Future of Work Archive - imc Learning

The talent landscape is undergoing a seismic shift as organisations grapple with the aftermath of the Great Resignation. In an era where employee engagement has become the holy grail, we saw the emergence of quiet quitting. Coined by Brian Creely in 2022, the term relates to employees who only work to the job description. They don't go 'above and beyond', and won't put in even the slightest extra effort or time into their work above what's set out in the job spec.

Inspired by the shifting workplace attitudes and expectations post-pandemic, employees now favour remote and hybrid working. They're driven by a desire of greater work-life balance. A recent AT&T study found the hybrid work model is expected to grow from 42% in 2021 to 81% in 2024. Quiet quitting for many represents a disengagement from working life, and a drop in productivity and efficiency.

So how much of a problem is quiet quitting, and how can businesses address the trend?

To understand the post-pandemic trends in relation to training, we partnered with independent survey company Research Without Barriers. Finding out employee attitudes to training in 2023 gave us a clearer picture of the wider issue of employee disengagement in the workplace.

We surveyed 2,000 UK workers, split between 1,000 managers and 1,000 non-managerial employees. The surveyed managers have over 15 years of work experience and work in companies of more than 15 employees. The surveyed non-managerial employees have a maximum of three years of experience, and work in companies with more than 15 employees. The goal of these sample requirements was to give us better insight into the attitudes held at different levels of seniority. In the context of a rise in quiet quitting, the results were surprising – and promising.

A common belief about quiet quitting is that employees are disengaging because they don't want to work hard or build careers. Our research actually suggests that there remains a strong desire for personal and professional growth among the UK workforce.

A staggering 86% of respondents expressed a willingness to stay longer with their employer – if the employer offers more L&D opportunities. Employees also aren't necessarily interested solely for what a company offers them. Almost all (94%) believed that the company would also benefit if they were given more training. In other words, workers are still willing and interested in engaging with their employers, supporting business goals, and building careers. But they are seeking fulfilment and a mutually beneficial relationship with their employer. This conclusion is reinforced by the social shifts we saw with the Great Resignation, where workers sought work that enhanced their lives.

Our findings underscore the pivotal role that learning & development plays in engaging employees. It provides them with fulfilling work lives – directly impacting their engagement with their roles and countering quiet quitting.

Managers play a crucial role in nurturing a culture of learning and development within their teams. The survey results revealed that 59% of managers recognise the importance of training in keeping employees engaged and motivated in their roles. In fact, 78% of managers also acknowledged that training had a positive impact on their own commitment and engagement. Generally, business leaders are aware that learning and development have a direct impact on employee engagement at all levels. Understanding this gives us a tool to address quiet quitting within an organisation – where employees are willing and able.

Despite the awareness, many organisations are falling short in leveraging learning and development as a tool for employee engagement, retention and skills enhancement. Only 29% of managers actively involve employees in selecting and integrating training programmes for their professional development. And 42% of employees reported having no active involvement in training beyond participation. This suggests that many employers, while aware of the benefits of training, are missing out on the benefits that come from actively involving workers in their own development.

There are simple ways to harness the benefits of employee-driven learning and development. These include giving employees personal ownership of training through suggesting courses or subjects and assisting with the sourcing of learning content. But it may also extend to involving employees in learning KPIs or the development of learning pathways.

Russell Donders, Director of International Markets at imc Learning, notes that "we have worked closely with businesses to offer bespoke training and development pathways for a range of industries. Feedback from customers, and our research, is clear: training is a key contributor to employee engagement and business development. Each of us wants to fulfil our potential, and we see huge success in the businesses who understand how to implement that on a personal level.

Bespoke training packages, rolled out across all levels of operation, is a simple and effective tool to engage and retain talent. It even feeds into the recruitment process. In fact, 92 percent of job seekers now consider L&D opportunities to be a dealbreaker – so it makes sense this would also feed into engagement for existing talent. Empowering individual-driven learning and development pathways is a simple but effective solution to address changing priorities and reverse, or avoid, quiet quitting."

Employee engagement has become of paramount importance given the challenges around talent scarcity. The trend of quiet quitting highlights the significance that employee satisfaction and fulfilment now play in modern-day workplaces. Businesses that are responsive to that will see real benefit to productivity and talent retention. By embracing employee-driven learning and development, organisations can align themselves with the evolving needs of their employees. The aim is to enhance retention rates and create a positive, growth-centred workplace in which productivity is a natural consequence of the environment.

If we don't talk about mistakes, don't ask questions, and don't make or accept suggestions for improvement, we cannot develop. And this is as true for individuals as it is for teams and organisations. What's more, we run the risk of making serious mistakes if we don't dare ask for advice. Serious mistakes can also occur if employees are afraid of voicing their concerns. These mistakes can be costly and even dangerous depending on the type of organisation or profession.

