The latest data shows that 4.4 million American workers quit their jobs in March, leaving employers with 11.5 million job openings. Whether we’re calling it a Great Resignation or a Great Reshuffling, it’s clear that workers are frustrated with the status quo — which is fueling employers to work harder to address their needs around flexibility, pay and other concerns. At the top of the list: Providing the sort of learning and development that can help people advance their careers, and doing it in a way that actually works.
We know that learning is important for both workers and the businesses that hire them. According to recent research, more than three-quarters of workers now say they are more likely to remain with a company that provides continuous training. Nearly 70 percent of HR managers increased their L&D budgets for this year. But while employers and workers agree that L&D is important, very few employees actually take advantage of existing development opportunities.
Employers must rethink how they approach L&D so that it better fits the needs of a new generation of workers. The future of learning and upskilling depends on creating learning experiences that people can make time for — and that happens when education and training options are made to be bite-sized, flexible and seamlessly integrated into the workflow of employees.
Consider the case of the National Cybersecurity Center, a nonprofit dedicated to cyber innovation and heightening cybersecurity alertness. When the organization recently set out to educate state legislators about cyber hygiene, it needed to find a way to work around their busy schedules. To get lawmakers and their staff to adopt better cyber habits, the NCC knew the training would have to be brief, virtual, easily understandable and perhaps even fun. An initial plan to host an hour-long live training session for each state was quickly thwarted by technology and scheduling issues.
The organization then decided to break up the session and translate it into a short cybersecurity course that played out across five lessons, consisting of a few texts sent to the participants. Each day, legislators received a different text focused on completing an important task related to good cyber hygiene, including setting up Multi-Factor Authentication and learning how to encrypt sensitive emails. The text-message course boasted a 95 percent completion rate.
Software giant SAP saw similar success when it partnered with EY to launch a design thinking course for its learners around the world. The course was split into eight easily digestible sections that could be completed in just five to 10 minutes per day. Instead of making learners download a new app or login into yet another online platform, SAP delivered the course through the messaging service WhatsApp. About 6,000 learners signed up for the course across North America, Latin America and India.
So, why does this approach work so well?
It turns out that many workers simply do not have the time to invest in learning alongside their already busy work and personal lives. Research from Deloitte revealed that, on average, employees can devote just one percent of their workweek to professional development. In a standard 40-hour workweek, that’s less than five minutes per day. While 94 percent of workers say they see the benefit of making time for learning, just 49 percent make time to do so. According to LinkedIn’s 2018 Learning Report, the time it takes to complete a course is the number one reason learning professionals cite for workers not taking part in online training.
What’s more, a look at the data indicates that many of today’s learning tools aren’t at all designed around what workers actually want and need. More than nine in 10 mobile users dislike having to download additional apps, but nearly all companies use multiple messaging apps for communication, task management and training. Unsurprisingly, workers don’t actually use learning-focused apps; they’re spending most of their time using tools like texting, WhatsApp and Slack to talk to both their colleagues and their friends.
In other words, it’s not just about timing. Behavioral scientists call the phenomenon the “intention-action gap,” and they are finding that well-designed and well-timed nudges through common communication tools can go a long way in helping a person’s intentions become a reality. Ensuring workers can follow through on their learning goals means meeting people where they are, as much as when.
As companies continue to navigate our complex labor market, L&D will only grow in importance as a critical retention strategy. But organizations cannot simply point toward traditional learning programs and call it a day. They must invest in new flexible opportunities, bringing learning directly to their employees. Microlearning designed to meet workers where they are can help employers and employees alike finally make time for professional development.
