Training & Development | June 2020 | Vol. 47 | No. 2

FOR FUTURE-FOCUSED L&D PROFESSIONALS

JUNE 2020

R A M IVOLUME R O B A N D47 E R|ANO. S 2

LEARNING

MORE THAN NETFLIX: THE REAL POTENTIAL OF PERSONALISED LEARNING JD DILLON SNAKES AND LADDERS: THE TIPS AND TRAPS OF GAMIFICATION IN DIGITAL LEARNING RAFAL DOLANOWSKI ATOMIC PRESENCE: IRL CONNECTION IN URL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS DR HAYLEY LINTHWAITE

A helping hand from AITD. We know that many of our members are facing uncertainty around their employment and financial situation in this unprecedented time.

To help ease the load and make sure you continue to have access to any AITD member benefits which may assist with these challenges, we have extended all memberships that were current as at 1 March 2020 for 6 months, free of charge.

There is nothing you need to do to claim this extension – your membership expiry date will be updated automatically so that you can enjoy half a year’s free membership. For more information, check www.aitd.com.au or contact membership@aitd.com.au.

We look forward to brighter times ahead and are here to support you in any way we can.

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CONTENTS

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More than Netflix: The Real Potential of Personalised Learning

30 ATOMIC Presence: IRL Connection in URL Learning Environments

Snakes and Ladders: The Tips and Traps of Gamification in Digital Learning Rafal Dolanowski

JD Dillon

Dr Hayley Linthwaite

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Editor’s Message

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New Members

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AITD President’s Message

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AITD 2020: Conference Roundup

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NZATD President’s Message

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The 4 Pillars of Workplace Wellbeing

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Curiosity: Formalised

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The LowDown: Megan Torrance

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From the CEO’s Desk

How to Craft a Strategically Aligned Digital Learning Experience

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AITD Calendar

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NZATD Calendar

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On the Bookshelf

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From the Archives

JD Dillon

The Secrets to Successful, Digital, LongDistance Employee Training Ramiro Banderas

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Ashley Fell

Dr Amanda Lizier

Jonathan Choi

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Cool, Calm, Connected: How Briscoe Group Maintained Frontline Resilience During a Lockdown

The Future of Learning Will Happen in a VR Headset Cortney Harding

EDITORIAL MATERIAL Contributor guidelines are available at aitd.com.au. All rights reserved.

No article or image in Training & Development may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher.

PUBLICATION CONDITIONS Training & Development is distributed free to all members of the Australian Institute of Training and Development (AITD) and the New Zealand Association for Training and Development (NZATD).

Articles are accepted for publication only on the condition that authors: 1) give the publisher an irrevocable and non-exclusive right to publish the article in Training & Development and on the AITD and NZATD websites, as well as on the websites of organisations affiliated with AITD and NZATD; and 2) authorise the publisher to

give permission for reproduction of the article in who or part by other persons and organisations for educational and training purposes.

Advertisements are accepted for publication in Training & Development on condition that the advertisers and their agents: 1) warrant that the advertisement complies with all relevant laws; 2) warrant that publication of the advertisement will not give rise to any legal claims or liability; and 3) fully indemnify the publisher and its employees and agents against all claims and liability arising out of publication of the advertisement.

DISCLAIMER Articles in this publication express the views of the authors and not necessarily those of AITD, NZATD or the publisher. The publisher accepts no responsibility or liability for any errors, omissions or

resultant consequences including loss or damage arising from reliance on information in this publication. The information in this publication is not a substitute for professional advice. You should seek professional advice before acting on the basis of any material contained in this publication. The appearance in this publication of advertisements and product or service information does not constitute endorsement by AITD or NZATD. The publisher has not investigated the claims made by any advertiser, and product information is based solely on material received by suppliers.

SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscriptions to Training & Development (four issues per year) are available see aitd.com.au for details.

EDITOR’S MESSAGE irstly, an apology. When I set the theme of ‘Learning Digitalisation’ for this edition back in November, I didn’t intend for the whole world to have gone digital out of necessity by the time we got here. Who knew my editorial powers were so strong? As an aside, I am now accepting submissions for September’s edition, ‘Pub-Based Learning’…

This new decade certainly hasn’t had the most auspicious of starts; there’s not much more I can say than that! After initially devouring every piece of information I could find when this whole situation began to unfold a few short months ago, I have now adopted a (sanitised) fingers-inears, eyes-scrunched-shut approach for the sake of my sanity — so you definitely don’t need my musings on COVID-19.

I had thought that I might use this column to list all the good things that have happened in 2020…but my Google-based research mostly uncovered tumbleweed and Tiger King. So, instead of words, I will kick off this edition with the classic millennial fallback: a cute dog picture.

AITD NATIONAL OFFICE Suite 111, 410 Elizabeth Street Surry Hills NSW 2010 Australia Tel: +61 2 9211 9414 membership@aitd.com.au CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Lynette Pinder ceo@aitd.com.au EDITOR Sam Gilbertson editor@aitd.com.au SPONSORSHIP AND ADVERTISING marketing@aitd.com.au Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @aitd1 NZATD NATIONAL OFFICE PO Box 44 239 Lower Hutt 5040 New Zealand

Cut it out and stick it in your makeshift home office. You’re welcome.

Tel: +64 4 570 2460 nzatd@nzatd.org.nz

Happy reading!

EXECUTIVE OFFICER Janette Stewart nzatd@nzatd.org.nz Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @NZATD DESIGN Jenna Setford jennasetford.com

Sam Gilbertson Editor AITD FELLOWS Fellowship is the highest level of membership bestowed by the Australian Institute of Training and Development. We have recently welcomed the following new fellows (FAITD) and associate fellow (AFAITD): Ben Palmer (FAITD)

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Dr Paul Yung (FAITD)

Vanessa Trower (AFAITD)

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT ISSN 1839-8561 (Print) ISSN 2200-2081 (Online) Published by the Australian Institute of Training and Development (AITD) ABN 52 008 516 701 Distributed to members of AITD and NZART Registered by Australia Post Print Post Publication No. 100007406

JUNE / 2020

New members AITD welcomes: Shalimar Abago Jennifer Adams Tennille Ahmet Simone Ainsworth Carolyn Alleyne Oskar Beggs-Steventon Carolyn Blyth Kylie Boase Robert Boeg Deborah Booker Brian Bowman Jacinta Bradford Catherine Bullivant Melanie Chan Angie Christian Michael Collins Matthew Conway Michael De Zilva Kerry Devine Andre Didenkowski Tara Donegan Gabrielle Draber Shannon Dunn Sean Eldridge Libby Ellis Asya Emirzadeoglulari Cecile Fenetre Boulter Tim Fischer Zoe Fitzgerald Jason Fletcher Leesa Fraser Michelle Frost Tim Fuller Cristina Galati Rowena Gamble Suzette Gordon Marlee Greer Eleni Grigoris Marie Gulli Rose Guzzo Paul Haney Tony Hawes Nicole Hendry

Grant Herbert Kate Heydon Leesa Hodgson Diana Holloway Vince Hooker Nina Horsfield Patricia Hughes Charles Huxtable Cinzia Immuni Julie Jardine Emily Joleski Melissa Kalemis Harpreet Kaur Cilla Keppie Annie Sophia Larkin Alicia Laub John Littler Mark Lowe Genevieve Malcolm Karen McAinch Jennelle McAppion Diane Mcarthur Jillian McCallum Louise McCoy Matthew McKee Hannah McNamara Chanelle Mellor Kevin Merritt Amanda Middleton Michael Miller Loretta Mitchell Denise Mossop Ray Mouward Andrea Mueller Antony Myrtle Kylie Mytyk Joshika Naidu Paula Naughton Kieron Nicholls Samantha Noonan Matthew O’Brien Joanne O’Leary Stephen Parker Christine Peacock Joanne Pendleton

Kirstie Perry Benjamin Pickett Sharon Pickup Ambre Pitt Heather Price Deepak Rajani Seide Ramadani Melissa Reston Ellie Reynolds Corinna Rice Leesa Riley Mimi Rivera Ben Roulston Tanya Saad Marianne Said Muhammad Aadil Saleemi Katheryne Sander Perrin Shanks Stella Simmons Hannah Simmons Mark Skinner Sharon Skuce David Spark Danny Spelic Philippa Spring Kaila Sutherland Ben Teh Ann Maree Tetley Kynwyn Thomas Sarah Thomas Meredith Thompson Donna Thomsen Diane Trainor Ingrid Ueno Michelle Van Kolck Caitlin Van Zyl Carmel Veenstra Justin Warren Antonia Williams Chelsea Williamson Felicity Wilson Chris Withoos

NEW CORPORATE MEMBERS: Centre For U ANSTO Australian Electoral Commission NSW Department of Education School Leadership Institute

NZATD welcomes: Emma Addington Scott Carse Lyndall Clarke Catherine Coe Christopher Corkery Renee Corlett Kay Costello Gianna Degueldre Tony Dryden Ana Fetu’a’aho Shirley Gibbs Cathy Gillespie Daniel Harding Caroline Hogg Carolyn Humphries Jo Lascelles Tabitha Leonard Vaughan Lewis Mu Li Sarah McDonald Catherine McIntosh Sue Mercer Theren Naidoo Kerina O’Neill George Orsborn Samantha Owles Gill Paton Linda Svensson Melissa Thorpe Julie Varney Orsi Vincze Wendy Walters

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A M E S S AG E TO M E M B E R S | J A N E C A L L E J A | A I T D N AT I O N A L P R E S I D E N T

Dear AITD Support Team, If it’s not too much trouble, would you kindly flip our annual national conference from a face-to-face event to a fully virtual experience? Oh — and you have around 72 hours over the weekend to get that done…

What?!

Yep, that is exactly what this amazing team did.

Working incredibly hard alongside our generous list of speakers, we achieved the seemingly impossible. An outstanding effort and I’d like to give a big shout out to all who chose to stick with us and participate. It was a rollercoaster ride of insight, energy and humour that created two memorable days. So, here’s to agility and resilience in the face of adversity!

Now, the team are at it again with lots of initiatives, programs and changes coming your way. Our face-to-face workshops are being transitioned to online sessions, the divisional councils are working hard to deliver virtual local events to keep our tribe connected, the mentoring program is underway and I am — as always — in awe of the generosity of this community. Our share and care page has been filled with people from all over the country and from overseas, offering their support to each other and businesses alike.

As if the first half of the year was not action-packed enough, we have lots to look forward to. The awards, a brand refresh, new website and CRM, updated digital badging and the list continues… Whew! And then no time for a breath as plans start to ramp up for our 50th birthday celebrations —what an amazing milestone we will celebrate next year.

In all seriousness, these have been some very difficult times made that little bit easier knowing you have your L&D tribe supporting you. We are all here to help and, on behalf of the board, I wish you all the best as we navigate our way to a new future. I look forward to seeing you on the other side.

Take care,

AITD BOARD Jane Calleja National President South Australia Michael Werle Vice President Victoria/Tasmania Andrew Hart Treasurer Western Australia Julie Peters Company Secretary Queensland/Northern Territory Siobhan Sutherland Rogers Director New South Wales Graham Doering Director Australian Capital Territory Rob Turner Director

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A M E S S AG E TO M E M B E R S | K AT H C H E R R I E | N Z AT D N AT I O N A L P R E S I D E N T

Crazy times or an amazing opportunity — how will our profession look back on the first half of 2020? Will L&D have changed forever? Will we have used this crisis as a time to move workplace learning to a new level?

Covid-19 is certainly providing challenges for us all. People seem sure that life will never be the same again. There is considerable talk about a new ‘normal’.

Here are some of things I hope we will have in our L&D new normal: •

•

•

L&D professionals who consistently work with requesters of ‘training’ to find the best solution for each situation.

L&D professionals who have a range of delivery methods in their toolbox and draw on these with confidence.

L&D communities that share ideas and support each other.

