Columnists

Published July 2006

Business Drivers for Real-Time Learning

David Austin

From the front line to the boardroom, there is a growing awareness among managers that significant productivity gains remain to be made in the area of human capital. Specifically, there is an increased focus by businesses to improve the quality of their workforce as well as provide them with the training, access to information and decision support that allows them to execute higher-value tasks with greater precision, quality and speed. Although traditional approaches to learning have made some impact on productivity and quality, the impact has arguably reached a plateau.

The concept of real-time or just-in-time learning, relative to other learning regimens, is quite new. The definition of what constitutes real-time learning still suffers from some ambiguity. To many, real-time learning is about the method of delivery and the notion that training courses can be delivered instantaneously. Others believe there is a fundamental shift taking place in the way businesses operate, and real-time learning is a natural response to this shift. The current paradigm of learning, represented by a linear progression from the brick-and-mortar classroom to the virtual classroom, no longer meets the needs of today's dynamic enterprise. Real-time learning can be defined as more than just a single instance of training and testing conveniently delivered. Chief learning officers must consider that the next evolution in enterprise learning is a live, real-time operating environment that provides the right speed and flow of information support to employees as they perform their jobs and not just when in training mode. Real-time learning is about providing a productivity platform for employees by connecting them to the strategy, tactics, policies and procedures they need to accomplish increasingly complex tasks at the precise moment they need it. Simply put, real-time learning is about connecting the "know-how" to the "how-to."

Business Drivers
There are several key business drivers influencing the need for CLOs to look differently at how they support their company's workers. Most are relevant to every business, and understanding these drivers can help facilitate the internal discussion around real-time learning requirements with the CLO's team and management peers. They include: requirements to increase productivity, the pace of change in business, corporate consolidation, the emergence of generation Y; and increased business complexity.

Requirements to Increase Productivity
According to Morgan Stanley Chief Economist Stephen Roach, "U.S. productivity is the holy grail of the global economy." Productivity improvement is an endless mantra of most large enterprises, including government organizations. Companies previously made significant investments in technologies such as ERP, supply chain and CRM. Those investments provided efficiencies associated with automation and data flow. They then realized there were huge productivity gains from investment in their human capital. These investments manifested themselves in a variety of technologies and initiatives, including learning management and knowledge management. As investments in these more human-oriented technologies mature, the continued drive for productivity will push CLOs to examine new ways of making a direct and immediate impact on day-to-day operations. The CLO's mindset will need to shift from development of employees to their enablement. Existing technology platforms designed to administer courses and curricula are simply not suited to real-time delivery of information in the context of the employee's role. Those CLOs who embrace emerging methods (and content) for just-in-time delivery to tomorrow's information worker will have significant impact on worker productivity.

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