The self-paced learning market is predicted to decline by $33.5 billion by 2021 according to the eLearning Industry. That is a particularly unexpected statistic given the flexibility self-paced learning offers, which is a perfect fit for working professionals. However, motivation has been a challenge. Learners do start on courses but leave midway through unless there is a compliance requirement, or the training is mandatory for their employment. Even then, it is a task for the L&D teams to get employees to actually engage with their learning content, which is intended to enhance their performance.
This is a dire situation as seven out of ten companies reported talent shortages in 2019 (ManpowerGroup, 2019). Reportedly, 82% of them are prepared to hire and train employees lacking the required skills (Robert Half, 2019). Although the World Economic Forum has been predicting talent shortages and suggesting enterprise upskilling efforts for some time now, the disruptive technology adoption during the pandemic period made people look at the issue with more seriousness.
According to LinkedIn Learning, from 2019 to 2020, the number of enterprise learners more than doubled, and the amount of learning has also increased by 58% more hours per learner. This number contradicts the statistic shared above about self-paced learning losing popularity. Analysts are of the opinion that the problem is not lack of curiosity or willingness to learn. The problem is lack of visibility of a growth path linked with the learning.
Individuals are interested in growing in their careers and for that they are willing to put in the extra effort. But the learning initiatives taken by organizations fail to integrate these programs with the career goals of their employees. If the employee realizes the importance of the program to their individual performance and career, this will drive them to engage with the course and complete the learning exercises that they started.
Another challenge for corporate learning is the learning platform. A professional with 16+ years of industry experience, Nikhil Kumar, AVP, Learning Technologies, G-Cube says “If you’re wondering why your LMS is facing issues with uptake among the learners, here’s an honest fact for you—they don’t have enough reasons to come back. To truly engage a learner with the system, they need to find reasons to come back asking for more.”
While there can be many strategies to increase learning uptake, I would like to suggest some ideas to increase learner engagement and learning uptake by using a learning management platform effectively.
Enable Individual Career Advancement
Getting a disenchanted employee to focus on their learning requires showing them a value in that learning. Employees are now in charge of their careers and expect not only flexibility but autonomy. Providing a learning infrastructure that not only assigns training but makes interest-based learning available and accessible attracts the employee. The Learning Experience Platform can deliver learning based on the employee’s choice and need. A channel-based user interface segregates content into assigned learning, interest, peer choice based etc, which helps the learner choose their learning journey and improve their KSA – knowledge, skill, attitude.
Map Learning to Organizational Growth
Creating a learning program that will help your employees meet their KRAs is not enough. What needs to happen is that a learning environment is created where they feel the urge to perform better. Integrate your learning strategy with your overall business goal, while aligning individual journeys to the same goal. A learning performance platform can integrate with your business tools and processes to identify gaps and deliver relevant learning to the groups and individuals who are critical. This will make the employees understand their roles in the bigger picture and give them the opportunity to contribute directly to the growth of the organization.
Build a Community of Learners
LinkedIn has again reported that “In spite of the shift toward hybrid workplaces, employees still desire a sense of community and belonging at work.” Learning can provide that community feeling and an enterprise learning management system can be the perfect platform for this community to engage. Through social learning features on the LMS, the employees can come together on forums to discuss work-related issues or achievements, seek guidance from the seniors and feel connected to the work environment even in a remote or hybrid work setting. According to the popular 70-20-10 theory of learning, it is said that peer-to-peer learning contributes 20% of all corporate learning. Being able to replicate this model on a digital platform will give organizations the result they desire from their learning programs.
To conclude, L&D leaders have to provide three Ps to the learners to increase learning uptake—Path, Purpose and Peer—and G-Cube has the right combination of learning management platforms to make this happen. Talk to our learning consultant today.
