{"id":18404,"date":"2021-01-08T13:13:33","date_gmt":"2021-01-08T13:13:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/?p=18404"},"modified":"2021-02-05T12:41:18","modified_gmt":"2021-02-05T12:41:18","slug":"people-leader-learning-strategy-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/blog\/people-leader-learning-strategy-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"How People Leaders Can Create Effective Learning Strategies | The Definitive Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes to your L&amp;D strategy, you\u2019ve got two options: do things the way they\u2019ve always been done or create an environment where people actually love to learn!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People often make the mistake of planning their learning approach as if it\u2019s separate from how people already work or want to learn, and then they\u2019re disappointed when the uptake is low. That\u2019s because they\u2019re slow on the uptake! While their heads are buried in hour-long courses that live in an LMS, you\u2019ve arrived at the guide that\u2019ll help you create a process where people learn on their terms, without breaking their habits or draining productivity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<script>\n\t\t\t\t\t\thbspt.enqueueForm({\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tportalId: 6586562,\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tformId: \"e1722864-5342-4684-bfcf-ebf208ec2047\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttarget: \"#hbspt-form-1775242756000-7599420891\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tshortcode: \"wp\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t});\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"hbspt-form\" id=\"hbspt-form-1775242756000-7599420891\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>Or jump to:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#What motivates people?\">What motivates people?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#Consider how people like to learn\">Consider how people like to learn<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#Develop new skills, but don\u2019t forget to measure them\">Develop new skills, but don\u2019t forget to measure them<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#Empower people to take the reins\">Empower people to take the reins<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#Create a learning culture where people enjoy the development process\">Create a learning culture where people enjoy the development process<\/a><br \/>\n<a name=\"What motivates people?\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><b>What motivates people? Understand that before anything else.<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Diving right into a learning strategy without understanding people\u2019s motivation is like booking a wedding venue on the first date! You\u2019re getting way too ahead of yourself. Anyway, we\u2019re less interested in dates and more intrigued by the data that has people saying \u2018I do\u2019 to developing and remaining at your company.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Did you know that 76% of people value <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clearcompany.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">opportunities for career growth<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and 68% the chance to train and develop? Why? Because they want to feel there\u2019s a path to progression. Otherwise, what\u2019s the point in sticking around! <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peoplemanagement.co.uk\/news\/articles\/three-quarters-of-workers-want-to-develop-new-skills-but-employers-deny-them\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another study<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> revealed that 54% are open to learning new skills, but only 49% had been given the opportunity to do so alongside their daily duties. Leaders that have their best interests at heart would give them the tools and space to grow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most people just want to feel valued, like their role has a purpose, and they\u2019re a productive part of the puzzle. When they don\u2019t, they\u2019re not motivated in the short term, and there probably won\u2019t be a long term. That\u2019s no exaggeration either &#8211; engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave. Leaders often overlook the importance of engagement, but it limits how often you lose people, knowledge and experience, and the costs associated with replacing them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Failure to take engagement and development seriously spells bad news for motivation too. We\u2019re going a bit further back, but a 2012 report revealed that those who feel valued by their employer are more likely to be motivated to do their absolute best (we\u2019re talking 93% vs 33%).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, what\u2019s the common denominator? Learning! It\u2019s what helps people progress towards career goals, gives them new skills that make them a more valuable part of the team, engages, motivates &#8211; the whole hog! The tougher question is how you get it right\u2026 Well, it was tough until we wrote this guide.<\/span><br \/>\n<a name=\"Consider how people like to learn\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><b>Consider how people like to learn, not how you\u2019d like them to learn!<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Have you got any of those habits that you find hard to break even though you know there\u2019s a much better way of doing it? That\u2019s a crossroads a lot of companies find themselves at with learning. They offer employees the chance to take a course once or twice a year, something they cram around their role before swiftly forgetting most of the information.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the average employee can dedicate less than 25 minutes a week to learning, just 1% of their working week, and that\u2019s not enough time to gain much knowledge. Especially not a full course filled with hour sessions and a long list of reading materials. So, why are they still being backed into this development corner?