Ways Personalised Learning Impacts L&D
Here we're going to explore the major challenges that personalization poses for L&D managers and see ways in which personalization can, in fact, transform their role and make them more significant agents in the learning process.
Rethinking The Way L&D Works
A major challenge raised by personalized learning is to the established role of L&D. The way training has historically been set up in organisations—top-down, course-driven and cohort-focused – militates against personalization.
It also cements the separation between training and work. For personalization to have a real effect and lead to better performance, learning needs to become part of working, and training needs to be accessible and integrated into the workflow.
Assuring The Learning Experience
While personalization of learning increases the control of learners, allowing them to direct their learning in the way it needs to go, it doesn’t mean that L&D is completely out of the picture. Far from it. L&D can’t simply abandon learners to get on with it on their own. But the role changes.
Breaking down courses into resources doesn’t entirely remove the problem of information overload. Indeed, one of the problems that come with unfettered access to a world of resources is deciding which are relevant and useful and which are not.
It’s L&D’s role in creating the context and knowledge environment for personalized learning to ensure that filters are in place. By curating the learning resources and actively and nimbly responding to learner queries, L&D managers can ensure that open access doesn’t become a free-for-all. Unhelpful noise is filtered out, so that the resources accessed are the right ones for the right context and that the organisation vouches for the validity and integrity of what it offers.
That’s not to deny the usefulness of external, easily-available resources, but instead to emphasise the importance of having a process of quality control and validation. The organisation needs to stand by what it offers, even in a more distributed and learner-centric model of learning.
Moving L&D Into The Workflow
As learning moves into the workflow, L&D needs to follow. L&D changes from being a director of learning to being a facilitator. Instead of creating and rolling out courses, L&D managers curate resources and offer opportunities to learners to create their own pathways.
Technology can help that transition, as we have seen.
The Role Of The LXP
LXPs allow L&D managers to see much better what works and what doesn’t and to make interventions to fill performance and learning gaps.
The collaborative and knowledge-sharing features of the LXP have further implications for L&D. Learning and instruction can be devolved, and learners have an active say in what they learn and how they learn it. The role of L&D then becomes less prescriptive and more about facilitating the sharing of knowledge using the various channels provided by the LXP.
LXPs require iteration. The resources they offer are not one-events but in constant need of refinement, moderation, and evaluation. Like any social media site, new features appear, new content is added, feedback is given, and the evolution continues. L&D needs to be at the heart of that process as part of quality assurance and maintaining standards and relevance.
In the world of LXPs, the L&D manager exercises a different kind of influence and is concerned much more with the actual experience of learning and the way it integrates with work. The LXP provides L&D with greater insight into what’s working and what doesn’t through the collection of data-rich feedback, which allows L&D to make targeted and personalized interventions and to evaluate learning in a more meaningful way.
A New Role For L&D
With personalized learning, L&D becomes less about managing learners and ticking boxes and more about enabling learners to develop their potential. Rather than taking the responsibility for training out their hands, the learner-centric focus of personalization gives L&D managers a new, empowered role to deliver training that has a real impact on performance.
It moves L&D closer to the action, part of everyday working life and organisational culture and not something to be called on only at need, but a function with real potential to play a strategically vital role in the life and health of the organisation.
If we accept that personalized learning is the future, then change is definitely on the way for L&D. Change is always scary. But the opportunities, in this case, look well worth the candle. Download the eBook The Personalised Learning Guide and discover how to frame a business case for personalized learning, and deploy appropriate technology to help implement it effectively. For more valuable insights on personalised learning and the centric-user approach, watch the webinar.
