BY DEBBIE NICOL
Build It...
COLUMN - Spotlight On Change
There is no better case study for change than eLearning, which in effect is attempting to influence and even reverse the way people have learnt for years and even decades.
The ultimate aim of corporate elearning is to ensure people will have 24/7 global access to professional development and training, for the purpose of facilitating new behaviours and work practices. This article draws upon experience with two corporate elearning success stories, highlighting changes required.
1.Do not integrate elearning into your existing learning framework.
That may seem a strange thing to say. With an existing learning framework, it is a temptation to simply slip a whole new learning approach called elearning ‘between the cracks’. Whilst this is possible, it will only yield short-term results, and likely disrupt success with the existing framework.
Build a whole new strategy, connect the strategy map, scorecard and action plan with business priorities. From there identify the commonalities and overlap for synergy. Expect dedicated change activities for the eLearning initiative to take focus, over and above the synergies.
Success We’ve Experienced: We invested time in the eLearning strategies which yielded positive impact well beyond the first few years.
Commencing with the strategic process allowed corporate learning priorities to be highlighted from the existing framework, ensuring they would also be present in the eLearning approach.
2.Do your homework and choose wisely.
Shortly thereafter comes the resourcing of the strategy with the choices of systems, software and support. The ONLY guaranteed way for successful integration is to map out the learning processes for the existing approach, and then look for areas of possible technological efficiencies. Be sure to invite your IT folks in to provide input – they know the reality of the environment and cannot, nor should not, be left out. Then and only then can you identify the purpose the technology will serve as part of your strategy.
Many decisions must be taken at this stage regarding learning model, Learning Management System (LMS) integration, scaling possibility, ease of infrastructure, budget, plans for future integration, functionalities required versus existing functionalities, scope and breadth, to name but a few.
Do not take ‘no’ for an answer if a vendor indicates your request for customization can’t be done. Whatever tweaks are required to an off-shelf product are often dealt with using coding. Simply find the right programmer with the skills to adapt the application to your needs. Buy licenses not the software or suffer the consequences later.
40 | TRAINING MAGAZINE MIDDLE EAST OCT 2014
But Will They Come?