Corporate learning has never been more relevant. Companies today are cultivating broad, dynamic development environments, rich in skills that aim for long-term career advancement among nearly all roles and levels. What’s more, through these learning environments, there’s a growing emphasis on fostering “human” skills such as communication, emotional intelligence and collaboration.
Why is this? Because studies show that human skills are required to drive the change and innovation that power business today. In other words, employees need to learn the right thing at the right time in order to do the right thing at the right time. The latest learning trend at the forefront of this movement are Corporate Academies.
Designed to Mesh with Today’s Workplace
Corporate academies are designed with a firm eye on how the modern workforce learns, collaborates, and applies skills on the job. Unlike traditional corporate learning, academies use a mix of resources including shared content from leaders and experts, learning experiences, personalized microlearning (often available a consumer-style interface), coaching programs, and even capstone projects. Not only have delivery styles changed, but models have shifted away from “one and done”, instead encouraging continuous learning that meshes with the daily workflow.
So, what’s spurred this latest evolution? Three key elements of the workplace: people, company needs, and of course, technology.
Learning is Changing Because People are Changing
Recently, IBM’s Institute for Business Value published fundamental recommendations to guide companies looking to invest in talent development for the future workforce. The study showed an emerging skills gap: Today’s workforce requires more than just technical or basic business skills. Professionals also need “softer” capabilities such as an adaptive mindset, collaboration, and strategic communication skills in order to be successful in their careers.
Learning is Changing because Company Needs are Changing
One of the biggest efforts among enterprises today is digital transformation. On the surface, this may seem purely focused on technology advances, but at the core, it’s really about change. The pace of change today makes change the constant. This means that employees need to have adaptive, growth mindsets to succeed. In other words, modern workforces must be agile, nimble, and poised for change to meet the demands of ever-changing environments.
Learning is Changing Because Technology is Changing
Technology changes everything. It enables us to do more, use sophisticated tools for more effective learning, and ultimately, speeds up the development of new skills. Companies must meet the demand of changing demographics – who drive new requirements – with excellent user experiences and a plethora of choices for how companies approach learning. Investing in a modern learning platform will help address the need.
That said, how does storytelling fit into a corporate academy?
One key power skill we’ve seen rise to the top of the capabilities list is storytelling. Many Fortune 500 companies report they need employees to be able to clearly and succinctly communicate technical information, humanize their data, and learn to elevate the conversation. Even the brightest talent may struggle to influence decision-making and drive business forward using current communication methods. The next generation of learning directly addresses this by combining the benefits of a capability academy (such as collaboration, learning in-the flow of work, assessments, etc.) with relevant examples that directly relate to their day-to-day work.
How can you meet the evolving demands of the future workplace?
To start, consider offering employees an academy-style learning environment to develop new knowledge, skills and experiences (a.k.a. “capabilities”). This requires the perfect blend of learning technologies, content development, and partnering with subject matter experts that’ll help people learn a broader range of skills. These skills will serve both their career, and the overall performance of the company.
Want to learn more about how TPC’s blend of onsite, virtual, and on-demand learning solutions can be adapted to fit within your corporate academy? Check out our flexible workshop delivery modalities.