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The good news is that we\u2019re in the middle of a learning revolution! 68% of employees prefer to learn at work, 58% at their own pace and 49% at their point of need &#8211; the last one is arguably the most interesting. Why? The forgetting curve shows that as time elapses after learning, the amount we retain diminishes! Partly because we don\u2019t do anything to put it into practice, partly because of how it\u2019s presented and partly because we might not see an important meaning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, when we <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/blog\/learning-in-the-flow-of-work\/\" target=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">learn at the point of need<\/a>, we tackle all of those issues. We\u2019re highly motivated, we have the opportunity to put specific knowledge into practice and we can see the impact it has when it\u2019s most crucial. But how can you do it?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In HowNow, we empower people to find knowledge everywhere they already work! They can search for information where they deal with customers, send resources as they message colleagues in <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/blog\/integration\/slack\/\">Slack<\/a>, create learning content as they browse online articles. Remaining in the workflow and having knowledge on tap cuts down on wasted time and helps you become more productive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-16146 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Shorter-version-of-Slack-search-gif-min-1.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"1097\" height=\"458\" \/><\/span><br \/>\n<a name=\"Develop new skills, but don\u2019t forget to measure them\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><b>Develop new skills, but don\u2019t forget to measure them<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What you measure makes all the difference, take the old way versus new way argument. Let\u2019s say the goal is for everyone to complete a course, it would be easy to hit that target and even easier to give ourselves a big pat on the back. But it would be miles harder to ask what tangible impact it had, what we\u2019ve taken from it that has made us better at our jobs\u2026 Which is why we always preach about the power in <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/blog\/stop-tracking-training-completion-start-measuring-skills-instead\/\">developing and measuring skills<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Simply ticking a training box is a vanity metric. How do you know if that person has gained something that makes them better at their job? How can they know it? And how does that help either of you justify why they\u2019re deserving of a promotion or positive performance review. <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/upskilling\/\">Measuring skills<\/a> is a far more effective way of investing in and tracking development. By measuring proficiency and how that develops, you get a tangible idea of progress and can tailor learning to become more relevant.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are the five steps you should take and why they\u2019re important:<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><b>Understand the skills needed to drive your company towards its goals<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; otherwise, how can you understand if they\u2019re feasible or what you need to accomplish them?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Measure skills and proficiency in your teams<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; who knows if you\u2019ve got a skills blindspot until you measure the skills people have and how versed they are in them?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Work out the gap between the two<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; this is the gap between where you are and where you want to be, your skill gap. It should shape your learning strategy and be used to create learning experiences that increase proficiency for an individual or give them a new skill. Remember, by this point, you understand which will make people more productive and help to achieve your goals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Review and refine the approach over time<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; periodically test and measure skill levels to understand progress and establish the current state of your skill gap. Doing this at regular intervals will give you more insight.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Use skill insights to understand people and check in with them<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; if you can understand where people aren\u2019t developing or which skills haven\u2019t progressed, you can check in with them more meaningfully and lead more effectively when it comes to their progress and development.<\/span><br \/>\n<a name=\"Empower people to take the reins\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><b>The power of people development belongs to your people! Empower people to take the reins<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some people are happy to be chauffeur-driven, others love being behind the wheel, but most are happy with a balance between the two. It\u2019s the same with learning! When you give people the keys to their own learning engine or at least let them hold the map, you\u2019re enabling them to develop on their terms &#8211; which often means more effectively.