Trends & Challenges
Universities and corporate training facilities have been
investing in information technologies to improve education and training at an
increasing rate during the past decade1. Due to legal requirements, many large
organizations are challenged with training large number of employees in as
little time possible. Training is
important for several reasons; 1) it may be required by law or
corporate legal standards to minimize liability 2) if done properly, it can
better develop employee skills and efficiency at their job. But in order to limit cost and training time,
corporations are more frequently engaging in standardized content, delivered
via online platforms.
The challenge with standardized content is that the message,
techniques, and urgency is often lost in translation from one industry to
another. If the training content is built
around a standard industry, it is often difficult for content to connect the
relevance of the training to the employees day to day functions. Trainers should consider supplementing standardized content with on-the-job examples that are relevant to the employees functions/industries.
Another form of technology that is often being used in
larger corporations, is social media blogs, such as YAMMER. Yammer is a tool that allows employees to
share information and informally collaborate around ideas and projects that
ideally will add value to the company.
Additionally, it develops a new and current data set of common words and
phrases that are used across the corporate dialog, that allows companies to
monitor the pulse of the organization.
The challenge with this technology is that employees do not
readily engage in these corporate social networks. There
is a concern that “Big brother” is watching everything that is said (which is true)!
The opportunity here is to provide transparency on how the social media data
will be used, and provide reassurances that it is not about individual
visibility, but more about the cultural health of the organization. Also, providing awards and incentives for
creative use of Yammer could provide the positive encouragement needed to build
more interest.
1 Alavi, Maryam, Research Commentary:
Technology-Mediated Learning—A Call for Greater Depth and Breadth of Research,
March 1, 2001
Tom, you make an interesting point when it comes to standardized content for industry. I think we can relate both standardization in industry and standardization in education. In my field students are required to take standardized tests. However not every student is the same when it comes to learning behaviors, social economic status, educational background. I can see how industry could have similar challenges.
ReplyDeleteI am not familiar with Yammer but collaboration in schools or in the field is typically a good thing. And not utilizing the tools that are available because of who is monitoring only hinders progress. I agree that this should be more about cultural health of the organization.
Tim