In Corporate Learning From An Employee Experience Perspective (Forbes, 31 Jan 2021) Steven Hunt talks about the different perspectives on learning between the company and the employee:

“Dipping sheep. Many past employee development programs put little emphasis on understanding whether employees wanted to learn the things they were being taught. Companies rolled out learning programs to large groups of employees, regardless of each person’s unique interests or existing capabilities. These programs focused on what the company thought people should know, treating employees as though they were all the same.”

But this isn’t what employees want.

“Sheep dip training programs are not designed to support the interests of employees. They are designed to support the goals of companies …

Employees want learning, not training. The first step to employee development is determining what employees currently know along with their career interests, job likes and life passions. This is what human career coaches have been doing for decades.”

But a balance can be found ..

“Companies need employees to develop new capabilities to adapt to a world of accelerating change. Employees want to develop capabilities that enable them to achieve successful and fulfilling careers. These two things can and should align. Doing so requires shifting the balance of development to be a bit less about what companies need and a lot more about what employees want. And by doing so, creating a situation where both parties get what they desire.”

QUESTION:
Are you “sheep-dipping” your people or encouraging them to self-develop?
How are you able to strike a balance between the two?

FIND OUT MORE:
In MWL 2021, we look at a number of aspects of self-learning and self-development, in particular in Section 14: Adopt a formal self-development process

we look at how to adopt a formal process of self-development that is aligned with organisational goals