Canadian HR Reporter

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014 CANADIAN HR REPORTER & STRATEGIC CAPABILITY NETWORK Credit: AFPics (Shutterstock) Each year, companies across North America spend a collective $160 billion on ineff ective workplace training, according to Carol Leaman, CEO of Axonify, a technology fi rm in Waterloo, Ont. "Most of that goes to waste," she said. "It doesn't stick and it doesn't get translated into behaviour, which of course aff ects the busi- ness outcome." That needs to change if HR departments are to retain their value, said Leaman, speaking at a recent Strategic Capability Net- work event in Toronto. "People feel good about having trained people within the organi- zation because they've done their job. ey can check that box. But the reality is it's not eff ective." As HR begins to distance it- self from "one-and-done" learn- ing programs, Axonify is on the cutting edge, promoting training via micro-learning, gamifi cation, brain science and personalization, she said. "We call ourselves an employee knowledge platform, and essen- tially what we're doing is using technology to drive memory and retention in the human brain," said Leaman. "It's completely diff erent than the way we have trained em- ployees traditionally." Axonify's mission is to make employees more knowledgeable in hopes they can perform better, allowing organizations to realize their full potential. Performance pains inside an organization are often a direct result of low levels of employee knowledge, accord- ing to Leaman. Her fourth technology com- pany was created in opposition to one-and-done learning in which workers are blasted with infor- mation in hopes of behavioural change, she said. e company incorporates its technology to drive employee knowledge de- velopment, support constant organizational change and drive business results. Tenets of modern learning Today's employees want workplace training to be fast, fun, eff ective and personalized, said Leaman. Lessons administered through Axonify contain up to fi ve learn- ing points, which adapt alongside individual workers' responses to ensure everyone learns at their own pace. "We found a way to get employ- ees to want to do it every day on their own," she said. "We do adjust person by person based on your demonstrated knowledge." Typically, Axonify training is implemented via three to five repetitions over 30 days, with ex- pected long-term memory reten- tion rates as high as 90 per cent. Learning via gamifi cation has received solid participatory lev- els from all age categories, said Leaman. "In some organizations, there are fi ve diff erent generations in the workforce," she said. "Each one has very unique characteris- tics and needs." Over time, Axonify has identi- fi ed nine essential principles for a modern learning environment: leveraging current brain science, measuring business objectives, including social and collaborative techniques, familiar and modern interfaces, use of game mechan- ics, personalized and adaptive content, continuous daily train- ing, ability to learn on demand, and compatibility across devices. Eff ective training guides staff - ers to make good decisions and strengthens workplace culture, said Leaman. "Every single decision every- body makes has a ripple eff ect to everyone else," she said. "At the end of the day, culture is about how people feel when they come into work every day. Are they giv- ing it their all?" Struggle is real Learning and development (L&D) professionals in charge of creating and delivering training content are struggling to meet the expec- tations of the modern learner, said Leaman. "L&D is really struggling with how to do that most eff ectively," she said, noting the gap between employee expectations and L&D's ability to provide is now at 430 per cent, according to Axonify research. In addition, 70 per cent of line- of-business leaders are now by- passing their L&D departments to fi nd solutions to their training needs, said Leaman. "HR is perceived — especially in large organizations — as a nec- essary evil. ey're not a strategic enabler of the business." Much of today's training still consists of "check-the-box, one- and-done" programming, even while research by Axonify insists 70 per cent of employees prefer learning via short, easily consum- able processes. Leaman likened the current training methodology to cram- ming for exams, where students take in copious amounts of infor- mation for a fast-approaching test. Unfortunately, she said, just fi ve to seven per cent of that knowledge will be remembered 30 days later. With the use of technology and mobile devices increasing, it's up to HR to stay on top of current trends, said Leaman. "Your job as HR is to stay aware of what's out there and try to channel the use of technology in a way that's most conducive to your organization, and not necessarily just clamp down," she said. "You almost have to be as technology- savvy as your workforce, so that you're not saying 'No.'" "You understand how it will be employed, what the options are, and how best to enable the work- force, because that's just the way of the world." How HR should adjust e eff ect the gamifi cation move- ment will have on human resourc- es professionals is expected to be enormous, said Leaman. "We're on the cusp of seeing a diff erent attitude to the value of HR in the enterprise," she said. "We need to rethink this from the ground up and not be stuck in the old just because we've in- vested millions of dollars in the last 10 years in traditional ways to do things. We need to start the journey of transforming how we get our employees to be as knowl- edgeable as possible," she said. "Bottom-line results start and end with what people know, be- cause they do what they know." Still, not all HR traditions are becoming redundant, said Leaman. Learning opportunities at multi-day conferences remain in- valuable, as the average employee devotes just one per cent of his workweek to learning something new, she said. Conferences provide quality opportunities to meet likeminded peers, compare corporate strategy and discuss thought leadership. Going forward, HR profession- als remain tasked with recruiting and retaining top human capital — whose knowledge is the "se- cret weapon people always forget about," said Leaman. And with priority once again shifting towards employing a knowledgeable workforce rather than training towards specifi c ap- plications, it is the HR and L&D departments who are ultimately responsible, she said. e future of workplace training Learning and development techniques shift towards technology and gamifi cation BY MARCEL VANDER WIER e future of workplace training Learning and development techniques

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