Actually, that last one already exists. I am loving all the great ideas I am seeing and hearing within the communities I am part of. I am sure facing these challenges together — although apart — will make those communities even stronger.

The AITD conference was one example of that. Within days, the team took the conference from face-to-face to online.

The support and flexibility of the keynote and workshop presenters was fantastic.

The positive comments from those who attended showed support, encouragement and appreciation. As someone who was able to attend once it was a virtual conference, I certainly echoed all those comments. Well done to the AITD team.

Here at NZATD, we were fortunate to have time to make decisions about our conference more slowly. We decided to move it from May 2020 to March 2021. All of our keynote speakers are on board with us and planning to come in March; we are very grateful to them. We have altered the closing date for the awards to link with the conference — applications now close on 6 January 2021.

In terms of our toolbox, I have seen lots of people quickly learning to use virtual tools.

I am sure we will have some new phrases in our vocabulary that include the word ‘zoom’.

One webinar that two of our members offered was named, ‘Are we zooming in the right direction?’ This generated so much interest we offered it twice. I was impressed with the discussion about how to determine the purpose then consider the best tool to use.

My first hope for our future - I come back to Cathy Moore’s phrase – ‘don’t be an order taker’. I think this conversation has progressed somewhat. Hopefully, we will continue that conversation and be able to show how we are flexible and professional; support the business in good times and bad; and contribute to profitability.

NZATD NATIONAL EXECUTIVE Janette Stewart Executive Officer Carolyn Burns Auckland/Wellington Administrator Kath Cherrie National President Diane Edwards Past President Beryl Oldham National Treasurer Helen Reid Vice President and Auckland Branch President Karen Bain Waikato and Bay of Plenty President Anna Wilton Wellington Branch President Karen Betony Canterbury Branch President Joanna Smith Auckland Branch Geoff Ngataierua Canterbury Branch Ron Batcup Wellington Branch

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DR AMANDA LIZIER | CURIOSITY:FORMALISED

REMEMBER, LEARNING ANALYTICS ARE ABOUT LEARNING Dr Amanda Lizier (FAITD) specialises in translating workplace learning research into practice. For 20 years she has worked across all aspects of learning and development, experience which continues in her consulting work. Wanting to explore the nexus of practice and research for herself, Amanda completed her PhD at the University of Technology Sydney where she is now a researcher and teaches in the award-winning Master of Education (Learning and Leadership) program. In this regular column, she breaks down the latest in L&D academic research and how it can be applied in your workplace.

Big data, learning analytics, educational data mining – whatever you call it, we are showered with information about our learners as never before.

Learning analytics generally encompasses the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of data about learners and their contexts. This data is then (ideally) used to understand and inform decisions about learning and the contexts in which it occurs.

Learning analytics are increasingly being incorporated into learning management systems and have promised to help us understand our learners better – but has learning analytics lived up to its promises?

DIGITAL BREADCRUMBS Let’s try a little experiment. Select a program in your organisation and think about an average learner.

What is the ‘digital trail’ that they leave behind? It might include things like how many times they accessed the LMS and which pages they viewed, course attendance, online module completions, performance appraisal ratings, emails, online chat, times they logged into their work computer or entered the building, etc. Write down as many as you can on a piece of paper. Now look at the list and highlight the pieces of data that can tell you about someone’s learning. I suspect you’ll find, as I and others have, that there are

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precious few pieces of data there that would give significant insights into how much or how well someone learned something.

CONCERNS OVER LEARNING ANALYTICS Despite the adoption of learning analytics continuing at a rapid pace, concerns have been raised about whether using ‘digital traces as proxies for learning’ is an effective measure of learner performance (Wilson, Watson, Thompson, Drew & Doyle, 2016, p.992). Indeed, there is little empirical evidence that the use of learning analytics can improve learning outcomes or that learning analytics are based on any sort of sound educational theory or research (Gašević, Dawson & Siemens, 2015).

Concerns have also been raised about the ethics of data collection, analysis and reporting for learning analytics (Greller & Drachsler, 2012; Shade & Prinsloo, 2013; Siemens, 2012). For example, for those of you using learning analytics (or hoping to), what thought have you given to data ownership and transparency? What about how you will communicate the scope

and role of learning analytics to learners and other stakeholders?

With a wide range of data available from multiple sources, the legal and ethical situation can vary between organisations and between countries, requiring serious thought prior to implementation. Drachsler and Greller (2016) have developed a research-based checklist called DELICATE to help implement trusted analytics which you can access at www.laceproject.eu/ethics-privacy/ for free.

USING LEARNING ANALYTICS TO INFORM PRACTICE In order to improve learning analytics, researchers have suggested that we use a co-design process. While co-design is a concept that has been popular in learning design for some time, it is newer to analytics. The aim is to co-design learning analytics with learners and other stakeholders, providing analytics designers with information with which to better understand the different scenarios where learning is happening and the needs of both learners and learning professionals (Prieto-Alvarez, Martinez-Maldonado & Dirndorfer Anderson, 2018).

Research is formalised curiosity.

It is poking and prying with a purpose.

Zora Neale Hurston

Researchers from UTS and Monash University recently reported using a card-sorting activity with key stakeholders to facilitate a learning analytics co-design process. The researchers included students, educators, learning analytics researchers and developers in the process to develop learning analytics for a course in higher education.

Incorporating cards representing areas such as analytics type (e.g. descriptive, predictive), data source (e.g. blogging data, LMS activity), analytics method (e.g. social networks, text analysis), and privacy cards (e.g. private, public, share with select group), the process produced a common basis for communication among stakeholders and innovative learning analytics solutions (Prieto-

FURTHER READING AND RESOURCES

Alvarez, Martinez-Maldonado & Dirndorfer Anderson, 2018).

Your organisation may have already invested in learning analytics tools or a well-equipped learning management system but you can still have input into what data is collected and how it is analysed and reported back to ensure you are getting the most useful data to inform learning design and practice.

Remember your data trail from the beginning of the article? What data do you need to understand learning and learning practices? Is it enough to simply collect numbers or do you also need to conduct some qualitative investigations into learner and learning practitioner experiences?

So where to from here with learning analytics? As the saying goes, ‘you get what you measure’, so great care is required to design appropriate learning analytics to ensure that they are not only effective for what you want to know but also ethical. Moreover, if you are only focusing on the outcomes of learning via ‘digital breadcrumbs’, there is a great danger of failing to evaluate teaching and learning practices which are just as important (Gašević, et al, 2015), especially to provide quality evidence to inform design and decision-making for future learning initiatives.

Drachsler, H. & Greller, W. (2016). Privacy and analytics: it’s a DELICATE issue. A Checklist to establish trusted learning analytics. 6th Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference 2016, April 25–29, p.89-98, Edinburgh, UK. Greller, Wolfgang; Drachsler, Hendrik (2012) Translating Learning into Numbers: A Generic Framework for Learning Analytics. Educational Technology and Society, 15(3), p.42–57.

Prieto-Alvarez, C.G., Martinez-Maldonado, R. and Buckingham Shum, S. (2020). LA-DECK: A Card-Based Learning Analytics Co-Design Tool. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge, Frankfurt, Germany, March 2020 (LAK’20), ACM, New York, NY, USA. 10 pages Siemens, G. (2012) Learning Analytics: Envisioning a Research Discipline and a Domain of Practice. In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge, p.4–8.

Slade, S. & Prinsloo, P. (2013) Learning analytics: ethical issues and dilemmas. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(10), p. 1509–1528.

Wilson, A., Watson, C., Thompson, T.L., Drew, V. & Doyle, S (2017) Learning analytics: challenges and limitations, Teaching in Higher Education, 22:8, p.991-1007 9

J O N AT H A N C H O I

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, learning digitalisation has become a necessity for survival, rather than a longterm consideration.

This forced digital transformation has seen organisations adopt remote working in timeframes that would have previously been considered impossible. In the absence of face-to-face forums, including coaching, workshops and conferences, organisations must ask, ‘does my existing learning and development program support the organisation’s strategy and the demands from our workforce?’

While the need to create learning solutions is imminent, I believe it is vital to first determine the current state of your organisation and the learning requirements of staff. By taking a step back and setting the foundation for your learning strategy, L&D professionals can set their organisation up for success in the long term.

In this article, I will share my three key frameworks to establish the right foundation for your digital learning strategy: starting with your business model, crafting your learners’ journey and measuring the success of your learning strategy.

1. Start with your business model To understand your learners’ needs, start with your organisation’s business model. This should describe how your business generates value by breaking down the key parts or activities required to create value for the customer.

Download the free business model canvas from Strategyzer — a simple template to understand your business plan, making it effective for L&D professionals to internally consult with executive stakeholders and assess opportunities for improvement. By co-building the solution with your executive level, you are empowering them to own it. These opportunities for improvement become the desired ‘future state’ of an organisation which, in simple terms, is ‘where you want your business to be’.

WHAT IS THE CURRENT VS. FUTURE STATE FOR LEARNING NEEDS? The business model canvas allows you to create a visual map of your business model’s current and future state.

The current state is how each part of the organisation works to contribute in delivering value to the customer. Determining the future state will be steered by your executive level, as it is composed of strategic factors including customers’ future needs, market competition and technology trends. The gaps between the current state and future state business models will determine the skill gaps that your staff will need to meet, providing you with a solid foundation to build your L&D program on.

2. Craft your learners’ journey There is a common saying in consulting that goes along the lines of, ‘If your customer asks you for something with wheels, don’t assume they need a Ferrari when they’re asking for a bicycle.’

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Without understanding your learners’ current experiences, your future state learning solution will be led by technology and not your learners’ needs. To build a solution your learners will benefit from, start by understanding their learning journey.

MAP THEIR CURRENT JOURNEY To empathise with your learners and understand their experience, use customer journey maps. They are useful to understand your learners and how they are currently thinking and feeling about their learning experience.

Customer journey maps are a powerful tool in helping you determine the ‘pains’ and ‘gains’ of learners, creating real evidence based on the experience of your people.

02 Form interview questions: Once you have determined your touchpoints, you can form interview questions to understand your learners’ experiences at each stage of the learning journey and how the current L&D solution meets (or doesn’t meet) their needs.

03 Create insights: From your interviews, note down insights and group them into themes. Separate your themes into pains (improvement points) and gains (positives to carry forward).

04 Plot on customer journey map: Plot the emotions, comments and findings from your interviews onto your customer journey map.

To fill in your customer journey map, follow these steps:

01 Determine key touchpoints: To create key touchpoints for your customer journey, use the ‘learning cycle’ which is approved by your organisation. For example: Identify learning needs > Learn new concepts > Experiment > Experience > Reflect > Conceptualise > Coaching and clarification.

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SEGMENT YOUR LEARNERS The key factor to ensuring your learning strategy is effective is understanding the different groups of learners in your organisation. Instead of releasing your L&D solution with a one-size-fits-all approach, segmentation allows you to tailor the program and messaging to the different learner groups. Segmentation is typically conducted by role level in the organisational chart (e.g. executive, general manager, line manager, project manager, analyst).

J O N AT H A N C H O I

By co-building the solution with your executive level, you are empowering them to own it.

workplace, Yammer, face-to-face, group meetings/ town halls, classroom learning etc.)

Once you have created your segments, use the following criteria to fill in the profile for each segment: •

What’s in it for me? Understand the motivations each segment could have to change their ways of working. Anticipate that your learners are comfortable in their current methods and that asking them to change requires a compelling case.

By speaking to how a segment will ‘win’ by learning new skills, you are creating a mutually beneficial goal.

•

Blended learning preferences: Depending on the job role and responsibilities, learners will receive training more effectively through different methods.

These methods include instructor-led training, gamification group challenges, small workshops, auditorium style, coach-based training, video training with homework modules and web-based eLearning. Providing a mix of asynchronous learning options, where learners can engage with training in their own time and on the job, will satisfy different learning preferences and personality types.

