Continuous Learning in the Time of Learning as a Service

Posted by
SHARE

Continuous Learning


Tell me, I forget. Show me, I remember. Involve me, I understand.

This is an ancient Chinese proverb that offers many interpretations. In the context of modern workplace learning, it holds good for continuous or lifelong learning. As organizations seek to offer a progressive and positive work environment for their employees, we observe an increased focus on continuous learning and learning on the job. It is becoming increasingly difficult for smaller organizations to dedicate a separate window of time for intensive training of their new hires. We are seeing a greater focus on a mentor-based training program, wherein each new hire is assigned to a skilled and experienced professional who would guide the new hire and train them on the job. In this blog post, we will look at the benefits of continuous learning at the workplace and examine how learning as a service is gaining impetus globally.

The Benefits of Continuous Learning at the Workplace

By fostering an environment that nurtures continuous learning, organizations can reap the following benefits:

  • Empower employees with career-focused learning
  • Learn and work simultaneously
  • Save costs and time
  • Create a strong workforce that can handle challenges
  • Build a collaborative learning culture that fosters employee bonding
benefits_continuous_learning_infographics

Empower Employees

We have stressed with unfailing regularity on the importance of creating a conducive learning environment at work. Surveys by LinkedIn on workplace learning indicate that employees prefer to work in a place that allows them to learn new skills and enhance their career. Continuous learning allows organizations to deploy learning with ease and helps employees balance their time and work better.

Learn and Work Simultaneously

Dedicating separate time for training amidst busy work schedules is a challenge that most L&D teams face. By deploying eLearning solutions on the company LMS / intranet / mobile app, organizations offer their employees the chance to learn at their convenience without impacting their regular day-to-day activities. Continuous learning helps employees learn and work simultaneously and helps L&D meet their employee training goals as well.

ALSO READ :   Why and how to write eLearning objectives?

Learn how Origin created a powerful eLearning solution for a leading luxury travel retailer to onboard and train their employees. The solution was built as a gamified, social, collaborative learning platform and helped the retailer achieve their training goals at a far lesser cost.

Continuous Learning Saves Costs and Time

This is a ‘no-brainer’ – when you deploy learning solutions internally for employee training, you save on costs and time. You do not have to bring in an external trainer and pay for the trainer, you do not have to help facilitate special training sessions within the busy schedule of your employees. By granting access to your employees to learn at their convenience, you remove the stress and pressure of completing lessons at a specific time and place. If you have designers internally to create your eLearning content, it makes things further easier. Alternatively, scout for a trustworthy eLearning company to design and deploy your employee training content, consider it as a long-lasting investment, which will help your organization grow.

Create a Strong Workforce

‘Never stop learning’ – Three words that pack a lot of emotions. Organizations should strive to create an environment that places a lot of importance on employee learning and skill development. By creating a talent pool of skilled employees, organizations will be better placed to take up challenging projects and deliver them successfully. Continuous learning at the workplace is the best way to make this initiative a success. Prepare for the future and equip your employees with the in-demand skills relevant to your industry and business.

At Origin Learning, we created an eLearning program for the campus-hires who joined our Content Team. Through a series of microlearning lessons, learners were given a refresher course in English. The content covered areas like U.S. vs U.K. English, sentence structure, usage of apostrophe, adjectival clauses, etc. The modules were deployed on an internal instance of the Origin Fractal mobile app. Learners would receive email alerts in conjunction with the launch of new lessons. Designed to be completed under 15 minutes the modules were a great success and helped the campus-hires brush up their English language skills. 

ALSO READ :   Improving Productivity with Performance Support Training

Continuous Learning Fosters a Collaborative Learning Culture

Do you know the names of at least five members in your organization who are not a part of your team, or do not work in HR? If we were to put this question across to large organizations with more than 200 employees, we would be surprised to learn how isolated we are in our own worlds. Psychologists recommend that we make at least one good friend at work in whom we can confide our secrets. The way modern workplaces function it becomes very difficult to find a non-competitive and meaningful friendship. One of the key benefits of social learning is that it creates a collaborative learning environment. Colleagues learn and pick up new skills in an informal setting, there is scope to make meaningful friendships at work, and challenge each other to complete learning assignments. Continuous learning helps in making this scenario real.

An interesting stat from the 2019 LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report:

L&D Linkedin

The Growth of Learning as a Service

When SaaS became a rage powered by the growth of ‘cloud computing’, no one would have predicted with certainty that workplace learning would also follow a similar trajectory to create an industry niche called – ‘Learning as a Service’(LaaS). What we are witnessing today is an explosion of knowledge and information. Traditional sellers of catalog courses are competing with niche eLearning companies developing on-demand customized eLearning content. To add to the mix, course aggregators like Udemy and Coursera are offering a treasure trove of eLearning and video-based content from subject matter experts at highly affordable prices. LaaS comes as a boon for smaller organizations who do not really want to be burdened by large-scale LMS restrictions and pricing plans. With a pay-per-use model, LaaS facilitates affordable workplace learning powered by mobile learning apps. See these interesting stats again from the 2109 LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report:

Workplace Learning Linkedin
Workplace Learning Linkedin2

Learning as a Service and Continuous Learning at the Workplace

Organizations are betting big on continuous learning at the workplace. By investing in mobile learning apps and mobile-first learning management systems, organizations are fostering mobile learning among their employees. By giving employees the flexibility to learn at their own convenience and pace, HR and L&D teams have found a workable solution that does not hinder with daily operations either. In the last couple of years, there’s a growing clamor in L&D circles about ‘Learning Experience Platforms’ – LEP / LXP. These platforms focus on learning and remove the constraints of a regular LMS by allowing open access learning and tracking informal learning. Visit www.originfractal.com to learn more about the new LXP from Origin Learning.

ALSO READ :   Origin Learning Wins the 2014 Chief Learning Officer Gold Award for Excellence in Social Learning

Conclusion

The corporate learning market is steadily growing. It is estimated that the market will be worth USD 30 billion at 13% CAGR by the year 2022. If one includes the higher education eLearning market as well this value will exponentially grow further. Adoption of LaaS as a sustainable business model by smaller organizations looking to meet their training needs; and boutique eLearning firms creating customized learning content will contribute to the growth of innovative workplace learning solutions. One cannot underestimate the impact of the ‘cloud’ on learning business models and as organizations look for better online product adoption solutions, one can expect more eLearning providers to head the LaaS way.

Reading Resources:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mohanbirsawhney/2019/03/04/learning-as-a-service-lifelong-learning-in-a-software-and-services-world/#396b5c1a6720

https://learning.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/business/en-us/amp/learning-solutions/images/workplace-learning-report-2019/pdf/workplace-learning-report-2019.pdf


SHARE

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *