Social, Mobile, and Corporate Learning: Research Takeaways

The workplace has undergone a seminal change over thepast few years. It has experienced an evolution of sorts on several counts by becomingmore global (and mobile), embracing modern technology and automation, and relyinglargely on social media. This change has definitely done a whole lot of goodfor businesses worldwide as the shifting workplace perspective has led tobetter employee engagement and has offered a more holistic functioning space.

On the forefront of this ever-evolving landscape is“corporate learning” or “enterprise learning,” more commonly referred to as“workplace learning.” More and more companies are realizing that encouraging employeelearning by instilling a learning culture amongst them is a great way to dealwith the vagaries of business, regulatory environments, and increasingcompetition. Learning has now become the primary focus of companies—and how!

It has been long established that “learning” forms thefocal point of today’s corporate landscape, so the spotlight invariably turnsto the L&D department; the torchbearer, the curator, the do-er of allthings “learning.”

Mobile learning

With 67 percent of people learning on mobile devices, mobile learning is no longer a good-to-have, but an expectation.

L&D teams have realized that employee learning hasno limits now and it has transcended the boundaries of the workplace. As Deloitte’s Annual Global Human Capital Trends report points out, the concept of careersis being shaken to its core, driving companies towards always-on learning experiencesthat allow employees to build skills quickly, easily, and on their own terms.This anytime, anywhere learning (a.k.a. mobile learning) has now become thestrongest pillar of the learning experiences. Learning is no more restricted toa certain time-period or place and can easily take place on-the-go thanks toinnumerable mobile devices, smartphones, and the like.

LinkedIn’s 2017 Workplace Learning Report too stresses on the idea of modernlearning experiences to meet expectations from modern learners. It says thatlearning is not always a scheduledactivity that falls into a learning program. A modern learning experience isone that gives learners the ability to access content on their own terms. Thisreport lays thrust on the idea of mobile learning by mentioning that mobile devices have reshaped how employeesaccess and consume learning resources, and how online learning fits into thefast-paced digital learning landscape.

Traditional learning-management systems are beingcomplemented with, and replaced by, a wide range of new technologies forcontent curation, delivery, video distribution, and mobile use.

But it’s not the platforms alone that are being relooked at. Learning professionals now have to ensure that the content isrelevant, extremely concise, and accessible at any time (read mobile). Echoingthis is the CGS 2017 Enterprise Learning Annual report, covering 186 senior professionals,representing such diverse fields as learning and development, HR, organizationaleffectiveness, operations, IT, global communications, and sales, which findsthat 54 percent of respondents plan for an increased spend on mobile learning in2017 and beyond.

HR, too, is undergoing rapid and profound change with HR leaders being pushed to take on a larger role in helping to drive the organizationto “be digital,” not just “do digital.” Fifty-six percent of companies surveyedthis year by Deloitte, as a part of its GlobalHuman Capital Trends report, are redesigning their HR programs to leveragedigital and mobile tools and 41 percent are actively building mobile apps todeliver HR services.

Truly digital. Truly mobile.

Social learning and knowledge collaboration

This age of disruption has not only made the workforcemobile (and mobile-savvy) but also social-media proficient.

L&D departments are largely relying on socialmedia to provide more collaborative learning experiences to employees, takinginto consideration the need to develop employees’ soft skills. Companies arefast adapting to this mode of encouraging self-learning via collaborative toolsincluding mobile platforms. The CGS 2017 report mentions that many L&D professionalstake advantage of media and the network of relationships collaborativeplatforms offer. It says, “For the 85% of respondents planning to maintain or increaseuse of social media, decision makers feel that the benefit of tapping intocollaborative learning environments will allow subject matter experts in theworkplace community to share their expertise directly with their peers.” Sharingof information happens through online chats, IMs, and learning managementsystems with in-built social learning and knowledge collaboration features,etc., where employees can find answers to questions themselves.

The report also indicates an increase in the spendtowards social media—either with a view to leveraging employees’ limitedavailability or to staying relevant and accessible at any time, or both.

Social, mobile, and beyond

Social and mobile learning, in the whole corporatelearning ecosystem, also has a lot to do with “employee experience.” TheDeloitte report mentions that nearly 80 percent of executives rated employeeexperience very important or important. L&D is now building programs andstrategies that go all out to provide the best of learning to employees. Infact, as the CGS report points out, employee engagement is the primary metricthat companies chose to measure a learning program’s effectiveness, whichcompanies do by giving features such as speed, efficiency, relevance, andusability as a part of their learning management systems.

While referring to learning and focusing on social andmobile learning, another important trend in workplace learning is that of continuouslearning. As per the Deloitte report, L&D departments are now accessing thehigh-quality, free, or low-cost content available in the market that offersready access to continuous learning. In an ever-growing globalized andcompetitive society, the importance of continuous learning cannot beoverstated. Employees need to keep a learning mindset as a way to remaincompetitive with peers, and as an opportunity to stand out from the pack,whenever needed. Companies are now adopting, along with their LMS, new sets oflearning tools that provide curated content, video and mobile learning solutions,microlearning, and new learning platforms that encourage all-time learning.

While learning is becoming more and more digital, it’simperative that the leadership alsokeep pace with this digital wave. As Deloitte’s report states, according to 80percent of respondents, leadership is an important issue and 42 percent call itvery important. After all, when it comes to agreeingor vetoing a decision on an LMS, it is the leadership in an organization thatneeds to be onboard for the entire process and has to be completely intune with the digitization policy. A good, strong LMS will pave the way inproviding an enriching social and mobile learning experience to employees, andthe leadership should be ready to go with the change.

All in all, digital learning strategies have seen themost significant shifts in the recent times. As the CGS report points out, in2016, web-based training and instructors were tied at 88 percent as the mostused channels for learning initiatives; and video took the third spot at 74percent. This year, video is the number one channel for learning delivery, andnewer technologies such as mobile, social, and microlearning now make up halfof all learning delivery. Learning technology is changing rapidly. Period.

Companies have realized that social and mobile learninggoes beyond simply using technology to deliver content on mobile devices; it isabout knowing how to fruitfully operate across new and ever-changing learningspaces. The emphasis now lies on “learning” rather than teaching, challengingL&D professionals to comprehend learners’ needs, context, and skills betterthan ever before.