•

Engagement preferences: Which communication channels do your segments favour? (e.g. email,

•

Work locations: Varying work locations may demand more asynchronous learning options. Some key questions you can ask include: what times/days do learners prefer to engage with training material?

What percentage of learners work from home in a given week? Do staff have to work off-site for their role?

•

Change fatigue: How much change have different roles/departments/business units been through?

Groups who are experiencing change fatigue require a more finessed approach in the amount of communications received, the positioning of messages sent and leadership input required to motivate the group.

3. Measure your learning strategy To assess the effectiveness of your learning strategy, you can track the following measures in a ‘training dashboard’. Your training dashboard should display key metrics to indicate how learners are finding L&D over a given period.

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To build a solution your learners will benefit from, start by understanding their learning journey. each module), learner performance, learner satisfaction, learner competency (assessments).

MEASURE BY PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT Use key performance indicators (KPIs) for business roles as a benchmark for measuring improvement. You can calculate the actual improvement as a result of learning by measuring the difference between average KPI scores before and after learning implementation.

KEEP A PULSE CHECK ON LEARNER SATISFACTION Measuring learner satisfaction will reveal the overall sentiment for your learning cohort and identify improvement opportunities for training content. Some of my favourite ways of doing this include: •

Integrating with your learners’ workplace satisfaction platform and asking whether their learning/ development needs are being met.

•

Placing a thumbs up/down score at the end of each learning module to know whether that module helped learners achieve their goal.

•

Ensuring your learning management system has the features to measure these metrics: completion rates, time/ date for completion (entire course and

•

Tracking learning and development assistance scores in annual staff reviews.

Without flogging a dead horse, we need to practice the phrase, ‘it’s a marathon, not a sprint.’ When it hits the fan, our instinct tells us to plan for the shorter term and sprint for immediate outcomes to show our productivity and/or respond to pressure from leadership. The challenge is to meet immediate training needs and keep the lights on, while taking a step back to plan for how our organisations will not only survive but adapt to the global crisis that is currently taking place.

With a marathon mindset, leaders consider the wider competitive landscape and build their staff to develop skills that will serve the organisation and themselves well when disruption occurs. This challenge gives you the opportunity to put L&D at the forefront of the organisational strategy – good luck!

FURTHER READING AND RESOURCES Business Model Canvas (Strategyzer) https://www.strategyzer.com/canvas/ business-model-canvas

JONATHAN CHOI Jonathan is a management consultant at Levant Consulting. If you’d like to chat about digital transformation, training and change, get in touch via jonathan.choi@levantconsulting.com.au.

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The next-generation operating model for the digital world (A Bollard, E Larrea, A Singla & R Sood, 2017, Mckinsey Digital) https://www.mckinsey.com/ business-functions/mckinsey-digital/ our-insights/the-next-generationoperating-model-for-the-digitalworld

Reinvigorate your workforce with online learning

When facing unique training challenges, you need creative solutions. That’s why we work closely with you to identify skill gaps, and match the diverse needs of your workforce to a suite of professional learning programs.

Our short courses and part-time degree options are highly practical and designed by industry experts.

This means your staff will be equipped with the up-to-the-minute insights and critical thinking needed to thrive in a demanding business landscape.

Discover how we can support your business, and join a growing network of over 10,000 graduates in our learning community.

swinburneonline.edu.au/for-business

CRICOS: 00111D

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The secrets to successful, digital long-distance employee training

BY RAMIRO BANDERAS

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RAMIRO BANDERAS

Not all digital training platforms are created equally

Digital technology has been helping learning and development professionals conduct training and knowledge sharing activities outside of the classroom for many years. It is also incredibly helpful for those conducting internal communications activities within a company or organisation who need to engage with large numbers of employees based in multiple locations and across many different time zones.

When extreme situations force pupils or employees to remain away from their institution or workplace for a significant length of time, digital platforms become crucial to the dissemination of important information and for the continuation of education and training programs. Recent circumstances have forced organisations around the globe to rely on digital platforms more than ever before and, having got used to using them, they may not return to their old practices.

However, like for any vital task, it is important for communications and education professionals to make a detailed assessment of the particular challenges they are facing, to develop bespoke systems for their institution and to choose the right tools for the right job, as not all digital training platforms are created equally.

GIVE YOURSELF THE BANDWIDTH Firstly, companies need to consider the scale of the task. As many employers and employees have been finding out, there are many applications that can be used to host video calls or that enable you to engage with a small group of colleagues, maybe even sharing your screen at the same time. This is great for knowledge-sharing in small

teams but will not work for instances where you need significant numbers of people to be online at the same time, especially if your training program involves participants engaging with each other or providing feedback to the presenter.

Video calls where the presenter regularly freezes, where the image becomes pixelated or where images and presentations fail to appear on screen become tedious quickly and trainees will lose interest fast. When you need to communicate vital information about new working conditions or to instruct thousands of manual workers in how to use a new piece of equipment or technology, this can be a real issue. At that scale, you need a digital learning platform and supporting IT equipment that can provide the necessary bandwidth to cope with those specific demands.

Bandwidth is also a crucial consideration when you think about what content your training program will use and the delivery method(s) you will use. The more images, slides or, especially, video that is used to keep the presentation interesting, the greater the need for a digital platform that can handle that amount of data.

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RAMIRO BANDERAS

Developing a library of video-on-demand content is especially useful in practical situations CHOOSING THE RIGHT PLATFORM To give an example, the pest control firm Orkin operates across Australia through the Allpest, Murray Pest Control, Scientific Pest & Vegetation Management and Statewide Pest Control brands. It is part of a global organisation called Rollins Inc. which serves more than 2 million customers in more than 700 locations worldwide. In total, the company has more than 15,000 employees who all receive employee training through their own ‘university’. At that scale, it simply is not possible to rely on a basic meeting app.

‘We started the Rollins Inc. “university” in 2006,’ said Rollins’ director of global learning, Ramiro Banderas.

‘Our original digital distance learning platform was launched over satellite. It did the job, but it required costly terminal equipment at each location, had limited interactivity and was rapidly falling behind newer distance-learning technologies reaching the market.

However, we did not want technology to dictate how employees could consume training content.’

Owing to the number of their employees who were field-based, the company decided to move to a cloudbased system. It wanted a set-up that would mix live and pre-recorded content in a way that was easy for staff to engage with and that could be accessed by authorised users only, from any screen or device located anywhere in the world. Sufficient levels of bandwidth to support multicast technologies was also a must. ‘Now we are using the Tempo platform from Speedcast, and we have a platform that lets us reach all of our employees across the globe, which delivers vital consistency of learning throughout the organisation,’ Mr Banderas said.

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TAILORING TRAINING CONTENT Alongside the huge benefit of enabling employees or pupils to engage in training programs wherever they are located, the right digital learning platform also frees teams up from having to be sat in a classroom environment. This is especially useful when practical or vocational training is being provided. It is vital to think about how those you are training will be consuming the information being given to them.

Rollins employees operate in a variety of settings.

Their training programs are tailored so that some can be delivered via big-screen TVs in training rooms or canteens, others at desktop computers, laptops, tablets and smart phones. Clearly the format of the training material needs to fit the technology used by the person being trained, which means the same information may need to be created in multiple formats in order to be successfully communicated.

When delivering training over a digital platform to large groups it can be difficult to gauge whether you are still engaging successfully with your audience, to know if they are keeping up with the subject matter or whether they have questions to ask. A specialist training platform will come with built in features which enable you to remain engaged while based remotely.

RAMIRO BANDERAS

Another key benefit of using a digital training platform is the ability to record the session so that it can be made available for those attending to watch again or for those not able to attend live to take the course in their own time. Again, this does depend on the type of session being held, as the ability to interact with the audience will be lost, but it does enable users to pause or rewind presentations so that they can learn at their own rate. They can also flip between accompanying materials or use other resources to augment that provider in order to support their own level of expertise. Developing a library of video-ondemand content is especially useful in practical situations when an employee may need to refresh their training via their smartphone while in a live situation.

Try building in opportunities for those being trained to call or text questions through via chat function. Or use an interactive polling system so that you can ask questions (multiple choice questions work best) that will let you see whether those receiving the training are understanding key points. Seeing the responses will illustrate quickly whether the program is moving too fast for some and where there are particular topics you may need to revisit to ensure understanding. Good training platforms will also provide live analytics to providers so that you can tell whether people are dropping out of the training session or who has been inactive for a period of time — the online equivalent of seeing whether trainees have started staring out of the window or looking at their smartphones!

THE NEW ‘NORMAL’ Technology has been transforming and enabling distance learning for some time, but sometimes significant events can lead to a jump in progress. This could be one of those times. Organisations and firms across the globe may find the benefits of having a reliable digital training platform mean they keep arrangements used in extreme circumstances as part of their regular training programs.

Thinking about the types of training provided and the varied requirements of the training recipient will guide providers toward choosing the right platform for their needs.

RAMIRO BANDERAS Ramiro Banderas is director of Rollins Global Learning Network. He started Rollins’ video-based media department in 1986 and launched a satellite-based, interactive long-distance learning network for Rollins in 2006. Ramiro was responsible for upgrading that network to a blended, interactive learning solution, capable of delivering live and on-demand interactive learning events at any time, to anywhere and to any device. The new network leverages both private and public cloud solutions. He is part of the team at Rollins Learning that has received Training Magazine’s prestigious Top 125 Award 15 times.

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MORE THAN NETFLIX:

the real potential of personalised learning

BY J D D I L LO N

What does ‘personalised’ mean to you? Is it your name etched onto the back of your smartphone?

Is it a website that suggests additional products based on what’s in your cart? Is it a video game that automatically adjusts the difficulty as you play?

Personalisation is an umbrella term for a collection of techniques that address the same goal: to provide a tailored experience in order to promote a desired outcome. For instance, personalised marketing is proven to reduce customer acquisition costs by as much as 50%, increase revenues by 5 to 15% and improve the efficiency of marketing spend by up to 30% percent according to Harvard Business Review. Today, personalisation is near-ubiquitous in our consumer experiences. But how can this concept be applied to help people do their jobs better? After all, learning is very complex. What would it take to provide every employee with a personalised learning experience? The answer: more than Netflix.

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THE WRONG METAPHOR Netflix has become a popular metaphor for personalisation in L&D. There’s nothing wrong with Netflix. They’re very good at what they do. However, the idea of creating a ‘Netflix for learning’ doesn’t make sense when you consider what Netflix actually does.

Their totally-justified goal is to keep you watching by providing you with a never-ending supply of content recommendations. The more you consume, the better.

While these recommendations are very sophisticated, they’re based on limited data. After all, Netflix only knows what you do while you’re using Netflix.

Netflix is a bad metaphor for personalisation in learning.

J D D I L LO N

L&D must adopt personalisation as a foundational tenant of their modern learning ecosystem.

Frankly, it’s the opposite of what L&D should be trying to do. Netflix wants to keep you watching. L&D should keep people focused on their jobs and limit the time needed for training. Netflix applies limited data to recommend content. L&D should apply a robust data profile that includes a variety of business metrics in order to identify and close proven skill gaps. Finally, the Netflix experience is all about digital content. Online activities are just one of the many ways people develop their knowledge and skills in the workplace.

in a variety of ways. Because learning is a personal process, the same activity can have different impacts on different people. This is why one-size-fits-all training falls so flat. The odds of every person having the same development needs at the same time are limited, especially after they’ve been in a job for some time. This is why personalisation, when done right, has such great potential for workplace training. But personalisation doesn’t begin with technology or content. It starts with a mindset shift. L&D must adopt personalisation as a foundational tenant of their modern learning ecosystem.

AN ECOSYSTEM APPROACH Digital learning. Coaching. Performance support. Job training. Practice. People improve their performance

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The specific tactics used to personalise learning will vary by organisation and audience. But many common learning ecosystem elements can benefit from a personalised approach.

