Is it time to make learning fun again?

Hello and welcome to Working It.

I just returned from a meeting with my oldest friends. Every November we rent the same house in the Cotswolds and eat, drink and talk non-stop. Spending time with people who knew you before you hit puberty 😳 (let alone before you got a job, had kids, etc.) becomes almost familiar, but without the complex dynamics. (We know each other’s weaknesses 👀.)

Friends are important in good times, but in more difficult periods these deep connections become vital. I will always remember an episode of the Working It podcast about Surviving bad bosses, true narcissists. – or anyone who makes us doubt ourselves. The advice of the experts? Spend a lot of time with people who really know and accept us. They keep us anchored to reality.

Read on for some tips from chief learning officers on how to keep your workforce learning and sticking. (What do CLOs do for their own learning? I’m intrigued and asked about it.) And in Office Therapy I calm someone who feels guilty for saying no to a colleague’s request for help.

Is it time to learn in a different way? 🎓

It seems like everyone is talking about the need to train, upskill, and reskill (insert dynamic verb of your choice) your workforce. The advent of generative artificial intelligence has galvanized the work of chief learning officers and should make that role a core strategy for all companies.

Is that happening right now? It’s not enough, according to a detailed report from Emeritus, a global online learning company. Is CLO 2024 Strategy Report is a goldmine of data from 500 CLOs around the world and in-depth interviews with 20 named individuals. No less important is the initial finding: “While nearly all CLOs in our research said it was ‘very important’ to be connected to their CEO’s strategic direction, 45 percent of CLOs said they felt ‘somewhat connected.’ ‘ or even ‘very disconnected’ from the business. strategy.”

Surely this is “core learning” to align employee training and skills with the broader business strategy? However, in many cases, this apparently is not happening. However, one of the encouraging findings of the Emeritus report is that many CLOs (67 percent in this report) are choosing to measure their department’s success based on their business KPIs rather than traditional performance measures. training and development. So even if the CEO is distant, the results don’t have to be.

What can we all learn from the most effective CLOs about introducing AI training and skills? I asked Amélie Villeneuveglobal head of learning at Standard Chartered Bank. It has launched an AI learning center for its 90,000 employees and is in the founding stage right now; Next year, Amelie says, those who have earned certification in the basics will move into “our learning environment, where they will have the opportunity to learn.” experiment in a number of safe contexts on how to deploy AI to drive growth and productivity.”

Where, I wondered, do CLOs go to do their own learning? Amelie says, “The last course I really loved was a Pixar storytelling course and now I’m hooked on some HarvardX courses.” More surprisingly, “I’m a bit obsessive about non-traditional learning: in my spare time I run a farm, compete, and produce horses 🐎 for show jumping and dressage, which teaches me a lot about personal leadership and performance.” (Side note: I would love to hear from other readers, CLO or not, about any other “non-traditional learning” you do.)

Amelie says the bank is “ruthless” in eliminating courses that staff do not complete. In general, a large number of us do not complete digital courses at work. Amelie says that’s because the content is too long, generic, or poorly designed in terms of how much time we’re expected to spend learning. “Learning consumers are quite sophisticated now: they demand a seamless, convenient and integrated experience. “Anything less than the quality they would get from digital consumer interaction is not viable.”

Heist reported last month that EY laid off “dozens of staff” in the US who had attended more than one digital training class at a time during its “EY Ignite Learning Week” in May. Regardless of the ethics of doing that (Anjli Raval has written a interesting article about firing employees for minor offenses), the case perhaps indicates something broader: there is still some way to go in terms of making all online training fully engaging.

In one word: CLOs are tasked with nothing less than implementing the future of work 🔮, in the form of AI and other skills. But they still don’t have the attention of enough CEOs and some of the courses are still not good enough.

Do you want more? Look at our FT Working It Movie about the future of executive learning, online and in-person. (Presenting Global students groundbreaking “green screen” study for interactive online learning that I believe is a game changer).

