you so that you can focus on your company's strategic issues. We have seen many customers who have been able to significantly increase the speed of their digital learning implementation with these partnerships.

But don't let your external partners persuade you to use a single source of content, as this risks vendor lock-in and less flexibility for future programs. From our experience in the sector, we see big Benefits of integrating many different (internal and external) sources of learning content. Ideally, each of the learning paths for your employees combines both external (e.g. a general introduction to digital concepts) and internal, company-specific learning materials (e.g. some guidelines on your specific tools). With a flexible learning platform and content setup, you can deliver cutting-edge content for many years.

Question 2: In light of accelerating digital change, how can I respond to the rapidly growing learning needs in companies?

The challenge

While question 1 was about the “how” of learning, the second question is about the “what”: the content. This is also about digital things. During the current crisis and in the coming months, we will see how companies are focusing on their resilience and switching to new digital solutions at breathtaking speed: Local retailers are desperately going online. Entire industries are focusing on new digital value offerings as their physical supply chains collapse. The possibilities of new digital processes, products and value creation offerings are more obvious than ever before. Existing skill gaps will continue to increase — yet you can't afford to leave anyone behind, and your employees must become familiar with new tools and ways of working, navigate this changing environment, and be able to shape your future digital projects.

“Don't expect demand for digital continuing education to fall in a post-Covid-19 world.”

Today, companies must quickly implement programs to educate, train, and empower employees to work at home. But don't expect demand for digital continuing education to fall in a world after November 19. That's just the tip of the iceberg. As soon as our economy has overcome the Covid-19 crisis (and the accompanying temporary recession), the skill gaps will widen and most companies will be confronted with a massive need for retraining and continuing education of their entire workforce. To take advantage of new opportunities and secure your competitive position, your teams need both basic and specialized digital skills.

The solution

1. First, try the urgent Short-term qualification requirements to cover (some popular topics in this category: remote work and learning, communication and collaboration tools, etc.). Set up quick digital solutions here with easy access for your entire workforce.
2. Second: Focus on the key strategic and long-term needs of your workforce. At edyoucated, we usually work with our customers according to the “T-shaped” organizational model skill: On the one hand, a certain general knowledge (represented by the horizontal bar at the top of the “T”) is definitely required for everyone. At the top of the list of our customers in this category are usually basic digital skills, the use of internal tools (e.g. wikis, Office365) and some basic innovation and “digital mindset” training.

On the other hand, every employee will go deeper into one of the areas and require specific knowledge in that area (represented by the vertical line of the “T”). Here we are typically talking about longer training programs for smaller groups, with dedicated support for learners from mentors and demo projects (e.g. in the areas of data analysis, cloud computing, or industry-specific knowledge).

Finally, we recommend starting out “lean” with all these initiatives by creating Proof-of-Concepts (PoCs) today (e.g. with pilot groups of 20-30 people). Especially the current situation and the post-Covid-19 world is a good time for (often forced) experiments. Gather data about the program's success and evaluate it every few weeks. In our experience, these PoCs will build strong lighthouse projects with internal influencers that will make adoption and engagement much easier in later generations as the program expands across the organization. Forward-looking L&D leaders are already preparing for this change and are launching their digital learning initiatives with the first proof of concepts for retraining.

Question 3: How do my learners get the necessary guidance from the wealth of online content available?

The challenge

As we saw in the previous question, the learning needs of workers will be enormous. However, the challenge lies not in the amount of learning content required, but in the diversity of individual learning needs, which become apparent when switching to a complete e-learning system in a world after January 19. Sure, digital learning usually means more content available — easier and often cheaper than before. And so some organizations are trying to address this diversity with even more external content by buying large libraries or content platforms, hoping to increase the likelihood of a “match” between individual needs and the content in those libraries.

The result: People drown in content, but they hunger for orientation** through all of these learning opportunities. They are overwhelmed and the Employee experience (EX) suffers. In the last 12 months, we from edyoucated have talked to many organizations that are struggling with the consequences of these learning programs. They began with the laudable goal of saying goodbye to “one-size-fits-all-learning” (= learning no longer takes place for everyone at the same time, in the same place and at the same pace). However, switching to digital content libraries without guidance often proves to be even more “one-size-fits-all” than before (after all, these courses are designed for thousands of learners, aren't they?) , particularly when these programs are not complemented by adequate guidance for learners.

The solution

The good news is that technology can help here too. With a combination of intelligent curation services and AI-based personalization processes, companies can already offer their learners high-quality and scalable guidance today. In a post-Covid-19 world, personalized learning is on the rise, and it's easier than ever to get started.

With the help of software, your colleagues' learning paths are personalized so that they are better suited to their learning needs, previous knowledge, and learning style. Learners regain control and awareness of their learning process. Ideally, these experiences are complemented by mentors and peer learning, both supported by digital platforms.

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By using these advanced personalization technologies, we transform a very anti-social experience (people taking offline training or standardized online courses that suit everyone) into a learning experience that is truly individual-focused and brings back the joy of learning.

Question 4: How can we help our employees structure their self-determined digital learning?

