Human Resource Training and Development
Rock$tarGirl
Chapter11.docxThe Future of Training and Development
Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to
1. Identify the future trends that are likely to influence training departments and trainers.
2. Discuss how these future trends may affect training delivery and administration, as well as the strategic role of the training department.
3. Discuss how rapid instructional design differs from traditional training design.
4. Discuss the advantages of embedded learning.
5. Discuss how training can contribute to a company’s sustainability initiative.
6. Discuss the implications of cloud computing for learning, training, and development.
Welcome to the Office of the Future!
What might the office of the future look like? Physically, it will look the same as today’s offices. Employees still will have desks, meet in conference rooms, and eat in the cafeteria. There likely will be new technology, such as smaller tablet computers. Teleconferences will provide instantaneous language translations, making it easier for employees who do not speak each other’s language to talk to each other. “Tables” will be able to make three-dimensional holograms of real-world objects without requiring special glasses to see them. Holographic technology (like that used to have such late entertainers as rapper Tupac Shakur or Frank Sinatra “appear” at parties and music festivals) can be used for CEOs to communicate messages to a global company “in person,” employees to virtually appear in meetings, and learners to interact with complex products and equipment in a way that makes it easier to understand how they work. Offices will have special window glass that can change from a solar panel to a multimedia screen to a frosted privacy shade. Technology like that found in game consoles will allow employees to navigate computer screens just by moving their wrists. Computer programs will be available to tell employees who they should work with on their next project. People will also work with computers491that capitalize on the innate strengths of humans—computers are strong on routine processing, repetitive arithmetic, and error-free consistency, while at least for now we humans are better at complex communications, pattern matching, intuition, and creativity. For example, consider two examples of how people and computers can capitalize on each other’s strengths to help make the workplace more efficient and effective. In 2011, Watson, a specially programmed computer, was able to beat the best human Jeopardy! players (including Ken Jennings, who won more consecutive episodes of the game show than anyone in history) by quickly extracting the correct answer from huge datasets of information. Watson can understand natural language, including puns, slang, and jargon. It “learns” by reprogramming itself as more information is presented and it makes mistakes. Watson provides not one but multiple answers ranked by the probability they are correct. A pop-up window provides support for each answer. Since its debut in 2011, Watson has slimmed down in size and increased it capacity. It once took up the space of a large room. Now, Watson fits into a computer server the size of four pizza boxes and it is 240 times faster! Watson was the first step in the development of “Search bots,” which can be used to review the web to find information that fits a profile provided by employees. This will include major developments, news feeds and alerts, and searches of relevant professional publications. For example, Watson helped IBM develop an adviser for oncologists who treat lung cancer. Watson was given more than 600,000 medical files and 2 million pages of medical journals and results of clinical drug trials. Doctors can ask Watson a question and Watson will provide treatment recommendations. The search bot will improve with feedback telling it that you like some content but not other content.
Keep in mind that regardless of current advances in computer pattern recognition and complex communication, human skills in applied math and statistics, negotiation and group dynamics, writing, solving open-ended problems, persuasion, nurturing, and interaction cannot be replaced by a computer and will remain in demand. For example, driverless cars, self-driving trucks at iron ore mines that need no human operators, and computers that perform legal research are recent advances in automation. But computing technology has been unable to replicate human skills and abilities used to fold laundry! Unlike humans, robots have been unable to make the distinctions between fabric types and weights and irregular clothes sizes that are needed to neatly fold clothes. Researchers are working to narrow the gap between the human mind and the robot mind. Cyberconsciousness, an awareness of feelings, caring, and living, is being developed for software. Cyberconsciousness will allow us to download our brains to create virtual people and “mindclones.” For example, the Siri app on i-Phones is a crude version of a virtual person. The development of virtual people is currently limited because of the lack of power of software, but research is under way to develop virtual versions of historical people. Cyberconsciousness will allow robots to take over jobs and become our workplace partners. For example, Sophie, a robot developed jointly by NEC Corporation in Japan and La Trobe University Business School in Australia, is intended to be used to interview job candidates. Sophie can ask and respond to questions, assess a candidate’s physiological responses, and compare their results with the top 10 percent of the existing workforce.
492
Nanotechnology advances will be available to help us enhance our learning and computational skills. Three-atom-wide nanobots injected into the brain could assist in memory and cognition. We may also pop ampakine pills to enhance our attention spans and aid learning and memory without experiencing the side effects of sleeplessness. Learning will likely occur 24/7 using mobile devices such as smart phones, tablets such as the iPad, and netbooks. This learning will be brief and available wherever we need it. Using global positioning system (GPS) sensitivity, we will be able to set our social networking profile to alert us when topic experts are available and tell us their physical proximity from our location. Social learning via shared workspaces, social networks, and wikis (learning from others) will supplement traditional training, encouraging employees to learn from each other, from trainers and instructors, and from other work experts.
Sources: Based on J. Faragher, “Could holographic technology revolutionize training and development?” Personnel Today (February 14, 2013), from www.personnelltoday.com , accessed February 21, 2013; M. Mihelich, “Welcome to cyberia,” Workforce (January 2015): 40–43, 49; G. Colvin, “In the future, will there be any work left for people to do?” Fortune (June 2, 2014), from www.fortune.com , accessed April 21, 2015); J. Hempel, “IBM’s massive bet on Watson,” Fortune (October 7, 2013): 81–88; T. Aeppel, “Jobs and the clever robot,” The Wall Street Journal (February 25, 2015): A1, A10; G. Colvin, “Brave new work: The office of tomorrow,” Fortune (January 16, 2012): 34–41; 49–54; P. Galagan, “How would you train a transhuman?” T+D (January 2012): 27–29; P. Ketter, “2010 six trends that will change workplace learning forever,” T+D (December 2010): 34–40; E. Brynjolfsson and A. McAfee, “Winning the race with ever-smarter machines,” MIT Sloan Management Review (Winter 2012): 53–60.
INTRODUCTION
The previous ten chapters discussed training design and delivery, development and career management, and training’s role in contributing to social responsibility through managing diversity and inclusion and helping the multigenerational workforce prepare and successfully deal with career challenges. This chapter takes a look at what the future of training and development might look like. The chapter opener highlights how technological advancements will shape where and how we work and learn. Technological advances represent one trend that is likely to influence the future of training and development and your future as a trainer. Table 11.1 shows the future trends discussed in this chapter that will influence training.
TABLE 11.1 Future Trends That Will Affect Training
|
· Need to contribute to sustainability · Use of new technologies for training delivery at instruction · Breakthroughs in neuroscience about learning · Greater emphasis on speed in design, focus on content · Increased emphasis on capturing and sharing intellectual capital and social learning · Increased use of just-in-time learning and performance support · Increased emphasis on performance analysis, Big Data, and learning for business enhancement · Increased use of stakeholder-focused learning, training partnerships, and outsourcing training |
493
Training for Sustainability
Sustainability refers to a company’s ability to make a profit without sacrificing the resources of its employees, the community, or the environment. A growing number of companies have made sustainability an important part of their business strategy. Training and development can contribute to companies’ sustainability initiatives by providing learning opportunities for employees in organizations in developing countries that lack the resources, providing development experiences for employees in poor and emerging countries that benefit the local community, and teaching employers to protect the environment. Consider how training at Novartis and Ingersoll Rand is helping these companies reach their sustainability goals. 1
Novartis, the pharmaceutical company, is actively involved in improving health care in Africa by helping the fight against infectious diseases that have made life expectancy in Africa fifteen years less than the global average.1 The Novartis Malaria Initiative has delivered more than 500 million free treatments. To support health professionals working with sick children, Novartis worked with the World Health Organization to develop e-learning for managing childhood illnesses. Alcon, the eye division of Novartis, has trained eye care professionals in Sierra Leone. Also, Novartis supports the Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative (REPSSI), an African-based philanthropic organization that provides emotional and psychological support to children affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The company’s trainers provide REPSSI’s employees with leadership development training. To help meet the organization’s goal of helping children and youth so that they can live with hope and dignity, REPSSI managers need training in communication skills, providing feedback, intercultural skills, and project management. Novartis has transformed its corporate training programs into a form useful for REPSSI. The training content is delivered through instructor-led courses and e-learning. Novartis and training vendor partners, including business schools, send speakers at their own expense to Africa. Instructors are also available for follow-up after each course is completed.
