Ep. 44 What We've Learned About L&D in 2020

Human resources has grown closer to learning and development in 2020 at a time when both of these areas have evolved in drastic ways. 

HR Exchange Network editor David Rice sits down to consider what he and all of us have learned about L&D in the last year. He sits down with Global Head of Digital Learning at GE Healthcare, Christopher Lind to chat about how the events of 2020 have impacted the industry and what he expects from it going forward. 

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2020 brought a clearer view of how L&D is going to drive change in organizations across a variety of industries in the years to come.

But at the same time, L&D has been going through this crisis in its own way, and it's unique to every organization given just how different the state of L&D is from one organization to the next. Some are leading the way in things like their use of data, microlearning, gamification, VR and other technology. Others are barely out of the starting blocks when it comes to putting together a Learning Management System or even a content distribution system.

Regardless of the state of your L&D program, it's become clear that the future of learning is digital, seemingly no matter where you are at along that spectrum and what was done in L&D in 2020 was largely driven by the need to have your L&D offerings available online.

Many companies have shown an interest in investing in new learning technology right now. According to Lind, this makes sense given the state of things, but the answer to the question of what to invest in largely depends on what you’re trying to solve for.

"I understand why it's a top priority," Lind said. "In 2020, the majority of our people were scrambling around. They've known for a while that they needed to be digital for a while and they put it on the back burner. Suddenly the back burner caught fire and is burning down the kitchen."

Reskilling and upskilling are a big part of the conversation in L&D now. But companies have to improve at identifying the right skills to develop for the roles they need in the future. To do that, L&D has to get itself out of a silo and collaborate with other teams. 

"For a long time, L&D has stayed in its silo," Lind said. We have to break that down. You should have conversations with your business stakeholders so you can see their pain points and tap into your network, because other people are trying to solve for the same issues."

To hear the full interview with Lind around personalization of learning, creating a culture of development and what lies ahead in 2021, click the button on the player above, or use the buttons below to use your favorite podcast listening apps.