New Sustainable Learning Strategies for 2022

Empowering the Modern Workforce WebinarRecently, KnowledgeWorks Global Learning hosted a webinar discussion featuring experts from across different industries on the latest strategies for empowering the modern workforce in the coming year. Led by KGL’s Kelly Lake, the lively exchange featured, Kristen Pearson, Manager Learning and Development at Intelsat, Josh Miely, Director, Education at National Association of Broadcasters, and Saria Milano, Learning and Development Manager at Raley’s Supermarkets.

They spoke about learning obstacles they overcame in 2021, the industry trends they foresee for 2022, learning strategies for workforce enablement, the technology landscape, and learner engagement. Overall, rapid digitalization across the board has shaken up the content industry with a big requirement to redesign and realign content to meet the needs of the hybrid workspace. The following are key insights from the webinar.

New Work Environments

Kristen Pearson thinks there will four main themes in 2022. Firstly, preparing for the hybrid learning space will be inevitable. She feels that the virtual and in-person learning percentages will flip, with virtual learning holding the major share. Next, upskilling will take precedence due to the new working environment, as new skillsets will be required to navigate hybrid work. There will also be a focus on Diversity and Inclusion, as organizations continue to employ with a multi-generational workforce. Lastly, Kristen expects organizations to start creating training programs that cater to employee needs, not just for the current year but that stay relevant for 3-5 years.

Snackable Content

Josh Miely believes that 2022 will see a big transition to snackable content: bite-sized learning not exceeding three minutes will be in demand. He gave an example related to new technology like a next-gen TV that will have the user’s IP address connected to the essential broadcast, giving TV stations the ability to pump out additional content and provide more interactive options to the viewers. Saria Milano agreed that the microlearning trend will take over the learning space. She spoke about blended learning with mixed media as something that she sees happening more in the future.

Relevant and Repurposed Material

Josh Miely said that the using reinforcement techniques such as mailers with pointers for cybersecurity issues like phishing will help get relevant content across to a large group at once. Josh’s view is that there is too much content that has already been put out, so now organizations need to take a step back and produce relevant content in the right format. When quizzed about the correct format, Josh referenced the Online Public Inspection File (OPIF): What You Need to Know course that KGL created for NAB, saying that it is usable, tangible content that is useful for the audience because it provides a step-by-step demonstration of how documents can be uploaded to OPIF. He says that a podcast works well for situations where the intent is to share some information or have a conversation on a topic with the audience. Webinars work well when you have multiple people coming together.

On the topic of repurposed content, Josh said that deploying learning in multiple formats was integral, and that content needs to be tailored to match the needs of the audience. While a full-length course can contain the meat of the content, it can be supported by email campaigns with useful pointers from the course. Again, he cited the OPIF course and said that it could be supported with a refresher of the steps to upload a file to OPIF as a list of bullet points in an email.

Personalized Approach to Learning

Industries like retail have seen a huge growth in demand. These industries needed to train and bring a large number of new hires up to speed. Strategies for rapid onboarding of new hires will be of prime importance in this industry with the constant inflow and outflow of talent. The focus will be on setting up a robust training program targeting the particular needs and challenges of the retail sector. The program should emphasize training the leadership to be able to solve the issues of employee onboarding and retention. Saria Milano also spoke about the possibilities of using Artificial Intelligence to offer personalized training in the retail sector.

Kristen Pearson believes that relationship building will be vital in 2022. L&D teams will need to strategically align relationship specialists to specific parts of the business to give clients a more personalized experience. Another important priority will be data analytics that provide deeper insights into the impact of a course or training on specific learner groups.

Technology Optimization

Kristen Pearson argues that it is imperative for organizations to embrace new technology to adapt to the hybrid workspace, and also cited the use AI capabilities to help personalize learning. L&D technology should be intertwined with all areas of talent management for the entire hire-to-retire journey of employees. L&D should have a connection with recruiting, onboarding, and talent management. According to Kristen, Intelsat is going through a digital transformation initiative and will focus on creating a learning ecosystem and bringing in a human capital management system. The LMS will be embedded with each area of talent management, where courses will be assigned through performance management and building out career profiles to show projected career progression. Each employee will have a personalized development plan.

Focus on Learner Engagement

According to Saria Milano, organizations need to have a robust learner engagement plan in place. They should strive to create a sense of belonging from Day One, make a personalized learning plan, and ensure that learners feel they are in charge of their own learning and development. She stresses on the importance of keeping the learners constantly engaged for the first twenty days to avoid losing people. Their learning journey should be in sync with what they are actually doing in their day-to-day jobs. Therefore, creating content that resonates with learner needs is imperative.

To view the recording of the webinar, Empowering the Modern Workforce, click here. Or for more information on how you can increase learner retention and measurable engagement with immersive technologies in 2022, please contact info@kwglobal.com.