According to one recent study, approximately 70% of leaders say that their organizations regularly face a skills gap on a daily basis.
In some fields, this number is even higher - it's true of 75% of leaders in financial services, and 73% of leaders in the technology space.
Another study indicated that about 76% of employees see training as absolutely critical to the work they're being asked to do on a daily basis.
All this is to say that, from the point of view of both employers and their employees, ongoing training and development is more important than ever.
Of course, training and effective training are two entirely different concepts.
Just because you've invested in a business development class for your people doesn't mean they'll magically be able to overcome any knowledge-related challenges they have, nor is it a guarantee that they'll be able to take anything away from it at all.
Far too often, employers make the mistake of thinking in terms of individual courses.
To fully address the major issue of the modern era, you need to evolve beyond that and build learning ecosystems wherever possible.
Getting to this point isn't necessarily difficult, but it does require you to keep a few key things in mind.
The Limitations of Focusing on Individual Courses
One of the issues you run into almost immediately when you focus more on individual courses than what they all add up to has to do with the fact that they fail to deliver a lasting impact.
That's not to say that a focus on individual courses is entirely invalid because it isn't.
It's just that those courses need to connect together and feed off of one another.
They need to take the learner on a journey - think of them more like a roadmap to that end.
When you go on a road trip, the individual destinations are certainly key - but what you're really focused on is the larger experience when you get to the end.
In that way, standalone courses often lack that integration necessary for not only a true understanding of the points you're trying to get across, but retention as well.
If there isn't a clear connection between each course and your larger organizational goals, or even the learning paths of individual attendees, people will likely struggle to see the relevance.
That will keep them at arm's length, which will also hurt motivation as well.
Even if someone does take something meaningful away from the course, you'll likely have issues with knowledge transfer and application.
Remember that any valuable training program isn't just about helping people memorize a series of facts.
It's about showing people how these topics connect to the job you're asking them to do on a daily basis.
To that end, another one of the major issues with standalone courses is that they often fail to bridge the gap between theory and practice.
People don't see how what you're asking them to learn applies to their daily lives, even if they are technically learning what you've put in front of them.
It would be like teaching someone advanced algebra without also teaching them how to apply it and get value out of it when the class is finished.
At the other end of the spectrum, you also have the very high likelihood that disconnected learning experiences will create confusion and inefficiency.
When individual courses are created in a silo as opposed to as part of one larger journey, learners may encounter messages that contradict one another.
You may teach them skills that don't align.
This will almost always result in inefficiencies, but also frustration as well.
Curating and Creating Relevant Content for Your Learning Ecosystem
Thankfully, there are a number of clear strategies that you can use to curate and create relevant content to support a more holistic learning approach moving forward.
Essentially, what you're doing is selecting and organizing materials that enhance learning across not only various formats, but channels as well.
Start by getting learner feedback to identify what, if any knowledge gaps exist.
Then, make sure you have relevant content at the ready to fill those gaps.
Over time, you can also use tools like data analytics to track engagement.
If people aren't necessarily engaging with a part of the course in the way that you wanted them to, you can adjust your content accordingly.
Having said all of that, there will be times when the content you need for a particular lesson doesn't already exist.
This means that you'll need to create original content to fill gaps within your ecosystem.
To make sure you're focusing your efforts in the right places, start by conducting a needs assessment.
What do your learners need, and how can you best give it to them?
This is a critical question to answer.
You should also engage with subject matter experts to not only create content that accurately covers the topic, but that does so at a high level.
You should always incorporate as much learner experience into the development process as you can.
By filling in these gaps with targeted, high-quality resources, you can begin to enhance not just what people are learning, but how they're learning it.
This creates a better experience, which ultimately goes a long way towards furthering your objectives.
Throughout all this, you'll need to be proactive about maintaining a balance between internal expertise and external resources when it comes to your content development.
You can't just create everything in-house or try to prioritize "off-the-shelf" content that already exists.
Try to weave in both wherever possible to create a richer learning environment.
Your own internal people can provide insights that align with your organizational culture and goals in a way that someone totally disconnected from your business cannot.
External resources, on the other hand, can offer fresh perspectives that your own people may lack.
