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Innovative Learning in the
Workplace !!!
In today’s business timely competency is a key driver of productivity
and business growth. As a result there is renewed focus on learning
and its impact on overall economic performance. In a knowledge-based
economy the emphasis is on life long learning and creating a culture
of constant and instant learning to help overcome shifts in industry
focus and technology advancement. The benefits of such learning
include
a. timely skills to compete in the changing business environment
b. vocational and professional job satisfaction
c. effective integration of competency into job design
Growing enterprises will realize that business success is dependent on
effective management of knowledge and competency.
A knowledge-focused organization needs to have the right knowledge
available as and when that knowledge is needed. Knowledge can be
generated by hiring the right people, bringing people together to
establish groups for a specific purpose, adapting to new technologies
and by creating informal networks to show expertise. All these efforts
need adequate time and space to allow knowledge acquisition to take
place.
Making the change
A holistic approach becomes pivotal to quickly transfer knowledge.
Many organisations are hampered by fixed training schedules, travel
requirements, the use of face-to-face learning models and the lack of
direct matching of training and learning to business needs.
The holistic approach to learning suggests that learning must be
integrated with business outcomes. It involves learning delivered
using a blend of technology and styles to account for different
learning needs and expectations.
The focus of such an integrated approach must be on enterprise-wide
solutions. It is also important to understand how technology
components work together and how to get the right people with the
right skills at the right time to do the job. The integrated approach
must also account for the learner’s needs and interests that learning
will satisfy. The learner experiences and corresponding flexibility to
allow for self-directed learning add another dimension to the
composition of the approach.
Strategies for innovation
First and foremost, organizations must have to move away from a menu
of training and learning offerings that provide discrete sessions for
the learner. In a practical sense, learning has to be learner-centric,
based on individual interests. In most situations, current learning
environments have been designed and developed in isolation and do not
integrate tightly with the developments in the business world.
Therefore, learning has to be directed towards particular levels of
understanding and experience with the needs of the learner and the
business remaining flexible and adaptable. Typically, in an
integrated and innovative model of learning, the organization has to:
1. Reinvent the way learning takes place:
It is necessary to develop innovative and flexible ways to create and
manage the learning process. Employees need learning experiences that
give them opportunities to share knowledge and connect their learning
to the context of their work. Such strategies can include peer
coaching, mentoring and networking.
2. Redefine learning events:
Such events must be led by people with the right expertise and
incorporate activities reflected in the workplace. Employees need an
operational definition of what expert knowledge looks like and how it
works.
3. Refine the learning process:
The learning experience must encompass a range of appropriate best
practices that extend over a significant period of time, as well as an
exploration into the near future. Employees need sequences of learning
that build one on the other and allow support for on going development
over time.
4. Re-establish the value of on-site learning:
This approach embeds learning in the workplace and can be led by
respected peers. It also allows for input in the learning process so
learning is planned and owned by the employees themselves.
5. Remember that it is important to promote and visibly
support learning in the workplace:
There is little meaningful change in an organisation if learning is
not tied directly to the needs of the business. Management vigilance
on the return on investment in learning must be actively supported.
Such an approach to developing employee knowledge can be captured in
the concept of “Spinnovation”, or speed plus innovation.
Many reasons explain how integrated learning can be enabled by the
concept of "Spinnovation". Some of the important reasons include:
1. Integrated learning aims to minimize time-to-apply.
Through systematic planning to eliminate process redundancy and
latency, and transferring only the relevant "learning materials" to
the learners, the time-to-apply is minimized so that the workforce is
able to quickly acquire and apply new skills to compete at the next
level.
2. Integrated learning can optimize knowledge acquisition and
transfer.
Technology is leveraged to optimize the acquisition and execution
processes of knowledge transfer. A knowledge bank is created with
small encapsulations that allows easy updating and retrieval.
3. Flexibility in integrated learning will increase motivation
to acquire knowledge.
Learning is sometimes seen to be a social process. Flexible options in
an integrated model allow the learner to select from the most
effective learning method, thus increasing the motivation to learn.
4. Communities of practice can be formed to support lifelong
employability.
Employees with common learning interests tend to form learning
communities revolving around a subject matter or practice. Over time,
such communities of practice possess the valuable intellectual capital
that an organization uses to compete. Such groups often verify the
contents of a knowledge bank amidst changing rules and practices, and
stay employed together.
Integrated learning can help achieve better business results! The
concept of "Spinnovation" is a key element of business success.
Enabling this is an environment of integrated learning. An
organization has to quickly train its workforce before the competition
catches up.
In the new digital business world, learning speed will help bring
about innovative applications, as this is one of the most effective
ways to enhance position in the marketplace. When an organization is
number one, integrated learning is one way to quickly move further
ahead of competition!
By Lee Kwok Hoong
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