Future-Focused with Christopher Lind

It’s been 18 months since I started Learning Tech Talks, and a lot has happened since then. If you’re banking on things returning to pre-2020 at some point, I’ve got some news for you. The digital learning age has been coming for a while. 2020 simply accelerated and secured the shift, and there’s no going back. This is our last Blockbuster moment. The good news is, the digital future is bright and the last 18 months has resulted in some of the most exciting advancements of all time for our field. On today’s Learning Tech Talks, I’m flying solo to share some of the most exciting trends I’ve seen while demystifying what it all means. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised to learn it’s not as scary as you may be thinking. And, if done right, you may just have that chance to secure the seat at the table you’ve been asking for.

Nothing makes an organization STRONGER than a well-implemented LMS solution. A clean conscience performance enhancer. The market for LMS is mature to a point where most learning leaders are educated and well versed in the time and cost-saving functionality of having LMS or not. As new entrants continue to emerge, the waters have gotten muddy with overinflated features that obstruct the learning process. Organizations need to increase speed and efficiency to compete in the #futureofwork and employee onboarding needs to be swift and concise. It’s time to get in the fast lane. In this episode, I'll be talking with Brendan Noud, CEO & Des Visnjevac Anderson, CTO, co-founders of LearnUpon about their journey with LMS and the evolution that has transformed their work since their inception, and how they are taking companies to the next level with their learning by focusing on a quality user experience that unifies, coordinates, and streamlines training delivery across the entire network.

Individualized coaching and development have traditionally been confined to the upper ranks of management. Of course, it makes sense that we would want our company figureheads to be superior in their performance and well-being. Sadly, this limitation has left the rest of the company to navigate their personal development journey on their own. Too often we are employees with a hammer, and everything looks like a nail. Personal development allows us to find different tools we need to thrive and tackle issues with elevated purpose and performance. In this episode, Maya Garza, VP of Solutions Consulting about Betterup and I talk the ways that they are enabling employees to not only thrive professionally, but also attain holistic fulfillment through personalized coaching, content, and care designed to transform lives and careers.

You don’t have to be crazy to work here; we’ll train you! I think I speak for all of us when describing the frustrations of learning new platforms and procedures. Just do that, this, and a couple of these, and you’ll be just fine. Makes sense, right? Enterprise software is SUPPOSED to make our job easier, save time and money. Yet time and time again, it doesn’t work out that way. Is it the software or the end-user? We can play the blame game all day long, but the real issue is proper training. In this episode, Vispi Daver, Senior Vice President WhatFix, and I talk about the complexities of enterprise software and the cost of improper training, and what Whatfix is doing to change and empower super users with high engagement and retention.

Who thought that having TOO much information and education at our fingertips would be a bad thing? As a ‘90s kid with dial-up internet, I sure didn’t. urrrr EEEE urrr NNNGGGG CRRRRcrrrr KEEEEEEE grrr nnnnnng….. It would be easy to assume that with the vast number of resources available to us today that higher organizational learning should be easily acquired and interpreted. The issue we are seeing in the #futureofwork isn’t the lack of resources, but the ability to control the flow of information and appropriately curate it to be used in the correct direction and purpose. In this episode, Juan Lagrange CEO of Sunlight Technologies and I talk about the effects of the paradox of choice with regard to learning content and how he is helping companies to solve some of the key issues surrounding the engagement epidemic in the #futureofwork.

Laying off your workforce when times get tough is never an easy process. There’s a lot to consider and emotions run high for employers and employees. As a result, the employee often gets the short end of the stick, damaging the employee brand and opening up opportunities for litigation. Furthermore, there’s often a lot of great talent that could be better served in another part of the organization that gets released, never to even consider returning again. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. On Today’s episode of Learning Tech Talks, Taylor Stockton and I are exploring how FutureFit AI is using the latest in tech to completely reimagine the way companies handle layoffs and treat their employees through the process by repurposing existing spend to create a better process with better results. We’ll talk about the way #AI can seamlessly match your workforce’s skills to internal and external career opportunities to make career transitions seamless, even in the most difficult times.

Automating, accelerating, and personalizing our digital content all the while measuring experience and impact must require an entire ecosystem of technology and another experience platform, right? Despite all the efforts and technology out there driving to improve when and where our workforce consumes the content they need, there continues to be opportunity to transform the way it’s developed. Many organizations continue to rely heavily on traditional content development tools that, while valuable, don’t quite address the entire opportunity. On today’s episode, Joel Hellermark and I will talk about the latest technological advancements in content development. We’ll share why the way we’ve historically approached it isn’t wrong but is no longer how we have to operate. We’ll also explore the capabilities of Sana Labs and see how their team is building in the latest in tech into a core capability within every L&D organization.

Prevailing ideas on futuristic training simulations are starting to blur the line between fiction and reality with emerging technology. Learning leaders (and dreamers) often have envisions of a believable training environment that isn’t taught but experienced, with the ability to provide real-time data points to highlight achievements AND failures within the design and learner journey. We are only beginning to see the profound ways that virtual and augmented reality is changing the way we view, well, just about everything in the workplace! Never has there ever been a more appropriate use of the technology than in the learning space. In this episode, I'll be talking with Peter Wittig, co-founder and director of customer experience, of Motive.io about the advantages of adopting immersive training and the ways that it is providing more confidence to trainees and creating a more productive work environment.

Access to content is not equivalent to access to opportunity. Having a library card doesn't mean you have the ability, motivation and triggers to go to the library, and then when you are there have the knowledge to both find and learn what is relevant and important. With the continued pressure to hack the upskilling code, many continue looking for ways to grow and develop their workforce despite the sea of new technology. Perhaps that’s because the right technology and content pathways are only part of the solution. In this episode, I’m joined by David and Taylor Blake, founding members of Degreed who wanted to go even further because they recognized access to content does not directly translate to access to opportunity. We’ll talk about how to move away from the talk of upskilling and focus on the implementation while highlighting what infrastructure is needed to remove blockers and create a proactive, perpetual talent-building pipeline to inclusively advance today's workforce. We’ll also hear how their new venture LearnIn can help solve every barrier that stands in the way of creating tomorrow’s workforce.

Upskilling is no longer a conversation of necessity. It is a matter of SURVIVAL. 2020 has shown us that the entire global workforce is vulnerable and the supply and demand for skills is at an order imbalance. Will you be added to the list of endangered skills? The impact of skills only being to scratch the surface with compounding effects on mental health, productivity and retention. And they are all AT RISK. In this episode, I'll be talking with Sarah Danzl and Todd Tauber with Degreed about the global workforce skills shortage and highlighting some insights that were discovered in the #StateofSkills2021 global report and what they are doing to help organizations flourish in a time of change and disruption.