The challenge

Let's be honest: digital learning is no easier than offline training and seminars. It's so much harder for a few reasons:

• There is no one watching me, no one who sets strict deadlines for me, and no one who blocks time from studying on my calendar. Sure, all of this can be a huge benefit of digital learning. But with great power comes great responsibility — and many of us are struggling with that new freedom. As a result, short-term priorities and lack of study habits mean that we spend less time studying than we used to.
• Yes, it's often based on online videos, but digital learning can't be treated like Netflix. It requires stamina, self-reflection and active engagement in your own learning. Although we often assume the opposite and expect that we will simply be entertained when watching online videos, learning is not a passive effort, but requires learners to actively participate.

The solution

In view of the rapid growth of digital remote learning in a world after the 19th century, those responsible for research and development must focus on something we call “meta-learning” skills: the ability of your employees to learn largely self-directed, to structure and time their own learning, and to be responsible for learning outcomes and transfer of learning themselves. In that sense, it's very similar (but a bit more complex) to the question of learning from home, which most of you have probably been dealing with in the last few weeks. In order to build “digital learning literacy” across the workforce, we've had great success with our edYouCated programs by integrating specialized meta-learning modules into regular digital continuing education initiatives. For example, for one of our youngest customers, we saw a 32% increase in these meta-learning module skills (when rated on a scale of 1 to 5) within just 4 months.

To be successful with this question, you should try to sensitize your employees to this topic, provide learning paths and content for these topics, regularly assess your employees' meta-learning skills, and help them with self-reflection. You can find further ideas in our guide to Learn how to learn.

Question 5: With the increasing “digital learning gap,” how can I ensure that no one is left behind in our corporate learning strategy?

The challenge

There is one often neglected aspect of the transition to digital learning: Here too, our workforce is radically different when it comes to digital learning skills (including the meta-learning skills mentioned above).

You've probably experienced something similar when your company switched to remote working in recent weeks: Some colleagues are experiencing real productivity surges, and their productivity skyrockets in a distraction-free environment at home. Others, on the other hand, have major problems with the basic digital setup of their remote workplace and the corresponding habits. It's not just a question of age, but depends on various factors such as personality type, previous experience, long-term incentives, and many others.

Exactly the same problem applies to digital learning in a post-Covid-19 world: Some of your employees basically grew up in a self-learning environment and used digital learning tools with confidence right from the start. Others find it difficult and sometimes even actively reject digital learning programs (although this usually turns out to be an underlying fear rather than a fundamental rejection of digital learning initiatives in general).

The result: a “digital learning divide,” the formation of “learning elites” in your workforce (those “power learners” who can't get enough of new learning content and are literally flourishing in the age of digital learning), while others remain behind. So let's address this question carefully from the start when setting up our learning and development programs to counteract this development while maintaining the high level of motivation of our “learning elites.”

The solution

To ensure that your entire workforce benefits from your new digital learning initiatives, we advise our customers to to review and strengthen their learning analysis strategy for the coming years. As working and learning remotely is becoming the new normal in a post-19th century world, this is your only chance to see what works and what doesn't. Because you'll get much less information from informal feedback or “water cooler talk” in a remote learning environment, learning analytics data is your friend.

By carefully monitoring the various segments of their learners, we found amazing insights from various clients that not only increased learner engagement but also “red” learners who had problems with their digital learning paths. In these cases, our customers were able to step in and ensure that these issues were resolved (for example, by blocking more time for learning by talking to the learner's manager) so that no one was left behind.

In particular, the following 3-step approach could help you improve your strategy for these topics:

Step 1: Determine what you want to measure Preliminaries and post-evaluations are probably the most important instrument here. Some KPIs you might want to measure:

• Weekly and monthly active users
• Study time
• Percentage of learners using their new skills in practice (measured by self-assessment after 3 or 6 months, for example)
• Net Promoter Score (particularly important for PoCs, as it measures how many learners would recommend the program to their colleagues)

Just to name a few. Of course, there are many other KPIs that can help you identify exactly where problems arise.

Step 2: Gather data. Sometimes, however, “classic” approaches, such as the distribution of evaluation forms, are sufficient. The advantage of automatic data collection is a real-time overview of all important KPIs, which allows you to take immediate action when needed.

Step 3: Develop a plan for increasing learner engagement across segments. Of course, it's great to measure the engagement of your learner segments, but it won't do much good if you don't actually take action.

Digital learning support through mentoring could help guide your learners (Source: edyoucated)

One measure that we have found particularly helpful is the use of an expert-led mentoring service: an expert on call who is available at any time (e.g. via chat or video call) to help your learners with any questions (technical or content). Of course, you can also use internal mentors. Another good option is regular “check-ins” and building smaller learning communities (we call them “learning cohorts”). In recent years, we have achieved tremendous success with these measures to promote learning.

By the way, this strategy is independent of the size of your digital learning initiative: In fact, it's just as important for smaller PoCs, as you want to know exactly what works and what doesn't in order to make an informed decision about a complete implementation.

Improve your learning strategy today

I hope that with these five key questions, we've helped you get a clearer picture of the key topics for digital learning strategies in a world after September 19. An important aspect of adapting to the pandemic is the incorporation of e-learning technologies, which can help facilitate remote and hybrid learning experiences. In this e-book, we will use a 10-step guide guidelines The basics of E-learnings Explore for companies and show how it can be used to support your organization's goals. By following these 10 steps and considering your organization's unique needs, you can build a solid foundation for a successful e-learning program for companies.