In other words, psychological safety isn’t just that we express our opinions, doubts, and questions honestly, but also that we listen to and accept feedback. Being open to asking and receiving feedback means we are able to go beyond ourselves – we are able to grow as individuals. This also means we must let those have their say who often hold back and usually just accept painful criticism.

A real openness to growth and learning takes us out of our familiar comfort zones. It puts us in the 'learning zone', as the American professor Amy Edmondson illustrates in a diagram. Edmondson is an expert on the subject and points out that the combination of psychological safety and high standards leads us into the learning zone.

For a learning organisation, psychological safety isn't a one-off goal but a permanent condition that must be nurtured. It's an effort that requires all employees. Leaders can lead by example, e.g. by gratefully accepting feedback or openly talking about their own insecurities.

As a team, psychological safety can be strengthened by asking normally shy or reluctant colleagues for their opinions. If someone questions the status quo and makes suggestions for improvement, we should reflect on these suggestions self-critically instead of labelling the person as a complainer. Psychological safety is a question of team and corporate culture and must therefore be supported by all levels and lived out in our everyday work.

I was not sure if this topic would interest the other participants of the BarCamp at all, but I gave it a try. Contrary to my expectations, interest and participation in the session discussion was so great, a second session was spontaneously scheduled for later in the afternoon. I had obviously hit a nerve.

Anyone who has a few years of work experience in different companies under their belt will already know what a difference psychological safety makes. Without this safety, we try to avoid mistakes, don't ask questions and avoid standing up or standing out from the crowd because it can feel unpleasant. But when we reach the learning zone, everyone rises above these psychological barriers that hold us back. If we want to be in a learning zone, we are all challenged. Every single employee contributes to the establishment of the learning zone. And everyone who took part in the session at the BarCamp agreed on this. For some companies, it takes a cultural change to create psychological safety. Is psychological safety just a fluffy feel-good topic? Not really. If companies want to grow and develop, they can hardly afford not to address this issue.

Times have changed for L&D - while many large organisations were already putting resources into digital transformation, our workforce is now more dispersed, with hybrid and remote working looking like it’s here to stay even post-Covid.

Alongside these trends, we have ubiquitous access to more information through ever-faster Internet and mobile devices, while top talent expect to be supported in their professional development - otherwise, they will move on.

What remains the same are people and their motivations. People are fundamental to any company, and what drives a company forward and helps it to stay afloat in a competitive market is an engaged, well-informed and adaptable workforce.

Here we look at how to facilitate the personal and professional development of top talent by creating the perfect learning experience for a remote or hybrid workforce, so that training can become a key competitive advantage.

Keeping your workforce at the forefront of your industry requires regular formal training, but also informal and rapid knowledge sharing between employees and departments.

The ability to respond quickly to new products, services, industry guidance and competitive environments through learning will give any company a competitive edge, but this can be diminished when working remotely.

Whether we’re training face-to-face, digitally or virtually, the fundamentals have remained the same for a very long time; we’re socially motivated learners who need context, reinforcement and practice to acquire new skills. We don’t respond well to formless, monotone, poorly presented content, and we don’t retain information as effectively when we’re not engaged. Making your learning journey engaging, enticing and efficient is where technology can come in.

Technology has revolutionised how we design and deliver learning experiences. Today, learners expect a digital training experience that’s accessible, flexible and engaging.

They’re used to platforms such as Netflix that neatly package and categorise content for them, and offer a library and playlists with a user-friendly interface.

There are a wide variety of digital and online tools that can help learners have a positive learning experience. These are especially useful when it comes to mandatory training, such as for legal or industry compliance, which employees know they need to undertake but may not necessarily be enthusiastic about.

It doesn’t matter how engaging and talented your experts may be, if the platforms and tools you’re using to host a learning journey aren’t up to scratch then your learner will find it difficult to focus.

When seamlessly integrated, there are 3 key L&D tools that can help you create the perfect learning experience even when your teams are disparate. These are the LMS, LXP, and rapid content authoring tools - let’s examine each in turn.

A Learning Management System (LMS) maintains, tracks and records a learner's journey, including analysing their comprehension of subject matter and completion of learning events. An LMS will help L&D managers track an individual's or a group’s progress through training by serving as a system of record and audit, and pinpointing where they may need additional help or support.

