MWL Newsletter No 16

News and articles about Modern Workplace Learning (MWL) selected by Jane Hart for the week 28 May – 3 June 2017

Article of the Week

Avoiding the Death Valley in Workplace Learning  Taruna Goel, May 2017

“Are you designing and delivering training but find that little or no learning is taking place. Are you trapped in the ‘death valley’ of workplace learning? Here are a few thoughts and ideas on how, as learning professionals, we can avoid the death valley in workplace learning and instead help sprout the seeds of learning, performance and change:”


From around the Web

Read Mary Meeker’s essential 2017 Internet Trends report Techcrunch, 31 May 2017

“This is the best way to get up to speed on everything going on in tech. Kleiner Perkins venture partner Mary Meeker’s annual Internet Trends report is essentially the state of the union for the technology industry. The widely anticipated slide deck compiles the most informative research on what’s getting funded, how Internet adoption is progressing, which interfaces are resonating, and what will be big next.”


Mentoring Kids To Teach Them Critical Workplace Skills Forbes 1 June 2017

“Patty Alper, author of the new book Teach to Work, has a clever idea addressing two big national issues: the employers’ plea to get young hires with essential workplace skills and the desire by Americans over 50 to give back, especially by helping the nation’s youth. Alper calls it “project-based mentorship.” That means a person with decades of business experience mentors a student on a project the child devises, plans and implements.”


What 25 Years of Teaching Taught Me About Employee Motivation  Jeff Miller, Inc, 2 June 2017

“If you want to excite someone about what you’re sharing, you need to switch the mentality from “teaching” to “learning.” It’s a minor word difference, but it has massive implications.

Talent development is about thinking bottom-up, instead of top-down  … If you come to them with an opportunity to expand their skill set while exploring their interests, instead of a requirement to attend a mandatory management training, you’ll have a much more engaged audience.


There’s No Such Thing as Big Data in HR  HBR, 2 June 2017

“As with most of “the next big thing” stories in business, big data is really important in some areas, and not so important in others. As a literal definition, HR does not actually have big data, or more precisely, almost never does. Most companies have thousands of employees, not millions, and the observations on those employees are still for the most part annual. In a company of this size, there is almost no reason for HR to use the special software and tools associated with big data.”


From the MWL Magazine

Who’s responsible for Modern Workplace Learning? We all are!

Workplace Learning has traditionally been seen as the sole responsibility of Training/L&D departments, but in the modern workplace we are all responsible. Here I look at the roles of the individual/employee, the manager and the L&D department.


Upcoming MWL Workshop

Supporting Learning in the Modern Workplaceg

Next workshop runs 5 June – 14 July 2017

Modern employees now learn in a multitude of ways for, at and through work, so how can you support individuals (and their managers) in the modern workplace This 6-week online workshop will consider the different types of services you might offer to help you put together a plan to move forward in your organisation.

Jane Hart
Director, Centre for Modern Workplace Learning


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