Keith Fowler

To stay relevant, you need to focus on providing tailored learning programs to help your team develop a wide array of skills. This will help you to build and maintain a resilient and adaptable wider team.

What is a personalised learning program?

In order to implement a personalised learning program, you need to focus on putting the learner at the centre of the education process. In the past, corporate training has been focussed on sharing knowledge in generic categories, rather than developing individuals’ skillsets. Personalised learning turns this on its head and utilises technology alongside traditional teaching methods to empower and develop employees’ skill sets. Your employees can then learn in the best way for their needs and at a pace that best suits them.

What tips should businesses keep in mind when tailoring their education programs for each employee?

• Empower individuals to take responsibility for their own learning.
• Focus on identifying and developing your employees’ existing skills first, rather than introducing new skills right off the bat.
• Don’t get lost in the data – keep focussed on individual employees and their own skills and weaknesses.
• Technological and online learning can be employed to great effect.

What factors do you need to consider before developing a learning program?

Before you get started, you need to remember to consider not only your own corporate culture and learning scenarios, but also each individual’s unique skillset. You might want to consider the fact that millennials tend to be more familiar with and committed to their own learning than older generations, and they excel with electronic devices. In today’s modern day and age, employees of all ages are used to accessing the internet for answers and information in a split second, and they will be unlikely to respond positively to long, narrative based training. Presentations and training courses should be designed with this in mind.

Soft skills are more important now than ever

More and more, it is becoming clear that academic achievement is not always an accurate prediction of a person’s workplace performance. Tailored coaching solutions are more important than ever. While technological prowess and skills are important, a study by McKinsey Education into Employment shows that ‘soft skills’ make the difference between average employees and top performers.

These skills include:

• self-management
• communication skills
• problem solving (allowing people to navigate their roles successfully)
• team playing
• organisation

Using feedback, coaching, mentoring, self-assessment and shared goal setting, you can move the training conversation away from hard skills (such as technical knowledge) and towards a stronger sense of self-reflection. This will allow your team to build upon their soft skills, something that will transform and disrupt your organisation both now and moving forward into the future.