Corporate Learning: The Shift To Custom Remote Training Delivery In Unprecedented Times

Corporate Learning: The Shift To Custom Remote Training Delivery In Unprecedented Times
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Summary: Corporate learning delivery systems are changing. Executives and learning professionals have much to consider, but the first and foremost is how to deliver quality training in the shifting sands among onsite, completely remote, and blended learning. How do you make this shift to custom remote training delivery?

Making The Shift To Custom Remote Training Delivery

Large corporations have had years to weigh in-person training against digitally delivered learning. In the past, things moved slowly and carefully, as is typical in large organizations with complex budgeting processes. Learning teams formed committees that met for many months and sometimes years. Chief human resources officers (CHROs) and other executives, including the CFOs, reviewed findings and considered their options. Speed was often not the strongest driving force. Now, the need for custom remote training delivery comes into place and changes the facts for good.

eBook Release: How To Create Custom Remote Learning Experiences For Large Corporations
eBook Release
How To Create Custom Remote Learning Experiences For Large Corporations
Learn how to deliver quality training in the shifting sands among onsite, completely remote, and blended learning.

Some companies made the intentional decision to focus primarily on classroom experience. In other words, they decided that learners would value the personal experience and the company would benefit from that experience.

Other companies intentionally chose to have a greater emphasis on digitally delivered training. Some were the earliest adopters, making use of DVD-based training two decades ago. Their decisions were based on the possibility of expanding global training opportunities without the expense of bringing those being trained to a training center or having a team of trainers constantly on the road.

All have chosen. The digital transformation of corporate Learning and Development in the past few decades means that there are now 4 different kinds of delivery methods.

In a recent Harvard Business Review article, 4 deeply experienced academics examined the landscape of higher education and identified 3 stages for colleges and universities based on how they’ve approached digital learning and custom remote training delivery: digital newcomers, emerging "adopters," and advanced institutions. Their well-considered categories easily translate to application in the world of corporate learning and training.

custom remote training delivery

Digital Newcomers

Digital newcomers are those having less than 3% of their courses available online and having no experience in teaching online while also not having allocated any team or budget to exploring or expanding online content. These organizations’ methods fall solidly into quadrant 2.

Emerging Adopters

Emerging adopters have successfully experimented with online learning and custom remote training delivery in pockets. They already have basic communication and collaboration tools in place, with a few departments delivering programs online. Faculty and instructors have experienced the benefit and have the conviction to embrace the medium. These universities likely continue to have versions of quadrant 2 but are expanding their delivery methods into quadrants 3 and 4.

Advanced Institutions

Advanced institutions have a robust technical infrastructure, a large catalog of digital content, and a faculty that is well-versed in teaching online. They usually have dedicated centers of academic innovation driving their digital strategy.

All 4 delivery systems were available prior to the pandemic. The challenge for large corporations amid the pandemic and for the foreseeable future isn’t which delivery method will be chosen through a strategic process. The challenge is that circumstances external to companies will likely determine which quadrant is possible for delivering custom remote training. Around the globe, many companies experienced a jarring shift when government entities issued Shelter in Place orders. Deciding which quadrant a company would land in no longer fell under the control of that company.

So, What Now?

Some companies have already committed to, for as long as possible, holding in-person sessions. But they don’t know if that choice will stand up to changes at the local, state, or federal level. What might work in the first few weeks might not even last through a single quarter. Earlier this year, Ford Motor Company opened two assembly plants, to great fanfare, only to close them days later when two employees tested positive for COVID-19. What will happen when members of a company’s team test positive in the coming months?

The only way to deal with uncertainty is to plan for it. Large companies should have as their goal the ability to deliver custom remote training no matter the circumstances. Flexible delivery systems that will enable learning leaders and learners to toggle between the options are needed, even if they have a preferred delivery system. Speed will be a factor. Making the shift from quadrant 2 to 3 would normally take years of planning. In the reality of COVID-19, it happened in a matter of weeks.

Succeeding In Custom Remote Training Delivery

Consider the following as suggestions for serious planning and successful custom remote training delivery:

  • Where’s your corporation currently on the chart?
  • What’s your preferred future state of learning delivery, and what are you doing to achieve it?
  • What’s your strategy to mitigate risk amid external forces beyond your control?

The modern corporate environment undeniably needs to implement remote learning practices. If you're wondering how to deliver quality training in the shifting sands among onsite and completely remote and blended learning download the eBook How To Create Custom Remote Learning Experiences For Large Corporations, and find out all you need to know! Also, join the webinar Why Curriculum Mapping Is The Cornerstone Of Custom Remote Learning Success, and discover more about the subject.

eBook Release: MindSpring
MindSpring
MindSpring is an award-winning agency focused on delivering engaging and transformative digital content. We create digital experiences using exceptional creativity, the best of learning science, and innovative technology. (Previously Inno-Versity)