I have just finished listening to the latest edition of the Reset Show podcast.
In this episode Michelle Parry-Slater talked about her latest book “The Learning and Development Handbook”. This piece of work was started in 2019 and published in 2021. Although started pre-pandemic, the contents are very relevant in the new world.
Michelle talks about how the context of learning and development has changed from simply designing and delivering a course, to a process of understanding what it is that your learners need and creating something that works for the intended audience.
So very much thinking about learning from a design thinking approach which moves away from a more traditional course solution that is off the shelf.
In the podcast she talks about elements in the book which looks at the importance of community, network and knowing your audience in order to make learning and development fit for purpose as we continue to come out of the pandemic.
Community – how many times have you asked someone for a recommendation for a hotel; or think about checkatrade.com or Glassdoor? These are platforms where people can give recommendations, whether that is for someone to help put together some flat pack furniture or a potential future employer. This community aspect to learning and development is about having a small, internal community where you can go to someone to learn a specific skill (i.e. excel) or a good ted talk or a piece of research from a wider community.
Networks– networks can be a very powerful thing in an organisation. Whether a traditional staff network or a space to talk to likeminded people and share opinions on topics that interest you or you are struggling with. Traditionally face to face learning was a great way of providing the opportunity to network. I agree with what Michelle says about face-to-face learning being no longer fit for purpose as it was. We have moved (partly due to the pandemic) to being more digital and the need to balance the face to face from a network perspective with digital self-paced learning to enable people to learn in their own time is important.
Knowing your audience – This links to employee experience. Knowing what the problem is that you need to solve and then designing something that will fix it. This is not a standard course that is taken off the shelf; someone attends and then a box is ticked to show that they are not competent in a set subject. This is about understanding what the individual knows already; they may know the theory and need the chance to put into practice. They may need to build confidence so a coach or mentor could be appropriate. Investing in people will show them that you value them, and your organisation will reap the rewards.
If you are interested in hearing what Michelle has to say the link to the podcast is here or would like to read the book click here .
@Karen