Ingersoll Rand, a global industrial company, wanted employees to understand how to reduce energy consumption and waste and to lower emissions. The company has several target goals for becoming more sustainable by 2020, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions of its operations 35 percent and a 50 percent reduction in the greenhouse gases produced by its heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration products. To accomplish these goals, Ingersoll Rand developed the Design for Sustainability training program. The training emphasizes understanding sustainability and incorporating it in product design and how to analyze and communicate the value of sustainability in product markets. Employees can receive two levels of credentials in the program. The silver level requires seven hours of self-paced online learning and focuses on understanding why Ingersoll Rand focuses on design sustainability. The gold level includes ten hours of self-paced online learning. It also includes three ninety-minute sessions led by a virtual instructor from UL Environment, a consulting firm. To receive either the silver- or gold-level certification requires employees to pass an exam. The first participants in the program included design and manufacturing engineers, product managers, and other employees working in product development. To evaluate the program, Ingersoll Rand is collecting data on the number of new products developed using materials to reduce greenhouse gases, the use of new material to reduce product weight (which reduces shipping costs and increases fuel494efficiency), and employee engagement. Based on the positive feedback it received from the first participants in the program, Ingersoll Rand is planning to offer it to all employees.
INCREASED USE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR TRAINING DELIVERY AND INSTRUCTION
The use of social media, smartphones, and other new technologies will likely increase in the future for several reasons. First, the cost of these technologies will decrease. Second, companies can use technology to better prepare employees to serve customers and generate new business. Third, use of these new technologies can substantially reduce the training costs related to bringing geographically dispersed employees to one central training location (e.g., travel, food, and housing). Fourth, these technologies allow trainers to build into training many of the desirable features of a learning environment (e.g., practice, feedback, reinforcement). Fifth, as companies employ more contingent employees (e.g., part-timers and consultants) and offer more alternative work arrangements (e.g., flexible work schedules and working from home), technology will allow training to be delivered to any place and at any time. Sixth, new technologies will make it easier for training and performance support to be accessible to learners anytime and anyplace.
Table 11.2 shows technological advances that will likely influence training delivery and instruction. Wearable technology is being used for consumer applications. For example, guests at Walt Disney World wear MagicBands that substitute for their park tickets, charge cards, and hotel room keys. 2 MagicBands link to a phone app (My Disney Experience), which tracks groups visiting the park, allowing them to see the location of others in their group in order to arrange meeting places. Wearable bands such as FitBits allow us to track how many steps we walk each day; our heart rate before, during, and after exercise; and how many calories we burned. Smart eyewear allows images to be projected directly onto the retina of the eye. The technology takes what can be shown on a computer screen, reduces it, and projects it on the retina where it can be seen in full color. Wearables are just beginning to be developed and used for training and performance support solutions. Wearable Intelligence provides smart eyewear technology and camera technology that gives employees hands-free, voice-activated access to procedures and checklists; live access to experts using tablet computers that allow data and live video sharing; the opportunity to review best-practice videos before or during the performance of complex procedures495and operations; and real-time notifications and alerts. 3 The technology is currently being used in energy and health care. An operator who might be working on a remote oil rig or a surgeon in a sterile operating room can share live video with experts and get their advice needed to fix a broken valve or complete a medical procedure, while remaining focused on the equipment or patient. Wearable technologies can also potentially be used to provide useful needs assessment data by tracking what tasks employees perform the most. For example, a health club could track how much time fitness trainers spend in their offices, working in the gym providing personal training, or conducting group exercise classes. This helps managers and trainers identify how frequently tasks are performed, which is useful information for determining what tasks and skills should receive the most attention in training programs. Also, this information could be useful for evaluating if fitness trainers are spending too much time performing certain tasks, for example, administrative tasks in their offices. This could trigger further needs assessment to determine if this is a training problem. That is, fitness trainers may be spending more time on administrative tasks because they lack the sales and interpersonal skills needed to interact with customers and convince them to sign up for personal training. Smartwatches, such as the Apple Watch, could be used to provide training and help make sure employees complete it. 4 For example, an employee’s smartwatch can deny them access to certain areas of a manufacturing plant until they successfully complete a required safety compliance course.
TABLE 11.2 New Technological Advances That Will Influence Training
|
Wearables (smartwatches, bands, smart eyewear) Gamification Wireless Tablet-Based Technology Mobile Learning Augmented Reality Virtual Communications Tin Can API (or Experience API) Learning Records Store (LRS) Artificial Intelligence |
Source: Based on K. Everson, “Special report: Learning is all in the wrist,” Chief Learning Officer (March 15, 2015), from www.clomedia.com , accessed March 18, 2015; “Overview Tin Can API,” www.tincanapi.com/overview , accessed April 20, 2015; J. Ford and T. Meyer, “Advances in training technology: Meeting the workplace challenges of talent development, deep specialization, and collaborative learning.” In The Psychology of Workplace Technology, eds. M. Coovert and L. Thompson, (New York: Routledge, 2014): 43–76.
PlayerLync, a training and development software company, has developed wireless tablet–based technology. 5 This technology shrinks video and documents with integrated, interactive messaging to miniscule sizes and delivers them quickly and automatically, even in low-bandwidth environments. Professional and college sports teams have used the tablet-based technology to develop digital playbooks and game preparation video, including the coaches’ comments. This technology is beginning to be used in companies for training retail, construction, and restaurant teams.
Augmented reality refers to a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are supplemented by computer-generated sound, video, graphics, or GPS data. Augmented reality can allow a learner to enter books, magazines, and training rooms and experience them in three-dimensional form as in real life. An intelligent agent such as Apple’s Siri can help the learner navigate their learning experience.
On-demand learning and message boards allow employees to choose what they want to learn and to interact with their peers and experts. Employees will be able to see job openings and career paths and have the freedom to choose courses to develop the skills and knowledge required for these opportunities. They can share and communicate with peers about what they find fun and challenging in their positions.
Artificial intelligence will become even more humanlike and accessible at a lower cost. Amelia is a computer who learns from textbooks, transcriptions of conversations, e-mail chains, and other texts. 6 As long as the answer is in the data she receives, she can solve problems. She also has the ability to learn. Programmers have tried to provide her with the human ability to think. Amelia is already being tested at working in customer call centers. Customer service depends on providing the right answer to the same question, regardless of who calls. Amelia can provide the correct answer because prior to working on her own, she has worked alongside a human customer service rep, listening to every support request received and the answers given. Amelia helps automate tasks but she is not alive. However, she does have three emotional states—arousal, dominance, and pleasure—that are496influenced by how customers communicate with her. These emotions affect her decision making in dealing with customers. Robots with artificial intelligence such as Amelia will likely provide performance support increasingly in the future or entirely replace employees in nonexpert repetitive jobs.
