Empowered autonomy is key to successful organisational learning says new SkillSoft study

A new benchmark study into current and future trends in organisational learning has revealed that self-directed learning is the route preferred by the majority of employees and that the role of managers in facilitating this is critical to success.

The study, by online learning provider, SkillSoft, was compiled following two major pieces of research which took place towards the end of 2006 - involving an online survey of 5,360 employees plus in-depth interviews with senior HR thought-leaders from 16 global organisations (see notes to editors for detailed methodology).

One of the aims of the study was to establish whether there were any synergies between how employees preferred to learn with the training made available to them by their organisation.

The top five learner preferences were:

1. Being able to get at information as and when I need it.
2. Being in charge of my own learning pace.
3. Attending classroom courses.
4. Learning in bite-sized pieces.
5. Learning at my desktop.

In all the organisations that participated in this survey, there are a variety of programmes and plans in place to ensure that these employee requirements are being met. These include: providing online training that can be done in bite-size pieces; enabling access of learning resources at home; increasing the availability of online books and referenceware; providing more support for just-in-time training; offering blended solutions that allow employees to pick and mix; and giving access to specific facilities in the workplace that can be used before or after working hours.

However, all of these opportunities are rendered ineffective if learners are not given the opportunity to take advantage of them. As a result, the role of the manager is seen as key by both the HR executives and the employees interviewed - for a number of reasons. In some organisations, managers are responsible for defining the training requirements of their teams; in others they are encouraged to promote a learning culture; and in many cases, they are responsible for measuring the effectiveness of any training taking place.

Charles Jennings, Global Head of Learning at Reuters believes that managerial support is critical to effective organisational learning. He
says:

I fundamentally believe that you cannot build a high performing company without managers understanding their responsibility in helping employees learn and build their capabilities. And they not only need to understand it, but they need to have the tools and the skills to be able to do it.

Kevin Young, Managing Director of SkillSoft, EMEA adds:

The importance of the line manager is never more important than when they have control over deciding who can participate in the training available.

Giving managers this responsibility is something that most of the HR professionals we interviewed had very definite views on. There was a consensus of opinion that involving managers in training decisions is beneficial for all concerned.

However, arguably the most gratifying finding from the research, cited by both employees and employers alike, is the acknowledgement that training is critical to the corporate capability of an organisation.
There is widespread belief that having a corporate learning culture is one of the best ways an organisation can grow and thrive.

The benchmark study, entitled íThe Future of Learningí is available free of charge in hard copy format from Nina Michell at nina_michell@skillsoft.com or for download at: