Kindergarten, HRO and Learning for the 21st Century Workforce

“All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.” Ah…if only it were as simple for the 21^st century workforce as the title of Robert Fulghum’s book! Opportunities for learning the skills necessary to excel in one’s selected career have become more challenging in the past several decades – think of the skyrocketing costs of a university education! – and since the beginning of the recession, employers have significantly cut back on their training programs.

This is why I was very pleased to see just this week three HRO service providers’ announcements on what they are doing today to help both clients and the public at large to improve their learning skills. A quick look at these three examples:

First, Manpower sponsored the “Skills for the 21^st Century” knowledge track at the Ashoka Future Forum. According to the announcement, the track was “designed to harness the intellectual power of thought leaders across all sectors to create a common vision for how to prepare U.S. talent throughout the education system, and how to build a culture of lifelong learning among adult workers that ensure the U.S. workforce is able to adapt as rapidly as the global economy is changing.” And during a session entitled, “Putting Adults on the Path of Being Changemakers,” Manpower gave a demonstration of MyPath, its free online career development and social network.

Second, Expertus expanded its collection of free learning webinars. Intended primarily for corporate training professionals, the company has just added three new webinars: “Numbers Don’t Lie – 4 Truths of Learning Measurement Success”; “9 Ways to Trim Operational Expenses to Fund Strategic Learning”; and “Secrets of Successful Learning Systems.”  The gratis webinars are available as recordings and come with presentation slides.

Third, RWD established the Vanguard Leadership Forum, a “center of innovation that provides access to thought leadership around improving the way people work.” The Forum, available free of charge to RWD clients, will focus on topics including Leadership and Team Development; The Performing Organization; Performance-based Analysis and Design; Knowledge, Content and Learning Management; eLearning and Mobile Learning; Simulation and Gaming; Workplace and Social Learning; and Learning Technologies and Tools.

Why was I so encouraged by these announcements? The technology we utilize in our jobs, the way we operate and the skill sets required to perform our jobs are dramatically different than they were 30 years ago, 15 years ago, five years ago, even one year ago, and they will undoubtedly continue to change. Thus, helping foster an environment of continuous learning is imperative for:

•  Current employees and candidates looking for jobs to continually learn new skill sets, including career development and how to leverage social networks

•  Employers, as they need to know how to implement better ways to learn, with better technology and to do so cost effectively. Further, to maintain competitive advantage, employers must adopt a culture of continuous learning

By looking at just these three examples, it appears the tide is turning to a renewed acknowledgement of the importance of continuous learning and improvement of employee skill sets. Yes, we all learned not to run with scissors and not to drink finger paints when we were in kindergarten. But, wise employers create a learning culture, and wise employees seek out learning opportunities that will launch them into and keep them in the top quartile.

Gary Bragar, Lead HRO Analyst, NelsonHall

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