The Tin Can API (or Experience API) is a specification for learning technology that makes it possible to collect data about an employee’s or a team’s online and face-to-face learning experiences. 7 The Tin Can API allows the collection of data based in the reality that learning occurs everywhere using different tools and methods, including simulations, virtual worlds, serious games, social collaboration, and through real-world experiences and formal training programs. When an employee engages in learning, the Tin Can API sends statements in the form of a learner, an action, and an activity such as “I did this” to a Learning Records Store. The Learning Records Store (LRS) collects and stores all of the learning experiences in the form of statements that can be organized and presented in a meaningful way. LRSs can communicate with each other, allowing data about learning activities to be easily shared across organizations. Also, LRSs can be accessed by learning management systems and reporting tools. Employees can have their own “personal lockers,” which include their personal learning history. Enabled devices can automatically send Tin Can API statements when learning is ongoing and completed. The LRS can be used to show the relationship between learning experiences and business outcomes such as sales, revenue, customer satisfaction, safety, and employee engagement (recall our discussion of Big Data in Chapter Six , “Training Evaluation”). For example, Devereux is a nonprofit behavioral health-care organization that provides services for individuals with emotional, developmental, and educational disabilities. 8 Devereux wanted to improve treatment outcomes for individuals served by enhancing employee performance. An LRS developed by Watershed allowed this by tracking the experiences that happen to employees during training as well as during performance monitoring on the job, and correlating that experience data to the real-world outcomes of individuals served.
The use of games and mobile learning is likely to increase as companies seek to make training fun, maximize the learning experience, and appeal to millennials’ and other learners’ expectations that learning is quick, includes short interactive lessons, is available at their fingertips, and allows them to ask their peers questions, share experiences, and seek advice. 9 Several surveys of business and learning leaders have found that companies not currently using games for training are considering using them in the next few years and mobile learning is expected to contribute significantly to how their organizations learn in the future. 10 The gamification experience might include advanced simulations that learners can explore in a three-dimensional environment.
BREAKTHROUGHS IN NEUROSCIENCE ABOUT LEARNING
Advances in neuroscience are increasing researchers’ ability to study the brain and its functioning. 11 This is leading to a better understanding of how we learn which can be used to design more effective training and development programs. For example, researchers have shown that whether an idea can be easily recalled is linked to the strength of activating the hippocampus, located in the lower section of the brain, during a learning task. The stronger the hippocampus is stimulated during learning, the greater the recall of the idea.497Further research on the hippocampus has identified the conditions that are necessary for learning to occur (attention, generation, emotion, and spacing). From a training design perspective, this means that learners have to eliminate distractions, they need to make their own connections to new ideas, they need some but not overwhelming emotional stimulation, and long-term recall of learning is better when we learn information over several different time periods rather than all at once. Time Warner Cable Enterprises applied results of the hippocampus research to a leadership development program that included weekly videos, practice exercises, and a two-hour webinar. Learning in short, engaging bursts held managers’ attention. Immediate, one-page practice tools were provided to help managers use what they saw in the videos. The entire program was spaced out over thirty days. The managers’ emotions were stimulated by the communications about the sense of urgency for the program and the realization that thousands of their peers were participating in the program at the same time. There are many other areas of ongoing neuroscience research that can potentially influence training and development program design. For example, research is helping us understand the conditions that are necessary for learners to make creative insights between learning content and its application to work issues and problems. Other research is investigating the biological markers of cognitive processes that are known to accelerate learning (e.g., self-explanation or other meaning-based processing methods), which can help us understand how feedback can be provided to learners to help them consistently use the most effective cognitive processes for learning. 12
INCREASED EMPHASIS ON SPEED IN DESIGN, FOCUS ON CONTENT, AND USE OF MULTIPLE DELIVERY METHODS
Because of new technology, trainers are being challenged to find new ways to use instructional design. 13 Shifts are taking place in who is leading the learning (from the instructor to the employee), as well as where learning is taking place (from workplace to mobile learning). For example, trainers need to determine the best way to design an effective training course for a smartphone. Despite the use of new technology for learning, the fundamental questions remain: Why is training occurring? Who is the audience? What resources are necessary so that employees can learn what they need to know?
As discussed in Chapter One , “Introduction to Employee Training and Development,” the traditional training design model has been criticized for several reasons. First, it is a linear approach driven by subject-matter experts (SMEs). Second, the instructional system design model uses a rational, step-by-step approach that assumes that the training content is stable. Third, given the accelerated demand for training to be delivered just in time, traditional training takes too long. Rapid instructional design (RID) is a group of techniques that allows training to be built more quickly. RID modifies the training design model, which consists of needs analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation (recall the discussion of training design in Chapter One ). There are two important principles in RID. 14 One is that instructional content and process can be developed independently of each other. The second is that resources that are devoted to design and delivery of instruction can be reallocated as appropriate. Design includes everything that happens before the training experience; delivery is what happens during the training experience. For example, if a company has limited resources for training delivery, such as498large groups of trainees and a tight schedule, extra time should be allocated to the design process. Table 11.3 lists RID strategies. For example, learning preferences make it difficult to develop a training program that maximizes learning for all employees. As a result, if possible, training content can be offered through books, manuals, audiotapes, videotapes, and online learning. It may also be possible to combine some steps of the design process, such as analyses and evaluation. For example, knowledge tests and other evaluation outcomes may be based on task analysis and other needs analysis results. There is no need to conduct separate analyses of training needs and learning outcomes. If the client is convinced that there is a training need and if the trainer can quickly confirm this need, then there is no reason to conduct a full needs analysis (e.g., new regulations that affect business transactions in financial services, or product changes). Job aids such as checklists, worksheets, and performance support tools can be provided to employees based on the results of a task analysis to identify activities and decisions needed to complete a procedure. Job aids can be chosen to help employees complete the procedure, and training can be provided to teach employees how to use the job aid. The point to keep in mind is that use of a training design process (or instructional design process), as discussed in Chapter One , should not be abandoned. Rather, in the future, trainers will further develop RID techniques to reduce the time and cost and to increase the efficiency of training design in order to better meet business needs.
TABLE 11.3 Examples of RID Strategies
|
Focus on accomplishment and performance. Develop a learning system instead of an instructional system. Use shortcuts (e.g., use existing records for needs assessment; conduct focus groups). Combine different steps of the instructional design process. Implement training and continuously improve it. Skip steps in the instructional design process. Use existing course materials that can be customized with examples, exercises, and assignments. Develop instruction around job aids and performance support. Use recording equipment, Internet, and e-mail to collect data and exchange information with SMEs. |
Source: Based on S. Thiagarajan, “Rapid Instructional Development.” In The ASTD Handbook of Training Design and Delivery, ed. G. Piskurich, P. Beckschi, and B. Hall (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000): 54–75.
