MWL Newsletter No 4

News and articles about Modern Workplace Learning (MWL) selected by – and with commentary from – Jane Hart for the week 5 – 11 March 2017


From around the Web

SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING by Jane Bozarth, 7 March 2017

“Recognize that, for whatever reason, motivated adults can do fine at setting learning goals, choosing resources, and evaluating their outcomes. As ever, building in time and space for employees to occasionally pursue their own learning can serve as a great motivator and benefit.”

JH: Jane provides some ideas for supporting self-directed learning in motivated learning.


A ‘FIELD OF DREAMS’ INDUSTRY by Clark Quinn, 8 March 2017

“Which means that there’s a very strong belief that: if we build it, it is good.  And that, to me, is a Field of Dreams mentality. It feels like the L&D industry is living in a world where they take orders and produce courses and trust that it all works.  I was pleased to hear that there’s testing, but there’s far too little measurement.”

JH: Clark Quinn asks if you are ready to move away from the ‘field of dreams’ status.  As he is says, it is doable, but it requires breaking out of old ways of doing things.


WHY WE HAVE TO REIMAGINE EDUCATION TO FIGHT CORRUPTION World Economic Forum, 9 March 2017

“Traditional approaches to fighting corruption tend to focus on rules, compliance and enforcement. Regulations are passed and organizations are formed to root out graft. These efforts may provide part of the solution, but are often hamstrung or ineffective in places where opacity and patronage are ingrained, and where there is a gap between legal frameworks and everyday behaviors. To truly build systems and societies with integrity we need to rethink these approaches and close these gaps through reimagining education.”

JH: At last an article that explains why we need to move beyond traditional compliance and ethics courses, which are too often check-box exercises


REWRITING THE RULES FOR THE DIGITAL AGE: 2017 DELOITTE GLOBAL HUMAN CAPITAL TRENDS

“This workforce is changing. It’s more digital, more global, diverse, automation-savvy, and social media-proficient. At the same time, business expectations, needs, and demands are evolving faster than ever before. While some view this as a challenge, we see it as an opportunity. An opportunity to reimagine HR, talent, and organizational practices. An opportunity to create platforms, processes, and tools that will continue to evolve and sustain their value over time. An opportunity to take the lead in what will likely be among the most significant changes to the workforce that we have seen.”

JH: A lot of interesting data to get your teeth into. Particularly read the part on careers and the new role of L&D, e.g. “Refocus the L&D team: Move away from training toward curation, culture, and bringing people together.” . But I think it could go even further, maybe it will next year!


HOW TO MODERNIZE MANAGER DEVELOPMENT CLO Magazine, 10 March 2017

“We pushed ourselves to rethink manager development by introducing microlearning and experimentation, personalized support, combined embedded learning with social learning, and promoted the importance of healthy habits. In the process, we designed an experience that combined the scalability of a virtual program with the high-touch impact of a classroom experience.”
JH: A nice overview of how to create a structured approach with modern approaches


From the MWL Magazine

6 March 2017

GAMIFICATION IS LIKE MARMITE. LOVE IT OR HATE IT by Jane Hart

Gamification is another HR buzzword; in fact nowadays everything is being gamified. It is big business; gamification vendors abound, and there are plenty of gamification conferences too. But does it actually work?

 


9 March 2017

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO TRANSFORM WORKPLACE LEARNING? by Jane Hart

When it comes to business transformation, a Harvard Business Review article describes three different “categories of effort” as follows:

  1. OPERATIONAL – This is the use of new technologies to solve old problems. However, although operational change can drive business impact, it doesn’t bring about transformation.
  2. OPERATIONAL MODEL – This involves doing what you are currently doing in a fundamentally different. But this is still not transformative.
  3. STRATEGIC TRANSFORMATION – This is about changing the very essence of the company.

This is a valuable way to help us understand what workplace learning transformation means”

Upcoming MWL Workshop

SUPPORTING MANAGER-LED LEARNING

Workshop run: 13 March – 17 April 2017

When it comes to manager-led learning, there is a huge opportunity to work with managers to help them recognise, value, encourage and support the learning that takes place everyday as a natural part of work – both individually as well as in work teams and groups.This 4-week online workshop looks at how you can help managers, individuals and teams learn from their everyday work as well as support collaborative problem-solving and innovation.


You may copy, print or forward all or part of this Newsletter to others as long as any use is not for resale or profit and I am attributed.

Jane Hart
Director, Centre for Modern Workplace Learning