Elearning! Magazine: Building Smarter Companies via Learning & Workplace Technologies.
Issue link: http://elmezine.epubxp.com/i/201066
nextgeneration Figure 1. How Boomers Learn <•> Normal speed < > • Linear <•> Text frst <•> One thing at a time <•> Passive <•> By self <•> Work, hard, not fun <•> fnancially rewarding — which includes the on-the-job training and education they want to receive (Fig. 1). One of the benefts that corporations can ofer the next-gen workforce is to provide leadership and feedback. Millennials look to their leaders as role models and have a strong desire to learn from them. Establishing a clear career track that's supported by a performance review process also helps employees understand how they are doing in their job and encourages them to keep improving and moving forward in the organization. Another beneft that Millennials seek from their employers is the opportunity to interact and work with others. To that end, chief learning ofcers and their managers should strive to create an ofce space that allows co-workers to share ideas and promotes teamwork and collaboration. Allow them to participate in group projects to gain valuable hands-on experience. And 32 October / November 2013 Elearning! >> How 'Net Generation' Learns Twitch speed Random access Graphics frst Many things in parallel Active Connected >> >> >> >> more informal learning culture. Let employees learn when, where, and how they want to, not restrict it to just the classroom or even the desktop. Allow employees to gain experience that can't be acquired through coursework. Provide advanced capabilities that encourage instant engagement. Ofer guided decisions for managers. Simplify instant two-way communications with mobile management. Play, interact, fun To the next-gen workforce, what's most important is not how much you earn, but how much you grow. make the learning process high-tech and interactive to achieve never-before-reached levels of engagement. A good learning program for Gen-Y workers should: >> Socialize learning into everyday behavior, shifing your organization toward a WHAT'S APC? APC helps create learning tailored to the particular educational needs and personal characteristics of each individual learner. In many cases today, mobile devices — because their use will surpass desktop use for Internet access next year — are the tools that allow employees to learn in real-world situations, whenever and wherever they so desire. Adaptive personalized learning through APC is "the process of enabling the system to ft its behavior and functionalities to the educational needs (such as learning goals and interests), the personal characteristics (such as learning styles and prior knowledge), and the particular circumstances (such as location and movements) of the individual learner or a group of interconnected learners." TARGET CAREER WELL-BEING "What does a good job look like?" Kalinske asks. To the next-gen workforce, "what's most important is not how much you earn, but how much you grow." Kalinske contends that employees want to feel like they belong; that someone in the organization really cares about their professional development; that the work is challenging; and that individual contributions toward fulflling the company's mission are self-evident. Just as important is employee engagement. Gallup found that 29 percent of workers are engaged on the job, 53 percent are not engaged, and 19 percent are actively disengaged (Fig. 2). "Engaged workers are terrifc," Kalinske says. "Tey help with proftability, with morale, with customer relationships, and with productivity. But employees who are not engaged are not psychologically connected to the company. Tey're more likely to miss