It's about walking a delicate line between the two, making sure that you have content that is A) relevant, and B) comprehensive whenever possible.
This helps learners connect with the material, which conveys important ideas more efficiently, which ultimately puts you further down the line toward your goals.
Ensuring Alignment Between Content and Learning Objectives
Throughout this process, you must never lose sight of the most important over-arching idea: learning and learning that is aligned with your organizational objectives are not the same thing.
This is why you need to align every piece of content you create with your learning objectives, which themselves need to be aligned with your long-term organizational objectives.
This will require a systematic approach.
Work to develop clear learning outcomes at the outset so that you have something to gauge success by.
Leverage backward design principles to make sure that your content meets these objectives.
Regularly and thoroughly revisit your learning goals to make sure that alignment is still intact and if it isn't, that you can course correct as soon as possible.
By maintaining a clear focus on your objectives, you can create more targeted and effective learning experiences for all involved.
This is why the importance of regular content audits and updates is something that cannot be overstated.
Your content should regularly be reviewed and updated to remain equal parts relevant and effective.
Always conduct content audits to identify any materials that are outdated, for example.
Assess learner engagement and if your numbers are dropping, ask yourself why and identify how you can fix them.
Gather insights on what is working so that you can double down on those elements.
These types of learning experiences are not something that you "do once and forget about."
Regular updates not only enhance the quality of the learning resources that you're putting out there, but also demonstrate a commitment to continuous improvement as well.
You'll leverage a wide range of different tools and technologies during this time, particularly as you track content effectiveness.
A Learning Management System will be important, as will various analytical tools.
But don't overlook the importance of traditional feedback surveys, either.
All of these resources provide valuable data on learner engagement and comprehension.
By collecting and analyzing this data, you can make the most informed decisions possible regarding how you're developing content, how you're making adjustments, and more.
LX Studio's Holistic Approach to Learning Strategy and Design
At LX Studio, our strategy-to-design-to-development process is one that takes into consideration all stages of the learning lifecycle from the outset.
We always begin by making an effort to understand as much about your organization and your goals as possible.
Then, we learn about your learners and their various needs.
We set out to develop custom strategies that align these two concepts together, infusing that in every phase of design and development to bring everything together.
These interconnected learning experiences leverage a wide range of different types of content - from online courses to workshops to more intimate training and more.
Throughout it all, we always encourage learners to take what they've developed and build from it.
The goal is to give them a skill that they can hone and develop and add to - not to create a course that stands in isolation.
The major benefit of this approach is that it invites collaboration at all stages.
It helps teams from diverse backgrounds in particular contribute ideas and perspectives that may have otherwise been unavailable.
It is also simple - our straightforward, visual language for describing learning can be taught in a matter of minutes and is as easy to use as it is to understand.
What you're left with is a focus and clarity to education that you may not be able to match through other means.
All this goes a long way towards making sure that your people have the skills they need to accomplish everything you've set out for them, absolutely no exceptions.
Transitioning from Courses to Ecosystems: A Roadmap for Success
If the journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step, for your organization that step involves conducting a training needs assessment.
Gather as much data as possible on your current training initiatives and ask yourself a simple question: "what is working, and what isn't?"
Make sure that you understand learner demographics and skill gaps within your organization.
Take advantage of surveys, interviews, and focus groups.
Evaluate the current learning resources that your people have access to including courses, e-learning modules, workshops, informal learning opportunities, and more.
Critically, lay this all out against the context of your learning outcomes and the impact these resources are having.
Again, return to the very straightforward question of "what is working, and what isn't?"
By defining a clear vision and goals, creating a true learning framework, and leveraging technology wherever possible, you will gradually start to build a comprehensive learning ecosystem that you can depend on.
But more importantly, you'll start to foster a true culture of continuous learning. People won't take courses and training sessions because they feel like they have to.
They'll do it because they want to - they legitimately prioritize any opportunity to improve that they have access to.
You can then work to evolve the ecosystem in the future, making it even more effective than it already is.
If you'd like to find out more information about what a holistic learning strategy can do for your organization, or if you have any additional questions about our unique approach to training alignment that you'd like to discuss in a bit more detail, please don't delay - contact the team at LX Studio today.
