It's the Sign of the Times:

Building Competencies through E-learning

February 18, 2009

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In today’s knowledge economy, talent is increasingly looking for individualized learning trajectories that allow them to upgrade and expand their skills for continuous career development and employment. Conventional training departments are not prepared to assist large numbers of employees with the highly individualized learning and career preparation that today’s talent desires.

Brigitte Jordan, consulting corporate anthropologist, says the problem is exacerbated by geographic and cultural distance between the designers of learning technologies and training programs and their users. With a shorter development cycle for new business products, a traditionally rigid process for the development and delivery of training materials cannot stay ahead of the real time needs people at the frontline need, says Brigitte, “Given that conventional training programs tend to get rolled out according to a predetermined schedule, their timing is not likely to be in sync with learners' needs.”

In contrast, people with a large network are more competent and know how to do more things. Burgeoning social networks can transform people with common learning interests into developmental networks. Today’s talent sets up and searches out intentional networks and communities of practice (COP’s) who support their learning. Learning & Development departments can be powerful stewards of learning if they identify and facilitate access to COP’s that are consistent with interests of their company’s knowledge workers and the learning objectives of their organization.

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