1.
How
design thinking assists L&D in the digital era.
At this moment of truth, the 'd' word highlights that we need
a different kind of thinking. It's about a new learning for the leadership,
middle managers, and for your employees on the frontline and behind the scenes
from multiple departments to enable the :WoW customer experiences."
“The rate at
which an organization learns may become the only sustainable source of
competitive advantage.” — Peter Drucker
‘Employees
are learning at the speed of business need’ is a major factor that powers up
workplaces around the world today. But in reality, many CEO’s
reports that their employees are not developing fast enough. So let's do a
quick check by asking this question to L&D professionals:
With online
courses, webinars, podcasts and new tech and DIY tools giving employees more
ownership and control over their professional growth; are you still asking
employees to learn in the same way as you did a decade ago?
If so,
Moore’s Law equivalent in Learning & Development is telling us we are
running out of steam and becoming obsolete.
It leads to
the question, what will be the impact of these changes on corporate L&D,
what is the new role of Learning and Development teams and how should be
L&D be structured?
The answer?
Use design thinking, a new method to the transform from the traditional role of
‘Learning & Development’ to the challenging role of ‘Personal Performance
and Learning Advisor’ in spite of many obstacles resisting such change!
2.
In a world with AI jobs, these are the
skills HR should focus on
An increasing number of employers
and educators feel that current and prospective employees should train for
these skills from an early age
Stories
about the takeover of jobs by machines are no longer science fiction, they’re
daily news. From Wipro’s Holmes taking over the jobs of 3,000 people
to Bank of America opening three new branches without employees, the
new world of work is at a tipping point. Satya Nadella in a recent interview
with ET said “There are many things AI will never be able to do... (like) show
empathy” And according to the “The Future of Jobs” report, at least 4 of
the top 10 skills for future will rely on communication and interpersonal
skills. These include: 1) People management; 2) Coordinating with others,
3) Service orientation and 4) Negotiation.
All
of which could be bracketed within soft skills.
A
recent study by Timesjobs notes that 70 percent of the job seekers are not
fully satisfied with the candidates’ soft skills. This article will
outline key trends in soft skills enablement and identify areas that HR leaders
should pay attention to.
According
to Alessandro Giuliani, Managing Director, MISB Bocconi, a leading business
school, most Indian MBA aspirants are not equipped to thinking critically and
to articulate their thoughts, even though they may possess excellent technical
skills. In order to identify the right candidate, employers have been
using extracurricular activities like volunteering, sports and sometimes even
participation in study aboard programs as benchmarks to assess the qualities of
a prospective candidate. At B-schools, like MISB Bocconi, the focus is on
providing candidates with ample of opportunities to showcase their team working
abilities and also work on live projects during their coursework.
Within
organizations, companies are turning to programs to equip their workforce.
Niharika Jalan, Head – Training at Kestone points out that “Many
organizations are increasingly adopting innovative and fun ways to keep the
participants engaged. This includes; specific role playing games, gamified
tools, one to one coaching and digital learning platforms”.
3.
IndiGo
Study Tour: Learning at 35000 feet
Read to know how your favourite airline
imparts training as part of their Learning & Development strategy to all
its employees.
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you
were to live forever” – Mahatma Gandhi
Have
you ever wondered what goes into engineering the learning and the spirit of the
people who take responsibility for your safety at 35000 feet above
sea-level?
In
the quest to find out , ‘People Matters’ in collaboration with ‘IndiGo’
organized a study tour at the IndiGo learning academy ‘ifly’ in Gurgaon as part
of the pre-conference of the ‘People Matters L&D League Annual Conference’.
IndiGo is the largest airline in India in terms of passengers carried with a
42.6% market share as of October 2016.
The
learning academy is the centre where every employee at IndiGo is trained.
Pilots, cabin crew, airport staff and corporate staff. The learning academy
focusses all its trainings on striving for excellence and IndiGo’s 3 basic
pillars – low fares, on-time, courteous & hassle free.
We
were greeted by the IndiGo team at the reception who were waiting to take us
for a walk through the academy. What struck us were the details taken into
account to create an atmosphere inspiring and conducive to learning. The colour
combination is their trademark blue and white.
Shelves
right behind the reception display IndiGo branded products which are sold on
board the plane – Nut & cookie tins, IndiGo caps, and a model plane along
with many others. While we wondered how the building was such an amazing
reflection of the brand, one couldn’t help but notice the large model plane of
an Airbus A320 suspended from the ceiling right above the reception.
What
a welcome! Without even realizing it, our learning about this brand had
already begun.
Keeping in tune with their
‘On-Time’ strategy, we got started with the walk through the academy without
wasting a minute. As we gained insight into the various learning procedures
used at their learning centre, the one thing they reiterated was how learning
happens not just through training sessions but by experiencing the brand as you walk through the
building.