PUSH TRAINING: An employee should not have to waste their time in training if they have already mastered the topic (unless there is an established compliance requirement).

Personalisation can combine evidence of real-world capability with performancebased assessments to reduce an employee’s overall training requirement and focus on just what they need.

REINFORCEMENT: People forget. It’s human nature. But everyone forgets at different rates.

Reinforcement training, such as daily microlearning, can strengthen an individual’s long-term knowledge retention and confidence in areas of proven need.

PERFORMANCE SUPPORT: Hundreds of courses. Thousands of documents. There’s a lot of information to sift through when trying to solve a problem at work. Personalisation tactics, such as content recommendations and software tool tips, can help employees find their answers and get back to work more quickly.

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DIGITAL LEARNING: Many employees do not need to view every slide in order to understand the topic being presented. They may already have some familiarity with the topic. Digital learning can adapt to each individual based on how they navigate through the content. For example, problem solving scenarios can assess their current knowledge and allow them to accelerate through the content when appropriate. Navigation options are a low-tech way to personalise a learning experience through user choice.

COACHING: A manager is typically not present to observe team member performance at all times. Therefore, to personalise their coaching discussions, they need actionable insights and recommendations regarding each employee’s performance. Otherwise, they may recommend generic, one-sizefits-all solutions, such as additional training that a person does not actually need.

J D D I L LO N

DATA: THE KEY TO PERSONALISATION Personalisation tactics all have one thing in common: data. L&D cannot provide a solution that fits an individual’s needs if they cannot accurately identify those needs. Unfortunately, traditional learning data, such as course completions and test scores, is not sufficient to enable meaningful personalisation.

Consider content recommendation as an example. Just because someone else on your team completed (and maybe liked) a course does not mean that you should automatically take the same course. L&D needs more data about a person’s current knowledge and skill in order to make an informed, high-value recommendation.

To create a learning ecosystem grounded in personalised experiences, L&D must improve its data practices. This starts with expanding the definition of ‘learning data’ to include a wider range of organisational metrics, including job performance and business results. Then, L&D must identify the problems it wants to solve and find the data needed to address these challenges. For example, if you want to provide a salesperson with personalised training on how to improve their sales numbers for a particular product, you will need data on their knowledge, behaviour and results related to that product.

with existing data experts within their organisations and partners. They can help you find available data and determine how it may be used to improve your learning personalisation and measurement strategies.

BUT REMEMBER ...

Personalisation represents an opportunity for L&D to expand its value proposition. The ability to provide each employee with the help they need, when and where they need it is a powerful idea. However, as with any new concept, L&D must pause to consider how their tactics may impact their audience.

Personalisation is an important part of a modern learning strategy, but it’s not the ultimate goal.

Every L&D team will collect, analyse and apply data differently based on the needs of their organisation. But you don’t have to solve the data problem by yourself or become a data scientist. Instead, L&D can partner

Let’s examine the Netflix metaphor one more time. The platform provides highly personalised recommendations for content you are proven to enjoy. But what about all of the other movies and TV shows available on the system?

What if there’s something new and different available that you would love to watch, but the system never recommends it for you?

Personalisation is an important part of a modern learning strategy, but it’s not the ultimate goal.

Personalised learning is more than recommended courses and branching eLearning modules. It’s an acknowledgement that learning is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. It’s a willingness to invest in the advancement of L&D capabilities — including data, technology and content — needed to provide right-fit solutions. It’s an opportunity to provide each employee with the support they need (and deserve) to do their best work every day.

JD DILLON JD Dillon is one of the most prolific authors and speakers in the global L&D community. For 20 years, he worked in operations and learning roles within highly regarded organisations, including Disney, Kaplan, Brambles and AMC Theatres. JD is now chief learning architect with Axonify and founder of LearnGeek.

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Snakes and Ladders: THE TIPS AND TRAPS OF GAMIFICATION IN DIGITAL LEARNING

BY RAFAL DOLANOWSKI

Gamification has been adopted in the L&D industry, with varying levels of success, for quite a long time. The introduction of digital learning, or eLearning, saw the marketing of it as a silver-bullet for creating engaging learning reach peak hype in the last decade.

But, just like a game of snakes and ladders, while there are many opportunities to climb up gamification ladders that will help you elevate your learning design and accelerate towards a learning outcome, there are an equal amount of gamification snakes to avoid that, when stepped on, will be detrimental to your learning design, the learner experience and the learning outcomes.

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R A FA L D O L A N OW S K I

Gamification is using gamebased mechanics, aesthetics and game thinking to engage people, motivate action, promote learning and solve problems

So, what is gamification?

How much time do you have for me to answer?

To truly define what gamification is — and give justice to the clever and complex concept that it is — would be far beyond the scope of this article. Luckily for me, Karl Kapp has been quoted saying: ‘Gamification is using game-based mechanics, aesthetics and game thinking to engage people, motivate action, promote learning and solve problems.’

There are a lot of definitions out there but I gravitate to this one due to the focus on promoting a change in behaviour, prompting learning and motivating action. All of these being performance outcomes.

If I stand on the shoulders of giants and propose my own learning-oriented definition, it would be:

It’s important to note that in both Karl’s definition and mine, there is no reference to gamification making learning ‘fun’, which is one of the most common misconceptions.

A focus on ‘fun’ is one of the traps — or snakes — of gamification as it detracts focus from the learning outcomes and the purposeful implementation of gamification.

It often results in irrelevant and distracting games, the now clichéd use of zombiebased story arcs and the use of VR technology to simulate environments that can be created to the same effectiveness by simply using a desk and computer.

What are the basics of gamification?

For the purpose of this article, I will focus on one snake and one ladder for the three most basic gamification elements that can be applied to learning: •

BADGES

•

TIMERS

•

LEADERBOARDS

Gamification is the purposeful use of elements commonly found in the game design toolkit, applying them in learning to make it more relevant, practical and effective at achieving the desired performance outcomes.

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Badges Badges are probably one of the most widely adopted elements of gamification. They are a great intrinsic motivator for people who have a sense of achievement collecting them — and a good way to recognise and share a learner’s accomplishments with their peers.

The same goes for badges that are built into a ‘gamified’ LMS. Getting a badge for a trivial accomplishment, such as completing my profile, is nowhere near as engaging and motivating as a badge recognising that I have contributed 100 reviews of learning objects.

Badges need to recognise real, valuable contributions.

AWARDING BADGES FOR TRIVIAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

If achieving badges is too easy or they are awarded for trivial achievements, it can be frustrating and disruptive for the learner and de-value the prestige of achieving the badge.

I’ve seen eLearning demonstrations where badges were awarded for trivial accomplishments such as completing the introduction, reaching the half-way point and then, unsurprisingly, reaching the end of the module. Being awarded these was not only meaningless but also disruptive to my learning experience. A badge recognising my mastery of the content or reflecting my empathetic decision making in customer service scenarios would have been a more meaningful use of badges.

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ALIGN BADGES TO ORGANISATIONAL GOALS

When you are creating badges, they need to be relevant and clearly aligned with the learning outcomes, the broader learning strategy and the business goals.

Earning a badge should reflect someone exceeding in their role, helping others achieve, reaching a level of mastery of content or contributing to the organisation in some way. They reflect who someone is and their behaviours. For example, a ‘smashing-salestargets-three-months-in-a-row’ badge recognises a prestigious and meaningful achievement compared to a ‘completing-three-sales-modules-in-a-month’ badge.

One should elicit a high-five, the other a shrug of the shoulders.

R A FA L D O L A N OW S K I

Timers Timers are a great way to add pressure to activities that simulate real-life situations that demand quick decision making. For example, looking for hazards at the scene of an accident before proceeding to help a patient.

They can also be used as an indicator of mastery. For example, a first attempt may take the learner 15 seconds to correctly identify hazards, whilst on the next attempt they may reduce the time they take to identify all the hazards correctly.

However, they can also be very frustrating when not used correctly.

COUNTDOWN TO INSANITY

If an activity is designed so a decision must be made within a defined timeframe, there needs to be a path allowing the learner to bypass the timer if they are still failing it after multiple attempts. Otherwise the learner will become trapped, losing the opportunity to progress and learn from the rest of the content. This is also incredibly frustrating. After all, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly but expecting a different result.

for based on how long it takes them to complete the activity. Or you could allow the learner to decrease their difficultly level for the activity by increasing the allowable time. You could then record what level of mastery they achieved, allowing them to attempt the activity again once they have completed more of the material and became more competent in making quick decisions.

MIRROR REAL-TIME WORLD PRESSURE Timers are most effective when used to simulate the real-world time pressures for the activity the learner is attempting.

Whether it is demonstrating they can perform CPR to the correct time intervals, correctly respond to a customer on a call in a timely fashion or identify which type of fire extinguisher to use before their toast emergency becomes a staff kitchen emergency, the purpose of the timer is to provide realistic time pressure, not make the activity unnecessarily challenging.

It is also a way to motivate learners to try to improve their level of mastery of a topic by making critical decisions more quickly.

To avoid this negative learning experience, you could define different levels of mastery the learner can strive

Leaderboards Leaderboards are commonly adopted to highlight high performance and drive competition between colleagues to achieve better performance outcomes.

However, if the implementation is not carefully considered, leaderboards can have a negative overall impact on performance and morale.

SET AND FORGET LEADERBOARDS

Leaderboards can be used to highlight a vast diversity of performance metrics. They can show who has

completed the most learning, who has accumulated the most badges, who has made the most sales, the list goes on. However, all these metrics are accumulated over time. If you’re not careful, you can end up with bored high performers having untouchable scores, while everyone else is disengaged and demotivated to even try and compete. New starters will also be completely alienated, since joining the competition late is a permanent disadvantage.

To avoid this situation, you should design leaderboards that reset regularly, giving everyone an equal opportunity to compete for the top spot. Or you could change the focus of leaderboards, highlighting high performances across a broad spectrum of desirable 27 27

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behaviours. For example, one month could focus on the number of personal development events completed, another on the number of comments and reviews submitted about available learning events.

GIVE THE LEARNER CONTROL OF WHAT IS RELEVANT TO THEM

Not everyone will be motivated by trying to achieve the same performance metrics, nor will everyone be motivated to compete on a leaderboard that includes all the organisation’s high performers. However, by giving learners control of who they want to compete with, you can create pockets of relevant and healthy competition between close friends, engaging people who would otherwise disconnect from

trying to compete with the broader community of their peers.

A great example of leaderboards done well, albeit outside of learning, is the Strava exercise app. When I go mountain bike riding, it tracks my performance over various segments and then shows my performance on leaderboards. Being a casual hobbyist when it comes to riding, I have little interest in trying to compete with the top riders as I have no hope of ever improving my performance to their level. Therefore, this broad leaderboard does not motivate me to improve my performance. However, Strava allows me to take control and make the leaderboards relevant to me. I can choose to compete with other people in my age group, a specific community of my friends or just with myself. All of these more relevant leaderboards motivate me to try and improve my performance.

The elements above are some of the most basic gamification elements — and just the tip of the iceberg as far as what can be applied to learning. For a more comprehensive view, Gamified UK have created a fantastic periodic table of gamification elements which highlights some more complex methods along with things like progress and feedback, which are already native to good learning design. This means that if you’re already applying good learning design principles, you’ve most likely, though perhaps unknowingly, already incorporated some gamification mechanics in your learning initiatives.

However, even the most basic elements of gamification require careful thought into how they are used to contribute to optimal learning outcomes and organisational goals. I believe that while gamification done well can have a positive impact on learning outcomes, gamification done badly will have a detrimental impact on the learning experience.

FURTHER READING AND RESOURCES 54 Gamification Mechanics and Elements (Gamified UK) https://www.gamified.uk/user-types/ gamification-mechanics-elements/

RAFAL DOLANOWSKI Rafal has been working with digital learning technology and multimedia for over 12 years. During this time, he has worked in a variety of roles and developed the expertise to help clients improve how they use learning and learning technology in their organisations. Contact via LinkedIn.

