As new technologies are released every day, every minute and every second. Such climate increases the need for proactive and solid employee development. The first half-year of 2023 will finish soon. Let’s take a look of the emerging trends of learning and development this year and get some insights to turn VUCA into your advantages.
1. Greater focus on digital skills
The world shifts to digital-first interactions like remote work, online commerce, virtual collaboration. Businesses not only need to adopt the right technology, but also need to ensure employees is up to speed and comfortable using it. A focus on digital literacy has never been more critical and it’s no longer optional but a must to everyone in the organisation. Companies are paying high attention to offer new technology training and job-specific digital skills.
2. Microlearning
In recent years, work has changed significantly that workers have to work on multiple tasks at once and thus they are being pulled in many different directions also at once. It’s challenging for them to set aside two or three hours to focus on L&D.
Microlearning becomes a way to break down learning content into bite-size pieces so learners can complete online during small pockets of time which takes around five to ten minutes throughout the workday. These short and precise learning modules delivers specific and direct information that can be consumed easily.
3. Upskilling and reskilling
LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report reveals that 25% of LinkedIn members’ skills for the same job role changed by 25% in just six years. Upskilling and reskilling are hot topics in the L&D industry since new roles are emerging and new technologies are being developed. Employees would need reskilling and upskilling to continue to perform their roles competitively. So learning now is not just about helping employees move up their careers, it’s more about making their job more durable.
4. Continuous Customized Learning
There is always a misconception that personalized learning is self-directed by employees. But in fact, it is a learner-centered approach that the learning content, learning environment and delivery platform are customized to meet individual learner’s needs.
The most recent and popular approach is by using learning analytics and AI-enhanced online platforms to create customized plans for each learners. This method begins with a competency-based test that gauges employees’ strengths and weakness. Followed by AI analytics to provide a customized learning plan for individual learners. This approach saves time, increases efficiency as well as ensures knowledge retention.
5. Gamification wave
Without learner engagement, even the best planned learning strategies would fail. So more companies are turning to gamification for true engagement. Gamification is to apply game mechanics to learning with a non-game context to enhance participation and experience. More learning materials are gamified with elements such as badges, scoring systems, and levels to motivate learners to solve problems. Millennials and Gen Zers are becoming the largest labor force. They have competitive spirit, the tendency to communicate visually, the appetite for instant gratification and rewards as well as the demand for rapid feedback. As such, gamification can challenge with learning activities and rewarding them when they reach defined goals.
The rapidly changing workplace in the AI era demands businesses to become skill-based organisation by adapting new learning and development strategies to stay competitive. We are excited about the opportunities L&D has in this year and to see businesses are proactively embracing these trends by fostering a culture of continues improvement, enhanced employees satisfaction and retention.