The contemporary labour force is one that bears little resemblance to its forebears. The demands of the modern-day workforce have moved beyond financial compensation and long-term job security. A congenial atmosphere, employee engagement and workplace flexibility are some of the benefits that figure highly on any prospective jobseeker’s watch list.
In recent years, one of the more compelling incentives is linked to career and personal fulfilment — training and development.
One cannot underplay the importance of continuous learning. It forms the basis for future advancement, and all the benefits that it entails, including long-term earnings. While employees feel engaged when promoted and presented with development opportunities, they place equal value on having opportunities to expand their skill set.
Despite this shift in employee attitudes, there remains a lack of fulfilment among employees when it comes to learning, particularly non-managers. As per our latest findings, only 25 per cent of non-management employees say their learning and training is linked to their development plan, compared with over 60 per cent of senior managers and directors.
The common impression of traditional learning and training courses is that they are mandatory sessions that employees are forced to attend. However, training cannot be relegated to an item to tick off. Grouping all your employees into a room for a marathon learning session, even if done with the best intentions, is not necessarily the best way to ensure employee development.
Instead, learning should be a continuous process built on collaboration and instant access to relevant information.
But work is not school. Once people have an interesting job, learning is something they should want to look forward to. Lessons tend to sink in through real-world application, not through hastily scribbled notes in a classroom.
This holds true both in our personal and professional lives, and HR needs to take the lead in adapting training opportunities to this reality. There has been progress in this regard, but for now, just 39 per cent of non-managers say that their organisation uses online and collaborative learning tools to promote their development.
Social media collaboration and instant video are contributing to improved learning and development, and while they might seem far removed from training and HR, tools like virtual reality (VR) also have great promise for improving performance.
I was convinced of this by my first encounter with VR at a recent industry event. I was amazed by how immersive and real the whole experience felt, and was intrigued to find out that VR is currently being used to help people overcome their fear of heights. Ensconced in the ‘safety’ of their headset, users are exposed to gradually increasing altitudes, allowing them to acclimatise their senses and tackle their fears safely.
Consider the possibilities for young workers keen to become more comfortable pitching for new business. Public speaking can be a crippling fear for many people, but it is also a critical skill for success in more senior roles.
Who knows how much employees would become comfortable speaking in front of a crowd, if they could practice in an environment reminiscent of a real scenario? Certainly more effective than reciting lines in front of the mirror.
The possibilities extend to other soft skills, like speaking a second language. Most people agree the best way to learn a new tongue is to get immersed in the culture and speak with locals, but this is rarely feasible.
With a VR headset, employees could regularly boot up a language training program and converse with native speakers without ever leaving their desks/home/sofa. Imagine that instead of learning Arabic in a dry classroom, you could sit in your favourite local cafe with your virtual friend Hamid in Dubai.
Whether it’s the latest technologies or more traditional methods, businesses must prioritise ongoing training and recognise its inherent value in engaging employees. What’s crucial is that learning opportunities are relevant and accessible — there’s no point in only giving senior employees access to collaboration platforms and on-demand training modules, if these stand to benefit all staff and improve performance.
What new technologies like cloud-based tools and virtual reality do is make this democratic approach to learning easier than ever to implement.
The writer is HCM — Sales Development, Oracle.
