As the threat of Covid starts to wane, and offices begin to open their doors again, many organisations are starting to reconsider what learning and development will look like in their future. In a time of rapid change, recruitment crisis and financial disruption, ensuring that your organisation offers high-quality learning and development initiatives is more important than ever, as it is no secret that training opportunities help to improve employee retention and reduce turnover.
A key question is, are we going to return to traditional face-to-face facilitation?, or do we want to optimize the virtual methods we have learnt so much about over the last few years? The ‘right’ answer to this question will be very different depending on organisation, sector, personal preference, and topic. For some, the pull of face-to-face training days is strong and offers possibilities for connection, discussion, and joint learning. For others, virtual sessions have a much longer list of benefits, including cost savings, geographical flexibility and improved comfort.
At Cambridge Network, we receive requests for bespoke, in-house courses on a weekly basis, from both member and non-member organisations. A review of these requests offers some insight into how solutions to organisational learning and development needs are adapting as we come out of the Covid era. Many organisations seem to be moving away from single day, intensive sessions towards longer-term learning programmes, with shorter but more frequent modules. In addition, individual coaching or mentoring sessions may be added between modules to ensure maximum application of learning in the workplace. While this broadening of learning and development methods within a single programme is not revolutionary, and was around for many years, if not decades, before Covid, there is clearly a new understanding of the advantages.
For many topics, one thing remains constant; a need for delegates to have access to an experienced facilitator in some capacity to guide their understanding of and connection to the subject material. Feedback from our pool of world-class facilitators indicates that face-to-face methods should be protected when delivering topics such as mental health, management techniques and personal communication skills. However, this does not mean that other methods cannot work alongside these sessions, with blended learning approaches which incorporate digital technologies, in-person sessions and independent learning often being used to great success. There is space for all forms of learning and development in the future. The real skill is ensuring that you chose the right one on a case-by-case basis, considering a range of factors relevant to your learners.
The pandemic seems to have forced organisations to seriously reflect on how to optimize the impact of learning opportunities delivered through various methods. The transition away from one off training experiences expected to produce immediate change, and towards continuous learning processes incorporating hybrid delivery models is a huge step forward. Not only will this mentality shift expand our understanding of what organisational change is possible through high quality learning interventions, but it will also increase resilience in both individuals and teams as they are better supported to develop new skills, improve their performance, and become increasingly adaptable.
Do you have a team or organisational learning need? Take a look at our courses or get in touch here: https://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk/learning