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For leaders and employees, time is a barrier and so is micro-managing their learning. Sure, there are things you want people to learn, but what about the things they value or deem important as they go about their daily tasks. A traditional top-down approach would probably mean waiting until your next catch up to suggest what they\u2019d like to learn and waiting for approval or content creation. What a monumental waste of time! The moment where they wanted to learn that information has passed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The idea is nothing new, we\u2019ve been learning on the job for years, but more importantly, this reflects how we like to learn in the real world. If our TV stops working, we don\u2019t wallow in self pity! We head to Google to try and find out why or how we can fix it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sounds simple, but you should be aiming to replicate this in your workplace learning. Google is our go-to because we know we can find everything in one place, which is what your learning platform should be &#8211; one place where all your resources live. A shared brain, a knowledge base, a HowNow! Our goal is to bring all your scattered learning together and help people find it easily, when and where they need it most.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019ve got a second Google point too, and it starts with a fact! There\u2019s more than 3 million searches per minute. So, even if you bring all your scattered resources into one place, there\u2019s no guarantee that they won\u2019t head to their favourite search engine when they need knowledge. That\u2019s a fair point, it\u2019s also why we developed our HowNow Browser Extension.<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 780px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('video');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-18404-1\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/HowNows-Browser-Extension.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/HowNows-Browser-Extension.mp4\">https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/HowNows-Browser-Extension.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each time somebody searches in Google, we search for and surface all your relevant internal knowledge alongside the search results. They find relevant information, you don\u2019t need to force new habits on them &#8211; it\u2019s a win-win situation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another key point is that if each employee is designated a certain pot of money for learning each year, shouldn\u2019t they have responsibility for how it\u2019s spent? That\u2019s what we believe, and it\u2019s why our learning budget features gives them control and transparency over their spend. They can see how much remains in their pot and choose when to make requests for paid resources that they feel benefit them, you get a notification and decide whether to approve, reject or if it needs more discussion.<\/span><br \/>\n<a name=\"Create a learning culture where people enjoy the development process\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><b>Create a learning culture where people enjoy the development process<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All of this fits nicely into the idea of creating a learning culture: simplifying the process of finding knowledge when you need it without breaking habits will encourage people to learn! And if they want to do it, that\u2019s half the battle won! But bringing all the previous ideas together also helps you shape a vision and clear path for development.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, you give everyone a voice when they have <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/knowledge-sharing\/\">a platform to share knowledge<\/a>! Not only does it empower them, it lets subject matter experts share role and company-specific information with their peers. With the right platform, you can go from one person knowing everything about one topic to sharing that with everyone else in the team. Goodbye silos, hello collective brain!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You also reduce the burden on your L&amp;D or HR team. If they don\u2019t need to create every single piece of content, wait for sign off or perfect the design, resources can be created and shared easily. Together, these ideas really take the formality out of the learning process, and when it\u2019s fun, more people want to do it! <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Compare this to the top-down approach, and it feels as amazing as changing out of a tuxedo and into a pair of tracksuit bottoms when you get home from a swanky event. Your people are smart, so let them learn more casually!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Speaking of waiting around, we already touched on the idea of resources in one place and available on-demand, but it\u2019s worth highlighting how useful that can be! It might be the difference between responding to a customer with the right information when they need it, as opposed to waiting hours or days for a colleague to tell you where it lives. A better employee experience often translates to an improved situation for your clients!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We believe that having one front door for resources is great, but it\u2019s even better if people can open it wherever they work. What we mean by that, is that if someone can search for knowledge where they interact with customers or carry out their most important tasks, there\u2019s no break in their productivity or workflow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>HowNow can help you do all of this and more! And if you&#8217;d like to see how, we&#8217;ve got an <a href=\"https:\/\/try.gethownow.com\/product-demo\">on-demand product demo<\/a> you can watch right now.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When it comes to your L&amp;D strategy, you\u2019ve got two options: do things the way&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":437,"featured_media":18520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1071],"tags":[1645,1595],"yst_prominent_words":[1026,8,13,9,404,349,274],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18404"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/437"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18404"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19019,"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18404\/revisions\/19019"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18404"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.liquid-themes.com\/hownow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=18404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}