What if the secret to success is what we DON’T do? Bad habits we drop, pitfalls we avoid, common mistakes we sidestep...
That's why we’ve put together our list of the top learning and development things you should stop doing to have the most productive L&D year yet!
Don’t create content where you can curate it
If you’re trying to create every single piece of content internally, you’ll probably find your L&D staff stressed and close to breaking point while everyone else is frustrated that they’ve become the bottleneck for the resources they need.
Don’t revert to what you’d always done before
It's easy to fall into old habits, and after the stresses of the past two years, it would be tempting to simply pick back up with our pre-pandemic learning habits. However, this is a moment to revisit your approach, make sure it fits your new ways of working and links up with changes to your wider company policies and culture.
Not reviewing your L&D strategy and policies with hybrid working in mind
It's a similar point to the one above, but it’s unlikely you’ll be going back to your offices full time. In fact, a recent Loom report revealed that people, on average, are spending 65.2% of their time working from home and 34.8% in offices. And the chances are that, unless you’ve already reviewed your policies, your strategy and guidelines are shaped around a time when you were in the office more often than not. Sit down, be critical and amend the sections that no longer reflect how you’ll be working.
Stop measuring the wrong things
Completion rates aren’t the be-all and end-all, and 2022 is hopefully the year that every company realizes that. Sure, it’s great if everyone has completed two courses and ticked that box, but how many people have become better at their job as a result? This is why you need to start measuring improvements to people’s skill levels or productivity alongside business performance improvements.
End knowledge silos so that you can promote knowledge sharing
If only one person knows how to do something, they’re the only one benefitting from that knowledge. But if everyone has access to it, they can learn from the subject matter experts in your business – that’s social learning in a nutshell. The trouble is you need the right tools in place to do it right! Give people a platform to share and upload their knowledge in one place that everyone has access to and can collaborate in.
Don’t be fixed on your methods, be flexible about reaching your outcomes
If you’re working in L&D, you’ll be familiar with those situations where people ask for a particular solution rather than explaining their problem so that you can diagnose it. They might request a five-day training course for sales reps rather than explaining what they want to achieve. The best approach is for you to ask consulting questions and prescribe the right solution – the right outcome is better than the right method.
Don’t play it safe, innovate
it's easy to play it safe when you’re thinking about presenting content, but being bold could be the key to memorable, stimulating and enjoyable learning experiences. Trotting out the same formats every year for similar activities will only cause a stale feel around the types of content. For example, if the product pitch is uploaded as a PDF every single year, a video explanation could be a welcome breath of fresh air.