Learning & Development has been under massive pressure since the pandemic’s start. Organizations have had to shift gears, requiring new and different skills that L&D had to deliver. And this happened while budgets were cut, learners adjusted to remote work, and members of the L&D function were experiencing the same changes as everyone else.
Looking into a future of hybrid work, L&D has had to adjust its strategies and approaches to meet the needs of a dynamic new workforce, keeping employees connected, learning, and growing. This has become even more critical in the face of “The Great Resignation,” where companies are seeing unprecedented waves of talent attrition. Robust and meaningful learning experiences are a big part of keeping employees engaged.
The biggest problem for L&D is that there is just not enough time each day to tackle the enormity of the hybrid workforce’s challenges. That not only goes for L&D professionals but for learners as well. Employees see a growing demand for their time, forcing them to dedicate less of it to learning.
Top Challenges to Delivering Engaging Learning to a Hybrid Workforce
Instead of focusing so much time, money and effort on formal learning, learners can be given more informal and experiential opportunities. Organizations must answer several critical questions, including:
- What does synchronous learning look like in a hybrid environment?
- Do we have the technology to meet the needs of a hybrid learning audience successfully?
- Should we redesign programs to include more technology-based learning when in-person learning returns?
- What learning experiences will work best for replacing previously in-person programs?
Here are some high-level strategies for delivering effective and engaging learning in a hybrid work environment:
Leverage Informal and Experiential Learning
Only about 10% of what people learn comes from formal learning experiences. Combine that with the Forgetting Curve concept, wherein people forget up to 80% of what they learn in a formal setting within a week or so, and you have a terrible ROI for formal learning. And for decades, L&D spent most of its time and energy building and delivering formal learning. Organizations should use the disruption presented by the pandemic as an opportunity to explore more ways to provide learning interactions within a work experience that has changed dramatically.
Don’t Abandon All Synchronous Learning
Just because the workforce is hybrid does not mean learners won’t continue to benefit from synchronous interactions. In fact, the separation created by remote work needs synchronous activities to keep employees connected and collaborating. Learning provides such opportunities.
When creating a hybrid synchronous program, there are many key elements to keep in mind, including:
- Focus on learning objectives. For courses where you are seeking to primarily communicate information (one-to-many), leverage poll or question tools to make sure all learners can provide real-time feedback. For workshops (group-to-group), first, give everyone the framework for the interaction and any prework to maximize the productive time together.
- Promote inclusion. Understand your audience’s technology situation. What’s being used (laptops, iPads, tablets, smartphones, etc.)? Ensure everyone has the right tools to participate synchronously.
- Provide clear interaction guidelines. Communicate the course’s objectives and outcomes. Let people know how to ask questions and the tools that will be used.
- Be concise and engaging. Keeping learners’ attention in person is one thing but a completely different thing for those who are remote. Ensure you provide opportunities for interaction between both sets of learners.
- Use peer interaction to foster community. Design and plan for learner interaction outside of class to reinforce the learning and foster idea exchanges and debate. This adds an informal, peer-to-peer element to an otherwise formal program.
- Deploy asynchronous communication tools. Synchronous learning opportunities are valuable but can be challenging in a hybrid environment. Provide asynchronous communication tools such as online chat channels and discussion groups to allow for the natural asynchronous communication that occurs when some learners are remote, and some are on-site.
Reassess Your Technology Ecosystem
There is a good chance that most, if not all, of the technology selections the L&D team made, were done before the pandemic. Business needs and use-cases have changed dramatically since then. The LMS selected in 2017 may no longer suffice. Organizations need various tools that allow for more on-demand, smaller, and informal learning experiences.
The hybrid environment requires learners to take more roles in their learning, so exploration and discovery are critical. Learning can happen anytime and anywhere it makes sense for the learner. Organizations must invest in technology supporting that environment, removing as much friction from the learning process as possible.
