Rethinking Upskilling: Six Things that Need to Change.

In the previous article, we argued unabashedly that simply investing in the right technology tools won't automatically bring about the return on learning investment most organizations would love to register. So, if technology alone won't transform learning within your organization, what else will it take? Well, we want to propose at least six other essential ingredients:

• Content strategy.
• A new target operating model.
• New skills for Learning & Development teams.
• Performance consulting.
• Data-driven learning design.
• Stakeholder management.

So let's unpack each one of these a little bit. First, content strategy. As the saying goes, you are what you eat, and a learning platform is only as good as the content you put into it. Now, most companies have a decent plan for launch, but what about day two? What about day 27? If you don't constantly feed it with fresh and relevant content, it's just going to become another dinosaurs' graveyard where learning goes to die. After all, you wouldn't go back to LinkedIn or Facebook if there wasn't something new and interesting every time. Now, would you?

The same is true for the platforms we use at work. You can't just upload your annual e-learning catalog and expect to come back next year. This means you're going to have to shift from just courses to more and more resources. You'll need a mix of videos, podcasts, infographics, and PDFs regularly updated. Remember building skills is more like a marathon, but you're going to need a steady supply of shorter form digital resources.

But even if you have best-in-class technology and a content strategy to go with it, you're going to need a new target operating model. That means ditching the annual plan. Sure, you can keep it for compliance training and long-form projects like leadership development, but around 70% of our resources really should be allocated to address business needs as they emerge and reprioritize them as more urgent requests come up.

But how do you decide which requests should be prioritized and which one should go to the back of the line? How can you make sure your learning initiatives are aligned to business strategy?

That brings us to number four on our list. It's going to take performance consulting on steroids. Now, at this point you might be thinking, all this sounds great, but my learning team does not have the skills to pull this off. And you know what? You're probably right. The fact of the matter is, L&D needs new skills too. Things like digital journalism, marketing, and data analytics for example. Luckily, this is where we come in with just the services you need.

Finally, don't forget about stakeholder management because things are going to change for everyone from senior leaders to line managers and employees themselves. So be sure to communicate what's in it for each of them, why this matters, and what will be expected of them if you want to get their buy-in. Remember this; digital learning transformation is about way more than just technology. You've got to tackle all of its dimensions and all of them require investment.

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