Leadership – By Rich Baron & Laura Last
Innovation creates a need for trainers to do things differently
How has innovation changed the way that you approach learning and development?
If you think about it, training that was done 10 years ago likely looks very different from the training our teams execute today. For example:
- 10 years ago most of us were not using gaming as a core component of our curriculum.
- We were not running virtual instructor-led classes.
- The concept of microlearning content was just starting to emerge.
- We were primarily using learning management systems — learning experience platforms that utilize artificial intelligence to maximize the learner experience weren’t even developed yet.
So innovation has changed how many of us build and execute training today. The innovative technology that we have today makes our training more engaging and relevant to the learner. It provides easier access to large volumes of easily accessible content that gives us the opportunity to provide the right training to the right learner at the right time. It also allows learners to drive their own learning and development based on their individual needs.
The Need to Change
For all the benefits that these innovations provide, they also create a need for our trainers to do things differently. We now need trainers that understand what microlearning content is and how to build the content so that it can be consumed by our learners through various channels (LXPs, learning journeys and pathways, apps, social media, etc.).
We need content curators who can ensure the right content is being made available to the right learners. We expect our trainers to have some degree of digital proficiency so they can facilitate effective virtual classes that are interactive and meaningful. We also expect them to utilize technology to build and execute learning tools.
The skills that trainers need today are very different than in the past. As learning leaders, we need to ensure we are equipping our trainers with the skills they need to be successful and innovative in this new environment.
Finding the Next Big Thing
Because the pace of change continues to happen at lightning speed, learning leaders need to keep looking at how to do things differently. Senior leadership is relying on us to help the employees of our organizations to be ready to tackle the new future with new skills and knowledge that drive new behaviors.
We need to keep one eye focused internally on what we are currently doing and where there are opportunities to do things differently. With the other, we need to keep a view externally to continually evaluate the newest innovations we can leverage to better achieve our objectives.
Driving Innovation
There continues to be a move toward Agile methodology, design thinking, adaptive learning, artificial intelligence, social learning campaigns and internal universities. These aren’t just buzzwords, they are real examples of how learning and development departments are changing how they build and execute training.
You’ve heard the old saying, that “necessity is the mother of invention.” In today’s business environment, it is a necessity to drive learning and new behaviors to keep up with the pace of change.
To be successful, we must continue to push for innovation and challenge our teams to think differently.
Rich Baron and Laura Last are members of the LTEN Board of Directors and the co-chairs of the LTEN Learning Executive Committee. Laura is head of global clinical operations learning & development for BeiGene. Email Laura at laura.last@beigene.com. Rich is an executive learning leader. Email Rich at rbaronla@aol.com.
