For years, corporate e-learning was full of boring, click-through-as-fast-as-you-can programs that were primarily used for compliance and tactical training. But today's digital courses are full of interactive live sessions, engaging prework, robust communities, rewards-based gamification, and so much more. Organizations and their employees are embracing this new way of learning now more than ever as a result of four workplace shifts.

These are big shifts, like the tectonic shifts that happen in an earthquake. The have changed the landscape of work forever and for the better if you're a learning professional or coach who desires the flexiblity and freedom these new approaches provide. 

TECTONIC SHIFT #1: Virtual Culture Dilemma

During the Covid 19 pandemic, everything got derailed, sending people to all corners of their homes in search of comfortable, functional workspaces. They developed new ways of juggling work and family life and learned work from home technologies. Some people used this as an opportunity to find a new position or to choose an entrepreneurial path. Others simply were displaced and distracted, checked out, or just trying to keep up.  This created our first tectonic shift – and that’s a cultural shift. Employers faced a virtual culture dilemma that shifted the way employees relate, communicate, and collaborate at work.

A survey of 2,500 business professionals revealed that the top two skills for success in virtual work are problem solving and social or emotional skills. This type of learning content will help people continue to adapt to this shift and to thrive in today’s virtual world.

TECTONIC SHIFT #2: Employers as a Safety Net

In the past, organizations served only as a financial safety net by helping people earn a weekly paycheck. Now, companies are facing the second tectonic shift as they recognize the need to serve as a wellness safety net, ensuring their employees are physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy and strong. This creates a need for learning content that goes beyond compliance, skills, and management training. Personal development programs that focus on personal wellness and overcoming life's challenges are part of today's workplace curriculum.

TECTONIC SHIFT #3: Loss of Social Connections 

Today, many people are working from home or in a hybrid arrangement.  Even though they love doing their laundry while working from home, today’s workforce misses the camaraderie of a group of like-minded professionals coming together for a common purpose. They miss working and learning together.

Smart employers are adapting to this third tectonic shift to by creating more intentional social connections for their teams. In some cases, this be a one-time event like a teambuilding session or virtual happy hours. Other organizations are taking a more formal approach by creating employee resource groups or employee affinity groups. Others have tapped into technology by creating online communities for employees with similiar interests to learn and share.

TECTONIC SHIFT #4: The Power of Online Learning

The fourth shift employers have embraced is the recognition that online learning can be just as powerful as traditional, in-person events. People are so comfortable now using online reference materials for their work, Googling possible solutions to problems, and following YouTube channels to build their professional expertise and personal well-being. I don’t think there’s a person on the planet who hasn’t been part of a Teams meeting, Zoom session, or a Facebook live. 

But, let me tell you where the real shift has been. In the past, only the largest employers had budgets or bandwidth to widely embrace online learning. With modern-day techniques and easy-to-use technology right at our fingertips, robust online learning programs can easily be created and delivered.

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