Managers are demanding training courses that are shorter and that focus only on the necessary content. 15 Training departments will be expected to reduce the number of courses and programs that are offered without directly addressing a business issue or performance problem. SMEs used as trainers will be expected to focus their presentations on information that is directly relevant to trainees. Seminars and classes that take place over several days or half-days will have to be retooled to be more accessible and individualized. Bass & Associates, P.C., is a law firm that specializes in debt recovery. In the debt recovery business, employees spend much of the time on the phone. Bass provides employees with Bits, mini-training videos that take three to twelve minutes to watch. 16 The videos are available to employees on demand. After they complete the videos, employees take short quizzes to assess their learning. Other companies are asking trainees to complete more pre class assignments and are using more post course job aids. The development of focused content will become easier because of blogs and podcasts that allow training content to be developed without programming languages such499as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Content-developed authoring tools will likely continue to become more user-friendly. More companies will consider using massive open online courses (MOOCs) for training (MOOCs are discussed in Chapter Eight , “Technology-Based Training Methods.”). 17 MOOCs are an attractive training delivery method because they provide consistent learning and allow employees to learn through collaboration, observing through videos, and listening to subject experts. Learning can occur anytime or anyplace employees can access the online course; credentials, certificates, or digital badges can be used as incentives for completing the course.
Given the increased popularity of notebooks and tablets, new types of apps for learning will continue to be developed. These likely will include apps related to locating experts, the training scheduler, retirement planners, and the development activities chooser. For example, the Assessment and Development Group International has developed apps to help increase coaching success and facilitate behavioral change, engage and retain employees, and improve sales and customer relationships. 18 Using a smartphone, the Coach app allows users to identify their interaction style (driver, analytical, expressive, and supportive). A graph of team members’ interaction styles is generated, and coaching tactics specific to each style are provided. The app also suggests how to modify behavior and be more responsive to team members and a question-and-answer exercise to help address specific issues that may occur during coaching.
INCREASED EMPHASIS ON CAPTURING AND SHARING INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL AND SOCIAL LEARNING
Companies that recognize the strategic value of becoming a learning organization and are concerned about the loss of valuable knowledge because their baby boomer employees are retiring (see the discussions in Chapters One and Five ) will continue to seek ways to turn employees’ knowledge (human capital) into a shared company asset. As emphasized in Chapter Two , “Strategic Training,” training functions will focus on learning, with an emphasis on employee training and development and the management and coordination of organizational learning. Sharing knowledge and contributing to the company’s intellectual capital is going to become more common as collaborative social networking technology and Web 2.0 tools make this simpler to implement. The rise of intelligent tutors and on-demand learning technologies will make connections to information faster, more current and accurate, and more easily customizable to employees’ needs and work. More teams and groups of employees will make use of social media and Web 2.0 tools to share links and content with each other, participate in discussions, collaborate, and create learning content.
Social learning refers to learning with and from others. We can learn from others in face-to-face interactions occurring in classrooms, conferences, and group meetings, as well as online using social media such as Twitter, blogs, and social networks such as Facebook. Potentially, through sharing ideas, information, and experiences, we can learn more with others than we can alone. 19 For example, EMC upgraded its collaboration platform and integrated its intranet to help employees learn, share, and access company news. 20 Within two weeks of the upgrade, twenty thousand more employees used the platform. Also, the number of documents created has increased over 500 percent, 200 percent500more discussions were created, and there has been over 100 percent increase in replies to discussion. Tata Consultancy Services Limited provides employees with a social learning application known as Knome. Nearly half of Tata Consultancy employees actively participate on Knome, forming communities to get work done and discussing ideas. 21
The increasing use of new technologies to deliver training and to store and communicate knowledge means that trainers must be technologically literate. That is, they must understand the strengths and weaknesses of new technologies and implementation issues such as overcoming users’ resistance to change (which is discussed later in this chapter). Also, many companies have created positions such as knowledge manager or chief information officer, whose job is to identify reliable knowledge and make sure it is accessible to employees.
INCREASED USE OF JUST-IN-TIME LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE SUPPORT
Companies are moving away from courseware and classes as a performance improvement method and are instead adopting true performance support that is available during the work process. 22 Just-in-time learning (or embedded learning) refers to learning that occurs on the job as needed; it involves collaboration and nonlearning technologies such as microblogs, and it is integrated with knowledge management. 23
Embedded learning may become increasingly prevalent in the future because companies can no longer have employees attend classroom instruction or spend hours on online learning that is not directly relevant to their current job demands. Formal training programs and courses will not disappear but will focus more on the development of competencies that can benefit the employee and the company over the long term, whereas embedded learning will focus on providing the learning that the employee needs to complete key job tasks. Embedded-learning products include task-specific, real-time content and simulation that are accessible during work, as well as real-time collaboration in virtual workspaces. Recent, rapid adoption of wireless technology is connecting employees directly to business processes. For example, radio frequency identification chips are implanted in products such as clothing, tires, and mechanical parts. These chips contain information that is beamed via radio waves to employees processing handheld wireless devices. The device, the task context, and the performance environment are incompatible with classroom or courseware-based learning but with performance support. Learning is a business process that is integrated with several other business processes. Learning is expected as a result of collaboration with employees and machines in the work process. Employees can be provided with real-time performance support through communications with experts and through automated coaching.
More learning will become just-in-time, using mobile devices such as notebooks and tablets such as the iPad. As a result, instead of having to complete specific training classes, learning functions will focus on setting standards required to achieve accreditation, create systems to allow employees to meet accreditation standards, and track completion of standards. 24 To achieve accreditation may involve having specific job experiences, observing a expert-level employee, contributing content for helping peers and less experienced employees learn, and passing a test.
501
There is a new type of learner emerging, the “social cyborg,” who integrates social networks into the way they think, learn, and solve problems. 25 As Facebook and other social networking sites and smartphones with communications and Internet access continue to spread and evolve, employees will spend more time on computers and online playing games, working, and connecting to friends and work associates using e-mail and text. “Social cyborgs” are already prevalent among the millennial generation who expect companies to accommodate their need to access the latest tools and technologies at work including tablets and mobile devices, Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds, and social networking sites. This means that training, development, and learning functions will need to adjust their assumptions about how and where we learn. Design and development strategies based on individual learners who learn alone and without technology will continue to become obsolete. Employees will expect training and development to include simulations, games, and virtual reality, which will become more realistic than they are today. For example, researchers are developing wearable devices that allow the use of hand gestures to interact with environment and contact lenses that act as a computer display. Also, learners will expect training and development to use social media, as well as learning that is delivered when it is needed rather than during a scheduled course.
A new set of learning strategies will be need to be adopted, including learning environments that include online mentoring and collaborative learning platforms. This means that companies will need to consider how, when, and for which employees to use social media such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as mobile devices for learning. Social networking platforms will be part of learning management systems. This will allow managers to determine which learning content is in most demand and take content developed by social network contributors and use it in formal training courses. Not using or forbidding the use of social media will no longer be an option to attract, motivate, and retain talented employees (and customers!). Instead, companies will need to establish policies regarding the use of social media.
INCREASED EMPHASIS ON PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS: BIG DATA AND LEARNING FOR BUSINESS ENHANCEMENT
Because of an increasing focus on contributing to the company’s competitive advantage, training departments will have to ensure that they are seen as both helping the business functions (e.g., marketing, finance, production) meet their needs and contributing to overall business goals and the “bottom line.” 26
This means that you understand the business enough to ask the right questions to develop an appropriate learning solution (recall the discussion of needs assessment in Chapter Three , “Needs Assessment”). Such questions might include how success will be measured and why the company has not thus far seen desired results. The role of the learning professional is to understand business challenges and consistently work to fill employee performance gaps. To enhance the business means that learning professionals have to be aligned with the business and take responsibility for the relationship and the business outcomes from learning solutions, have an agreed-upon business outcome that is included in the learning function and business performance plan, attend business staff502meetings and network with internal customers, and identify as a partner with the business with the joint goal of improving performance.