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Why the Gamification Trend Fails at Most Companies (Adam Hollander, 2014, Fast Company) https://www.fastcompany. com/3031324/why-your-companyshould-think-twice-aboutgamification

your team with personalised and collaborative learning experiences In today’s ever-evolving era of digital transformation, organisations need to keep up with the change to thrive.

My Learning Space will take you through the why’s and how’s of rethinking learning at the workplace. This ebook lays out the path to developing a culture of learning, empowering your employees, and helping your business to adapt to change.

Download the eBook

www.mylearningspace.com.au

ATOMIC PRESENCE: IRL CONNECTION IN URL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

BY DR HAYLEY LINTHWAITE

BUILDING BLOCKS FOR ATOMIC PRESENCE:

How do we connect virtually with the same dynamic presence that we do in real life?

Attune - to self and others Technology - familiarise yourself with what’s possible Orchestrate - to maximise interactivity Map - design digital interaction via action mapping Invest - energy wholeheartedly Curate - the aesthetic space

The learning and development community is asking itself this question as the social constraints of the COVID-19 crisis give rise to a new era of online learning.

Crossing the digital threshold from screen to human connection can be transformational in helping people overcome the isolation of working and learning from home. However, the resounding sentiment from participants and practitioners is that the ‘in real life’ (IRL) connection does not quite translate in URL-based learning environments. As a facilitator of transformative learning through applied performance, I have found the human connection can be strengthened online through consciously crafting ‘ATOMIC’ presence.

Presence is a sense of weight or physicality in space.

Those with strong presence are able to hold a room —

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H AY L E Y L I N T H WA I T E

Crossing the digital threshold from screen to human connection can be transformational in helping people overcome the isolation of working and learning from home.

they draw people in and are ‘felt’ by others, enhancing engagement, flow of energy, mirrored levels of presence and a sense of connection in groups. This is why leaders and facilitators with presence have such a transformative impact. To translate well in digital spaces, you need to consciously dial up your presence.

You need to develop ‘ATOMIC’ presence: an ability to radiate energy that transcends the digital screen, creating a sense of being ‘there’ in a shared space together, and enabling you to deeply and meaningfully connect in real-time.

The following are six building blocks for ‘ATOMIC’ presence drawn from applied theatre, behavioural science,

transformative learning theory and ongoing experimentation in the online space.

an open will, letting go of the ego to sit with the discomfort of the unknown.

A = ATTUNE (TO SELF AND OTHERS) Attunement establishes an authentic connection. Highly attuned people are curious, highly empathetic and responsive to different needs, emotions and changing situations.

Visual and audio provide constant non-verbal clues for the facilitator to respond with authenticity, vitality and spontaneity. To read the room and tune into others in virtual spaces, let go of unhelpful mindsets, triggers or biases that may be preventing you from seeing and connecting.

Theory U by Otto Scharmer suggests three elements as a framework for attunement: an open mind, suspending judgement so you see the world with fresh eyes and remain open to possibilities; an open heart, so you can try to see any situation through another person’s eyes; and

TIPS: • Look into the eye of your camera as you speak, as if you are looking into the eyes of a friend or colleague.

• Signal you are present and focused, and share your warmth

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•

•

with the individual or group Glance at participants as you would in natural conversation, paying close attention to facial expressions, posture, intonation and breath.

Pose questions to draw out expressions interpreted from non-verbal clues.

T = TECHNOLOGY (FAMILIARISE YOURSELF WITH WHAT’S POSSIBLE) While some fret over perceived online barriers, instead embrace technological possibility. Seek a deep understanding of the options available and choose the platform most suited to your core program needs. Our research identified Zoom for its flexible breakout room functionality — well-suited to small group work, an integral component to our learning design.

Once chosen - practice, practice, practice. Through dedicated rehearsal and familiarisation with both the possibilities and limitations of technology, you can better emulate the spontaneity and fluidity of dynamic face-to-face delivery. You are more likely to make full use of platform features, experiment ‘in the room’ and have work arounds for common technological disruptions, e.g. internet dropouts, glitching and error messages.

TIPS: • Technology serves the learning goal - simplicity is key.

• Approach the design challenge of learning new technology with a mindset of experimentation.

• Navigate any difficulties gracefully by being transparent - maintain momentum by moving into the next activity or engage learners in cocreating possible solutions.

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The ‘in real life’ (IRL) connection does not quite translate in URL-based learning environments.

O = ORCHESTRATE (TO MAXIMISE INTERACTIVITY) Borrowing from the flipped classroom model of learning design, bestpractice online learning takes the form of highly active, interactive and applied activities. Adapt collaborative, play-based facilitation activities and integrate tools like Google Slides, Google Docs, Google Jamboard and Miro which enable people to collaborate in real-time.

A flipped approach invites you to meaningfully connect pre- and postwork in the learning journey. Dedicate pre-work to explore foundational theory, case studies, questions for reflection or pre-session research challenges ahead of in-session application. Structure post-work to build on in-session learning through reflection and experimentation.

TIPS: • Keep single sessions to under two hours.

• Create space and refresh focus with a mix of break out groups, individual reflection and whole group discussion.

• Alternate engagement modes to maintain a sense of novelty, energy and focus.

M = MAP (DESIGN DIGITAL INTERACTION VIA ACTION MAPPING) ATOMIC presence requires absolute clarity of purpose and powerful session design. Action mapping allows you to understand the learning and behavioural change needed and plan the actions that will help catalyse this at an atomic level.

We use a four-step action mapping process to refine content and stay focused on the symbiotic relationship between content and participants within the digital experience.

TIPS: • Step 1: Identify the goal.

• Step 2: Identify what people need to do to reach the goal.

• Step 3: Design activities that help people achieve practice.

• Step 4: Design to maximise the emotional dimension of digital engagement.

I = INVEST (ENERGY WHOLEHEARTEDLY) In the words of French actress, Sarah Bernhardt, ‘Energy begets energy. It is only by spending oneself that one becomes rich.’ Your investment of time and energy in all aspects

of the virtual experience will be reflected by participants. This mutual investment opens up the possibility for transformation.

Energy is most potent during face-to-face interaction. Consider your ‘vibrational energy’: what are you communicating in the way you present yourself? How do your posture, mannerisms, facial expressions, voice, words, pace and breathing affect others?

Picture how you want to show up - dial your energy up or down to create an online space of positivity, enthusiasm and groundedness.

TIPS: • Engage wholeheartedly – with authenticity and vulnerability.

• Believe in yourself and remember to have fun.

• In case of anxiety, remember your breath. I like to use the 4-7-8 breathing technique – in for 4 counts, hold for 7 and out for 8.

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Creating a transformative virtual connection requires you to be a showrunner in production, cinematographer in creation and a television host in delivery.

C = CURATE (THE AESTHETIC SPACE) Aesthetics inform how people perceive you as a communicator and, consequently, your digital presence. Humans often make snap judgements from the most minute stimuli. Creating a transformative virtual connection requires you to be a showrunner in production, cinematographer in creation and a television host in delivery.

Consider your frame. Set up in a brightly lit location, free from outside visual and auditory disturbance. Ensure the camera position captures your face and stand or sit confidently. Be conscious of your

habitual gestures and body language, and tailor for time, place and event. Always use headphones and microphone for clarity of sound. Ensure what is behind you reflects who you are and what you want participants to see.

TIPS: • Test how you look in frame ahead of time.

• Adjust camera for eye-level.

• Choose an artwork to frame your background.

FURTHER READING AND RESOURCES Action Mapping Headquarters (Cathy Moore, 2019) https://blog.cathy-moore.com/ action-mapping/ Creating a Powerful Personal Presence to Influence and Engage (Dianna Booher, 2019, American Management Association) https://www.amanet.org/articles/ creating-a-powerful-personalpresence-to-influence-and-engage/

With these ATOMIC building blocks, you can super-charge your online experiences with all the life, power and transformative possibility of in-person learning.

DR HAYLEY LINTHWAITE Dr Hayley Linthwaite is a senior associate at Performance Frontiers with over 20 years’ experience in learning and development. She empowers people to envision and enable a better future through creative collaboration, social innovation and practical exploration.

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How to Elevate Your Presence in a Virtual Meeting (Joel Schwartzberg, 2020, Harvard Business Review) https://hbr.org/2020/04/how-toelevate-your-presence-in-a-virtualmeeting The Coronavirus Pandemic Has Unleashed a Revolution in Education: From Now On, Blended Learning Will Be the Benchmark (Enrique Dans, 2020m Forbes) https://www.forbes.com/sites/ enriquedans/2020/04/13/ the-coronavirus-pandemichas-unleashed-a-revolutionin-education-from-now-onblended-learning-will-be-thebenchmark/#572f3dba536f Theory U (C. Otto Scharmer, 2009, Berrett-Koehler Publishers)

C O U RT N E Y H A R D I N G

THE FUTURE OF LEARNING WILL HAPPEN IN A VR HEADSET

BY CORTNEY HARDING

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C O RT N E Y H A R D I N G

‘Please,’ Monica says, breaking down across the table from you, ‘please don’t take my girls. We’re not perfect, but we have a lot of love.’

You want to believe her and yet, over the course of your conversation with her — as well as her daughter and boyfriend — questions have been raised. Is Monica a casual drinker who likes to unwind with a beer after a hard day of work or is her drinking out of control? How serious is her boyfriend’s criminal history? And where exactly did her daughter get the bruises?

Luckily, Monica and her family aren’t real, although their story is based on real events that child welfare workers have to deal with every day.

They’re part of a virtual reality (VR) simulation that allows new child welfare caseworkers to practice asking questions during a family intake interview. As an added piece of learning, the user is given options for which question they can ask, and each question has a different answer. No two users have the same experience, and, at the end, they all have to make a decision about the safety of the home based on the information they have.

Research shows that VR training has a number of benefits lab setting. 83% of the group who trained in VR were able to complete a procedure with minimal guidance; 0% of the non-VR group was able to do the same. When the state of Indiana started using the Accenture piece to train child welfare workers, they reported an 18% decline in caseworker turnover, which is a huge benefit for families in crisis.

While many people associate VR with games, there are an almost infinite number of possibilities for training. Another piece Friends with Holograms built put people in a meeting situation where they were systematically excluded, to drive home the need for more inclusive workplaces. Other simulations allow users to imagine themselves taking a leadership role in a crisis, firing an employee with empathy and building out an ideal setup for a conference or meeting.

MORE ACHIEVABLE THAN YOU THINK So why isn’t everyone training in VR, given all the benefits?

MORE THAN A VIDEO GAME The simulation, which was produced by Friends with Holograms for Accenture, is one of many VR training experiences that have been released in the past few years. Research shows that VR training has a number of benefits, including a 75% increase in learning quality and retention; a 40% reduction in training time; and 70% performance improvement.

In a study at Imperial Medical College in London, students were split into two groups: one using VR and one training with traditional methods. They were then tested on their knowledge in a

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The first is an issue with deployment and the cost of VR headsets but the good news is that costs are dropping dramatically. The Oculus Go, a simple and lightweight headset, costs around $200 USD; the Oculus Quest, which is more robust, is around $400 USD. Both headsets are wireless and neither require any special computers or other new equipment, and both can be easily stored in a drawer in a manager’s office. They are also easy to use right out of the box; a few quick tutorial videos are all any trainer needs to get started.

The second issue holding people back is lack of knowledge about how to make good quality VR training. Like any type of content, there is a huge variation in what is available, but unlike videos or written manuals, people haven’t seen enough VR to tell the difference. Anyone can buy a cheap 360 camera and shoot a video of an office, but that’s not really going to do anyone any good. If an organisation is serious about VR training, they need to initially work with experts to make sure they are producing a good quality product.

