“You can get any color, as long as it is black.” This was Henry Ford’s famous slogan when he announced the mass production of the Model T in 1913. Companies later realized they had to provide differentiated products and services to support the needs of consumers in various market segments.
The 21st-century knowledge worker requires the same level of customization that companies apply to their products and services to support knowledge acquisition and skill building in a demanding workplace. However, many learning and development programs have been designed for a specific audience as part of a standard curriculum and delivered in scheduled classroom programs. This traditional learning process has a lot of inefficiencies — for instance, courses are not scheduled to support a just-in-time development need; learning groups include people with heterogeneous experience and levels of expertise; and only a limited number of learning styles can be supported in the classroom. As a result, a significant percentage of classroom time is irrelevant, not applied to work and generally not cost-effective.
Today’s enterprise demands effective and efficient learning for its global workforce. This leads to a growing need to provide people with a customized and personalized learning experience. I distinguish five dimensions of learning customization and personalization:
- Learning needs: Personal learning needs are unique and depend on a large number of characteristics, including job role, career, experience, personal career and development aspirations, professional education background, years in the workforce, recent assignments, and development feedback from managers and mentors.
- Learning preferences: People learn differently. Learning preferences are based on individual learning styles, cultural differences, language and generation.
- Location: A geographically dispersed, mobile and virtual workforce drives the need to provide learning at any location, 24/7.
- Time: Daily business and performance demands, loaded schedules and competing priorities require people to use their time as effectively as possible. The available time for informal and formal learning differs by industry, organization and job role, and from person to person.
- Pace: The speed of knowledge acquisition and development of new skills differs significantly by person. The more the learning experience can be customized to one’s unique personal learning needs, the more effective the learning process.
There are several new methods and technologies that facilitate personalization and customization of learning. Examples include:
- My learning portal: This is an individual learning portal that includes selected sections targeted to the user and provides access to learning resources.
- Subscribed content: Through RSS feeds and subscriptions to social networks, communities, experts and news feeds, learners can get access to the most relevant content and reduce information overload.
- Curricula and courseware: Personalized curricula and courseware can be generated by having learners complete individual online learning assessments.
- Courseware selection: Allowing learners to rank, rate and recommend content — via LMS functionality or another method — will provide them with opportunities to find courses that will support their individual needs.
- Devices and access: A growing number of companies provide employees with choices of mobile computing devices — such as laptops, netbooks, PDAs, smart phones, e-books and iPads — and reimburse the costs for wireless and high-speed Internet access from home.
- Technology-based learning solutions: A broad spectrum of technology-based learning solutions have emerged that allow people to choose their preferred delivery method, whether it’s a podcast, video, online performance support system, job aid, virtual classroom, webinar, wiki, blog, game or simulation, community of practice, or social network.
The responsibility for learning and development and career progression has shifted from the company to the employee. Knowledge workers need to acquire knowledge and develop skills at the speed of business, supporting their individual performance and driving business results. Companies must provide development instruments, learning platforms and access to high-quality learning content, making it both easy and intuitive for employees to build their customized learning path. This poses a significant and unavoidable challenge but also a dynamic opportunity for the learning and development profession.