Learning management systems—the wet blanket of our working lives. They often stifle the real-world buzz and excitement that should be associated with learning. The majority of today’s learning management systems (LMSs) are transactional, back-end, compliance-driven platforms that people visit only when required by HR.
If you’re asking yourself, “Does it matter?” The answer is yes, it matters, especially if you want your company to stay competitive in today’s economy.
Organizations rely on their workforces to help them adjust to an environment that’s constantly changing due to business model disruption, new technologies, and M&A activity. The workforce is changing too—for the first time in history, five generations of people are working side by side. With employee engagement directly impacting productivity and organizational success, it’s time to find a better way to engage our people.
To do this, we should first rethink the notion that we need to “manage” learning. Learning is innately human. It’s an intrinsic part of our identities, and how we grow as people. It’s dynamic, usually unstructured, and sometimes even haphazard. So why should it be managed? How can it be managed?
Is Netflix an entertainment management system? Is Tinder a relationship management system? Of course not. They’re simply platforms that enable our human needs—the need to be entertained, and to connect with others—in a smooth and convenient way.
Learning—the human need to share and grow knowledge—should not be throttled by a rigid structure, impeded by a clunky interface, or dampened by a relentless focus on administration. Today’s employees deserve better because they have better technology experiences in their consumer lives. They have history’s biggest library of how-to videos on YouTube, but uncovering vital information in the workplace takes the sleuthing skills of an old-fashioned private detective.
So instead of managing learning, what should we be doing?
We should be creating the opportunity for “ah-ha” moments that enable, empower, and engage our people. We should be crafting learning experiences that are just as exciting and engaging as real-world discovery. To truly transform learning in the workplace, we need to change the way we deliver content through:
- Video that makes over-the-shoulder and social learning scalable and ubiquitous.
- Targeted learning campaigns that serve relevant content to employees based on their needs, interests, and career paths.
- User-generated content to encourage people to share their own knowledge, contribute to a collaborative learning culture, and help their organization grow and thrive.
When we bring consumer technologies into the enterprise, we have a much better chance of engaging people and keeping their attention. Learning systems that throw cold water on workers’ natural curiosity don’t empower, they suffocate. What we need to understand is that there shouldn’t be a difference between workplace learning and consumer learning—there should just be great learning.
Please join us for #Nextchat: HR Technology—Transforming the Way We Learn at Work> on 9/7/16 at 3 p.m. ET.
James Cross is director of learning product strategy at Workday, and is responsible for the vision, strategy, and roadmap of Workday Learning.
Prior to Workday, James spent a decade focused on the intersection of learning and technology. He was director of education at MediaCore, acquired by Workday in 2015. Before MediaCore, James worked for Civica, a large EMEA cloud software company. Earlier in his career James was a high school teacher, and was recognized by Apple in 2008 as a global leader in mobile and online learning innovation. He is on the board of the annual SXSW learning technology startup competition.
James holds a bachelor’s degree in music from Sheffield University and is a certified teacher. He is an experienced speaker and writer, having published a book and contributed to a number of industry publications.
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