Consider how companies in three different industries expect training to influence their bottom line. 27 The training offered at TRX, a company that provides transaction processing and data integration services, is expected to have a direct influence on boosting customer satisfaction scores and agents’ productivity. Metrics such as hours of training delivered are not as important as showing how training is contributing to customer service, productivity, and profitability. Supply-chain training for Coca-Cola must be tied in some way to the company’s three-year business plan or it will not be supported. At Ho-Chunk Casino in Wittenberg, Wisconsin, the director of training spends time educating managers on how the training unit adds value to the business. One of the director’s biggest challenges is convincing first-line supervisors to support transfer of training. The training director has found that explaining Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model (reaction, learning, behavior, results) to the supervisors helps them understand that training is a process, not an event, and that they play an important role in determining the success or failure of training. (Kirkpatrick’s model is discussed in more detail in Chapter Six .)
Training departments must shift the focus from training as the solution to business problems to a performance analysis approach. A performance analysis approach involves identifying performance gaps or deficiencies and examining training as one possible solution for the business units (the customers). Training departments will need to continue instructing managers to consider all potential causes of poor performance before deciding that training is the solution. Poor employee performance may be due to poor management, inefficient technologies, or outdated technology rather than deficiencies in skill or knowledge (recall the discussion of person analysis in Chapter Three ). Three ways that training departments will need to be involved are (1) focusing on interventions related to performance improvement, (2) providing support for high-performance work systems, and (3) developing systems for training administration, development, and delivery that reduce costs and increase employees’ access to learning.
Training departments’ responsibilities will likely include a greater focus on systems that employees can use for information (such as expert systems or electronic performance support systems) on an as-needed basis. This need is driven by the use of contingent employees and the increased flexibility necessary to adapt products and services to meet customers’ needs. For example, companies do not want to spend money to train employees who may be with the company only a few weeks. Instead, through temporary employment agencies, companies can select employees with the exact skill set needed. Training departments need to provide mechanisms to support the temporary employees once they are on the job and encounter situations, problems, rules, and policies they are unfamiliar with because they are not yet knowledgeable about the company.
As was discussed in Chapter One , more companies are striving to create high-performance workplaces because of the productivity gains that can be realized through this type of design. High-performance work requires that employees have the interpersonal skills necessary to work in teams. High-performance work systems also require employees to have high levels of technical skills. Employees need to understand statistical process control and the Total Quality Management (TQM) philosophy. Employees also must understand the entire production and service system so that they can better serve503both internal and external customers. As more companies move to high-performance work systems, training departments will need to be prepared to provide effective training in interpersonal, quality, and technical skills, as well as to help employees understand all aspects of the customer-service or production system.
Business competitiveness can be realized by quick change, speed in delivery, and reductions in costs and time constraints. LPL Financial uses a talent development council, composed of company leaders from across the company’s functional areas, to evaluate new learning and requested learning based on its talent strategy. 28 The group meets once a month to ensure that learning is provided by the learning department only when it is necessary. Because the council includes only senior-level managers, it helps align learning with the business strategy and outcomes. For learning to be approved, it has to support both the business and the employees. Establishing the talent council has helped get company leaders more involved in developing an overall business learning strategy and managers encourage employees to use available learning resources and programs for development.
Just-in-time learning is many companies’ answer to quick learning and the quick application of learning to the business. 29 La Quinta’s Q-Tubes are short, e-learning courses. The Q-Tubes use conversational language to make trainees feel as if they are being trained by their peers or a team leader. Each Q-Tube includes a knowledge check and provides feedback. Training completion rates have increased 92 percent for general managers and 484 percent for team members since the Q-Tubes were introduced. American Express designs its learning paths around behavioral outcomes and emphasizes the importance of how learners engage in learning, not just what they are supposed to learn. A learning path usually includes workshops, peer learning, and on-the-job learning. Also, American Express emphasizes teaching employees how to best participate in activities to maximize their learning.
Because the direction in training is away from learning as the primary outcome and more toward learning as a way to enhance business performance, companies will continue to purchase learning management systems (LMSs) that provide training administration, development tools, and online training. (LMSs are discussed in Chapter Eight .) LMS is moving from its historical emphasis on providing and track training to a broader focus on talent management. 30 This means that LMS will include more career planning tools that will connect employees with many different development resources, including mentors, skills requirements for jobs, potential mentors, and competency models. LMS can also include performance evaluations that can be used by employees and managers to identify skill gaps. Also there will be increased demand for LMS software that includes learning analytics, or analysis tools, that can track learning activity and costs and can relate learning results to product revenues or sales goals. 31
Today, most companies own their own software and hardware and keep them on site in their facilities. However, cloud computing allows companies to lease software and hardware, and employees don’t know the location of computers, databases, and applications that they are using (this is known as being in the “cloud”). Cloud computing refers to a computing system that provides information technology infrastructure over a network in a self-service, modifiable, and on-demand. 32 Clouds can be delivered on-demand via the Internet (public cloud) or restricted to use by a single company (private cloud). Cloud computing gives companies and their employees access to applications and information504from smartphones and tablets rather than relying solely on personal computers. It also allows groups to work together in new ways, can make employees more productive by allowing them to more easily share documents and information, and provide greater access to large company databases. From a learning perspective, this means that tools for conducting workforce analytics using metrics on learning, training and development programs, and social media and collaboration tools such as Twitter, blogs, Google documents, and YouTube videos will be more easily accessible and available for use. Cloud computing also can make it easier for employees to access formal training programs from a variety of vendors and educational institutions. Finally, the cloud can be used to store learning data in a “warehouse” (such as Redshift), which makes it easily available for analysis of trends and predictions of business outcomes. In the future the emerging interest in collecting and using big data related to learning, training, and development will continue to grow. As we discussed in Chapter Six , big data involves collecting data about users activities, analyzing or mining the data to identify patterns and trends, and understanding how these patterns and trends link to business goals and outcomes. Big data can be useful for understanding what training methods best deliver what needs to be taught and identifying how employees learn, who the experts and leaders are in social networks, and what type of instruction will lead to positive reactions from learners and results. For example, Intrepid Learning’s e-learning programs include a “tile.” The “tile” is provided at the beginning of the program to explain how the different parts of the e-learning module fit together. Through tracking who has read the tile, Intrepid was able to determine that 80 percent of learners who read the “tile” completed the program, compared to a 10 percent completion rate for learners who did not read it. 33 Saba’s data analytics platform tracks performance ratings, succession planning activities, and learning data. 34 It tracks what information employees are accessing, identifies the topics they are posting, and identifies who they are connecting with. It provides social graphs that visually display employees who are the center of social networks and most influential. The system is linked to an intelligent search engine that recommends learning activities. The system can also be linked to financial systems and other business data. JPMorgan Chase is including employee attendance at compliance training as one of several factors (the other factors include violating personal trading rules and going over market-risk limits) used in trying to predict which employees may be likely to violate government regulations or company policy. 35 The increased use of big data will be aided by the development of more user-friendly ways for data to be accessed, analyzed, and the results displayed. For example, Looker is a start-up company that provides web-based business intelligence platform presenting data in a dashboard format.
