In an article for CLO Magazine e-learning researcher Josh Bersin described three trends to watch for Corporate Learning in 2008. Researchers like Bersin, with their strong connections to vendors of corporate learning solutions, might be slightly biased towards creating hypes. On the other hand the trends he described are too generic and vendor unrelated to suspect him. According to Bersin the year 2008 will bring us:

• Talent-Driven Learning Programs: forward-thinking learning executives are emphasizing talent-driven learning programs — particularly in areas such as leadership development, onboarding and career development — to support talent strategies.
• The New Learning On Demand: We have been writing about rapid e-learning, performance support and informal learning for years. Conditioned by Google, RSS feeds, YouTube and other popular tools, employees are now expecting to find answers on any job- or company-related topic in seconds.
• Get Ready for Self Published Content: Today, organizations can take “off the shelf” tools for blogs and wikis and use them to create communities of practice that facilitate such informal, on-the-job learning.

The are not very surprising and maybe even heard at the end of 2006 too some extent. But, it is always good to read some confirmation of directions taken with corporate learning initiatives in organisations.

Opinions about the most effective ways of learning differ. And, although we speak about blended learning approaches and differences in preferred learning styles there are limited evidence-based learning approaches available. Both in education and in corporate learning professionals are doing their job based on impressions, trends and old habits. In the Dutch Financial Times there was an article of Prof. Maassen van den Brink about this issue. She wrote that innovations in education often are implemented without proper knowledge of the effects of the implementation. Examples are the so-called ‘new learning’ approach for more competency oriented education instead of the ‘old’ knowledge orientation. This is heavily criticized since students now lack the body of knowledge needed to apply their competencies in the right way (simply speaking). Also the reduction in class size aimed at by the government with massive funding is no success. McKinsey research has shown that this has no effect on the quality of education whatsoever. They indicate that the quality of the teacher still is the most important factor (you probably don’t want to pay the McKinsey fees for this conclusion). The article raises the need for Evidence-Based Education. Not only the scientific stuff, but soft and hard research to support practices.

When you don’t limit the focus on Education you can see that the same applies to Corporate Learning and HRD. We tend to jump from the one hype to the other. From knowledge management to e-learning to talent management. The focus is on the labeling and the surface and not on the fundamental and evidence-based practices that work in different situations. In the end still most learning is ‘delivered’ in 10+ groups by trainers or via electronic page turners labeled as e-learning. The only evidence we have is that there practices do not deliver the results we aim for. In my opinion evidence-based learning would be a good approach for corporate learning and HRD as well. Again not only based on hard scientific research, but softer industry research and practical questionnaires can bring a lot of value as well. Evidence-based learning can be of great help for all trainers and HR staff trying to facilitate learning in their organizations, so let’s get things started!

It has been quiet on my weblog for quite some time due to illness. Lying in bed gives you some time for reflection, but I’d rather be up on my feet. Especially during the start-up of a new business. At atrivision my partners have not been sitting still. We were present at the Performa 2007 with a booth and two seminars. Also we have been able to launch our weblog (Dutch) at www.atrivision.com/weblog. Now I am back in the saddle I hope to be able to contribute to both this and the atrivision blog and be able to do some work in the meantime.

This week I formally kicked off for my ultimate corporate learning experience: the start of my own company. This milestone is set with the registration at the Chamber of Commerce today. In September 2007 we (me and two partners) will be in business with Atrivision. We will focus on the link between organisation, learning and technology delivering practical solutions for organisation. I will update you on the exact details of this new venture when we are in business in september. For this post I want to focus on the learning aspect of this excercise.

What struck me is the learning experience you go through setting up a company. And what surprised me (or maybe not) is how little of this is covered in formal education. I finalised my MBA just a year ago, but I must say you face a lot of new challenges they don’t cover in a business administration study. And, you learn to cope with them very rapidly in action. I ‘developed’ my own blended learning program on the fly with some formal workshops at the Chamber of Commerce. These covered issues like ‘How to set-up your financial administration’ and ‘Formulating general terms & conditions’. I added a lot of semi-formal learning reading books for specific knowledge and entrepreneurial inspiration. These ranged from a review of the Entrepreneurship module from my MBA (I faced a transfer issue regarding this knowledge following the course in 2006) via Million Dollar Consultancy to Purple Cow and ZAG. The Dutch book “En nu laat ik mijn baard staan” (”And now I am going to grow a beard”) also served as a source of inspiration. Besides this semi-formal part I found the informal part very helpful, consisting of several meetings with experts in accounting, tax, contracts and (venture) capital. Last but not least we are part of the TOP(Temporary Entrepreneurial Positions) programme of the University of Twente. This enables us to be part of a network of Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurs. And, this also gives us the opportunity to work with a scientific and business mentor. For the scientific part Prof.dr. Joseph Kessels will be our mentor and we already had an inspiring meeting with him. His book on HRD in the Knowledge Economy will serve as a guide for defining the value proposition of Atrivision. In addition to all this we also will have our offices at the Knowledge Park just opposite to the Campus. I am therefore thrilled by the idea that the learning will continue at full throttle in the upcoming months. We have established a learning ecology or social network that will be a sound basis for informal learning.

I am confident that we are going to be successful with our new company. But if not, then at least we had a wonderful learning experience that will stay with us for life. For everyone looking for a course or study to follow, I can recommend setting up your own company. Or you can join Atrivision, since we will be an entrepreneurial network organisation willing to share learning with you!

A few weeks ago my local newspaper published a piece on Lifelong Learning that expressed concerns about the lack of support the Dutch Government is giving to it. The argument is that there are good intentions, but action is missing. “No one is against Lifelong Learning, but we need more people promoting it actively”, according to Theo Bovens of the Dutch Open University. His institute is facing a decrease in new students year after year. You can argue if this is an indication of a lack of interest in lifelong learning or it is pointing at a different problem.

But anyway, more concerns are raised. The article points at the fact that it is not possible in the Netherlands to get a Government sponsored scholarship for picking up a study beyond your thirties. Also the cancellation of attractive tax deductions and the limiting of subsidies is doing Lifelong Learning no good according to the journalist. The government should take its responsibility in financing Lifelong Learning instead of leaving it to organizations and individual employees. In my opinion the government is already betting on a new horse called Innovation. The article continues with the scary perspective that this behavior will lead us to disaster. The Netherlands will not reach their goal of having 20% of the workforce following a part-time course or studying besides work . Is this alarming? Well, when you look at the fact that the Netherlands are at 16.6% and above average in the EU, there is nothing to worry about. But when you consider the Netherlands having knowledge economy and innovation high on its priority list, it might be alarming that Slovenia has passed us and also Sweden and Finland score significantly higher.

But there is hope. Research into Lifelong Learning is in general only focused on formal education (Education Permanente). It is about quantity in money spend on and students that go through education and training programs. Although it provides some information on the bias for learning in a country, there is much more than just the formal side of learning. Lifelong learning is as human as eating and sleeping. It is a natural thing, that occurs regardless of classrooms and instructors (in some cases even more effective in the absence of these). Especially in times of rapid change in knowledge, technology and methodologies formal approaches are too slow anyway. So, let us be the best in informal learning. It won’t help us make us reach our Lisbon goals, but it will help us forward.