*Do you have an innovative idea for corporate learning? Are we doing it all wrong? Send me an email: isabel.berwick@ft.com

This week on the Working It podcast

The UK and some other rich economies have a long-term disease problem. And an increasing number of people who are unemployed and claiming benefits are young and often diagnosed with mental health problems. What is happening? And are there any solutions that employers and managers can use to help more people get back into paid employment and stay there? In this week’s podcast episodeI speak to two Financial Times colleagues who are experts in this area: our chief data reporter, John Burn-Murdoch, and Camilla Cavendish, contributing editor and columnist.

office therapy

The problem: I recently had a heated conversation with a colleague (in a very quiet office). They had been asking me repeatedly to do something big as a favor that was out of character for them, but I felt like it was a case of “it’s your problem.” I am very busy and I refused.

I have since learned that this colleague is on reduced hours due to a serious family issue (none of this is public). I feel like a terrible person. We don’t know each other very well. How do I apologize/offer to carry some of their workload without mentioning the personal issue I shouldn’t know about?

Isabel’s advice: There are two layers here: the superficial “request” (which you rejected) and the hidden reason for the request (which you didn’t know at the time). What would you like to happen if you were in your colleague’s position? The appropriate response will be personal to you and the (calm) dynamic of your office team.

From my point of view, I would send a note or ask to meet for coffee to openly and sincerely ask for forgiveness and that you regret the outburst, lack of cooperation, etc. You don’t need to share too much. Being human is.

Take it as a lesson for the future: there are often good reasons for strange requests. And where is the manager🕵🏽‍♂️? Presumably they know what happened to this colleague. Tell your boss, if you can, that it would have been helpful (and more professional) if he or she had asked you to take on the extra work, thus saving you an awkward interaction.

You were left in a difficult situation due to a management error. Don’t worry: you didn’t know the whole story and everyone will have forgotten it by next week 📆.

Five notable stories from the world of work

1. No degree, no problem: American employers look beyond college credentials. Claire Bushey speaks to members of the “new collar” workforce, people hired for their skills, not where (or if) they went to college.

2. No work phone? Companies tell staff to bring their own: An increasing number of staff don’t have a phone at work, but that creates gray areas around regulation, safety and etiquette, writes Ben Parr.

3. Why rudeness has no place at work: I agree with Emma Jacobs’ analysis and she has the statistics to back it up. It’s not good for the person who is rude or their team.

4. Lunch with the Financial Times: British Museum director Nicholas Cullinan: Jan Dalley has a fascinating interview with the man leading the rumored £1bn reconstruction and reimagining of the 3,500-room museum, as well as the search for its 2,000 missing objects.

5. How to throw an unmissable party: Not strictly about work (but you could invite your colleagues…), Alice Lascelles offers insight into the art of organizing a brilliant seasonal event.

one more thing

We don’t often admit that we admire the opposition, but I think the Wall Street Journal’s coverage of the world of work and management is excellent. One of its writers, Rachel Feintzeig, said goodbye to careers and the workplace this week, with a column called Eight lessons from 11 years of writing about work and life. He’s exactly as smart and agile as the headline suggests. Here’s a sample: “I believe in hard work, but I don’t believe you can achieve anything just by trying hard. Show off well about yourself and others.”

A few words from the Working It community

The newsletter on corporate giving to charities (or rather, the lack of it) a couple of weeks ago generated many posts and many ideas. I hear from innovative corporations doing great things, but also from frustrated charities, who are pressured to accept partnerships or projects that corporations want, even when they don’t match their own goals and long-term funding needs.

I will return to this topic. As an example, here’s Alex Freeman from Impulsea charitable foundation that supports organizations that improve the educational and employment outcomes of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds:

“We use a venture philanthropy model, providing our portfolio organizations with long-term, unrestricted funding, but also working closely with them to increase their impact and become stronger, more resilient organizations. A big part of this model is pro bono partnerships.

“Our free network allows charities to access professional resources they lack. Through pro-bono projects and partnerships, financial and consulting firms in particular can support charities in a transformative way by giving them the business expertise they need to expand their reach and impact, without the huge prices associated with corporate donations. ”.