There are several types of Learning Management System which meet various needs and budgets, including open source software, deployed or Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions. An open source solution is free at the point of access and has a committed online community that will update it regularly, rolling out improvements and add-ons for all to use. It can be a good option for companies with tight budgets who desire something to enhance their learning experience without breaking the bank. However, it can be a security risk without expert set-up and support, and can often be plain and uninspiring out of the box, requiring a great deal of design and customisation - all of which comes at a cost of course.

A hosted or Software as a Service (SaaS) system runs on someone else's server, is set up by a provider and may offer a more customised solution compared to open source software. These systems are usually quite ready to use out of the box.

A deployed LMS solution is set up on computers within your premises, which has its pros and cons. There are greater up-front costs to install the LMS software on-site, but it may save you more money in the long run. This might be a good choice in highly regulated industries and when you have the in-house technical expertise to maintain it.

Historically, the LMS can be unintuitive, unattractive and complex for the user, making it difficult to navigate and read or watch the learning content. In some cases, a badly designed LMS can create more of a hurdle to learning than the content itself.

A Learning Experience Platform (LXP) is the Netflix of the learning technology world. A quality learning experience is designed to entice, encourage and excite learners to consume the content. It’s for self-motivated learning to develop their personal and professional knowledge and skills, which in turn will usually bear fruit for the employer too.

The LXP is designed to be more intuitive to use than the LMS, and utilised effectively, it should provide contextualised, relevant and custom content from multiple sources in order to cater for different learning styles and preferences.

It’s a diverse learning ecosystem of multimedia content exploration.

LXPs enable you to create a personalised experience that can curate and recommend the best content for each person.

We were talking earlier about how hard it can be to motivate people to undertake essential, mandatory training, such as compliance. Well, an expertly executed LXP should make learning feel fun and easy for your learner, yes really - fun, and in turn, hopefully, it will help employees to feel supported and valued, and help to create a culture of learning within an organisation.

Think of the difference between using Netflix or scrolling a government site, what one would you prefer to use? The more at ease and enthused your learners feel in their learning environment the better their journey will be.

The imc Learning Suite combines the best of both an LMS and LXP - giving L&D teams what they need to deliver and track training, and giving employees a place to explore learning opportunities for personal and professional development.

Rapid content authoring tools are a form of software that enables experts to create and package learning content using various forms of media. It means your experts or training managers can create new content, make changes and send updates to learners quickly and easily. The working landscape is ever evolving, especially in post-covid times with hybrid working becoming the norm, and tools such as rapid content authoring empower companies to respond swiftly to changes and stay relevant.

Adopting content authoring tools can enhance your digital transformation journey as a company, empowering experts and learning and development professionals to create adaptive engaging content promptly.

Rapid content authoring tools can help you:

Repurpose existing content quickly
Keep development costs low
Respond swiftly to new products, services, market or environmental changes
Update and upscale content quickly
Deliver knowledge in easy-to-digest chunks
Share content with learners on any device

Content-authoring tools include software Articulate Storyline, Adobe Captivate, Lectora and Camtasia. However, you might have in-house subject matter experts willing and ready to create and share their experience and expertise if they can avoid the learning curve of software used by professional instructional designers.

imc Express enables the quick creation of elearning materials that are rich, engaging and multimedia, but without that learning curve.

A learning ecosystem comprises the elements that make up your user's learning journey and environment including the tools, platforms and technologies. Just like the natural ecosystem, the more diverse the learning environment, the more effective the learning will be.

A complete, well-integrated Learning Suite can enhance not only your learners' experience but your subject matter experts' effectiveness too, enabling them to build engaging content and communicate quickly and efficiently to drive knowledge sharing.

Technology helps learners have a positive learning experience, especially when it comes to compulsory training where they may lack the motivation to complete.

Learners today expect training to be engaging, entertaining and diverse in format. This is especially true as remote and hybrid working is on the rise and our workforce becomes more distributed.

People are looking for social connection, a platform that is instinctive to use and easy to digest content that they can absorb and experience digitally or virtually. The latest and best in learning technology can help us achieve all of this.

Want to learn more about leveraging the latest technology to create the perfect learning experience for a remote or hybrid workforce? Contact us here at imc Learning.

When employees are looking for suitable learning resources, they can often choose from a wide range of contents and formats. This can often make finding learning content that meets the specific requirements time-consuming and inefficient.

Technology can solve this issue. A learning ecosystem links several learning platforms and presents the formats and contents clearly in the learning portal.

Many organisations already utilise learning ecosystems, especially larger companies. A learning management system (LMS) often serves as the foundation. This becomes an ecosystem with the integration of additional platforms and tools, such that both internal and external sources feed into search results.

But what good does a solution based on the most advanced technology do, if it is not well received by the learners? User acceptance relies on a corporate or organisational learning culture that is fit for the future.

