Ux, & Engagement & Consumerization - oh my!

Change is here. Expectations have changed and now L&D needs to change too.

I used to work in a large, high tech corporation. Our corporate strategy changed a couple of years ago, when we started to talk to our customers about the shift in customer expectations to act like consumers and the effects of the explosion of data. We talked about how, at home, we shop at Amazon, have smart phones and use the internet to answer our questions. The new corporate strategy revolved around the Consumerization of IT, Big Data and the Cloud.

That sane shift is happening in HR and Learning. Our users want experiences that look like what they do every day. They look to us to create a great user experience (Ux), to engage them with great content and to connect them socially. We talk about 79/20/10 and behavior change and talk to leaders about butts in seats instead of business impact. We do not tie HRIS and L&D tech. We push learning to people. We need to change. Our Technology needs to change.

So, what does this all mean to L&D, bottom line?

· We need to open our minds to the tools, thoughts and methods that are available today.

· We need to think like marketing people

· We need to listen to what our audience really needs and wants.

· We need to establish ruthless priorities while we transform.

Today, we are not limited to the LMS and that experience. Today, we are not limited by authoring tools that are complex and expensive. Today, we are not limited. We can develop, curate, connect and gather meaningful analytics. We have tools to provide micro, short, and connected topics. We can connect people and provide experiences. We can invite SMEs to comment, lead cohorts and rate content. We do not need to push content, but rather market it and let the community endorse.

When creating or curating content, we need to make it engaging with images and variety. If we solve a moment of need with a video, make it so engaging that they want more. What is in it for me? That is thinking like a marketing person. Then, even compliance can be engaging.

While I was at that huge tech company, we created a new face to our LMS and re-evaluated our whole curriculum. We looked at usage, evaluations and needs. We had thousands of courses and little budget to redo the old or outdated. We had to make solutions easier to find and more engaging to take.

What ties all of these new ideas together? Tech. Layering a portal or changing to an LMS that acts like a portal is the answer. These solutions allow us to:

· Curate external resources with internal content

· Build personalized solutions by level, job family, skill or need

· Tie competency models to learning

· Create social learning networks

· And much more

There are many solutions today. Degreed, EdCast, Go1, Pathgather and more. Incorporating these into your environment successfully requires a shift to a marketing mindset. But that investment will help change your company to a continuous learning culture.