The Learning Organization of the Future

The world of learning and development, like every other sector, is facing disruption from a combination of factors. These include emerging technologies such as XR (Extended Reality), the Metaverse, AI, new ways of working, and changing worker expectations. Additionally, a resurgence of focus on value and cost optimization is driving further disruption around how companies need to operate, creating a paradox for learning in that it’s in high demand, but must be delivered in new, smarter ways.

To meet these changing paradigms and take advantage of new technologies, companies need to re-imagine their learning organizations – it’s a full redesign including new roles, new tools and new approaches. The problem today is that learning organizations are viewed as a cost center, whereas learning needs to be prioritized as an ROI generator.

So, what does the learning organization of the future look like and what can CLO’s and organizational leaders do to begin making the shift to better, more sustainable programs?

Get the Business Case Right

The mission of a company is simple – grow profitably and benefit all stakeholders. Unfortunately, talent is not often front and center in the investments made. Meanwhile learning is pretty much always underfunded, putting strain on learning orgs to continuously juggle between competing needs from different parts of the business. All leaders, and not just the CLO, should view talent (not just through hiring) as a strategic differentiator and imperative – and the learning organization delivering an ROI. Tying skills to performance and programs to outcomes is tough, but very possible and should be more of the focus to get it right.

Renew the organization model

There is no one-size-fits all model. We see organizations moving towards centralized structure, but for larger companies, training teams need to be more embedded within the business. We see a hybrid model working best, with a central learning team focused on the strategy, learning culture, technology & tools, and coordination, with localized teams (geographic and business) focused on skills planning and delivery.

Embrace New Technologies but keeping it simple

Like any organization, those that embrace and adopt new technologies into how they work will win. There is a flood of learning tools and technologies in the market, and there has never been more exciting times for learning designers. Instead of trying to adopt every new ‘shiny’ thing, there must be a comprehensive learning technology strategy that supports the overall vision and skilling needs of the organization. These technologies can often go hand in hand and should be thought of as positive investments that will accelerate learning development and deployment while enhancing learner experience and maximizing performance.

Obsess on learner experience

Speaking of learner experience – this is the magic sauce of any program. Changing preferences from new generations of workers in how they learn, combined with faster skilling cycles can make keeping up with learning needs challenging. But focusing on making learning fun, engaging and meaningful not only promotes a more positive culture of learning but will ultimately deliver on performance (aka a Kirkpatrick L5 for you learning folks…).

Go On-Demand

Business leaders and companies of every size are dealing with a 2-factor issue – workers need more, broader skills profiles with deeper levels of specialization, and they need new skills faster. Companies can leverage new automated technologies to better align teams closer to the business, and shift from reactive, long planning cycles (for example away from annual training) to an on-demand strategy focusing on skills required by the business. Having a complete skills plan is the foundation and using rapid development tools and features like chat bots, DAP tools will help create this shift.

Shift to Skills-oriented training

The highest performing organizations are skills-based. Companies need to know what skills, not just jobs, are needed to deliver business objectives – in the short term as well as longer term. Strategic new skilling should not be just a program, but the entire focus of learning teams. Creating skills plans mapped to the business strategy is a great starting point, followed by creating the learner profiles and paths with a focus on seamless integration into the employee’s experience. It sounds tough and is a bit of an effort but will be paramount to a company’s performance and even survival in the future fight for talent.

Conclusion: Pivot or be left behind

Learning organizations that can make these shifts will be exceptionally positioned to support their company’s talent needs.

With talent being the great competitive advantage (and also becoming more complicated) learning is the center of the future of work and potentially one of the critical success factors in a company’s long-term viability through uncertain economic times.