The Oxford Economics executive study, “The Transformation Imperative for Small and Midsize Companies,” revealed that digital investments are expected to significantly impact HR strategies for the retraining of existing managers and employees. In some ways, HR organizations are already seeing this shift as they ask themselves four critical questions:
- What traditional approaches to workforce learning are not resonating anymore as people begin to rely more on their digital devices?
- How can we deliver learning programs that are meaningful and nondisruptive?
- Which leadership skills will be needed to move the business forward?
- Do we have employees who can be further developed to help deliver the future vision of the company?
Consider a common pastime that nearly three-quarters of the world’s population enjoys: watching a favorite show through a streaming service, such as Netflix or Hulu, on a mobile device. Very rarely do I just watch an episode anymore. I am looking at pop-ups to learn trivial details about the guest stars, recurring actors, and filming events. And sometimes, I go as far as using a second device to look up more information to find out which upcoming movies or shows will feature the actors I like.
This growing trend is reflective of how people worldwide prefer to learn and where the opportunity to gain new insight and knowledge resides (hint: it’s everywhere). Employees want to challenge themselves by acquiring new skills and extending their current capabilities to new areas. But whatever the learning experience, they want it to be as nondisruptive as possible.
By being less event driven, learning becomes a streaming interaction that is highly personalized. HR organizations can leverage this innovative approach to sense how employees perform day to day and to identify precisely the skills they need now, the potential they could offer in the future, and the best path to move them forward.