Assignment task: Make a response to the article and answer the discussion question
Article name: Adapting workplace learning in the time of corona virus
Authors Alok Kshirsagar, Tarek Mansour, Liz McNally, and Marc Metakis
Article date: March 17, 2020.
Summary of the key points of the article
This article discusses how companies cancelled workplace training programs when the pandemic hit. In North America, 50% of programs were cancelled. In Asia and Europe, that number is closer to 100%. This creates an issue as companies can't halt employee training. As processes change, technology develops, and society adapts, employees consistently need to be trained on new processes.
Due to the importance of workplace training, companies must implement training programs to be completed remotely. Organizations must embrace remote learning. Remote learning comes with many benefits, including less planning, and reduced transportation and accommodation expenses. With remote learning, employees from different time zones are able to complete their training at their own convenience.
Sadly, not all training can be done remotely. There are limits to what training can be completed remotely. Depending on the nature of the material, some training must be held in person. In such cases, the organization should adapt their in-person training sessions to maximize employee comfort, satisfaction, and learning. Instead of having all employees travel to one location for a training seminar, multiple training seminars can be held in different regions. This would allow for smaller seminar sizes, less inconvenience to employees, and less travel expenses.
Organizations should explore alternative digital-learning strategies. As technology develops, newly released programs could be used to administer remote training. Zoom was popular when the pandemic first arrived, but there are now more complex virtual spaces coming into existence, like metaverses. These programs can allow for more in-depth remote training for organizations.
How it relates to the topic of training and development
This article relates to the topic of week four, which is training design. The article focuses on how to adapt workplace training in the time of a pandemic and remote work. The reality is that remote work is here to stay given the advancements in technology making it viable. With remote work being here to stay, it is important to look at how training can be designed to be done remotely as employees continue working remotely.
A good way to begin designing any training or development is to determine the objectives of the training module. An example of popular training objective at the beginning of the pandemic was helping employees become familiar with Zoom as employees were forced to work from home and utilize Zoom for remote meetings. Once an organization has determined the training objective, they can either design their training program or purchase an existing one. Purchasing an existing training program might be more costly but does not require time for it to be developed, so training can start right away. An existing training program may also be more in-depth as it was developed by someone with far more knowledge about the subject.
A discussion question that your group members will respond to.
If your employer wanted you to partake in a training and development program, would you like it to be in-person or remote? Furthermore, what format would you want them to utilize and why/how would you benefit from this format the most? Examples for in-person formats may include simulation training, group activities, or lectures. Examples for remote training include Zoom lectures, video conferences, or lesson modules to be done independently.