INCREASED USE OF STAKEHOLDER-FOCUSED LEARNING, TRAINING PARTNERSHIPS, AND OUTSOURCING TRAINING
Chapter Two discussed the importance of making learning, training, and development strategic by ensuring that it supports the business strategy and the needs of different stakeholders, including managers, employees, and customers. The emphasis on strategic learning influencing different stakeholders will continue in the future as learning professionals and companies recognize that competitive advantage can come from developing internal505human capital and providing learning services to customers. This helps develop and retain a satisfied, skilled, and innovative workforce and attract, keep, and satisfy customers.
For example, STIHL produces outdoor power equipment including chain saws, blowers, trimmers, and edgers. 36 STIHL has manufacturing facilities for its equipment, which are sold through over eight thousand power equipment retailers. STIHL only sells its products through dealers, so helping them satisfy customers is critical for the business. Customers include homeowners, professionals, landscaping and utility companies, the military, government agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, and emergency first responders. This means that learning programs need to include not only STIHL’s employees, but also retail dealers and their customers. STIHL provides its employees learning programs in technical areas such as manufacturing and engineering as well as leadership development. If there are open seats in its training courses, STIHL’s training and development department allows smaller companies to send their employees to its technical and leadership courses at a low cost. The fees help reduce some of the expenses of STIHL’s training department. At the retail level, STIHL provides training programs that help dealers understand how to sell and service the equipment. For example, STIHL has a certification program for service technicians, which must be renewed every three years. The certification focuses on training the technicians to diagnose problems, provide the correct repairs, and communicate to customers how to care for their equipment. STIHL iCademy is a web-based program that dealers can access. It covers topics such as troubleshooting, in-store marketing, selling skills, and customer service. STIHL also has a training seminar for high school and college instructors of small engine repair classes, which teaches students how to service products. In addition, to ensure that customers correctly and safely use equipment, STIHL provides training programs for professional landscaping tree services, public utilities, first responders, and the military. Also, consumers who use STIHL equipment can access blogs and YouTube videos on the company’s website.
As discussed in Chapter One , the demographic, global, and technological changes are creating a skills gap that presents challenges for companies in the United States and around the world. Also, the current education-to-employment system is not preparing students and adults for the twenty-first-century economy. Barriers between business and educational institutions make it difficult for many employees to update their skills and knowledge that they need for their current jobs or preparation for jobs in another career. Recall our discussion of business and education partnerships in Chapter Ten , “Social Responsibility: Legal Issues, Managing Diversity, and Career Challenges.” To cope with the skills gap, we will likely see more business, education, and community partnerships working on rebuilding education to employment systems. 37 The goal of these partnerships is to help individuals prepare for higher-skill and higher-wage jobs and attract new companies to the area by integrating employee retraining, elementary through high school career education programs, career academies, and higher education programs into a lifelong learning system. A lifelong learning system can provide better opportunities for more people to develop the talent needed to suit multiple jobs and careers that they will likely hold during their lifetimes.
Also, due to an increased urgency to find ways to eliminate unemployment, underemployment, and meet skill gaps, federal, state, and local governments probably will provide more economic incentives for retraining employees, including tax credits and tax breaks for companies to invest in training and the spread of lifelong learning accounts.506Lifelong Learning Accounts (LiLAs) refer to an account for education to which both the employee and company contribute. The employee keeps the account even if they leave the company to pay for additional education at vocational schools and colleges and universities.
For example, Walmart Stores donated $16 million in grants to seven nonprofit groups (Achieving the Dream, The ACT Foundation, Dress for Success, Goodwill Industries, Jobs for the Future, McKinsey Social Initiative, and the National Able Network) to try to improve the skills of more than twelve thousand entry-level workers in retail and related industries such as transportation and distribution. 38 The nonprofits will work with government agencies and employers to develop training programs. For example, Achieving the Dream will use its grant to create training programs at four community colleges.
The Brose Group, a German manufacturer of systems such as seat structures for car makers and suppliers, is actively involved in the Michigan Advanced Technical Training Program. 39 The program uses classroom learning and on-the-job training to prepare students for jobs in mechatronics, which requires electrical, mechanical, and electronic competencies. The program is a partnership between the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, two community colleges, and eleven businesses located in Michigan. Brose partnered with the community to identify the necessary skills and competencies, create courses that would develop the competencies, and build a course curriculum. Program applicants are required to provide a résumé and complete a test designed to measure their skills in reading, writing, math, and English as a second language. Most participants are from high schools and colleges, but the program is open to all Michigan residents. Brose, like the other companies who are participating in the program, pay for students’ full cost of tuition and an hourly wage for time they are working on the job. Brose sponsors four students who will rotate between jobs and all three of the company’s Michigan locations. After successfully completing the program, participants receive an advanced associate’s degree and a guaranteed job. They are required to work for two years at their sponsoring company.
Chapter Two discussed several reasons for companies to outsource their training. Two main reasons were that employees need to learn specialized new knowledge and that companies want to gain access to best practices and cost savings. External suppliers may be consultants, academics, graduate students, or companies in the entertainment and mass communications industries. External suppliers can be partners or be sole providers of training services. The key decision for companies will not be whether to outsource but rather how much training to outsource.
Trainers and other learning professionals will need to identify outsource providers who can deliver effective training solutions, particularly in technology-based learning solutions in which they lack the internal expertise to develop in house. McKesson, a health-care services company, was providing customers with face-to-face instructor-led training on one of its products, an evidence-based clinical decision support system. 40 However, customers began to negotiate to remove training from their contracts. They were dissatisfied with the quality of the program and lost productivity and disruption that occurred because their employees had to leave their jobs to attend training. McKesson recognized that the training was important, but that changes were necessary. McKesson could not redesign the program in-house because it lacked a centralized learning function with all of the skills necessary to do so. They outsourced most of the design of the new training to Aptara, a training provider specializing in content development, learning strategies, and digital conversion. Aptara worked with McKesson’s instructional designers to develop new training that included self-paced web-based training combined with the option to have either an instructor-led classroom instruction or a virtual instructor-led session. The new web-based course engaged learners using assessments, role plays, and simulations. Since the introduction of the new blended learning program, customer training purchases and satisfaction have increased. Also, McKesson has benefited, too. They can now deliver more training requiring less staff; the program is easy to change and add new content; and it allows them to work with their customers to choose the blended learning approach that is best for them.
Implications of Future Trends for Trainers’ Skills and Competencies
A recent study found that the competencies and expertise included in the ASTD competency model (see Figure 1.4 in Chapter One ) are likely to be needed in the future. However, increased emphasis will also be placed on the ability of trainers to more effectively use technology. Also, as companies become more global, they will need to adapt training methods and content to local cultures. 41 Table 11.4 shows the skills that trainers will need to develop in the future.
507
TABLE 11.4 Skills for Future Trainers
|
· Matching training content and methods to the local culture of the workforce · Designing learning space, as well as content in technology-driven learning environments · Use of multimedia tools, including audio, video, webcasts, and live action · Delivering and packaging training in different formats for beginners and experts · Use of assessments to determine trainees’ learning styles · Developing search-and-identify techniques so employees can find information and training when they need it · Be a change agent: Facilitating learning and staying in touch with employees, managers, and business units to identify what they need and making suggestions regarding tools, processes, or procedures that could help them work more effectively · Developing and delivering learning that is integrated with the job · Understand how social media can be used for learning, the limitations of social media, and ability to make a business case for it · Identify the root cause of job and business problems |
Source: Based on C. Malamed, “What will your training role be in the future?” (February 13, 2012), from www.astd.org , accessed April 24, 2015; M. Laff, “Trainers skills 2020,” T+D (December 2008): 42; P. Galagan, “New skills for a new work reality,” T+D (November 2011): 26–29.
