In the Know

HR professionals who take responsibility for the development of their workforces should know about e-learning because it can be a fundamental career-building tool for the future, explains Wendell Laidley.

Research by the US Department of Defense Institute for Defense Analysis, reports that e-learning reduces learning time by one-third, or conversely increases the amount of learning in a given time by one-third. That assumes no prior learning on the topic, but when prior learning is considered e-learning can reduce the learning time by up to 13 times.

Knowledge and knowledge-based skills will increasingly differentiate leaders from followers as the workplace of the 21st century becomes increasingly competitive. Economists increasingly accept that the world economy already has enough capacity to make all the products that people with the means to purchase ‘things’ can absorb or consume. ‘Things’ are being commoditized. Fifty years ago cars all looked different but now they don’t, and many products are in worldwide oversupply in the recession of 2009. Even Apple iPhones and iPods have competitors and may be approaching saturation as incremental new features offer less marginal benefit. This is certainly not to say that the Patent Office can be closed, as its leader thought was imminent 100 years ago, but it may mean the future of producing ‘things’ will become more competitive and less profitable, and employers will need fewer non-strategic workers.

In that world, the demands on workers to learn new skills and upgrade old ones will increase dramatically. The Time magazine cover story of May 25, 2009, is titled ‘The Future of Work’. Three key sections discuss Careers, the Workplace and Manufacturing and all point to increasing pressure in the private sector to produce value and for employees to understand their direct relationship and contribution to their employer’s organizational objectives. A decade ago it was said that employees who did not contribute to increasing revenues or reducing costs were vulnerable. That focus will continue to intensify. Successful employees will need to know more and adapt faster.

What does that have to do with e-learning? As the pace of change continues to escalate, some organizations and people will keep up and some will not. Employees who succeed in the career competition will be those who understand and adapt. How will they know? Through self-education via e-learning which will be widely available to those willing to learn. Employees who fail to learn will be left with the commodity jobs for which there will be much competition. Career development will increasingly become a personal responsibility. HR will provide career guidance on where to find needed education materials, but learning will be the responsibility of the motivated individual.

On-the job learning will be predominantly e-learning because of its availability on demand when needed. Specific job or professional information will be available on demand for the taking by the motivated employee. With employees changing jobs more frequently than in the 20th century, employers will place responsibility for career development increasingly with the employee, or will outsource the task rather than pay for expensive career development for employees who will frequently change employers.

So, yes, future career development will depend more on personal initiative and less on employer provided training and the resources will be available online everywhere via e-learning. Employers may pay tuition costs for successful completion of independent study, but will be less likely to pay for the time investment by the learner. 

Credit text
For more information and to access MIT’s entire engineering curriculum online, for free, please visit http://ocw.mit.edu.

Wendell Laidley is Managing Director of New Media Learning, LLC, a California based e-learning developer. He holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University and MBA from the University of Western Ontario. He worked with IBM and Booz Allen & Hamilton early in his career before founding New Media Learning.