See Why Learning and Development Will Be More Important Than Ever In 2019

• 5 min read

Uncover the key e-learning trends you can’t ignore for your learning strategy.

More organizations than ever before are embracing the importance of learning and development (L&D) and talent development – a trend that is very much being driven from the top down.

Consider this:

What Should L&D Departments Be Doing in 2019?

The e-learning market and its focus on technological innovation is being buoyed by this stronger consensus among top executives that L&D is a major benefit to their organization.

E-Learning has become an essential tool in enterprise learning and as it continuously evolves in response to rapidly changing business requirements, new technologies and the new expectations of today’s learners, this presents an exciting foundation upon which to build your learning initiatives for the future. 

The Top Learning Technology Priorities for the next 12-24 months

  1. Data analytics
  2. Social/collaborative tools
  3. Mobile delivery
  4. Content management
  5. Virtual classrooms

Here are some of the key e-learning trends you can’t ignore in 2019:

 

The Traditional LMS Has Evolved And That Can’t be Ignored

In just the past few years, learning technology has evolved from a simple LMS, designed to house and manage learning content, to cloud-based systems that offered new functionalities with the intention of bringing organizations closer together, no matter their location, while improving platform security. 

Yet technology development outside of L&D sparked a growing appetite for smarter enterprise learning offerings, for both L&D decision-makers and administrators – and their learners.

To empower learners with relevant knowledge that helps them develop personally and professionally,  companies need to identify learners’ needs and close skill gaps. It’s time to rethink how you deliver learning with an LMS and start considering how to create a more comprehensive learning experience using a modern learning platform.

LMS vs. Learning Platform: What’s the difference

LMS: Focuses on the management of things (courses, learners, reports, etc.)

Learning Platform: Facilitates a holistic approach to enterprise learning, with an LMS at its core, to enable formal, social and experiential learning, as well as skills management, to link learning to overall organizational performance.

With the help of a modern learning platform and suitable content partners, companies can develop and deliver content that will not only help them achieve their business goals but also help their employees achieve their personal goals. 

Use Technology to Connect Learning to Organizational Performance

The mismatch between skills and organizational needs continues to grow, with the digitization of business to blame. On the other hand, businesses need to get better about building and developing existing employees, while reducing their reliance on the external labor market and associated recruitment costs.

One way to do so is by tailing development to meet the organization’s skills requirements of the future and anticipating how those needs will change and continue to evolve over time. For example, developing a strategy that focuses on upskilling hard-to-fill positions might be effective in reducing turnover and retention issues, and the time it might take to fill that position should an existing employee leave.

The Benefits of a Skilled Workforce

35% reduction in time spent searching for sales content.

22% faster rollouts of products and processes.

Up to 80% of managers believe effective training is critical to project success and meeting project deadlines.

Skill levels linked to business value result in $70,000 in annual savings and a 10% increase in productivity when teams are well trained.

The Value of Training

Start Designing L&D For Gen Z 

There’s a new generation that demands our focus and attention – one that, by 2020, will make up 20% of the global workforce – Generation Z (Gen Z). 

Gen Zers are born between 1996 and 2011 and are the first truly digital generation. Here are a few factors L&D leaders must consider when designing learning programs for Gen Z:

  • Be as authentic as possible:

Create training scenarios that leverage external speakers for seminars and workshops (formal training), and allow Gen Zer’s to bring their own personalities into e-learning activities.

  • Embrace collaboration and competition:

Incorporate gamification features that foster a healthy dose of internal competition. Doing so so not only boosts morale but also improves overall training ROI as learners compete to beat benchmarks set by fellow learners.

Globally, the technologies that Gen Z and Millennials want their employers to incorporate into the workplace include:

  • social media
  • wearables  
  • virtual reality

In today’s enterprise learning environment, the level of personalization in an employee’s learning plan can be the make or break point between retaining and losing talent. By allowing employees, especially those from Gen Z, to provide their inputs into these plans, this allows organizations to leverage and understand the skills they already have and identify ones they need to work on. 

Take Mobile Learning to the Next Level 

Mobile devices aren’t simply a part of a new reality, they’ve taken over in the way people consume content. These devices are a must-have if you’re going to connect with not only the fresh-faced workers of the future but also those wiley veterans ripe full of knowledge that you should be leveraging as knowledge capital to share across your organization.

While mobile learning is the tool learners need to take their training activities on the go, offline learning is the key to truly offering learning anytime, anywhere. Your learners want to be able to learn no matter the circumstance, even if that includes the lack of an internet connection.

Need proof mobile learning will be core to guiding your learning activities of the future?

64% of learners find accessing their training content from a mobile device essential.

46% of learners use mobile learning before they go to sleep at night.

The average person spends 2 hours and 51 minutes on their smartphone each day, looking at it roughly 221 times and touching its screen more than 2,600 times.

Smartphone learners complete course material 45% faster than those using a computer. 

Artificial Intelligence is Here and Ready to be Leveraged

What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

Put simply, it’s an area of computer science that aims to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings such as problem-solving, recognizing things, finding patterns and adapt to changing circumstances.

When it comes to e-learning, AI makes the software used to deliver e-learning more effective, automated and personalized by simulating human behavior, natural language, and reasoning. 

A survey of 3,000 business leaders by Boston Consulting Group and MIT Sloan Management Review found that many executives understand AI’s potential, but have yet to put a strategy that leverages it into action. Here are some of the most interesting findings from the survey.

  • Almost 85% believe AI will allow their companies to obtain or sustain a competitive advantage
  • Over 60% of all companies don’t have an AI strategy in place

AI makes learning personal. It makes learning relevant, with insights based on data, on user behavior and on preferences – not simply what others “liked.” AI changes enterprise learning’s status-quo with an incredible ability to deliver automated and truly personalized learning (at scale) to completely change the way people learn for the better. And the best part is that AI is already being incorporated into e-learning to help create immersive learning experiences and relieve admins from menial tasks.

Is your learning strategy ready for the exciting changes that will come with the new year?  Download the E-Learning Trends 2019 report to learn more about the biggest trends reshaping L&D in 2019 and beyond.