Democratization of Learning: A Case for Content Libraries

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Learning professionals everywhere are turning away from hour-long instructor-led training or Storyline courses and embracing micro-learning. A round-up of research studies concludes that micro-learning is effective and learners prefer it! It’s a win-win situation. As a learning experience designer, I’ve created many large-scale learning programs that combined in-person and digital learning, micro-learning assets, and social and collaborative components to grow interpersonal, leadership, and performance management skills. I am incredibly proud of the adoption, learner engagement, and behavior change metrics that those programs produced.

Lately, however, I’ve become more convinced that these long-form 6-, 8-, and 12-week learning experiences may be more flawed than I previously imagined. In the rapid change of the world right now, particularly in the tech industry, these experiences may be too long, too cumbersome, and too selective to keep pace with the rate of change in the organization and industry.

• Shifting priorities: Organizations shift priorities quickly, which has downstream effects on team goals and workloads.

• Changing schedules: Employees try to schedule learning time only to have their people leaders redirect them with the volatile nature of the industry and workplace. The employee has to abandon the program or risk getting too far behind to catch up.

• Growing roles: An individual contributor may not be eligible for a leadership program for people leaders, but their role has grown to include supervising a cross-functional project team, and they are left to muddle through on their own.

• Managing daily crises: Spaced program rollout makes a lot of sense for allowing learners time to learn, practice, and reflect throughout a learning experience, but it doesn’t account for employees who need access to content that hasn’t been released yet to manage the daily crises in their world.

What’s the answer?

The solution is not to throw long-form learning experiences out the window. They are invaluable for connecting employees and growing skills systematically and socially. Instead, we need to tear down the gates guarding leadership and soft skill development (prerequisites, level-based eligibility requirements, etc) and democratize knowledge, making it accessible to all employees at the moment of need.

My proposition is a both/and, not an either/or. We have both learning programs and libraries of approved content that align with the organization’s vision, mission, values, and leadership standards. The learning programs are for systematic skill building, networking, and coach interaction. These content libraries provide democratic (and equitable) access to learning for a broader audience base and quick development in the moment of need.

Consider the benefits:

• On-demand access in the flow of work and moments of need

• Inclusive and democratic development opportunities that correct some of the inequities inherent in eligibility-based programs

• Low-cost development for high-potential, ambitious, and curious employees

• Grow the cognitive skills of the future

• Build a culture of learning and investing in your employees at your organization

How do we get there?

Step 1: Start with the easy wins.

Don’t try to boil the ocean. Liberate your content from the confines of your learning programs, making it accessible in library form to all employees. You don’t need to purchase or develop additional content. Just use what you have (and don’t forget to include opportunities to practice and reflect!). Measure usage at the asset level, not the program level, to help tell the success story for your stakeholders.

Step 2: Bulk it out with curated content.

Create a library of content that aligns with your organization’s vision, values, and mission. Don’t forget to include content that may exist under other business units, such as new hire orientation, leadership, performance, career development, employee engagement, etc. Add links to free high-quality content providers, such as Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and Ted, to support employees who need content not yet available in your library.

Step 3: Make it searchable.

Content is only useful if employees can find it! Searchability is essential for a high-quality experience. This is where many content management systems and libraries fail. Employees can find what they want faster and easier using Google or Bing because corporate libraries don’t have sophisticated search functions. Your library configuration depends on how and where you are hosting it. You may be able to use best practices for SEO, including content tagging, to make your content searchable. You could also segment your library by topic.

Step 4: Recommend content.

Ideally, you would have an AI algorithm running in the background to recommend content based on previous searches and clicks. But at minimum, your team should recommend or feature content that aligns with what is going on in the business.

Step 5: Tell your people.

If people don’t know your library of learning content exists, then it might as well not exist. Create a solid change management plan that includes promotion, launch, and ongoing support for adoption. Recruit your HR business partners, HR delivery partners, and employee resource groups to promote learning resources. Talk to your talent acquisition team about listing your library as a career development benefit for working at your organization. Help people understand when and how they should use your resource.

Step 6: Ongoing growth and maintenance.

• Create an employee suggestion box, and actually read the suggestions.

• Create a roadmap for adding content to your library that balances future needs based on industry benchmarking and research with skills employees need to do their jobs today.

• Add content built for new learning experiences or organization initiatives, like performance check-ins, compensation reviews, executive off-sites, etc.

• Update your search functionality at every opportunity to help employees find what they are looking for.

Explore with compassion and curiosity:

• What barriers to accessing learning content does your organization have?

• How can you share content with a broader audience efficiently and equitably using the tools and technology you have now?

• What tools, policies, and mindsets are in the way of expanding learning at your organization?