The world of work has changed forever thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. We were certainly on the path towards more flexible working environments beforehand, but the nature of the lockdowns experienced across the world accelerated that transition and it now seems inevitable that remote work is going to be a key component of how we work going forward. Gone are the days when everyone is going to be expected to be in the office all the time. We have a new way of doing things now.
As a result, the world of employee development has to shift as well. Companies can no longer rely on purely in-person training if they care about growing their employees. They have to be on board with the latest developments in digital education in order to truly be effective.
The time for hybrid learning is here.
Hybrid learning refers to a methodology that combines traditional classroom experiences, experiential learning objectives, and digital course delivery to create a holistic learning experience that works just as well when completed remotely as it does when you’re all in the same room. Enabled by advancements in technology, this trend has gathered a lot of attention in recent times and is one of the most important pieces of learning and development innovation that a company can implement.
If you don’t believe us, look at some of the biggest companies in the world who are making the switch:
- Shell, the multinational oil company, took hybrid learning very seriously and shifted over 100 different employee training programs to this new model, and achieved great results. They noted that “we believe that courses for professionals working in complex settings, such as engineers and geoscientists in the oil industry, can benefit from this type of well-designed and well-managed blend of formal and informal learning. While there still may be a classroom component to such a blended course, the main aspect is the blends involved in the work-based activities.”
- IBM, the behemoth of microprocessors, identified that by shifting their learning and development to a hybrid model, they could save up to 40% of the costs and improve the overall retention and performance – leading to significant ROI for the organization.
- The Productivity Company, a much smaller operation than Shell or IBM showed that this model works for small companies as well thanks to their experiments with the model where they saw tremendous results. For the courses they implemented it in, they saw a significant improvement in performance thanks to the versatility of hybrid learning.
These case studies show that a hybrid learning model can work for companies of all shapes and sizes. It has tremendous power for any organization and there has never been a better time to make the shift. This is the future of employee development and you should be on the cutting-edge.
Hybrid learning is the cutting-edge.