C O RT N E Y H A R D I N G

Here are some things to look for when talking to potential partners:

01

Is the piece realistic?

In some instances, a VR piece has to be CGI; it would be impossible to simulate performing an operation on an actual person. In those cases, the CGI needs to be the highest quality; anything less will look cheap and cartoonish and diminish learning. If the objective of the piece is to teach communication skills, it needs to use real people, with the highest quality production possible. Luckily, this isn’t as expensive as you might think it is, and the increased ROI will obviate any additional upfront costs. The interactions in the piece also need to be realistic; if you are practicing asking someone questions, for instance, the piece needs to allow the user to speak and their speech to be recognised.

02

What is the learning?

At the end of the day, a good VR piece imparts a skill and allows the user to practice it OR creates a feeling that will spark further action. Both are valid but need to be clearly defined at the start.

03

Does the piece meet the user where they are?

VR is fantastic, but it’s not Freaky Friday - you can’t put a headset on someone and expect them to be a different person. The piece should be applicable to all targeted users and meet them where they are, not ask them to pretend to be someone they aren’t.

Virtual reality is going to be the future of learning, and the sooner organisations can start building, planning and learning, the better.

CORTNEY HARDING Cortney Harding is a global thought leader, published author, and speaker on emerging technology and the role of virtual and augmented reality. She is the founder and CEO of a transformational VR/ AR agency focused on creating innovative, powerful and effective experiences for training. Reach her at cortney@friendswithholograms.com or on Twitter at @cortneyharding.

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COOL, CALM, HOW BRISCOE GROUP MAINTAINED FRONTLINE RESILIENCE DURING A LOCKDOWN

BY JD DILLON

March 25, 2020 brought about a sudden and sobering reality for the team at Briscoe Group Limited. Like many companies around the world, they were required to close their 85 homeware and sporting goods stores across New Zealand as the nation entered a level four lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This unforeseen turn of events introduced a brandnew set of challenges for the retailer. At the top of that list: ‘How do we keep connected to our team and what do we need to do to give them peace of mind?’ The closure meant the company’s 2100 employees would be staying home for an unknown period of time. The leadership team made adjustments to stay connected and continue doing their jobs from home where it was possible. Although a limited number of retail staff would return early to support the online sale and dispatch of essential goods, most of the 1900 people who work on the frontline in stores and distribution centres would not have that option.

According to Aston Moss, Briscoe Group’s general manager of human resources, the company’s immediate attention turned to its frontline staff.

‘One of the early commitments we made was that we would look after our team throughout this experience, which meant keeping them all on full pay.’ But making sure people could pay their bills and feed their families was only the first step.

The team was intent on maintaining employee engagement, and perhaps even strengthening their workplace culture, despite the most trying circumstances.

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CONNECTED:

COMMUNICATION: THE REAL ESTATE OF CULTURE ‘In pandemic planning – and most things HR – the 3 most important things are communication, communication, communication,’ said Moss. His team rapidly developed an engagement strategy that would keep employees connected to the company as they waited at home. The foundation of their strategy: digital communication.

Briscoe Group uses the Axonify learning solution for their frontline digital training. Before the lockdown, they had already established an exceptional level of learning engagement. 94% of their employees log in to complete training on average two to three times per week. The team took advantage of this engagement to deploy their new communication strategy. Axonify provided a ‘one-to-all’ communication tool for their entire frontline staff. And, because employees had already developed a daily learning habit, they knew their messages would be received.

The team focused their communication strategy on the ‘whys’ – why would people continue to engage with company information and training while at home? As a result of this employee-centred perspective, they applied a multi-faceted approach. Some messages were purely informational, providing general updates on the company.

Others were of a more inspirational and motivational tone, sharing messages of hope and solidarity. The communication plan also included Briscoe Group’s brand ambassadors, including famous athletes, chefs and fashion designers, who delivered personal wishes for employee safety and wellbeing. Key leaders from within the business were also featured because there’s nothing quite like hearing it from the people you know personally.

‘Keeping a human face was critical, and these were all people who had the trust and respect of our team members.’

As a result of this approach, engagement actually increased during the lockdown. 98% of employees accessed Axonify, with the average increasing to between three and four times per week.

STILL LEARNING AT HOME Employees continued to receive digital communications from the company’s leadership team throughout the lockdown. But they also did more than just review the latest messages after they logged in. They continued to voluntarily complete short, personalised digital training sessions.

Briscoe Group HR maintained this daily learning habit by keeping their training content fresh, current and relevant.

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They launched new product knowledge content that was already in development before the lockdown rather than waiting for employees to return to work. They also partnered with Axonify and The Capability Group to enhance their content agility and quickly introduce new, highly relevant topics, such as health and hygiene, work from home practices, and mental health and mindfulness.

Once again, employees engaged more than expected.

‘Our people have responded. They’ve voted with their fingers and their ears and their eyes by going online.

They’ve done more learning and they’ve used the materials on the platform to help them stay safe and well.’ Not only did team members complete their typical daily training sessions, but they also accessed more self-directed training. Extra training sessions per person went up from 11.3 to 15.1 per month. Throughout April, employees answered more than 980,000 reinforcement questions. But, most important of all, they learned a lot by continuing to do their training at home. Their knowledge of critical, relevant topics increased by an average of 9.8% with some topics seeing increases as high as 28%.

Briscoe Group HR also introduced a rewards program in Axonify to recognise employees for their continued engagement in company communication and training.

They launched a series of prize draws and lotteries based on daily training activities. Winners received a range of prizes, from $50 vouchers to company merchandise.

THE PATH FORWARD The New Zealand government reduced the alert status to level three on April 27, 2020, after almost five weeks of lockdown. This allowed Briscoe Group to start bringing their frontline employees back to work. Bricks and mortar stores, the majority of the business’ footprint, remain closed until a lower alert level is in place. Sales are limited

to online and contactless options. Employees who are particularly vulnerable or have unique circumstances remain at home. Now, alongside so many other disrupted businesses around the world, everyone in the company must work together to move forward and find their next normal. But Moss and the team are firmly up to the task.

‘I’m incredibly lucky to work as part of a phenomenally engaged and motivated team.’

Maintaining exceptional communication and learning engagement during the lockdown has helped Briscoe Group get a headstart on their business restoration process. They won’t need to spend time and resources reboarding their workforce on the day they return. Instead, they built their resilience by keeping them informed and educated for the entire five weeks they were away.

What exactly will retail look like in the near future? With the pandemic unlikely to subside over the next few months, no one knows for sure. However, Briscoe Group recognises just how important their brand experience will be for customers who may struggle with the decision to return to bricks and mortar stores over the near term. ‘We have to play our best game ever so every customer who does come in understands and trusts our brand is there to satisfy their needs.’ And the frontline will continue to play a critical role in bringing this brand promise to life.

‘For us, the frontline represents the bottom line.’

JD DILLON JD Dillon is one of the most prolific authors and speakers in the global L&D community. For 20 years, he worked in operations and learning roles within highly regarded organisations, including Disney, Kaplan, Brambles and AMC Theatres. JD is now chief learning architect with Axonify and founder of LearnGeek.

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ROUNDUP

Of all the things that our contingency planning covered, the news that a Hollywood star had been diagnosed with a recently discovered virus was quite low on the list of things we thought might derail the AITD conference.

But, as 2020 has proven, anything is possible.

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A I T D 2 02 0 R O U N D U P

Looking back now, when ‘lockdown’, ‘isolation’ and ‘social distancing’ are all part of our vernacular, it’s hard to remember a time when COVID-19 wasn’t quite so present in our lives.

It was certainly on our radar in the weeks leading up to the conference – we were reviewing government advice daily, had discussed increased cleaning practices with the venue, stocked up on hand sanitiser and had even started to explore live streaming facilities with the AV team, just in case – yet the prospect of the entire event being thwarted by this emerging virus had seemed fairly remote. Even a week out from the conference, we’d had a handful of people pull out due to changes in company travel policies or underlying health conditions but the vast majority of our delegates, speakers and sponsors had indicated they were keen to go ahead and government regulations were giving us the green light.

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For the AITD team, the moment a news notification announcing Tom Hank’s coronavirus diagnosis pinged up on a phone in the office will always be remembered as the point when we knew this was going to be no ordinary conference. Just the previous day in a planning meeting, our MC, Suzy Jacobs, had mentioned that she had spent time chatting to Tom at a Sydney Opera House event a few days earlier.

After some frantic trawling through the NSW Health website for the implications of this chance encounter, it soon became clear that Suzy had a 2-week, enforced staycation to look forward to and we were without an MC… From there, things snowballed rapidly; within 48 hours the World Health Organisation had declared a pandemic, the Melbourne Grand Prix was cancelled and the Australian government imposed restrictions on gatherings over 500. While this final edict did not affect our conference of less than 500 attendees, we knew that

we could not, in good conscience, put the health of our delegates, speakers or staff at risk.

And so, 4 days before AITD 2020 was due to kick off – on a Friday the 13th of all days – we found ourselves back at the drawing board, trying to figure out how to translate months of planning for a face-to-face event into a successful virtual conference. Since then, we’ve been asked numerous times how we did it and what advice we’d give to another organisation looking to do the same. The honest answers to those questions would be ‘fuelled by an obscene amount of junk food’ and ‘don’t’ respectively!

The truth is we probably couldn’t have done this so quickly outside of the L&D community; few other professions would have had the agility and understanding to get on board with such a massive change in such a short time.

Our speakers were overwhelmingly

A I T D 2 02 0 R O U N D U P

We’d like to say a very special thank you to all the speakers who stayed on board for our virtual journey. Each and every one of these extraordinary beings took the short notice change of format in their stride and delivered amazing content:

Gina Brooks Peter Clowes Ger Driesen Alistair Gordon Peter Hawkins Dr Connie Henson Andrew Horabin Steve Kimmens Dr Amanda Lizier Capt Tony Mullan Michelle Ockers Terry Reynolds Chemène Sinson Tony Sloman Kestrel Stone Megan Torrance Tania Tytherleigh Trish Uhl Neil Von Heupt Naomi Waldron Cheryle Walker

11:30am, Friday 13 March

5:30pm, Tuesday 17 March some level of backlash, the messages we received full of support, good wishes and encouragement were extraordinary and unexpected.

Knowing we had so many people cheering us on definitely kept us going over those few days. With such a short time to turn things around, it was never going to be perfect. But even through the occasional technical glitch, a Q&A system that didn’t work quite how we thought it would and a program that barely left time to breathe (let alone take a bathroom break!), our attendees were not only We are also lucky to have an incredible patient with us but managed to bring team who, once the initial shock had so much enthusiasm that at times we worn off (softened by a quick run could imagine we were all in one room to Subway…), rolled up their sleeves together. and pulled together like never before.

There may not have been much sleep Hopefully, when AITD 2021 rolls for some us but there were certainly around, we will all be in one room lots of laughs along the way. together. With AITD’s 50th supportive and their ability to embrace the new format – particularly those who told us they had never presented virtually before – is a testament to the L&D profession. Special kudos must go to our keynote speaker, Ger Driesen, who was determined to deliver his presentation, despite being on the second leg of his flight to Sydney when the change in format was announced and then had to fly back home 2 days later when it looked likely that Dutch borders would close.

Ultimately though, none of it would have been possible without the amazing response from our delegates.

Having fully braced ourselves for

anniversary coming up next year, we plan to be bigger and better than ever – and not even Tom Hanks will be able to stop us! We can’t wait to see you there.

SUZY JACOBS: MC EXTRAORDINAIRE Every cloud has a silver lining and, without doubt, our fabulous MC, Suzy Jacobs, brought the sparkle to AITD 2020. Having been temporarily benched following her aforementioned evening of schmoozing with Hollywood celebrities and subsequent quarantine, the move to a virtual conference meant Suzy was back in the starting line-up, albeit from the safe distance of her apartment.

The incredible energy and vibrancy that she injected into the proceedings brought the conference alive in a way we hadn’t dared possible and we can’t thank her enough!

