In a learning culture , formal training is just one of many methods used to facilitate employee learning. In a learning culture, we start with the performance goal and then select the mix of methods that will help employees acquire and retain the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs they need in order to achieve those goals. This is a list of 50 of those methods. Testing knowledge – using results of knowledge tests to facilitate more learning. MORE

One of the barriers to creating and sustaining a learning culture in organizations is the no-time myth. Managers resist attending formal training events and participating in other kinds of learning activities (elearning, mentoring, coaching, action-learning, communities of practice, internal wikis, etc.) The problem is that managers don’t make learning a high priority. These leaders need to recognize and reward learning. MORE

This “anytime, anywhere, any device” trend has entered the world of education. Participants play an active role in their training, and their personal investment in the learning process has grown. It’s an experience that has made me realize just how many challenges there are in the highly competitive world of executive education. These challenges include the transformation of the traditional learning model, the need to be agile and the existence of communities of practice. MORE

At the 2016 ATD TechKnowledge Conference, I hosted a session designed for people just getting started with e-learning. If you are just getting started yourself, you might be curious about many of the same issues. In the first installment of this two-part series, we will look at some basic e-learning terminology and concepts questions that were asked during the session. An LMS is a learning management system used to launch and track e-learning courses. MORE

Day two of the Spring 2011 Chief Learning Officer magazine Symposium continued with more innovative learning strategies in Amelia Island, Fla. Bill Whitmore, CEO of AlliedBarton Security Services began the morning with a keynote on how to drive business performance through leadership branding. Whitmore asked the audience if their company can distinguish value and explained why a company’s leadership brand matters in the context of creating business results. MORE

70:20:10 has shone a spotlight on the limits of formal learning. In contrast, social and experiential learning continue to be veritable goldmines of productivity, placing learners at the centre of their story and demanding a major shift from Learning & Development professionals. Central to this cultural shift is the understanding that learning happens by learners, not to them. That’s where learning ecosystems come in. MORE

Last week I posted that Formal learning doesn't need to be all that formal. My argument was that well-designed formal interventions can extend beyond the confines of the course to include elements that would normally be regarded as 70 or 20 in the 70:20:10 model or experiential , on-demand or non-formal in the model I present in The New Learning Architect. A learning cohort becomes just another PeopleCloud group. MORE

The 20 percent: learning through others. Learning is social. People learn with and through others. Conversations are the stem cells of learning. People learn more in an environment that encourages conversation, so make sure you’re fostering an environment where people talk to each other. The kids will learn a lot more this way. Companies need to take advantage of the social nature of learning. Communities of practice. MORE

Your team learns informally all the time. You can support those efforts for more learning bang for your buck. With a shift in your views about what learning is, you can still build a powerful learning organization and demonstrate the value to executives at the same time. A native of New Zealand, Paul Matthews has always applied the practical, no-nonsense approach he learned growing up on a farm to his work in the corporate world. MORE

The 70-20-10 model for professional development is a valuable but dated approach in need of a checkup. There is a core set of frameworks that support the way organizational learning and development is conducted. Many of these, such as the Kirkpatrick evaluation levels, carrot and stick motivational programs and the ADDIE model have been around since the 1960s. The world of mobile and social learning and Google, however, requires new measures. MORE

Last month I spoke at a conference called Beyond the Course - Rethinking Corporate Learning , which was organised by BSkyB and e-learning developer Brightwave. The inimitable Don Taylor did a great job of chairing, and as Nigel Paine attests in his own review, you got the distinct impression that this was an audience looking to ring the changes. Much was made at the conference of the shift from courses to resources, from just-in-case learning to just-in-time. MORE

Last week I attended a preview of this year’s Towards Maturity benchmark results, due for public release on November 5th (you can register for the launch webinar on this page ). In case you don’t know Towards Maturity, they were established in 2003 as a government-funded body to promote the use of learning technologies in workplace learning across the UK. I share the values of TM and believe they have played their part admirably. MORE

It’s the biggest frame of the big picture. Learning Ecosystem, Learning Ecology, and Learnscape mean the same thing as Workscape. I don’t use the word learn with executives, who inevitably think back to the awfulness of school and close their ears. The Workscape is a systems-eye view of the workplace. In the same vein, I talk about Working Smarter instead of informal learning, social learning, and so forth. Scope of the habitat. MORE

Eight leader habits are essential to a learning culture. These are behaviors ingrained in the routines and rituals of organizations that are continually learning and learning how to learn. Leaders in these organizations do the following: Send the message - Leaders communicate the importance of learning to the organization. This message is in the guiding principles of the business. This learning cannot be left to chance. MORE