Welcome to

The Performance Hub

Social Learning Survey ResultsFeb 2012

About us...

THE PERFORMANCE HUB is a small performance enhancement consultancy.

We work with performance targets.

Our values are Transformation, Innovation, Passion and Integrity.We live these in our work, with our blue-chip clients, our partners,

our associates, our suppliers and each other.

www.theperformancehub.co.za

51% owned by a BBBEE Trust focussed on the upliftment of disadvantaged youth. AAA+ (Level 3) rating on the BBBEE Scorecard.

The Survey - Who responded?

Our snapshot survey drew respondents from: Services Education Manufacturing Executive coaching HR and training

And from a range of organisation sizes: 1 – 120,000 employees.

Have you heard of social learning and how would you describe it?

Social learning appears to be a familiar concept to most of the respondents.

‘It’s about using social media tools to learn informally. It also helps people become more informed, gain a wider perspective and make better decisions by engaging with others.’ ‘Learning from others - in a social context, online or face to face.’

What learning methods are offered in your organisation?

Traditional methods are still most prevalent, with all respondents engaging in face to face courses and 80% having access to resources such as books and journals. This is followed by Coaching and Mentoring.

Online learning and social learning opportunities, along with rotation opportunities around the business, are much less common.

What about the newer technologies for L&D and knowledge sharing?

Almost all of the respondents are using LinkedIn and Twitter for business, followed by Facebook which is slightly less common

60% are using Dropbox (a ‘cloud’ file-sharing service)

How effective is social learning? What are some of the benefits and challenges?

Reactions about the effectiveness of social technologies are mixed:  

‘Invaluable way of keeping up to date with the latest sources of knowledge’

 ‘Average – we’re still in the birth stages of implementing

internally.’

Some concern was noted around the challenges that technology can pose, and the associated costs of potential collaboration and knowledge management tools.

Measuring the impact of learning

We asked if the impact of learning and development is measured and whether this applies equally to social learning if used in the organisation.

The responses indicate:-there is some form of measurement taking place across all methods- often measurement takes place through performance management systems- some use more structured approaches such as Kirkpatrick’s Level 1-4.

One smaller organisation reported that informal discussion and evaluation worked the best for their context (2 employees).

Looking to the future

So what might learning look like in the future? We had some great responses:

‘Self- led. Unstructured. Project related.’ ‘Very 'mixed' up, as in lots of online and offline activity. We will have avatars and virtual classrooms and simulations (for those organisations who can afford this investment) and lots of cross functional and matrix learning, practically applied on real work rather than the more abstract learning we enjoy today. Smart phones will have changed the learning landscape, with more unitised, tailored interventions being commonplace and delivered wherever you are. Learning will take place through all the senses, visual, auditory, simulated. Learning and work hopefully will not be so separate - so there will be a natural part of your day which is about learning on the job.’

More responses on the future ...

‘Rapid evolution into a virtual immersed environment encompassing different social learning technologies (virtual instructional, work collaboration tools, etc.); supportive culture that enhance employee learning and development; changing strategic role of L&D professional; a robust view on learning and measurement analytics; line manager engagement; increased employee-driven learning process.’

‘... on-line courses via audio and interactive exercises that employees can do on any device.’

In our last survey on leadership, we identified these key people management challenges of the future in SA

skills and productivity challenges managing talent required to feed organisation plans engaging and keeping employees engaged developing flexible working practices and a flexible

workforce, and dealing with the regulatory context in SA building sustainable business.

Questions and discussions: join us

How can our current and visionary learning and development activities tap into some of these challenges?

Should social learning skills be part of our organisation toolkit?

Join our group on LinkedIn where we can debate some of these questions: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Performance-Hub-3894549?trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

 

Follow our informed commentary feed on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/#!/PerformanceHub