Social media is here to stay, but how can it become a meaningful part of our professional development? Francis Marshall explains.
Change is afoot in the corporate learning landscape today.
As new technologies become more pervasive in society, so too are they changing the way we communicate and collaborate in the workplace.
Many of the changes in the way we learn are being driven by today’s generation of technology savvy learners. ‘Generation Y’ has grown up with technology and is comfortable learning in ways in which older generations might not think of.
UK leads Europe with new technologies in professional development
A 2008 study by the Chartered Management Institute of almost 1,000 managers aged 35 found 72 per cent of respondents saying their main reason for using the internet was professional development[1]. Furthermore, a May 2010 survey we at Cegos conducted found that the UK, in particular, is leading the way with new technologies. 56 per cent of UK learners use e-learning in their professional development; 51 per cent have used webinars; 34 per cent blogs; 33 per cent forums; 32% podcasts and 31 per cent wikis[2].
And we are set for yet more change with analysts predicting that Web 2.0 technologies and social networks will be the most dramatic areas of growth over the next few years, driven by the proliferation of social media tools like Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter. Forrester Research estimates that the global enterprise market for Web 2.0 technologies will reach a staggering US$4.6 billion by 2013. Forrester also expects serious games to take off in the next five years due to ’technology populism‘ and the Generation Y effect[3].
But which technologies are ultimately useful in a learning and development (L&D) environment? And how should we choose what to use?
Clear learning objectives
Twitter is undoubtedly showing explosive growth. In February 2010, according to Twitter, it reached the landmark of 50 million tweets a day – 600 tweets every second.
At one level employees are increasingly using Twitter for professional purposes like keeping connected with industry contacts and following news. And, at a corporate level, managers are now using Twitter as a key means of communicating with some staff. Some are even using short messages to carry out performance reviews.
The philosophies behind Facebook and YouTube also have significant potential in an L&D environment with the potential to create a private, secure professional network with easy access to experts, knowledge communities, and best practices.
The potential of social media for L&D is only just being explored, however. With respect to this, I believe it’s absolutely essential to test and fail fast. With any new technique, you need to have clear criteria of what you want to achieve and deliver from the outset and then ruthlessly test the tools’ merits.
One of the biggest dangers is irrelevant content. A recent study by Texas-based research firm, Pear Analytics, found that more than 40% of Twitter traffic is pointless babble. Clearly constraints need to be made to ensure self-containment and the usefulness of such media within the L&D environment. The same survey found that only 8.7 per cent of tweets were found to have a pass along value[4].
DIY learning
Another key emerging trend is Do-It-Yourself (DIY) learning. This is being driven by the rise of international virtual teamwork and the fact that there is less time for formal learning in the workplace today. Collaborative tools like corporate wikis, employee blogs and forums are enabling individuals to access dynamic content from subject experts across the organisation, and across the world.
A good example can be seen within the Shibuya University Network, founded in 2006 in Tokyo. The whole philosophy of the university network is grounded on the pretext that everybody should have the chance to join in and share knowledge – anybody can be a teacher, anybody can be a student. Unlike traditional universities, there are no entrance examinations and no graduation degrees. Classes are led by teachers from all walks of life; cover almost any subject under the sun; and take place in the local community – in shopping complexes, restaurants, record shops, museums and even temples.
Shibuya demonstrates how creating an informal cooperative learning culture can promote the sharing of expertise for the greatest benefit of the community without a reliance on an academically qualified network of teachers with a formal lesson plan. It also illustrates how learning today needs to be much more flexible and tailored into smaller chunks that sit alongside day-to-day activities.
So what can we take from Shibuya? Bite-sized learning is clearly becoming a key part of organisational learning strategies today. And vendors are responding with shorter and shorter e-learning modules.
On the move
Content is also being tailored more effectively towards today’s increasingly mobile workforce. According to analysts Bersin & Associates, 14 per cent of US organisations are already delivering learning on mobile platforms and 15 per cent are use podcasting for training purposes today[5].
As L&D professionals, we all must rethink continuously how we develop and deliver learning to meet the needs of younger audiences and an increasingly mobile workforce. Clearly, there is a growing choice of technology-led tools. It’s up to us within L&D to rigorously test the suitability of these tools. Clear objectives and return on investment criteria should be established at the outset and met before rolling out new methods to employees across the organisation.
[1] Chartered Management Institute/Ordinance Survey, December 2008
[2] Cegos European Survey, May 2010 carried out carried out among training managers from 1,000 companies employing more than 500 staff, across the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
[3] Global Enterprise Web 2.0 Market Forecast 2007-2013, Forrester Research, April 2008
[4] http://www.pearanalytics.com/blog/2009/twitter-study-reveals-interesting-results-40-percent-pointless-babble/
[5] The Corporate Learning Factbook 2010: Benchmarks, Trends & Analysis of the US Training Market; Karen O’Leonard, Principal Analyst, Bersin & Associates; January 2010.