It is not the addition of content that makes a learning ecosystem grow, but its expansion through tools and systems. Fundamentally, that means opening up the LMS and integrating external platforms with external content to create a basis for the development of an ecosystem. Yet, that takes courage!

What happens when companies take the leap and hand over control of their learning system? “Responsibility is transferred to the employees,” says Sven R. Becker, Member of the imc Executive Board. “Thus far, the senior management typically dictates corporate learning, which gives it a regulatory character. Yet, experience shows that the company’s success depends on how much learners are involved. A learning culture transformation has to start with the workforce and grow from there. That requires a mindset shift but should be the clear goal.”

Customised learning paths can be a solution when implementing this, as they help to address personal requirements in a more targeted manner: “In future, personal and professional development will go hand in hand. Different learning systems and achievements must be recorded and stored automatically,” says Andreas Pohl, Director Research and Development at imc. “That facilitates the creation of tailored, custom learner profiles which enable learning across the boundaries of a specific organisation.”

Sven R. Becker firmly believes that the strongest ambassador for any measure is the person most critical of it: “If you succeed in changing the view of the strongest opponent, you gain the greatest multiplicator in the company.” Several imc customers have achieved great successes with the learning ambassador model, says Becker.

Learning that is independent of location and time constraints also makes it easier to access the system. That is why it should be equally available from mobile devices and from the workplace.

Kristian Schalter: Artificial intelligence has enormous potential for making our lives better and our work easier. Yet, the discussion in Germany largely revolves around risks. That bothers me. I am not against some healthy skepticism in principle. However, many things are exaggerated – especially when it comes to the future of work. There is a lot of talk about the end of human work, broad automation and large-scale redundancies. This has almost become a tradition with the technological progress in Germany. The way I see it, the biggest risk is that we are falling behind with AI development on an international level, and that the jobs of the future are created elsewhere – not in Germany or even Europe. That would truly be a horrific scenario.

Kristian Schalter: When people read reports about algorithms with a discriminating bias or absolute surveillance in China, mistrust is a natural reaction. We tend to remember negative things better than positive ones. The term “artificial intelligence” certainly doesn’t help, either. Saying “machine learning” would be better. Although that is just one sub-form of AI, it describes what really happens. AI is not positive or negative in itself. It is a means to an end. What that end is, is still up to humans to decide. This makes it even more important to maintain a clear focus on the potential of AI and discuss the opportunities properly. We need to figure out where we really want to go with the development. If we look at fields like healthcare or mobility, it becomes obvious how great the potential is, and how much we can all benefit from it personally. There is no doubt about the things we don’t want. That is why we must be among the world leaders here. Setting international standards – and that includes ethical standards – is only possible from a leadership position.

Kristian Schalter: For the second part, simply using your smartphone will give you great insights. It contains many AI applications we use every day: in the navigation function, email inbox, web browser, newsfeed, language assistant, movie recommendations and so on. Professionally, I focus on the future of work. Artificial intelligence is already supporting people at work in a myriad of ways. I am particularly impressed with the industrial projects of the Fraunhofer Institute. They are always in tune with the latest trends, and reflect the reality companies experience particularly well.

Kristian Schalter: The most prominent example that is often used would be a radiologist. In many cases, artificial intelligence can analyse X-rays and patient data both faster and with more precision than a human. Rather than making the radiologist redundant, this means they can focus on other aspects of their work – like patient consultations. Pattern recognition is also useful in other fields. One example would be production: Identifying recurrent patterns is a huge issue in quality control.

Kristian Schalter: Education is the key issue in the digital transformation of the working world. The idea that completing an apprenticeship or graduating with a degree means having acquired the necessary competences for a certain career all the way to retirement is unrealistic. Flexibility and adaptability are the most crucial skills in the modern working world, as job requirements constantly change. While I believe the term “lifelong learning” is overused quite a bit, it perfectly describes what needs to happen: Employees must be willing to gain new knowledge – in every stage of their career. Many still resist that.

Kristian Schalter: Yes, absolutely. After all, the very advantage of intelligent algorithms is that they can give me tailored recommendations based on my personal qualifications. Among other things, this can help with the creation of customised professional development offers. Secondly, AI also provides support on the job. For example, smart glasses that project digital images in the wearer’s field of vision to create an augmented reality aid in the performance of various tasks. There are many opportunities.

