Adapt or Fall Behind: Rethinking Enterprise Training Models for Today’s Rapidly Changing Environment

Today’s speed of change is faster than ever. Technology is rapidly evolving, business practices are transforming, and the workforce is evolving just as fast. Professions that exist now may look very different or possibly disappear in the coming years. Continuous learning is no longer a luxury in this environment but rather an urgent necessity for employees and enterprises alike.

Traditional approaches to enterprise training, unfortunately, are no longer capable of meeting the learning needs of most modern workforces. Long instructor-led classes, while valuable for learning specific skills, are difficult to plan, costly, and time-consuming. They also rarely allow for hands-on practice or follow-up once the course is completed.

Employees quickly forget much of what they have learned, resulting in a waste of the organization’s investment.

To facilitate the level of ongoing, self-directed learning that both employees and employers need today, a new model is clearly required. Employees should be given the freedom to learn at their own pace, returning to materials as needed. Opportunities to instantly apply skills and receive coaching support should also be integrated into the learning process.

“In response to a growing global shortage of technical talent and high attrition rates, this multinational consumer electronics manufacturer looked inward to address some of its technical staffing needs…Selecting and promoting people already familiar with their culture not only improves employee retention over the long term, it is also more cost effective.” — Chris Knotts, Director of Cprime Learning

Enterprise training requirements today

Employees’ preferred methods of absorbing knowledge have changed. While extended lectures were traditionally required, today’s learners benefit most from brief, engaging, interactive, multimodal content. Some specific learning requirements include:

• Support for different learning styles: Employees’ learning styles vary—some prefer visual, some prefer auditory, others prefer tactical—so content should incorporate graphics, diagrams, video, audio, hands-on exercises, and more.
• Modular content optimized for consumption: Long courses should be broken down into short modules focusing on developing one capability at a time through demonstrations, practice, and application.
• Support for self-paced learning: Employees must be able to learn at their own pace, with the opportunity to revisit topics later. When students have control over their learning velocity and path, their confidence grows.
• Support for immediate application: Simply delivering material is insufficient; creating opportunities for meaningful behavior change requires that students be allowed to quickly apply skills, in real-world settings, while receiving coaching feedback.

A new training approach may address the different learning objectives of not just individual employees but entire modern-day enterprises by embracing true blended learning that leverages technology and personalized information, and focuses on competency growth through application.

How modern learning benefits organizations

While modern learning methodologies substantially empower individuals, corporations stand to benefit even more from adopting these employee-centric models. Some significant organizational advantages include:

• Supporting business objectives: The organization benefits when learning is linked with clearly defined competencies that will deliver business success. A team that has been trained in areas such as collaboration, innovation, customer service, and other goals will automatically become more effective at meeting fundamental objectives.
• Increases workforce agility: Continuous learning centered on real-world application assures that employees have the most up-to-date, in-demand skills. They become more adaptive to changing business needs, new technology, and role changes. Organizations must be agile in order to remain competitive.
• Encourages a growth culture: Self-directed learning alters mindsets. Employees adopt a growth mindset as they take ownership of their personal development and recognize possibilities to increase their skills on demand. This supports the embracing of change and pursuit of excellence throughout the organization.

In essence, correctly planned modern learning that builds employee confidence and competence leads to improved organizational performance. And, even greater benefits can be realized when this learning is individualized, on-demand, and sustained over time via well-defined learning pathways adapted to each employee’s specific requirements and objectives.

Cprime Learning Pathways are now available

Cprime Learning Pathways presents a next-generation learning paradigm that incorporates new approaches while filling critical holes in traditional enterprise training. The routes allow true blended learning through three components:

1. Discovery: Self-paced online information—articles, videos, assessments, and other materials—enables users to begin exploring subjects on their own timetable.
2. Practice: Users can engage topic specialists in discussions, presentations, demos, and collaborative projects guided by expert teachers during live virtual sessions.
3. Application: Learners are given follow-up assignments and activities that encourage them to apply what they’ve learned on the job, with coaching help.

To drive competency development, this integrated strategy adheres to the recognized 70-20-10 paradigm (70% from hands-on experiences, 20% from social learning, and 10% from organized courses).

Furthermore, Cprime learning paths are totally configurable according to the unique business capabilities required. An IT corporation, for example, may provide paths for software professionals who want to improve their coding skills in a specific language; a service organization may design client service training pathways; a manufacturing company may design pathways around Lean/Agile and design thinking.

The content within each pathway is tailored to modern learners, with videos, interactions, exams, and tools that appeal to a variety of learning styles and allow users to learn at their own speed.

Cprime Learning Pathways, in essence, provide the best of organized blended learning paired with customization for each organization’s specific workforce learning needs—both today and in the future. — Alex Gray, Cprime Learning Practice Lead

In the second article of this two-part series, Learning That Transforms: How Custom Learning Solutions Reshape Your Workforce, we will dive deeper into how Cprime’s Learning Services team develops custom learning pathways in collaboration with each client through a proven methodology, delivering transformative results: 

1. Conducting a Learning Assessment—an  in-depth capability and needs analysis
2. Turning findings into fully customized curriculums
3. Measuring program impact, Cprime Learning Pathways deliver transformative results. 

We will also explore real-world examples of customized Cprime Learning Pathways in action at pioneering global companies. 

Ready to get started now? Request a free Learning Assessment below  to discuss building Learning Pathways tailored for your organization.