Summary
508
Key Terms
augmented reality, 496
Tin Can API, 497
Learning Records Store (LRS), 497
rapid instructional design (RID), 498
social learning, 500
just-in-time learning, 501
performance analysis approach, 503
cloud computing, 504
Lifelong Learning Accounts (LiLAs), 507
Discussion Questions
1. Do you think this will lead to more (or less) effective training/learning? Explain your perspective.
2. What new skills will trainers need to be successful in the future?
3. What is rapid instructional design? How does it differ from the traditional training design process discussed in Chapter One ? (See Figure 1.1 .)
4. How does the use of a learning management system better link training to business strategy and goals?
5. What is cloud computing? How does it enable just-in-time training delivery?
6. How will social learning and social networks influence employee expectations about learning, training, and development?
7. Explain the excitement about using big data related to learning, training, and development. What’s the usefulness of big data?
8. How can training contribute to a sustainability initiative?
9. How is program design being influenced by neuroscience research?
10. What are wearables? How might they be useful for learning and training?
Application Assignments
1. Interview a manager. Ask this person to evaluate his or her company’s training department in terms of training delivery, service, expertise, and contribution to the business. Ask him or her to explain the rationale for the evaluation. Summarize this information. Based on the information you gathered, make recommendations regarding how the training department can be improved.
2. This chapter discussed several trends that will influence the future of training. Based on future social, economic, political, or technological factors, identify one or two additional trends that you think will influence training. Write a two- to three-page paper summarizing your ideas. Make sure you provide a rationale for your trends. Many organizations are moving from a training perspective to a performance perspective. That is, they are interested in performance improvement, not training just for the sake of training.509
3. Go to http://2oms.com/apps/ website for the Assessment and Development Group International. Click on “Mobile Apps.” Read about and install on your smartphone either Performance Coach or Super Manager. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the app?
4. Go to www.youtube.com website. First, watch the video “IBM’s Watson Supercomputer Destroys All Humans on Jeopardy.” Then watch the video IBM Watson: Watson After Jeopardy! How can Watson and the technology that it uses help make us “smarter” and improve performance?
5. Go to YouTube at www.youtube.com . Watch the video “10 Amazing Robots That Will Change the World.” What are the advantages and disadvantages of using these robots in the workplace? What types of training will human employees need to work alongside robots?
6. What cost and benefits would you use to make the business case for replacing face-to-face instructor-led training with virtual instructor-led training in order to contribute to a sustainability goal of reducing training’s carbon footprint? Explain.
7. There are many different training providers that companies can use. Review one of the training providers listed below:
Aptara ( www.aptaracorp.com )
GP Strategies ( www.gpstrategies.com )
Intrepid Learning ( www.intrepidlearning.com )
Skillsoft ( www.skillsoft.com )
Why might a company choose to contract with a training provider? What services are provided by the training provider you chose to review?
Case: Work Styles Promotes Flexible Work at TELUS
TELUS, a telecommunications company, is a Canadian company spread across several time zones. TELUS’s Work Styles program was started to enhance employee productivity, help employees stay happy by promoting practices that enhance their work-life balance, and support TELUS’s commitment to environmental sustainability. Work Styles allows employees to choose to work away from the office—at home or on the road. Part of the Work Styles program includes providing employees with technology that can help them meet their job responsibilities and allow them to work when and where they can be most effective. Because many employees work at home or on the road, TELUS provides mobile devices including smartphones and notebook and tablet computers. These devices include teleconferencing and video conferencing capabilities and cloud-based networking applications, which help employees collaborate and interact with their peers. TELUS provides training courses that help employees work effectively in such a flexible work environment. These courses cover how to lead effective meetings, establish and sustain team norms, and lead and succeed in high-performing Work Styles teams. Also, employees can participate in weekly one-hour webinars during which the philosophy of the Work Styles program is discussed, and they can ask questions and share success stories. TELUS’s goal is to have 70 percent510of employees working on the road or at home, rather than in office buildings across Canada.
If you were asked to evaluate the effectiveness of Work Styles, what outcomes or data would you collect? How would you collect your data or outcomes? What are the challenges of delivering learning to employees who work on the road or at home? What should be included in mobile-delivered training courses to ensure that employees learn?
Source: “Working in style,” TD (April 2015): 112; www.telus.ca , the website for TELUS (accessed April 23, 2015); J. Salopek, “Getting social to create transparency,” T+D (October 2011): 68–70.
Endnotes
1 .M. Weinstein, “Charity Begins @ Work,” training (May 2008): 56–58; “Corporate responsibility performance report 2013” and “Improving healthcare in Africa,” from http://www.novartis.com , accessed April 22, 2015; D. Parrey, “The employees are greener at Ingersoll Rand,” Chief Learning Officer (March 2015): 46–53; H. Dolezalek, “Good news: Training can save the world,” training (May 2006): 28–33.
2 .K. Everson, “Special report: Learning is all in the wrist,” Chief Learning Officer (March 15, 2015), from www.clomedia.com , accessed March 18, 2015.
3 .“About” and “Products,” from www.wearableintelligence.com , the website for Wearable Intelligence, accessed April 21, 2015.
4 .K. Everson, “In the know, in the now,” Workforce (January 2015): 44–47.
5 .From www.playerlync.com , website for PlayerLync.
6 .C. Mims, “Amelia, a machine, thinks like you,” The Wall Street Journal (September 28, 2014): B1–B2; M. Rundle, “Amelia: IPSoft’s new artificial intelligence can think like a human and wants your job” (March 4, 2014), from www.huffingtonpost.co.uk , accessed April 21, 2015.
7 .“Overview Tin Can API,” www.tincanapi.com/overview , accessed April 20, 2015.
8 .J. Horne, “Devereux,” from http://site.watershedlrs.com/six-watershed-first-organizations/ , accessed April 21, 2015; J. Salopek, “Digital collaboration,” Training and Development (June 2000): 38–43.
9 .S. Castellano, “Innovations in learning technology,” T+D (March 2015): 64–66; J. Veloz, “Old tactics are kryptonite for today’s attention spans,” from www.adweek.com , accessed April 20, 2015; J. Ford and T. Meyer, “Advances in training technology: Meeting the workplace challenges of talent development, deep specialization, and collaborative learning.” In The Psychology of Workplace Technology, eds. M. Coovert and L. Thompson, (New York: Routledge, 2014): 43–76; J. Bersin, “What’s in store for HR in 2015,” HR Magazine (January/February 2015): 33–51.
10 .L. Miller, Playing to Win (Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training & Development, 2014); C. Morrison, Going Mobile: Creating Practices That Transform Learning (Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training and Development, 2013).
11 .D. Rock, “Your brain on learning,” Chief Learning Officer (April 13, 2015), from http://www.clomedia.com , accessed April 22, 2015; D. Rock, “The ‘aha’ moment,” T+D (February 2011): 45–49.
12 .Learning Research Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, from http://www.lrdc.pitt.edu/schunn/research/neurolearning.html , accessed April 22, 2015.
