The Way We Think About Learning and Development Is Changing

Organizations are increasingly seeing the benefits of prioritizing workforce learning and development in terms of talent acquisition, employee engagement, and profitability. However, the rapid pace of change in the workplace means that the skills necessary to succeed five years ago are no longer the skills modern workers need to thrive. A full 91 percent of learning and development leaders say the game has changed regarding the skill sets necessary for an employee to be successful. Even the way employees learn their skills is changing. In the past, learning was approached in a traditional manner; it was top-down, on the job, and delivered in conventional, classroom-based modalities. Now, learning must be more mobile. The on-demand nature of our personal lives has transitioned into the professional, and workers want the information they need—and only that information—available precisely when they need it and delivered in a way that’s convenient for them. This fundamental change in the relationship workers have with the information they need to learn has been a driving force in the way learning and development is conceived.