2022 was about moving past the chaos of the early pandemic moments. It was about reviewing reactionary technology purchases, assessing the need for, and then implementing, agile learning strategies, tweaking development operations so they better delivered against new talent and business goals — as well as overcoming cultural reticence to change — and starting to grapple with growing the soft skills to needed to support organisational success in a VUCA world.
This year, those with learning responsibilities are dealing with volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity that is seemingly around for the long term. Practitioners are facing up to uncertainties around budgets, understand what the right balance of learning delivery methods for long-term hybrid work looks like, and then means for communication of, and engagement in, learning, as well as deliver against even greater demand for soft skills, and better showcase how learning activities deliver against business needs.
On top of that, there are other big challenges to overcome: finances, learner fatigue, newly prioritised skillsets, the return of in-person learning, the rise of interest in next-generation learning technologies, and functional struggles with implementing agile learning and measuring the impact of learning activities all present L&D hurdles.
Positively, the function appears to understand how to overcome these challenges. Here, becoming better aligned to the business, delivering better learning experience (well-communicated, data-informed, in-the-flow of work, in the way that learners want, whether that is digital, curated or in-person) that are constantly assessed for effectiveness, as part of an agile learning culture which delivers the skills the business needs, are widely seen as the way to make learning deliver.
In fact, with the world more hybrid and businesses keen to build workforce skillsets of leadership,
management and good communication, if L&D evolves once more it can rise to the challenge of delivering the connectedness needed in today’s work environment. Whether this is on a strategic level — ensuring that business goals link to L&D operations as well as individual employee and learner activities — or by helping to overcome worker fatigue and bring people together via engaging, appropriate and tailored learning experiences.
This measurement and refine approach can also help with hesitancy around implementing an agile learning culture. As many appear to have taken a step back from implementation and are still scoping agile out, it is worth remembering that an agile learning culture is something that is never properly completed. The best agile cultures understand this, and create the right conditions for success from the start — by getting stakeholder buy-in and using the right mix of learning experiences — delivering learning in the right manner and constantly measuring to leverage data to improve.
This is also what the most successful L&D functions are doing right now. And they don’t stop at just measuring and using data. Many are now turning to the market to get a full symphony offering, which includes technology, content, learning experience services, metrics, and learning communication. It’s based on an understanding that learning which delivers the best engagement and business-oriented outcomes is marketed well and is based on a clear understanding of what individuals need and want to learn, and is designed for how they learn and work.
With further challenges ahead, it’s exactly the type of strategy and experience that is needed for learning-supported business success.