13 .H. Dolezalek, “Who has the time to design?” training (January 2006): 24–28.
14 .S. Thiagarajan, “Rapid Instructional Development.” In The ASTD Handbook of Training Design and Delivery, eds. G. Piskurich, P. Beckschi, and B. Hall (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000): 54–75.
15 .M. Weinstein, “Six for ’06,” training (January 2006): 18–22.
16 .“Bass & Associates, P.C.,” TD (October 2014): 96.
17 .M. Plater, “Three trends shaping learning,” Chief Learning Officer (June 2014): 44–47; S. Castellano, “MOOCs in the workplace,” T+D (September 2014): 16.
18 .“Manage employees and clients like a hero,” T+D (February 2012): 17.
511
19 .T. Bingham and M. Conner, The New Social Learning (American Society for Training and Development: Alexandria, VA, 2010); R. Landers and A. Goldberg, “Online social media in the workplace: A conversation with employees.” In The Psychology of Workplace Technology, eds. M. Coovert and L. Thompson (New York: Routledge, 2014): 284–304.
20 .“Training top 125, EMC Corporation,” training (January/February 2015): 85.
21 .“Training top 125, Tata Consultancy Services,” training (January/February 2015): 99.
22 .S. Adkins, “The brave new world of learning,” T+D (June 2003): 28–37.
23 .M. Littlejohn, “Embedded learning,” T+D (February 2006): 36–39.
24 .J. Meister and K. Willyerd, “Looking ahead at social learning: 10 predictors,” T+D (July 2010): 34–41.
25 .J. Campbell and W. Finegan, “Dawn of the social cyborg,” training (September/October 2011): 20–27; J. Meister and K. Willyerd, The 2020 Workplace (Harper Business: New York, 2010); A. Thompson, “Delivering meaningful outcomes for your organization,” T+D (February 2012): 38–41; J. Meister and K. Willyerd, “Looking ahead at social learning: 10 predictors,” T+D (July 2010): 34–41.
26 .E. Salas, S. Tannenbaum, K. Kraiger, and K. Smith-Jentsch, “The science of training and development in organizations: What matters in practice,” Psychological Science in the Public Interest 13 (2012): 74–101; A. Thompson, “Delivering meaningful outcomes for your organization,” T+D (February 2012): 38–41.
27 .D. Zielinski, “Wanted: Training manager,” training (January 2006): 36–39.
28 .T. Handcock, W. Howlett, and J. Martin, “The future of the learning function,” Chief Learning Officer (April 13, 2015): 26–47.
29 .“Training top 125, La Quinta Holdings,” training (January/February 2015): 75; T. Handcock, W. Howlett, and J. Martin, “The future of the learning function,” Chief Learning Officer (April 13, 2015): 26–47.
30 .S. Castellano, “The evolution of the LMS,” T+D (November 2014): 14.
31 .M. Hequet, “The state of the e-learning market,” training (September 2003): 24–29.
32 .A. McAfee, “What every CEO needs to know about the cloud,” Harvard Business Review (November 2011): 124–132; B. Roberts, “The grand convergence,” HR Magazine (October 2011): 39–46; M. Paino, “All generations learn in the cloud,” Chief Learning Officer (September 28, 2011), accessed from http://blog.clomedia.com , October 11, 2011.
33 .K. Everson, “In the know, in the now,” Workforce (January 2015): 44–47.
34 .B. Hall, “Will big data equal big learning?” Chief Learning Officer (March 2013): 16.
35 .“Markets/finance,” Bloomberg Businessweek (April 13–19, 2015): 34.
36 .T. Bingham and P. Galagan, “Training powers up at STIHL,” T+D (January 2014): 29–33; C. Gambill, “Creating learning solutions to satisfy customers,” T+D (January 2014): 35–39.
37 .E. Gordon, “Talent challenge: Renewing the vision,” T+D (June 2010): 42–47.
38 .K. Whitney, “Wal-Mart puts up cash to close skills gap,” Chief Learning Officer (March 2, 2015), from www.clomedia.com , accessed March 6, 2015.
39 .J. Ramirez, “Stemming the tide,” Human Resource Executive (September 2014): 27–31.
40 .Aptara, “Making customer self-service a reality: Fast forwarding content development,” from http://www.aptaracorp.com/why-aptara/success-story/mckesson , accessed April 23, 2015.
41 .P. Galagan, “New skills for a new work reality,” T+D (November 2011): 26–29; J. Salopek, “Keeping it real,” T+D (August 2008): 42–45; C. Malained, “What will your training role be in the future?” (February 13, 2012), from www.astd.org , accessed April 24, 2015.
512
|
Case 4 |
Learning in Practice |
Working at Home: A Bad Idea?
Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer decided as one part of her plan to revitalize the company that she wanted to end the company’s work-from-home policy. In an internal memo from Yahoo’s executive vice president of people and development, working at the office rather than at home was necessary because of the need for employees to communicate and collaborate and to reduce the chance that speed and quality would be diminished. Criticism of Yahoo’s policy change focused on the message that not allowing home work sends to employees: We can’t trust you to get the work done.
Many employees want to work at home so companies are using working at home as a benefit that helps recruit and retain talented employees. Several studies have demonstrated benefits from working at home. Cisco Systems found that employees who could work remotely from home experienced an increase in their quality of life. This could result from reducing the hassles of commuting to work and allowing employees to better balance work and life responsibilities such as childcare, running errands, or dealing with a sick child, spouse, or family member. Another study showed that when employees of a Chinese travel agency were allowed to work from home, they were more productive, resulting in cost savings of $2,000 per employee each year. Finally, a study found that office employees who work from home may work fifty-seven hours each week before they feel as if their work-life is out of balance, compared to thirty-eight hours for employees who work at their office.
Working at home also may have significant disadvantages. The disadvantages include employees taking advantage of the policy to extend their weekends by not working in the office on Fridays or Mondays, and loss of the potential benefit from having face-to-face interactions with colleagues that are useful for sharing knowledge and generating creative solutions to product or service problems. Being in the office is especially important today because many jobs require close collaboration with peers or working on team projects. Also, unplanned personal interactions occurring at the office can lead to new ideas or working relationships. The biggest problems for employees working from home is overcoming other employees’ and managers’ perceptions that they are not as productive as they could be, that they lack focus, and that they lose “face-time,” which leads to fewer opportunities for promotions.
Questions
1. Do you think that companies should have a policy that allows all employees to work at home? Why or why not? How would you determine which jobs are best suited for working at home?
2. What role can technology play in allowing employees to work at home? Do you believe that interaction using technology can replace interpersonal face-to-face interaction between employees or between employees and their manager?
3. Some employees don’t take advantage of flexible work options such as working at home because they believe it hurts their career. Why might they feel this way?
Sources: Based on B. Goldsmith, “Yahoo’s work-from-home ban stirs backlash,” The Columbus Dispatch (February 27, 2013): A5; P. Marinova, “Who works from home and when” (February 28, 2013), from www.cnn.com , accessed February 28, 2013; C. Suddath, “Work-from-home truths, half-truths, and myths,” Bloomberg Businessweek (March 4–10, 2013): 75; R. Silverman and Q. Fottrell, “The home office in the spotlight,” The Wall Street Journal (February 27, 2013): B6; N. Shah, “More Americans working from home remotely,” The Wall Street Journal (April 6, 2013): A3.
