The English philosopher Francis Bacon coined the famous phrase "knowledge is power". In Silicon Valley, the reverberations of that thought still vibrate with force, since for an industry based on talent, knowledge represents an invaluable tool to stand out above the rest.
The acquisition of new knowledge is not a simple hobby for the workers of technology-based companies. It is, on the contrary, a central axis for the evolution of its capabilities and the search for new challenges.
Companies, meanwhile, understand that knowledge is an investment that must be made to guarantee innovation in all its forms, so many of them have departments created specifically to meet the needs of this area.
Kelly Palmer knows this world up close. She was LinkedIn's director of learning, where she helped her employees transform career paths through innovative learning strategies, led employee engagement and designed their team. And before that he was vice president of learning for Yahoo !, as well as holding executive positions in learning, M & A and product development at Sun Microsystems.
Currently, he is part of the executive team of Degreed, an educational technology firm dedicated to training and recognizing learning along with professional skills.
In addition, she is co-author of the free "The expertise economy", which proposes keeping people's skills synchronized with the rapid changes in labor markets. For the executive, companies and their employees will be successful to the extent that they focus on developing skills for the future.
In a dialogue with iProUP, Palmer explained why technology is playing a fundamental role in new forms of learning and how companies look at knowledge as the key that will enable them to face tomorrow's problems.
Technology and traditional learning go hand in hand or, on the contrary, the use of technological tools forces us to rethink the way in which individuals acquire new knowledge?
Traditional education still has a role, but the big change that is happening is twofold: new technologies are introducing completely new ways of learning and recent research provides a great perspective of, as you say, the ways in which people acquire new knowledge.
Today, there are more tools, content and technologies than ever before to help your employees become the experts you need. Above all, success requires that you adopt a new mindset when it comes to training your talent, your most important asset. It requires that you begin to think of your employees as complex and unique individuals who should have control over their own learning and career. It challenges you to put aside the old-fashioned and traditional ways of closing skill gaps in your workplace.
Some people prefer to learn in a more traditional university structure, but others want something different. This new era helps put students in the driver's seat, giving them options for different ways to develop new skills that excite and enthuse them. The use of digital tools in learning is here to stay.
These instruments provide educators with the opportunity to make learning more attractive and lasting. Instead of teaching people things they will memorize for a test, educators can use these new systems to help them acquire the skills they will keep.
For example, the best learning programs in higher education use technology such as video and collaborative tools to help participants learn from teachers and peers.
In these cases, students are immersed in knowing new topics, practicing skills, obtaining feedback and reflecting on what they learned, something we call the Learning Loop model.
For example, the best learning programs in higher education use technology such as video and collaborative tools to help participants learn from teachers and peers.
In these cases, students are immersed in knowing new topics, practicing skills, obtaining feedback and reflecting on what they learned, something we call the Learning Loop model.
Meanwhile, less effective programs make people feel through uncommitted online content or simply put teacher conferences online. If educators become attached to this, they can become obsolete.
David (Blake, co-author of The Expertise Economy) and I explained in the book that, despite some quality flaws, online education is increasingly popular and may end up displacing some of our more traditional institutions.
Technology does not have the same level of penetration in first world countries as in developing countries. What initiatives should the different nations face to close this gap and give greater access to digital tools that enhance education?
Increasingly, the types of technologies that enable online learning are making their way around the world. One of my Degreed colleagues was inspired to develop an online learning platform when he was working on a water cistern project in a South African village. Electricity had reached the village, the use of the smartphone was taking off, and suddenly, people had all kinds of learning at their fingertips. At Degreed, we are happy to have users all over the world.
However, it is true that many of the modern learning technologies are still used to a large extent by the residents of the developed world. In our book, we cite a Harvard Business Review report that explains that members of the Massive and Open Online Courses (MOOCs) 'are predominantly well-educated residents of developed countries'.
However, that is changing. According to Sal Khan, 'anyone who literally wants to learn anything can start at any level, get explanations, practice, develop game mechanics, learn what they want to learn'. They have people at the Khan Academy who are refugees, but they are so motivated that they literally go from K-12 (primary education) in three years and become engineers.
The key for any country is to invest, when possible, in making online learning available to everyone. It is an economic benefit. When people in your country can learn, they can also start working online for companies around the world.
Today the search for talent is fundamental in the technological market. From where can companies help these talents to enhance their knowledge?
This comes to a central idea of the book. The knowledge that your staff has is your greatest strength. If CEOs and business leaders rely on an "exclusive hiring" strategy to get talent with the skills they need for their future, they will not succeed. The key is to make learning in the workplace an integral part of the job. Train your workforce to learn by providing them with a platform, opportunities and time to learn. And to make decisions about their own learning paths.
To stay genuinely competitive, to increase your talent base, you must focus on developing new experts, helping everyone on your team close their personal skills gaps and master specialized skills. And the way to do it is to encourage them to 'appropriate' their professional development every day.
Measuring talents and skills, quantifying them, carries the risk of greater internal competition within companies or, on the contrary, helps to overcome goals?
The ability to collect large amounts of data and information about the skills your workforce has and the skills that people are currently learning is a game changer for any industry. This is the reason why at Degreed we provide people with learning profiles, which track their skills and progress in learning new ones. And in our book, we show companies how to gather information that creates an image of the skills that are becoming necessary in their industry and where their business is currently strong and weak.
We have found that, instead of creating a problematic competition, this process empowers workers. They can see what skills they need to develop to advance their careers. And they learn from each other. In fact, these new technologies offer peer learning in new and exciting ways. The employees teach each other and feed each other. This whole process helps people and the business in general to achieve their goals.
What should a company consider when facing initiatives that seek to promote the development of talents and skills among its employees?
Companies must answer certain key questions when considering their initiatives. These questions come in three levels: suite C; leaders of various organizations within the company, and the individual level.
In suite C, executive leadership should ask: 'Do we have the skills we need to win?' Determine what they are and communicate it to the entire company.
At the next level, leaders should consider which of those skills are particularly important for their organization within the business. Then ask: 'Where are we strong or weak? What will improve those skills? 'And start encouraging employees to learn those skills.
Meanwhile, individuals should consider their own professional goals, the skills they need, their own strengths and weaknesses, and ways to fill those skill gaps.
At all levels, people should monitor their progress frequently and return to their original questions. New technologies sprout all the time, changing the way business is done, and that requires developing new skills.
What place will education and learning have in the corporate environment in the next 10 years? Will its evolution be similar in the United States than in other regions of the world?
We believe that learning in the workplace is the future, particularly in the midst of the rapid pace of change in the business world. As artificial intelligence and machine learning take over the physical and routine skills of today's workers, unique human skills such as emotional intelligence, empathy, creativity, critical thinking and problem solving will be even more important. These are all skills that can be developed throughout a career.
Certainly, things are moving at a different pace in different parts of the world. For example, in the book we cite the SkillsFuture program launched in 2015 by the government of Singapore to provide all citizens with access to training programs to develop specific skills. Singapore is a rich nation, and other developed nations, such as the United States, are in a position to advance efforts more rapidly than developing nations. Even so, all over the world, other countries are also beginning to adapt to this new reality and are beginning to take advantage of the opportunities of the Experience Economy.
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