These days with such lean workforces, it’s very difficult if not impossible to take workers off the floor, but we clearly need to continue to develop skills and knowledge, and put that into action as it is needed. We often talk about Action Learning as learning on the job; now it can really focus on Action. People should be able to use decision tables to identify the right tools for a problem and then learn how to use them now, when they really need them. Having that with available on-demand expert support can be an exceptional solution. Think about allowing people to quickly and easily find and view sample projects attacking similar issues. Think of this new generation as one of Pull-Learning …. learning something exactly when and how it is needed.
Every once in a while I watch the U-tube video “Did you Know“. The Millennials use technology differently from us. If they need to learn to do something they are going to U-Tube to find a video; they are googling; they are on Facebook asking friends.
Professionals are getting more and more socially connected too, through LinkedIn for example. No more borrowing the tool from the guy down the street or chatting over the garden fence. Think about this in conjunction with turnover statistics and predicted future turnover. There will be no Old Sarah with 30 years experience in that industry to share knowledge. Almost all knowledge will be new in the sense that it will be continually learned. How exciting for an expert training organization. I think training organiztions that understand and embrace the new world we live in can become indispensable to a learning organization.
If you’d like to talk about these ideas, contact me.
A new reality of today’s workplace is how stretched we are as a workforce. Reported productivity increases have posted consecutive gains few thought could be attained. Weekly hours worked are at just about the same level as when the economic expansion was at its peak. While the slack in the broad economy has never been greater, workers are stretched.
At the same time, for reasons I wrote about in my June 23rd post entitled Why VOC and Customer Experience are Front & Center?, the goods and services we buy and what we require is changing. Reacquiring customer requirements and redesigning goods and services, as well as the processes that deliver those goods and services takes people and work. So as productivity skyrockets, the demands on the workforce rise just as fast.
To give these people the skills and support while recognizing the demands on their time, the transfer of knowledge must become more efficient. Content must be modular and interchangeable based on the needs of individuals. Instruction must include both the benefits of human interaction and asynchronous delivery. Support must be on-demand and micro-targeted to specific learning challenges. And it must all be at a cost that fits today’s demands for value.
Years ago this list of requirements would have been unthinkable as functionality and cost pulled in opposite directions. But today, technology, a tremendous stored warehouse of intellectual property and new working relationships make these things attainable. A massive library of content across the spectrum of subjects throughout the economy, blogs, podcasts, collaboration tools and a highly skilled and flexible base of experienced people allow us to structure On Demand Performance Improvement at an investment level company’s can’t afford not make.
Give your people the new skills and support they need to meet the escalating demands on their time. The returns are there as the projects have breakthrough opportunity and the investment is affordable. Break the paradigm with which you’ve been training and supporting your people. Use the wave of technologies, content and people available. The time is now.
Contact us to discuss how you might implement an on demand model for business performance and process improvement.