Kristian Schalter: Humans have unique skills that no robot in the world can replace. A great teacher has more than technical knowledge. They stand out with their empathy and social competences. I trust we all had that one teacher who was a genius in their field, but never quite cut it in their interactions with the younger generation. Equally, we all had a teacher who was able to create enthusiasm for their subject, and maybe even made a real impact on our development. Praise from a computer will never have the same effect as praise from a human being. Meanwhile, computers are better at processing data, and this can be leveraged for determining a student’s optimal learning speed and the topics they need to catch up on, and for recommending tailored learning content. This opens up great potentials – also in terms of reducing the teachers’ workload. However, we still need to learn how to use those methods effectively as part of the lessons. I would say we are only just getting started with that.

Çiğdem Uzunoğlu: What is behind games? Groundbreaking content, design approaches and technologies for the digital age. Yet, these games components are barely developed for applications outside of the games industry. Our foundation wants to change that. We believe in a society that leverages games to shape digitisation, employs gamification to find new approaches to problem solving, and understands digital games as enrichment of its cultural identity. On that note, we consider ourselves a bridge between the games industry, society and other parts of the economy. We highlight opportunities for collaboration, and create new connections between players from different fields. That is why we also describe our work as a cross-over approach.

Çiğdem Uzunoğlu: Games are cultural goods. In principle, every game has a certain underlying value. It is always a cultural product created by certain persons under certain circumstances. Commercial productions are primarily concerned with the games being fun, fascinating and engaging – the same criteria that mark successful books or movies. Of course, there are games that create awareness of relevant issues, or aim to convey specific content. That also applies to serious games. Yet, even an abstract game without a clear message can have artistic value.

Çiğdem Uzunoğlu: In general, games teach us to deal with frustration and failure. In the long term, you can only be successful if you are able to learn from your mistakes. Most games are based on some sort of system. This makes them particular suitable for getting across relationships. You learn to grasp the consequences of your actions. You understand how individual changes affect a bigger process. According to a recent study by PwC, HR managers who already use serious games utilise these primarily for training soft and hard skills, as well as their employees’ cognitive skills. Digital games are also used more intensively in training and professional development. The interactive aspect helps to convey complex learning material and solidify knowledge.

Çiğdem Uzunoğlu: For many people, games open the door to the digital world. So, when it comes to digital topics, gamification and serious games allow you to pick up from where their daily life begins. According to PwC, more than half of the HR managers using serious games see a clear benefit from these games. The same applies to colleagues and superiors who hold that the fun factor helps to understand and manage work processes. Everyone can progress at their own pace, which also removes any fear of real consequences. At the same time, results are easy to analyse and compare. That is why HR professionals see the greatest potential for serious games in the training process.

Çiğdem Uzunoğlu: Games that question their own content have been around for a while. For instance, the German game “Spec Ops: The Line” deconstructs the image of the heroic soldier and the just war. Meanwhile, at the end of Metal Gear Solid 2, the protagonist faces the fact that their reality is only a simulation and that they should switch off their console. Apart from such content-related conflicts, there are also certain mechanisms that indicate that a game might have been played for too long: game characters getting tired or text overlays.

Çiğdem Uzunoğlu: Artificial intelligence has always played a crucial role in games. After all, we are competing against the computer unless we have a human opponent. Thus, the games industry has helped to shape the development of AI. Especially when extensive animated game worlds are produced, complex AI systems are working in the background which react to our interactions. Some games also allow us to build relationships with characters that are controlled by the computer. These relationships will change depending on our actions in the game. AI systems in the background make this possible.

Çiğdem Uzunoğlu: For most games, AI is a key component of a bigger creation, just like graphic and audio design. Naturally, the same holds true for serious games. Digital games respond to our actions or inputs based on algorithms. These are AI systems, albeit weak ones. The main drivers for innovation are found in the large entertainment games segment. A while ago, “Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor” based on The Lord of the Rings caused a great sensation. In this game, AI opponents learn from every battle and adjust to the players’ behaviour. You could say they “remember” past encounters.

Çiğdem Uzunoğlu: First of all, we initiated a new event series on cultural aspects of games this year as the next instalment of “Quartett der Spielekultur,” which is supported by the Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media. We also launched GamesTalente, a nationwide sponsorship programme for teenagers, together with Bildung & Begabung (“education and talent”), the national centre for the advancement of young talent. In line with our objective to build bridges, we will guide representatives of various foundations and a group of educators through this year’s Gamescom trade fair, and introduce them to the particularities of the industry. Several other projects – some with national reach – with renowned partners like the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” (EVZ Foundation) are in the application stage. Naturally, I am greatly anticipating feedback and responses to these.

In the Future of Work series, we look at future-oriented technologies and ideas in the labour market and in professional development. We want to help shaping the change and to talk about tomorrow's topics today. We provide you with thought-provoking impulses and also give you insights into case studies and success models that will positively influence business outcomes in the future.

