It is easy to tick off a box on an employee file that says so and so completed the required compliance training to meet the requirements of the AODA Customer Service Standard. But how can organizations show a commitment to truly building an accessible Ontario by 2025? Awareness is the first piece of the training puzzle. Supplying more information than stipulated within the standard is another piece. We have explored the different training methods being used right now to meet compliance requirements, but what can be done to exceed them? An informed workforce is a strong workforce.

What are your accessibility training plans for the future?

To elaborate on my post last week in regards to some L&D issues I wanted to further discuss what I dubbed as “the learner analysis”. Since my experience in the world of corporate education I have come to learn the various learning strategies. How does one decide whether instructor led training is the right form of content delivery versus on line learning or a blended approach? Simply, it is vital to understand your audience before deciding how to educate them, something a customer touched on briefly.

A new and hot topic currently is the generational divide in the workplace. Methods have been introduced to manage the working relationships among each generation. From this, it is clear to see that each generation has their own preference to learning and training. The Gen Y’s expectation of on demand information acquisition would suggest that online learning would be effective.

Some smaller organizations or departments within large organizations tend to have their own generational groupings. This would be an important consideration for the training professionals to consider when forming their learning strategy. This is only one consideration, but understanding your learner prior to a gap analysis could prove extremely beneficial. Understanding the form of delivery can help shape the content that needs to be delivered.

Do you agree – audience first information gaps second?

Note: this post originally appeared on the site of our sister company B Wyze.

There seems to be a trend of late in the learning and training community towards trying to say less but make it more impactful to the learner.  The use of Learning Nuggets is not overly new, but I have yet to see a really effective implementation that is sustainable and meaningful.  How can we create a culture of learning that doesn’t require huge investments in time and effort?  Learning Nuggets, if done well, can achieve this goal.

I’ve been in the corporate learning industries for more than 20 years. Never have I seen a more opportune time to use technology and innovation drive learning that generates immediate R.O.I.

It’s not difficult. Identify the what knowledge or skills are missing in your client base that drive the bulk of your pain  by answering this question: If our clients only knew xxx our we could do yyy.

Focus on keeping the learning short and direct to the point.

1.       Take advantage of rapid development tools to create the learning in a format acceptable to your organization.

For example, in every meeting I’ve been to recently our clients end up asking for a demonstration of our SHIFT learning development tool. It creates eLearning quickly and affordably that can be maintained and updated as needed. The outputs can be simple stand alone HTML courses or full SCORM compliant courses compatible with a corporate Learning Management System.

2.       Launch the learning and get your internal network to drive people to it.

4.       Modify the training as needed.

Last, publish the results, it never hurts to toot your own horn and you deserve it!

During a conversation I had with an L&D Manager of a large high end retail company a few interesting points were raised. Allow me to take a look a some of those points … I’ll take them one by one.

Where should learning sit in an organization?

Learning should sit with Organizational Development. The most important reason being that the learning strategy of an organization absolutely must be aligned with the goals of the organization. Common sense? Wrong! This is often assumed but also where most problems arise. Ask yourself how many times you have worked in an organization where different departments act as competitors rather than colleagues. Is it possible a lack of alignment with corporate goals and learning goals could be causing this behaviour?

Ambiguity in the learning environment

The role of the learning professional is often faced with ambiguity and multiple changes on a daily basis. Does it help to have a PM frame of mind?  Being process-driven tends to build frustration when working with changing content and timelines.

Vendor relationship

As an L&D Manager you source and manage your vendors. They should be a network rather than simply an outside resource. Thus, it is important to maintain long lasting relationships that are built on trust and partnership. Transparency and openness (from both parties) is crucial.

Learner analysis

I have often heard learning professionals discuss the needs analysis of the training strategy, but rarely does one discuss a “learner analysis”. Who is your audience? How do they learn? What tools reach out to them best? With four generations in today’s workplace a thorough analysis of the learner is an absolute must.

Where do you stand on these topics? Leave a comment and let us know!