Personalized learning, personalization, training

Personalized Learning – One Size Doesn’t Fit All

It is obvious that no two employees on a team are exactly alike. They have different learning styles, skillsets, responsibilities, and ways of thinking. Such diversity is a key element to a high performing team. If this is understood, why are training programs being developed to be “one size fits all”? Organizations should be fostering diversity by supporting individual differences. In the previous blog post, we discussed how important it is to gather insight on every employee’s competencies. These insights help minimize biases in performance reviews and can also help identify which competencies employees need to improve upon. In turn, relevant training can be suggested to each individual. This is called personalized learning.

What is Personalized Learning?

Personalized learning draws upon captured data to customize an individual’s learning path in terms of content, pace and learning style. This customized style of organizational learning delivery makes sure that learners are receiving the right training, at the right time. Personalized learning is often presented in a microlearning style, keeping individuals engaged through bite-sized learning.

Barriers to Personalized Learning

We experience personalization all around us. Through data collection and user analysis, sites like Facebook push out personalized adds, LinkedIn provides us with recommended posts, and Netflix suggests shows based on our past viewing behavior. Although automated personalization is not a new concept, it is relatively new in the training industry. A study by the Brandon Hall Group reveals that although 90% of companies agree that personalized learning supports continuous learning and development, less than 50% of companies use it most or all the time. What is holding companies back?

Traditionally, personalized learning put a lot of pressure on managers. Managers had to analyze each employee individually and find content that would enhance their development themselves. Recent developments in automated personalization in training programs are breaking barriers, making the process much more efficient. The direct impact it could have on learners, ROI of training solutions, and on managers is remarkable.

Benefits of Automated Personalized Learning
  • Takes the pressure off managers, giving them more time to monitor their employee development and to focus on providing feedback.
  • Relevant and flexible training leads to greater employee engagement and retention.
  • An understanding of individual differences will help retain employees.
  • A focus on developing each competency based on individual needs evens out the skill set of the entire team.
  • Automated, personalized training leads to a culture of continuous learning. More on this in the next article!

What is important to understand is that an automated, personalized training program will not happen with technology alone. The right people, the right process, and the right technology all need to be in place to create efficiency. If you are interested in implementing personalized learning into your next training and development program, let us know! Expectancy Learning provides excellent customer support with a human touch!

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