Every 3 months, we want to discuss with pioneers and visionaries in the "Future of Work" talk about the challenges, but also about new and exciting opportunities that the change in the world of work brings with it.

Many businesses are going through their 2021 strategic planning right now and some who may have already completed their plans, are going back to revisit them to ensure they are relevant to the probable long-term structural changes we have seen.

From a macro perspective we see a relatively stable outlook for both Australia and New Zealand. We have a well-capitalised banking sector that has proven its resilience in throughout both the global financial crisis and more recently through the pandemic.

At the national levels both economies have relatively low debt levels to GDP (compared to other western economies) ensuring there are tools in the fiscal cabinet for government (Federal and State) to implement stimulus programs to keep the economy moving. We have unprecedented low interest rates that have kept both consumer spending and the housing market at acceptable levels throughout this 2020 Covid impacted year.

We have also not yet seen the expected spike in unemployment. While the expectation is that the peak in unemployment won’t be seen until Q1 2021, there is a quite confidence it may not be as bad as originally predicted. The jobkeeper program (a federal government initiative that has ensured workers impacted by a shut-down in their sectors retain an income) has steadied the economic ship and minimised the impacts of the covid shut-downs.

Perversely we think there may be upside in the dislocation of people from their traditional jobs and professions as they potentially return to the workforce in different industries. The movement of people into new roles and businesses should in theory bring into focus the need for more and effective training.

We have seen a significant uptick in employment with some of our clients in the public sector who have absorbed a number of displaced workers. For example, we have seen a consistent increase in demand for our content services from DHHS (Department of Health & Human Services) who have been actively expanding throughout the covid crisis.

There is also a sense the language of business is changing. A few months ago people in business were still saying “when things go back to normal we’ll do this and that”. Now the rhetoric is changing.

There is greater recognition, at least empirical recognition, that we are probably going to be forever spinning on a new axis. Think back to the 2011 powerful earthquake that moved the main island of Japan by 8 feet and shifted the Earth on its axis. It’s where we are at in terms of the business landscape too – spinning in a different place and probably never going back.

We also rethinking the way businesses are segmented in Australia/New Zealand corporate market. While businesses can be easily bucketed into defined categories, for example financial services or utilities, from a learning perspective we see them grouped differently. Specifically, we see the local corporate landscape being defined as entities that are:

Membership orientated (e.g professional associations like ACCA and AusIMM)
Exposed (e.g those heavily impacted by regulation/compliance like financial institutions)
Complex (e.g dynamic entities who requires a deep and complex solutions that brings their organisation together like a pharma business)
Challenged (e.g Organisations who have experienced significant and complex growth pains and have been forced to evolve due to late adoption)
Branded (e.g Organisations who have a brand promise to uphold and deliver like Blackmores)

Within each of these business personas are the decision makers and, when it comes to aligning the concept of learning with business objectives, they will be motivated by different things. While these are not new concepts (in terms of how decision makers can be categorised), we are seeing the emergence of clearer definitions of who the decision makers are in the types of organisations noted above.

In other words, it’s a bit of a match-and-mix matrix between the type of organisation and the decision makers. As the concept of employee development, training and motivation in a remote working environment continues to unfold, decision makers will need to be swayed by targeted and relevant messaging about the role of learning and how the empowerment of their people is directly connected to business performance.

Yet the challenges that 2020 have thrown out open the opportunity for innovation and out-of-the-box thinking when it comes to learning. The sophistication and power of technology driven learning platforms offer businesses with exciting possibilities to deliver knowledge in a way that can be a genuine game-changer.

Learning, training and knowledge-transfer are no longer the sole domain of the HR or Learning Development teams. They should be a focal point for the C-suite and boards when considering how to leverage digital learning platforms to develop, stimulate and ultimately retain the people they rely on to meet their business objectives.

I’ve been a member of the imc crew since February 2019. My multi-faceted tasks always keep me on the go. In addition to my work on corporate brand, marketing and communication strategies and employer branding, I also delve into the operational side.

I have a passion for networks and communities. That is why I represent the brand ambassador programme in the editorial team. I am also actively involved in the SCHULEWIRTSCHAFT (School-Business) network.

Privately, my big passions are travelling, Disney and interior design.

Last week, I finally got back to the office. For me that means: No more sitting at home all day! Above all though, it means I can meet colleagues without having to make special arrangements. A brief chat over a coffee or quickly popping in next door to ask how things are going with client XYZ, rather than having to pick up the phone or writing a message – such a relief!
While some still keep a critical eye on these exchanges and consider them a waste of time, it is far more than just vain chit-chat. It is part of informal learning.

