COVID 19 – something positive for the learning industry?
It may be difficult to find positives in this strange new normal, especially in our personal lives. But in the workplace the benefits of change often outweigh the negatives, especially in the long term. For one it encourages innovation.
Without the catalyst of change many businesses and whole industries can fall massively behind the curve and fail to survive, allowing more agile and quick thinking competitors to dramatically take the lead. This is true in markets generally. But with something as unprecedented as the coronavirus pandemic, this is even more relevant in our industry.
Change in the workplace promotes skills growth, people development, and new business opportunities.
For all of its terrible negatives the COVID 19 pandemic is forcing a much needed positive revolution in learning delivery. So claims a new study on the long-term impact of COVID-19 on L & D from Bookboon Learning who polled 300 top-level L&D and HR decision-makers across the globe.
A long-awaited paradigm shift
In our opinion, there has been a slow movement away from traditional classroom training to more digital learning. Some learning providers have fully embraced this (hint, hint us!). However many have been slow to implement any digital learning elements into their offers, despite demands from the market that a more blended and flexible learning approach is expected.
The pandemic meant that recent recommendations from the UK government forced essentially all classroom-based learning to be cancelled or postponed. But this coupled with the shift towards remote working has encouraged a change in employees’ freedom and interest in personal development. There is a movement towards a perfect ‘learn from home’ culture, and this is not expected to change anytime soon.
Learn from home the new normal
According to the impact study, 83% of L & D budget holders believe it is important that employees are equipped with the tools and skills they need to work and learn efficiently from home. And we couldn’t agree more, these are really challenging times for many in the workplace, who have been thrown into an unfamiliar environment by no fault of their own. And employers, in our opinion, have a duty of care to support them as best they can.
“It is a challenging time for employees and companies. Agility and change will be the only constants. Companies are under a lot of pressure to adjust to the new reality”, says Kristian Madsen, CEO Bookboon Learning. This is underlined by evidence showing that Digital learning offerings will be expanded in 81% of the 300 organisations surveyed.
You can read more and download the free report from Bookboon Learning here.
So dear friends this looks like an exciting ‘new normal’ for corporate learning. Long live L & D and virtual learning!
VIRTUAL BEHAVIOUR CHANGE BY THE METHOD
Our Virtual Behaviour Change programmes help companies react swiftly to support their workers in the transition from working successfully with others in a face-to-face office environment to communicating effectively in a virtual setting and help make remote working a fulfilling, productive, and positive working experience.
