Innovation Through Digital Transformation: New Roles And Responsibilities Of Learning And Development Professionals Within The Organization
The world around us is continually evolving and organizations are now feeling the pressure to keep innovating to stay relevant. Changes are disrupting almost every industry, bringing changes in the processes as well as management. The impact of digitization is tremendous and is seen in all industries bringing about a disruption of existing business models through new technology. Thus businesses today have to open up their minds to innovation and continuous learning. Running parallel is the marked change of customer behavior as well. In the modern world, customers are better informed and are clear about their expectations. There is a definite shift towards individualized products and services as well as a unique customer experience.
Challenges That Call For Innovation Through Digital Transformation In Learning And Development
In times of continuous change, it is imperative for organizations to open up their minds to continuous learning as well as perineal change and development. Learning and Development professionals need to take up the challenge and tackle it to create avenues of innovation in the organization. This job however, is not simple and is wrought with challenges that call for transformational change in the role of Learning and Development in an organizational structure.
1. When an organization cannot fully fathom the extent of change and is not ready to fully commit to innovation.
Change often brings along with itself a sense of unpredictability which leaves very little time for preparation. In this state of confusion, the role of Learning and Development professionals within the organization needs to be revised and re-looked. Learning and Development managers should not only champion the cause of learning but also take up the role of Change Agents and Consultants.They have to champion the cause of innovation too and encourage the organization to deal with changes and also foster innovation. By bringing about suitable changes in the organizational learning processes, they can empower individuals through increased participation and proactivity.
This encourages innovation – at an individual level as well as at the organizational level.In addition to changes in the existing learning processes, Learning and Development managers should also aim to introduce new forms of collaborative work that help organizations increase their development potential. By being the firsts to adopt new organizational structures like virtual tools that help employees work as a team, Learning and Development teams should lead the way in terms of showing the organization ways of the new world. This will not only benefit the organizational culture of innovation but also increase the Learning and Development team’s credibility as the fore-runners of adopting change within the organization.
2. When there is a lack of skill, knowledge, and the right attitude.
When Learning and Development professionals assess that there is a need for change management and training, they should address it immediately to make sure that the missing skills, knowledge or even the right attitude can be learnt quickly and efficiently. The team should critically if new trainings need to be imparted to help employees master the continual and deep-reaching change processes in an organization.
They should assess and ascertain needed skills and provide a way of learning them through technology-aided learning. In addition to standard eLearning courses as well as instructor–led training, the L&D team should provide extended training and performance support, act as the curator of learning content and available tools, facilitate self-led learning and reflection in the workplace as well as encourage learning in networks and communities within the organization.
3. When the culture of innovation is missing.
Most L&D managers do not see themselves as the champions of the cause of innovation and change within the organization. They feel that their roles fall more in the area of planning, execution and evaluation of learning concepts. They do not see themselves shaping the culture of the organization. However, in the age of digital transformation and continual change, fostering the culture of innovation is an important sphere of activity, with considerable creative potential for Learning and Development professionals.In an organization, the capability to innovate and the learning culture are closely connected. Learning prepares employees for performance within their roles as well as opens them up to the culture of innovation.
Final Word
To sum up, digital transformation brings with itself a multitude of change that brings about a shift in the processes and workings within the organizations. While this is a challenging situation, it is the responsibility of the L&D team to actively shape the new processes and bring about the capacities to tackle the change.
So, in addition to their core competencies of designing, teaching and evaluating learning formats, Learning and Development managers have to support the organization as change agent and consultant in times of continuous transformation. They have to actively help shape a culture of constant learning, radical change and fundamental innovation. There are many ways and areas in which innovation can be introduced and the L&D team should be continually exploring and experimenting to get the right fit.