Informal learning has piqued the interest of Nick Petch, Head of Learning Experience and Design Strategy at imc, for years. His take: "Formal learning is like riding a bus. While I decide whether to take the bus and where to get on, it is the bus driver who dictates where I can go and how fast I will get there.

Informal learning is more like cycling: It is entirely my decision where I go, which route I take, how fast I go, and whether I complete the journey non-stop or allow myself a break in between.”

Achieving a balanced mix of formal and informal learning is therefore key. Nick Petch explains: “The two elements need to build on one another. Formal learning remains crucial. It helps people to learn how to learn. Learning is a skill that further enables you to choose when and how you adopt informal learning. If you keep on training your employees to sharpen these skills, your company becomes more agile and able to respond to changes or challenging times in a flexible manner.”

More specifically, this means that companies must train their employees to obtain knowledge as quickly as possible, and to map at least the basic concepts in a system. This documentation achieves two things: It boosts appreciation for the acquired knowledge, and it makes this knowledge available for other employees.

To avoid unnecessary log-ins, it helps to use systems the users log into regularly, such as the company’s learning management system (LMS). If the informally acquired knowledge is at least outlined here, shown in the relevant employee’s profile and a link is set e.g. from an internal wiki, colleagues can see who might be able to help them.

Yet, this is where we run the risk of going around in circles. How can an informal instrument be translated into formal structures?

First of all, the principle and appreciation of informal learning must be anchored firmly in the corporate culture. A sharing-is-caring culture must be created. In other words: Knowledge should not be hoarded centrally in individual departments or persons, but must me available in a decentralised manner. Such decentralisation can also buffer the loss of individual employees. Companies that realise this successfully have an enormous advantage over their competitors.

While access to explicit knowledge including documents, wikis and blogs is important, so is straightforward access to colleagues and specialists who can be approached “on demand” as and when the need arises. Companies can leverage structures like Communities of Practice, Working out Loud-Circle, expert profiles or dedicated Teams channels to drive networking.

Making informal learning visible in the system
Provide room for the topic. Motivate your employees to get actively involved in blogs or wikis and share their knowledge. Utilise knowledge-sharing opportunities, such as regular feedback rounds after projects are concluded where lessons learned are shared and documented.

Coaching & mentoring
Conversations are one of the richest sources of informal learning. Creating opportunities for regular exchange is key. Coaching and mentoring can also be implemented across departments. Identify your early adaptors, i.e. the team members who get excited about new developments and strive to be the first to apply them. Get these colleagues on board to actively promote knowledge transfer.

Creating an open learning culture
This final piece of advice sounds a lot easier than it really is. It is, however, crucial. Effective informal learning is only possible if the company has established an open learning culture and the concept of knowledge transfer is firmly anchored in the mindset of every employee on all levels.
Sharing is caring! Individual employees guarding their knowledge like a treasure they refuse to share with others must be an absolute no-go. This takes trust and autonomous collaboration. Flat hierarchies help to achieve this, while also supporting the creation of Communities of Practice. Providing the physical space for employees to meet, talk and make arrangements without additional hurdles also helps to create an open learning culture.

When it comes to the topic of artificial intelligence, there are a lot of misgivings. Losing sensitive data and constant employee monitoring are only two examples, and learning experts are also having to confront these questions as they develop.

However, imc software expert and AI enthusiast Andreas Pohl thinks it’s important to put things into perspective: “A lot of the fears related to the subject of AI are unfounded. Sure, there absolutely are justified concerns regarding ethical issues that need to be clarified, but when it comes to our Learning Management System (LMS), customers don’t have to worry about the possibility of an evil AI suddenly stealing their data or something like that because it’s not a thing that can actually happen.”

To provide a better understanding of what AI really can and cannot do and how it is used in our LMS, we’ll go over the most important concepts and provide concrete examples of their use.

The term is used to describe dynamic algorithms that are able to learn and improve by themselves in such a way that systems can recognize recurring patterns, develop solutions, or provide advice, for example. And the more data that is entered, the more accurate the corresponding predictions.

However, it’s absolutely imperative to define, in great detail, what data is relevant and which rules should be used to analyse data and recognize patterns. In other words, it requires for human beings to actively step in when it comes to the analysis of data and the actual decision-making process.

For more information, visit DeepAI.org.

A typical example consists of automatic recommendations similar to those used by Amazon: “You like A, so check out B.” This is the exact same principle used by the recommendation engines in learning management systems.

Basically put, a person chooses the course they want to take, and the system provides additional recommendations based on this. In fact, these recommendations can also be linked to the person’s learner profile, i.e., their position, their development goals, the courses they’ve already completed, etc.

And the more data that the underlying algorithm has, the better its recommendations will be. This is one of the classic applications of machine learning.

Deep learning is a subset of machine learning in which a machine is able to improve its abilities independently and without any human assistance. In contrast to machine learning, people do not influence deep learning results at all, and instead only make sure that the required information is available and that the relevant processes are documented.

In fact, the machine itself carries out the actual analysis and uses it to derive forecasts and/or decisions without assistance on the basis of neural networks, which are connected to each other in a manner that resembles the human brain. Ultimately, the machine is able to make decisions based on these connections.

Now, it’s important to point out that this requires an enormous amount of data, and that this type of data is not found in individual learning management systems.

For more information, visit DeepAI.org.

Generally speaking, using deep learning in learning management systems is still extremely difficult given the lack of sufficient data. In fact, in order to be able to analyse specific patterns and processes, learning platform vendors would have to analyse the data from various companies together, but this isn’t possible due to the fact that this data is subject to very strict data protection regulations and policies.

One concrete example of an area where deep learning algorithms could be used would be learning style recognition. With AI, this recognition could be much more efficient than it has been to date, as it would work uncoupled from manual input and tests.

In this scenario, a system would be able to automatically figure out a learner’s preferences and behavioural patterns and determine the correlation for the corresponding learning results. This means that, from a purely theoretical perspective, your LMS would be able to determine what your learning style is and recommend appropriate content for you based on that.

In order for the system to be able to use the existing knowledge on how to use learning style recognition to provide appropriate recommendations, all learning contents would have to be available in various versions, that is, as text, images, video, games, or audio.

Needless to say, however, creating these individual contents would entail an enormous amount of time and money, so this approach has seldom been used to date in real-life applications. However, it’s reasonable to expect that these topics will be pretty important in the future, particularly in relation to improving learning efficiency and learning in the moment of need.

In other words, a lot of the fears that people have in relation to the topic aren’t really relevant, or at least not today. However, when it comes to the subject of learning and AI, it will admittedly be necessary to answer ethical questions regarding applications in the future.

Or as Andreas Pohl puts it: “I think we should see AI as an active tool for supporting people. Humans must always be in the foreground of everything, and every single system must provide customers with real added value, regardless of whether it uses AI or not. And at the end of the day, we can always turn any system or tool on or off.”

More about AI and how it can also be implemented in the onboarding process, you can find out in another article of LMS Hot Topics.

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Future of Work: Interview with Çiğdem Uzunoğlu

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Can Germany afford to be this sceptical about AI?

“In Germany, the discussion of artificial intelligence (AI) is marked by skepticism. That bothers me.”

Hello Mr Schalter, I really appreciate you making time for this interview. In your blog, you are advocating a less skeptical approach to artificial intelligence. Why do think the German mistrust of AI is unjustified?

Where would you say that mistrust among the people stems from?

What tips would you give those who want to know more about AI and experience the latest AI technologies?

Could you give an example of how AI would change a specific job?

We all need to acquire new skills. How does the change in job profiles affect that?

Let’s look at it the other way around: Can AI help employees to gain new skills? If yes, how?

How would you imagine an optimal collaboration between a human lecturer and AI – a “robot teacher” so to speak – to convey learning content?

Most people are relieved to hear that AI cannot replace them entirely. Which competences do you think make humans unique and therefore irreplaceable?

A perfect closing remark, Mr Schalter! Thank you very much for this interesting interview.

AI in corporate learning

AI Learning: "Jingle Bots, Jingle Bots..."

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Computer Games in Professional Development

“Games have helped to shape the development of AI applications”

Hello Ms Uzunoğlu, thank you for making time for this interview on (serious) games. We are particularly excited to hear your answer to our first question. Do you have a favourite computer game?

That sounds entertaining but also demanding. The foundation you’re managing aims to highlight economic, cultural and social potentials of digital games as sophisticated as this one. A rather extensive and ambitious goal? What specifically is behind that mission?

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Do you think certain competences are best learned in a game rather than by other means?

Where do you see possibilities and opportunities for companies for imparting competences with a game-based approach?

Can computer games challenge themselves? How can computer games sensitise for moderating the use of digital games?

Let’s move on to the scientific topic of the year: artificial intelligence. AI has a major impact on digital formats and solutions. How do you see technology changing the gaming sector? What is your assessment of that technology in principle?

Which AI-based serious games do you know? Where are these successfully utilised?

What future trends do you see for AI-based computer games?

Do you think there are limits to the use of AI in computer games? What would those limits be?

We are curious about your foundation’s upcoming projects. Which one are you most excited about?

Thank you very much for the exciting interview, Ms Uzunoğlu! We will keep a keen eye on your planned projects, and wish you every success with all your ambitions!

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― Mahatma Gandhi

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