Another of our long-serving members to usher in the New Year with a feature, Robin Hoyle has stopped predicting the future and instead gives us his New Year's wants list.
This is the third year I've made a set of predictions about 'what next in learning and development', simply because the calendar clicked around another number in the year column. Last year I reviewed my predictions for 2010 and found that I'd not done quite as well as I'd hoped. (see here if you really want to know.)
Safe to say if I give you a hot tip for the Grand National, Champions League or the winner of the synchronised diving at the 2012 Olympics, keep your money in your pocket.
So, no predictions for 2012. What follows might happen, might not – who knows? I think what follows should happen:
Social media in learning takes its rightful place in the mix
I know I'm slightly out of step on this, but I think the use of social media tools has been massively overhyped in 2011. In fact, 2011 was the year in which 'social learning' became the real story. Except there's a problem here. Social learning is something different. Social learning is a well-researched and generally understood concept which was developed in the 60s by arguably the world's greatest living psychologist, Albert Bandura. (Good primer here). Yes, that's right - the 1960s. Before Twitter. Before facebook. Good heavens, in those dark, dark days before the internet.
"Social tools do and should have a part to play in information sharing. Information sharing is a part of the learning process. But it is not the whole of the learning process."Social tools (specifically those which seek to mimic the way we shop online) do and should have a part to play in information sharing. Information sharing is a part of the learning process. But it is not the whole of the learning process. In fact, looking things up – especially when posted by others who may or may not have a reliable viewpoint – might not even be learning at all! I know. Shocking isn't it?
Hopefully 2012 will see Bandura get the credit he deserves for revolutionary thinking. Hopefully, 2012 will see social media tools used appropriately as a small and valuable component of the learning process which is where they belong.
Going for gold
With the Olympics on the horizon, this will be the year of training programmes based around 'being on the podium'; 'achieving the gold standard'; and teams being 'fit to compete'.
It's all very well and I urge fellow training professionals to brand their learning, but be aware of jumping on brand-wagons. I hope the Olympics are a great success, but come September, they'll be over for another four years and the investment made in building the gold-infused training course will deliver pretty short term interest before it's as interesting as last week's athletics preview.
Less training, more often
We must recognise the economic and commercial realities and how hard it is to find proper time to learn in modern organisations. This is particularly true if training equals day or days in group sessions. There has been a constant battle between training teams and other departments over releasing people for training events. In some organisations, the battle has been lost.
The challenge for the L&D function is the age-old business paradox – how do we get more done with less? Advances in technology and a greater acceptance of learning as something which doesn't always rely on the classroom will lead to shorter, more frequent training inputs. This buffet-style approach to providing a multitude of different ways of reinforcing and explaining the same concepts seems to me to be suited to modern ways of taking in information and modern pressures on individuals in right-sized workplaces.
Comms should be different from training
As we investigate providing bite-sized bits of learning, we need to differentiate between simply telling people stuff and our people learning how and what to do.
I accept that training has always included a bit of communications. Outlining the new strategy, the challenges facing the team, the new products or services offered has always been integral to the training mix. But this is simply context for learning, not learning itself. In the same way as simply reading someone's blog doesn't mean you've learned anything, communications need to be followed up with a learning process. Those communicated to will need to consider the implications of what they've heard; the changes in behaviour required to make the new strategy/product or structure work; the skills which will enable that behaviour to become habitual and the knowledge needed to make sense of it all.
"I accept that training has always included a bit of communications...but this is simply context for learning, not learning itself. In the same way as reading someone's blog doesn't mean you've learned anything, communications need to be followed up with a learning process."
To be indispensable, training teams should be involved in all communications. They should analyse the needs of different teams to implement what is now required and they should have a plan which accompanies the comms, ensuring that what is communicated is actionable and drives the organisation forward. My final wish/prediction for 2012 is...
L&D becomes strategic
Strategic as in linked to strategy not just a euphemism for important. I know we all say that L&D is a strategic partner but let’s be honest and acknowledge that other functions develop strategies quite independently of the L&D team and as a result, we are always playing catch up.
If each of your functions doesn’t have an L&D business partner they should have. If that partner isn’t in the loop when the strategy is being discussed to help each function recognise that actually training people to do what is required is important, then they should be.
The very best training programmes fit hand-in-glove with the strategy of the organisation and are developed so that once a strategy change is announced, the training team is primed and ready to help the poor, bloody infantry do what needs to be done.
Training should be about change. We are change agents and we should revel in that status. Whatever you’re doing in 2012 – I sincerely hope it changes things for the better.
Robin Hoyle is senior partner at Learnworks and a regular speaker at L&D events
