In the first half of 2020, corporate training has changed. This is not to say that old methods and tools have become unnecessary. But we can say for sure that it is now necessary to teach employees differently. Because employees are no longer confined to the office building and workplace properties and can be located anywhere.
Most conference rooms are still closed, and traditional classroom teaching has been suspended since spring. Nevertheless, corporate training and professional development have not lost their relevance. Considering how many people were left without work and how many jobs and industries need radical transformation, such formats as retraining have come to the fore. Companies began to rethink tools, methods, practices, and training priorities.
The world has changed, and corporate learning has changed.
During the quarantine, corporate training didn’t just change. It was transformed into a new form. This became noticeable as soon as they announced the relaxation of quarantine measures: the training remained the same as during the quarantine. No one was in a hurry to return to the pre-quarantine period. Everyone learns as if the quarantine continues. Companies have appreciated the benefits of new training. So the Covid-19 virus launched an irreversible process in corporate education. Good or bad – time will tell. Now it seems that it’s gotten better. We went to this before, and the quarantine just forced us to accelerate. Currently, the channel for communicating knowledge and competencies is not just changing – there is a complete redesign of training programs and their implementation methods. The dynamics, group activity and practical study of tools have become identical to traditional training as if it has always been so. In our opinion, there are no results in losses.
Factors influencing learning
The concept and forms of training are influenced by four groups of factors, around which the educational process is built:
- Technology and online channels
- Demography
- The nature of the workplace
- Digital marketing
If we talk about corporate training, then this is a systemic process, which is influenced by three different groups of factors:
- The changing nature of labor force demographics. Learning becomes different because people become different. And classroom teaching methods are not suitable for everyone and not always.
- Changing the nature of the workplace. This factor became especially important during the quarantine. People started working remotely. For many, this turned out to be unusual, unpleasant and difficult. But it was impossible to change this, so the staff had to adapt.
- The impact of digital marketing. Marketing has become a must in training. HR must understand its laws, and external and internal marketing rules are very similar. Taking advantage of this, some companies have even combined two positions into one – “director of external and internal communications”. The external function is marketing, and the internal one is PR and HR. And this dramatically affects the organization of training.
The Bottom Line
The world continues to change. Every day we read the news and see that everything is moving, transforming. Somewhere it is abrupt and painful for someone, somewhere – smoothly and imperceptibly. But change is inevitable. And it makes sense to use them for the benefit of your business!
