Learning companions – analysts – all-rounders: All of this is what HR developers should be today. The changes are difficult to oversee. What do companies truly expect from L&D teams, and what must HR developers achieve in the future? We give you an insight into the trends of 2020.
HR developers today should not only identify needs and develop strategies. HR developers should be learning companions, coaches, mentors, data analysts, digitalization experts, and miracle workers. And they should do all this simultaneously and immediately to meet the new requirements as quickly as possible! It is no wonder that the slogan "HR is dead! Long live HR!" is becoming louder.
But what do companies and employees really expect from HR developers? What must L&D teams achieve today and in the future to keep personnel development up to date? We summarize the findings from the eLearning Trends 2020 for you:
What do companies expect from L&D teams?
The continuing education costs in Germany are horrendous: Companies spend around 14.2 billion annually on trainer fees and learning materials, plus indirect costs for work absences and travel. These huge investments must ultimately pay off for the companies.
Consequently, companies expect their L&D teams to develop training measures that demonstrably guarantee long-term improvements for the company. These valuable measures include:
Development of new and further development of existing competencies, tailored to the respective corporate goals.
Sustainable behavioral changes among employees for lasting corporate success.
Expansion of skills for self-directed learning as a basis for increased “learning on the job.”
Opportunities for measuring continuing education success and employee performance with business-relevant KPIs.
Reading tip: The measurability of training measures is a challenge for HR developers. In another article, we summarize how you can measure the success of training with three key questions.
The goal of the companies is therefore clear: Sustainable training that involves learners and supports larger corporate goals with a broad data base. What skills must you now offer as an HR developer to meet the expectations of companies?
HR developers in L&D teams must offer more and more, especially in the areas of analysis and digital competence.
What must L&D teams achieve in the future?
The classic requirements for HR developers are largely covered by the expectations of the companies: Building new competencies, developing existing competencies further, identifying gaps, and closing them through targeted measures – these are the tasks that HR developers are familiar with.
Performance of L&D beyond formal training
However, formal training today is only one part of the task catalog of L&D teams. Additionally, HR developers must cover further areas:
Provide “just-in-time” learning offerings that are available to your employees at any time in their daily work and not just in isolated learning systems or training rooms.
Mentoring and coaching, not only for employees but also for leaders who should accompany the learning processes.
Motivate employees through targeted challenges to learn continuously and to refresh and apply their new knowledge repeatedly.
Support employees in solidifying new knowledge in the long term – after all, over 90% of the content from traditional training is forgotten within 60 days without further follow-up.
In summary, you will be responsible in the future as an HR developer for understanding, developing, and solidifying the learning culture in your company. Only through a learning culture, where learning is positively associated, sufficient time for learning is allocated, and the motivation to learn is continuously maintained, can L&D teams achieve sustainable success.
Reading tip: How your employees find sufficient time for learning is explained in the article “Time-wasting? This is how learning times work in companies.”
Digital focus for HR developers
However, the offerings of modern L&D teams do not stop here. Additionally, you as an HR developer must also build and implement digital skills for your employees:
Implement platforms to enable your employees to engage in social and collaborative learning.
Provide curated learning content for the platforms that inform and encourage your employees to explore further content.
Encourage employees to create their own content (user-generated content) and actively participate in digital learning.
Offer flexible online content that is available on all devices and tailored to your employees.
The tasks of your L&D team today are therefore not only “analog” but also strongly focus on digital support. An LMS is now firmly part of the toolset in almost every company, and the creation of content for your employees is becoming a standard task for HR developers.
According to studies, traditional face-to-face training will continue to play a significant role in companies despite all digitalization. A perfect method for linking digital and traditional training is blended learning, which is also used more frequently in companies.
Do you want to know what advantages blended learning has? Or do you want to convince your L&D team of blended learning? Then download the 7 arguments for blended learning in companies for free as a PDF now – and provide your company with the perfect link between traditional and digital personnel development!