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#AITD2020 ON TWITTER As always, the conference backchannel on Twitter was animated and engaging. Here are a few of our favourite tweets:

@gv_media Just a shout out to all the incredible people at #AITD2020 who managed to get the Covid19-impacted conference off the ground as a virtual event in what has got to be Guinness World Record time!

Well done everyone involved!

@NigelDoyle7 Thanks from Navy to all involved in making #AITD2020 happen. The team at AITD is amazing to have pulled it off with such a short prep time, showing innovation and agility we can all aspire to.

AITD 2020 STATISTICS 2 BUSINESS DAYS to pivot from face-to-face to virtual.

21 SPEAKERS who stuck with us for the new format.

4 SPEAKERS who joined us live from Luna Park. @NeilVonHeupt #AITD2020. We change lives! Good L&D has an impact on individuals, their life, the organisation, the economy. It’s a high calling!

15 HOURS AND 55 MINUTES of live stream.

18 COFFEE CUPS surrounding our CEO, Lynette, by the end of the stream (for those who were keeping tabs!)

@JulianDavis71 Massive effort by all involved to get the #AITD2020 moved to a complete virtual conference.

You’ve set a benchmark for others to follow. Thank you @aitd1

@SuzyJacobs Self-isolation doesn’t mean social isolation. Surrounded by amazing people having awesome conversations #aitd2020

47 HOURS Ger Driesen spent on a plane to spend a rainy weekend in Sydney.

1 DELEGATE who missed all the notification emails because they were travelling and turned up to the venue (and is now the proud owner of an AITD 2020 t-shirt!)

@weezynz #AITD2020 thank you everyone I have really enjoyed the last 2 days and all the speakers. Really helpful to get so much info and tips to pass on about teams working from home in this current environment. Great effort and now it’s happy hour. Looking forward to next year. @aitd1

756KG approximate weight of the pizza and doughnuts eaten by the AITD team in the days leading up to AITD 2020.

We would like to thank our conference partners who made AITD 2020 possible through their invaluable support:

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HIGH IMPACT STRATEGIC MENTORING DESIGNED FOR RESULTS Mentoring Software Mentor/Mentee Training Expert Resources Design and Delivery Services https://artofmentoring.net

THE 4 PILLARS OF WORKPLACE WELLBEING

BY ASHLEY FELL

Individual wellbeing is a goal people are always striving towards. As work comprises such a big part of life it is a significant contributor to it; workplace wellbeing is one of the topranked elements in a place of employment, with 72% of workers saying it is extremely/very important to them.

How people are functioning has a huge impact on the work they do. Conversely, how people function in the workplace has a huge impact on their everyday life and how they function as a whole. When it comes to wellbeing at work, it is important for leaders to be aware of the different pillars of wellbeing and how they intersect in the workplace.

01. Personal wellbeing

02. Interpersonal wellbeing

The shift over the last few decades to a knowledge economy has resulted in increased sedentary lifestyles, greater inactivity and less time spent outside. When workers spend too long at work, feel stressed or don’t have enough energy because of work, they struggle to make physical health/fitness (49%) and sleep (41%) a priority. It can also impact their mental health, with 43% always or often feeling stressed in life – and 79% of those admitting it is work-related.

Human beings are social creatures and our interpersonal wellbeing is key to thriving at work.

A sense of belonging and connection with others correlates with higher self-esteem, greater life satisfaction, faster recovery from disease, lower levels of stress, less mental illness and a longer life.

Therefore, research suggests that, more than just what you’re doing at work, it’s who you’re doing it with that contributes to engagement and wellbeing.

Workplaces that encourage people to leave on time, have regular breaks from sedentary work and encourage healthy routines contribute to their workers’ ability to thrive physically. Ensuring the workplace is a healthy environment where workers are encouraged and supported, have opportunities to find balance in their lives and enjoyment in their work can also contribute to workers’ mental wellbeing.

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With a third of the hours in an average week spent at work, the nature of work changing and a shift in how time is spent outside of work, the workplace plays an important role in the social needs of human beings.

To some, work is simply a job, but to many more it’s a lifeline to social interaction, purpose and a place of belonging. The best leaders facilitate purposeful community; social needs are met, but in a collegiate setting.

03. Vocational wellbeing

04. Financial wellbeing

The word vocation means a strong calling or inclination towards a particular career or profession. For some, talk of finding a career that aligns with their passion and sense of mission may sound overly zealous.

Yet even among the most clear-eyed of the next generation, values alignment and a commitment to the organisational cause are prerequisites for a job search. No longer is it simply a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay. As we say to our clients, ‘People aren’t working for you. They may be employed by you, but they are working for their own reasons. Think of them as professional volunteers.’

While the workplace is not responsible for workers’ personal finances, it certainly contributes to them. During the COVID-19 shutdowns it became clear to governments worldwide that the financial impacts would cause greater problems for many than the virus itself. Aware of the lack of personal savings and the financial vulnerability of workers, the Australian government implemented its JobKeeper program, which was the biggest spend on any social program in Australian history. Our research at the time showed that 49% of Australians said they were extremely/very emotionally resilient (mental health), 40% were extremely/very physically resilient (overall health) but only 30% felt extremely/very resilient financially.

The impacts of people’s work are key to a sense of vocation. Workers want to know that their work makes a difference. Communicating organisational purpose and the impacts of that work is foundational to employee motivation and engagement.

For most people, the main contributor to financial wellbeing is earnings via salary or wages. Therefore, job security is an important factor for wellbeing. Along with the social, relational and vocational elements, the stability of having a working situation where people feel secure in the future is important for worker wellbeing.

Work is key to personal wellbeing and is about more than stakeholder returns or immediate deliverables. It plays a huge role in people’s personal, interpersonal, vocational and financial wellbeing and is key to our sense of contribution, value, purpose and meaning.

ASHLEY FELL Ashley Fell is the co-author of Work Wellbeing: Leading thriving teams in changing times, available at all good bookstores and online at workwellbeing.com.au. She is a sought-after speaker, social researcher and is the communications director at McCrindle, which helps leading organisations gain a clearer picture.

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The

LOW DOWN Megan Torrance

In a parallel universe (one where the zombie apocalypse question doesn’t hit quite so close to home!), US learning design whizz, Megan Torrance, would have been joining us in Sydney at AITD 2020. Thanks to the wonders of technology, she was still able to kick off day 2 of the conference with an incredible keynote session, albeit virtually — but we missed the opportunity to pick her brain in person. Fortunately, she agreed to take to the Training & Development hotseat to share her thoughts on the future landscape of L&D, the importance of collaborating with colleagues from different departments and why guillotines have no place in the training room!

How did you find yourself in the learning and development industry?

I got here somewhat by accident! (Although it may seem like it was on purpose.) When I was in 6th grade, my father signed me up for a BASIC programming course; I coded little quizzes to help me memorise what I needed for class, while everyone else made pretty fractal graphics. Then while I was in university, I had the fabulous luck to work at one of the schools’ HR offices, helping them to create training materials for the Americans with Disabilities Act. During my 8 year stint with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and Arthur Andersen, I was trained in basic instructional design but ended up managing large, shared service accounting centre projects instead, supporting the process & technology design and the change management of the rollout. My last project in that space was to deploy a learning management system at a large organisation in 2002. After a few years of LMS implementations, the clients started asking me if I could build the courses that go in their systems…and here I am!

What has been your career highlight so far?

TorranceLearning was named one of Michigan’s ‘50

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Companies to Watch’ in 2018 and that was a super proud moment for me and for the entire team. It was a recognition of the years of hard work and painstaking efforts to build a company from the ground up – and the development of all of our skills and talents along the way.

The award was given at a giant black-tie gala at our state capitol and the whole team got all dressed up for the night. When our name was called, I had to walk up a long red carpet and climb onto a metal riser (the kind that a kids’ chorus would stand on) to accept the award… in heels! Truth be told, the best part of the night was not completely biffing it and landing flat on my face in front of hundreds of people.

On the flipside, have you ever failed spectacularly at something in your career? (And are you willing to tell us?!)

Since founding the business in 2003, I’ve nearly gone bankrupt twice. Any shred of ego I had was completely destroyed as I ripped through my credit and struggled to pay people who had become my friends and supporters.

Those experiences have taught me a lot about finance, debt restructuring, our unemployment system

THE LOWDOWN | MEGAN TORRANCE

Many people have been very patient with me in my career and I’m forever indebted to them.

and cash flow analysis — and courage, leadership, communications and compassion. I’m a lot tougher and more resilient now.

Many people have been very patient with me in my career and I’m forever indebted to them. But can we move on and talk about other things now?

Even for L&D professionals who advocate a culture of lifelong learning, it can be tough to squeeze in time to learn - how do you maintain your own professional development?

Like you say, it’s incredibly tough to squeeze time in to learn — and of course, that’s incredibly hypocritical since I’m in the business of helping people do better at work and my speciality in that space is learning.

I have realised recently that I learn in caffeine-driven, problem-solving binges. When I have a problem or opportunity, I scour the internet, I reach out to smarter people I know who are actually solving this problem in their field and I check in on what people in our field who tune into research have to say on the topic. I buy about 6 books and read the first half of 3 of them. There are a couple of people on the TorranceLearning team who love to research so I include them in the process too.

And then we prototype and test and see what works.

What do you think is the biggest threat the L&D industry is currently facing and how do you think the profession will have changed in 10 years’ time?

As I write this, mid-COVID-19 crisis, everyone in every industry is facing a really interesting inflection point. It is both hyperbolic and understatement to say that in 10 years — even in 1 year — much of what we do will have changed.

My sense is that while workplace learning will continue to grow in importance, it may shrink in volume as we find more effective means of delivery and integration with the flow of work itself. This inflection point (which will likely play out from now until the next 18 months or so) is both full of opportunity and full of painful economic impacts in which organisations and individuals will need to make decisions about whether to stay the course or take this as an opportunity to move in a new direction.

At the same time, many of us are finding that we are pretty capable of doing our work in remote and digital ways — many of us were already doing that, even those who were in offices but working with clients and teams that were not in the same space. Our colleagues in higher education and K12 learning are not as lucky as we are in workplace learning and their work and models will likely undergo significant shifts.

What do you think is the biggest mistake L&D practitioners can make?

I think we shoot ourselves in the foot when we set ourselves up for an ‘us-vs-them’ approach to the people and functions we work with: ‘The SMEs are always too busy or too esoteric.’ ‘The stakeholders

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THE LOWDOWN | MEGAN TORRANCE

I have realised recently that I learn in caffeine-driven, problem-solving binges. change their minds too much.’ ‘IT is such a pain to work with; they always say no.’ ‘The organisation changes direction every year and everything changes.’ ‘I can never get the resources I need.’

Frankly, I see change as a good thing. If the project you’re on doesn’t change somewhere from start to finish, that might be a sign that no one cares enough to pay attention. Really interesting strategic projects change — because they are very interesting and strategic!

Our subject matter experts are essential to our work — and we are often a lower priority than most of their other tasks. That’s an opportunity to work together and get creative.

IT’s job is to keep the organisation’s infrastructure safe and to build the highest priority tools for the organisation within the budget they have. Maybe you need a better business case, or maybe you’ll need to find a workaround.

In each of these cases, I’ve found L&D professionals are successful if they can set aside their frustrations and use that energy instead to come up with new solutions, do their homework and leverage what they can to get the job done.

If you had to work for any company based on their learning culture alone, who would it be and why?

I recently started facilitating courses in women’s leadership for eCornell, a fully online certificate program alongside my alma mater, Cornell University. eCornell is the scrappy entrepreneurial arm of an institution founded by a guy named Ezra Cornell who said, ‘I would found an institution where any person could find instruction in any study.’ Did you see that?

