Developing leaders with a learning platform

At a time of a widespread shortage of leaders and leadership skills, the main leadership training challenge is how to develop leaders from within organizations. That task is made more complicated by the increase in remote working. So, businesses are increasingly looking to learning platforms to provide a solution.

The leadership development landscape

Effective leadership at all levels is key to driving business performance, yet many organizations report a widening gap in critical leadership skills. As long ago as 2015, a Brandon Hall study revealed that of 83% of organizations who recognized the importance of developing leaders, only 5% had taken steps to fully implement leadership development at all levels. And remember, this was before the Covid pandemic, the Great Resignation, and an exacerbated general skills shortage.

Even a decade ago more than half the businesses (58%) in the survey identified closing the gap in leadership skills as their top priority. The intervening years and the growing pace of technological and economic change have only reinforced that conclusion.

The benefits of using a learning platform for leadership training

Learning platforms enable businesses to develop leaders in-house especially where remote working is common. They provide a range of on-demand content and offer a variety of learning approaches that support and sustain leadership development.

The benefits of using a learning platform to develop leaders include:

Always on

Training content and support materials are accessible 24/7 on a range of devices. This means learners don’t need to wait for courses to be scheduled and training can be conducted in-house and remotely.

Learning in the workflow

With access to a learning platform training is on the job and situated in the context in which it’s to be applied. Placing leadership training in context increases its relevance and develops the particular skill sets that an organization needs.

Wide range of content

Digital content can be externally sourced and developed in-house. This means learners have access to best-in-class, industry-standard training, as well as content that reflects the business’s culture and priorities. New content can be quickly added and is instantly available across the organization.

Flexibility

With a learning platform leadership training is no longer a one-size-fits-all affair. Content comes in a variety of formats and can be easily re-purposed and customized to accommodate the requirements of individual learners. Breaking content down into bite-size chunks of microlearning provides for on-the-job training that is just in time.

Closing skills gaps

Learning platforms provide analytical tools that help identify leadership skills gaps. Once identified gaps can be addressed by adapting current content or developing new digital materials. These learning assets can be seamlessly disseminated across sectors and geographies.

Automated tools

Automation backed by AI makes the roll-out and the delivery of leadership training more efficient. Automated tasks allow leadership trainers and L&D managers to concentrate on higher order interventions and focus on key soft skills like communications and coaching, which are critical in dispersed organizations where many team members are operating remotely.

Cost-effective

The range of training options, re-usable and repurposed content, and different modes of delivery make using a learning platform a more sustainable way of delivering leadership training. It saves on the time, performance, and budget lost to external training programs and delivers more relevant and effective learning.

Ten ways learning platforms support leadership training

1. Personalization

The ability to customize content means training can be tailored to the goals of the learner and the business. Personalization allows training to accommodate leaders at different stages of their development and levels of experience. New leaders have different training requirements from existing leaders, but both will benefit from leadership training that recognizes the context and culture of their working environment.

2. Learning paths

An advantage of the ability to personalize learning is the creation of individual learning paths. These chart and map leaders development based on their experience, skills levels, and roles. The paths are marked with learning milestones and recognized with micro credentials (like digital badges). Learning paths make leadership development more transparent and relevant.

3. Role plays and scenarios

Leadership training is more effective if it is tied to the environment in which it’s needed. Role plays and scenario-based learning allow new leaders to practice the skills they’ve learned in fail-safe, but realistic situations. AI applications accessible from the learning platform generate role plays that give learners the chance to hone their communications, analytical, and decision-making skills in a variety of situations where leaders need to show leadership.

4. Collaboration

Leadership is primarily about getting the best out of individuals and teams. Learning platforms come with apps that facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing. These include shared online workspaces and communication and project management tools. These collaborative tools facilitate teamwork especially when team members are geographically dispersed. They promote inclusivity, encourage diverse perspectives, and provide opportunities for coaching – all key leadership objectives.

5. User-generated content

Learning platforms allow users to post their own content: advice, tips and recommendations. This is a way of unlocking and capturing leadership expertise. Similar to social media, content can be searched for and reviewed, and comments posted. This creates a dialog that helps refine and update business knowledge in a format familiar to the way we access information in our daily lives.

6. Microlearning

Digital content can be delivered in short, topic specific chunks so that key information can be quickly accessed and digested. Microlearning is a useful tool for upskilling, targeting skills deficits in a time sensitive way. Microlearning makes content available on the job, at the point of need and can be accessed on mobile devices.

7. Learning analytics

Learning platforms come equipped with reporting tools to generate standard and customizable reports. These can be used to track performance and learning effectiveness. Learning analytics is an efficient way to identify skills gaps and the remedial action needed to address them. Analytics allows senior leaders to evaluate the progress of trainee leaders and reveal leadership potential.

8. Automated tools

Learning platforms automate aspects of training implementation. Notifications can be set to remind learners of deadlines or notify them of mandatory training, of the availability of new learning content, and of development opportunities. Recommendations for further learning can be generated based on previous learner choices or preferences. This automated reminder system helps keep remote workers in the loop.

9. Assessment tools

Various modes of assessment from self-marking to uploading assignments for feedback provide a means to check knowledge recall and competencies. Assessments can verify milestones reached on learning paths and be the basis for awarding micro credentials.

10. Continuous learning

A learning platform can be a foundation stone on which to build a learning culture stretching across the organization. Adopting a learning platform for developing leaders makes it more accessible in two senses. Firstly, the training content and programs are always available. And, secondly, using a learning platform makes leadership development more visible and transparent for aspiring leaders.

Using a learning platform for leading in a remote world

Remote workers may be working wholly or partly from home or be in a different geographic location. Working at a distance has two main consequences – employees are remote from peers and managers, and managers may have many remote employees reporting into them.

Learning platforms help support leaders of remote team members and develop the leadership skills of those who are working remotely.

Here’s how:

Making a connection

Video conferencing and project management tools integrated into the platform provide the technical infrastructure and the means to keep teams connected.

Open communication

The connectivity offered by learning platforms ensures information and knowledge are openly shared. Leaders can check in regularly with their remote workers and channel their people skills to offer emotional support and empathy.

The go-to for support

Learning platforms are a one-stop shop for information and learning that’s accessible to everyone no matter where they are. They make remote workers feel part of the team and the organization.

A voice for remote workers

Learning platforms help structure a dialogue that allows the sharing of ideas and concerns with colleagues and managers. This socialized approach to learning allows remote employees to contribute and give their input.

Leave no one behind

Learning platforms ensure standardization so that everyone is on the same page. Remote workers need not miss out on leadership development opportunities.

Learning platforms make a critical difference to leadership development

Learning platforms enhance leadership training. They make it practicable and affordable to bring leadership training in-house. Updatable, customizable content delivers an agile response to skills gaps. Learning platforms support the development of leaders across the organization including those working remotely. They offer tools for leaders to manage diverse and dispersed individuals and teams.

Learning platforms provide the basis for developing new leaders and new leadership skills fit to meet the challenges of the current and future business environment.

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