‘Person’, not ‘man’ — Cornell was founded in 1863! eCornell is a mostly virtual team, learning to scale rapidly and deliver a high quality product worthy of the Cornell name. As an L&D professional, it’s really interesting to watch them grow. Facilitator onboarding happens in the same LMS that we use for classes. And one of the big perks? Free classes!

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Who do you really admire within the L&D industry?

Who makes you stop and think?

Oh gosh, there’s a huge list. The cool thing about L&D is that we are professionals in learning and helping others develop; I think we have a particularly rich environment for learning from each other. Lately, I’ve been really leaning on the work of people who bridge research and practice — and bring back practical applications to the rest of us. So, in that pool (I’m sure I’ll forget someone) I am thinking of Julie Dirksen, Patty Shank, Jane Bozarth, Will Thalheimer and Mirjam Neelen.

THE REAL LOWDOWN: No 5-year-old tells their parents that they want to be an L&D professional when they grow up (yet.

We’re working on it!) What did you really want to be when you grew up?

In my teens, I wanted to be a veterinarian…until I nearly passed out watching surgery on a horse. I applied to colleges with an eye-roll-inducing lack of clarity; I wasn’t sure if I wanted to study French, physics or journalism. I chose journalism, quickly switched to public relations and then, as time was running out to get in enough coursework, I switched to organisational communication. Let’s just say I had a serious issue with career commitment back then.

If you could banish one piece of corporate jargon forever (you know, that one phrase that is like fingernails down a chalkboard to you), what would it be?

‘Execute’! ‘Execution’! Gosh, it sounds like we’re running around with guillotines or something. I really don’t like the idea of ‘executing’ on things.

The zombie apocalypse has begun and there’s one space left in the Training & Development bunker – what special skill can you bring so we let you in?

I can grow vegetables and store them up for winter.

I even grow sprouts on my countertop in the winter.

Makes me the life of the party, I know. But you’ll eat healthy!

Remember normality?

You are not alone.

There are high expectations of tomorrow’s leaders. They must deliver results whilst demonstrating empathy and creating optimally motivating environments.

Blanchard Australia delivers tested and proven leadership development programs to leading organisations across Australia and around the world. We work with organisations to build leadership capacity, increase employee engagement, retain top talent, and increase productivity and performance.

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LY N E T T E P I N D E R / F R O M T H E C EO’ S D E S K

Back to normal. The new normal.

The only constant is change.

What a wild ride the past few months have been. As I write this at the end of April, I can only imagine what else will have changed in the few short weeks between now and when you open your copy of Training & Development magazine (and flick straight to this column, naturally!)

While many were still trying to get to grips with their own new ‘normal’ following the horrific bushfire season, a creeping and deadly pandemic was spreading that would affect us all. The rapidly changing situation saw many quick decisions being made, not least of which was the successful AITD 2020 conference pivot - from face-to-face to virtual delivery in the space of a few short days.

Lack of certainty, frustration and fear have all been present in both our personal and professional lives. We know many of our AITD members and the broader community have been suffering. I was extremely proud of the AITD board’s choice to pursue a strategy of service and support, rather than try and squeeze revenue from the suffering industry, and of the exceptional response from the AITD support centre team who came up with imaginative, practical and sensible ways to engage and support our L&D tribe. Paring back our communications to allow a clear message of support was appreciated by our members and supporters, who were suffering a deluge of emails and offers in the initial flurry of activity.

In our last magazine I mentioned our strategic initiatives. While they are still our main organisational focus, some have necessarily

become more prominent than others. Our program of professional development courses is being completely overhauled, with virtual options being made available through blended learning solutions where possible. We are very excited to be offering these opportunities to you and are extremely grateful to our hard-working teams of facilitators who have stepped up to the challenge of some intense collaboration sessions to ensure the high standard of content and delivery is maintained.

One thing that has been confirmed for me is that the L&D industry is incredibly resilient, sharing and open to new ideas. This will allow us to not only survive the current crisis, but to help others to learn and adapt to the changes that have been forced on us.

We may never get back to ‘normal’. AITD is here to support you, whatever your new ‘normal’ is.

Lynette Pinder AITD Chief Executive Officer

Contact me at ceo@aitd.com.au 53

AITD CALENDAR In order to keep our learners and facilitators safe, all AITD courses will be delivered exclusively online for the next few months. Our facilitation team have been working hard to adapt our traditionally face-to-face courses to an online format, giving you an optimal virtual learning experience. New courses are added regularly so if the dates don’t work for you, check aitd.com.au or contact courses@aitd.com.au.

ADULT LEARNING

PRESENTATION SKILLS

If you are just starting down your L&D pathway, Adult Learning is a great first step. This course introduces principles such as learner engagement, memory, how adults learn, neuroscience and learning environments.

Confidence is key when presenting. Whether you’re nervous in front of a crowd or just want to up your game, this course will equip you with the skills to engage your audience, communicate effectively and increase persuasiveness.

Friday 5 June Friday 10 July

Friday 12 June

Friday 7 August

Tuesday 21 July

Friday 18 September

Monday 24 August Tuesday 29 September

L&D PROJECT MANAGEMENT

VIRTUAL CLASSROOM

This practical course covers all key elements of project management as it relates to L&D professionals. You will learn about planning, sourcing content, budgeting, marketing, evaluation, risk analysis and more to run complex projects.

With virtual classrooms more essential than ever, this course will show you how to optimise this format, covering practical considerations and strategies to maximise learning engagement and effectiveness.

Delivered in 4 live sessions over 2 consecutive days.

Tuesday 23 June*

Wednesday 17 June*

Thursday 16 July*

Tuesday 7 July*

Wednesday 26 August*

Wednesday 29 July*

Thursday 10 September*

Tuesday 11 August* Tuesday 1 September*

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TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

|

JUNE 2020

FACILITATION SKILLS

INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN

Not just for L&D professionals, this course is for anyone who facilitates meetings, gives presentations or just wants to improve on their delivery. Learn how to keep things on track, engage participants and ask great questions.

Our most in-demand course. Discover how writing learning outcomes, using storyboarding and selecting the right visual graphics can make all the difference to creating engaging and memorable learning experiences.

Wednesday 3 June

Tuesday 16 June

Thursday 25 June

Tuesday 30 June

Tuesday 14 July

Friday 24 July

Thursday 6 August

Tuesday 4 August

Monday 31 August

Thursday 13 August

Tuesday 22 September

Tuesday 15 September

NEEDS ANALYSIS & EVALUATION

eLEARNING ESSENTIALS

Needs analysis and evaluation are the bookends to the instructional design process. This course explores the stages, tools and techniques used to identify needs, customise solutions and then how to evaluate and implement.

Welcome to the world of eLearning. This online course covers eLearning principles, tools, design, webinars, gamification and so much more. Learners benefit from online discussions, webinars and assignments to keep it real. Self-paced over 8 weeks.

Thursday 11 June

Monday 6 July*

Thursday 2 July Tuesday 18 August Friday 4 September

CURATION FOR LEARNING Curation isn’t just gathering content and publishing it in one place. In this interactive course, you’ll design and develop your own project while learning about curation tools, copyright laws, graphic design principles and much more. Delivered over 4 weeks.

eLEARNING MASTERCLASS Take the next step in your eLearning pathway. By the end of this practical course, you will have produced your own eLearning module, while building your expertise on authoring tools, modern learning theory and best practice.

Monday 7 September*

Monday 10 August*

*Start date shown. Please check website for dates and times of any live sessions scheduled for the course.

55

NZATD CALENDAR Make sure to pencil these dates for your nearest NZATD branch events in your diary!

For further information and new events, check nzatd.org.nz/calendar/

WEBINAR

Canterbury Branch

DATE

EVENT

DATE

EVENT

3 Jun

Representing Diversity: the good, the bad and the ugly (Joanna Smith)

18 Jun

Constructing Leadership Development to Lead the Way (Tracey Snape)

1 Jul

Contemporary Adult Learning Practice – Using Case Studies (Michael McLean)

23 Jul

Biculturalism in the Workplace and AGM (Geoff Ngataierua)

5 Aug

How to Transition a face-to-Face Session for Online (Colin Hickie)

20 Aug

Review of Established Org Dev Tools (Michelle Shields)

12 Aug

Training in the Times of COVID

17 Sep

A Practical and Innovative Approach to Organisational Resilience, Productivity and Wellbeing

2 Sep

Storytelling for Learning (Miranda Verswijvelen)

Auckland Branch Bay of Plenty/Waikato Branch

56

DATE

EVENT

16 Jun

Exploring Strengths-Based Development (Jason Henderson)

16 Jul

Save the date

22 Sep

Save the date

DATE

EVENT

23 Jul

L&D Showcase and Branch AGM

Wellington Branch DATE

EVENT

15 Jul

Branch AGM and Networking

16 Sep

Online Learning on a Small Budget

ON THE

bookshelf WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING THIS MONTH

QUIETLY POWERFUL: HOW YOUR QUIET NATURE IS YOUR HIDDEN LEADERSHIP STRENGTH Megumi Miki (Major Street Publishing) With the unprecedented events of 2020 proving that the leaders who shout the loudest are not always the most effective, it’s time for ‘beta’ leaders to rise up. In her new book, Quietly Powerful, leadership specialist and natural introvert, Megumi Miki, explores the immense value quieter professionals can bring to the workplace. Weaving together a compelling mix of real-life stories and in-depth research, Miki challenges the traditional view of leadership as the domain of the extrovert to empower quiet, yet talented people to play on their strengths and succeed.

BEAT GENDER BIAS: HOW TO PLAY A BETTER PART IN A MORE INCLUSIVE WORLD Karen Morley (Major Street Publishing) Diversity and inclusivity have been buzzwords in business for years now, yet gender bias — whether conscious or unconscious — still persists in most industries. In her latest publication, Beat Gender Bias, Dr Karen Morley address how these biases have a detrimental effect for everyone. Drawing on research from the fields of psychology and neuroscience, Dr Morley sets out a blueprint to check and overcome personal and organisational biases at every level. With real-life anecdotes to illustrate each point, this is an engaging and practical guide for anyone who wants to make a difference.

BE BRILLIANT: HOW TO LEAD A LIFE OF INFLUENCE Janine Garner (Wiley) With stress levels increasing and uncertainty at an all time high, now is a good time to slow down and examine our lives. In Be Brilliant, best-selling author and entrepreneur, Janine Garnier empowers readers to unleash their potential, both at home and at work. Tackling common concerns such as imposter syndrome, fear of failure and resistance to change, Garnier lays out her 4 laws of brilliance to help you discover your spotlight, harness your natural energy, connect and collaborate with intent and enhance your influence in order to realise your capabilities.

57

FROM THE

archives With no conference delegate photos to share this year, we have travelled back in time to AITD’s first ever conference in 1973 to remember a time before social distancing.

58 58

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

|

JUNE 2020

WRITE FOR US. Next edition September 2020

Content Matters • microlearning • learning libraries • personal knowledge management • on-demand learning • mobile learning • advanced research skills • knowledge reinforcement tools • content authoring tools • peer-to-peer networks • communities of practice • content curation • human-centred design • content delivery •

Submission deadline 15 July 2020 editor@aitd.com.au

Connected as ever, we work together Nature is inspiring at the best of times. When things get tough, there’s a lot we can learn from the animal kingdom. In these moments, communities across Australia are coming together to help each other out in any way they can, and that is truly inspiring.

That’s why the AITD and Guild Insurance have teamed up to make sure you have the support you need right now, and aim towards creating a brighter future together. Visit guildinsurance.com.au to find out how we are working as one for a better tomorrow in your community.

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Insurance issued by Guild Insurance Limited ABN 55 004 538 863, AFS Licence No. 233791 and subject to terms, conditions and exclusions. Guild Insurance supports your association’s ongoing projects, lobbying, and research through the payment of referral fees. Please refer to the policy wording and policy schedule for details. For more information call 1800 810 213. TRA102350 Full page ad for June edition 04/20