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This pattern of behavior (and availability of technology), of course, has been further enhanced by the availability of social networking, which led us to the fourth phase shown above.  Today’s employee has access to formal training, overwhelming amounts of other information, and actual human beings online.  Adding this all together, the corporate learning landscape has undergone a dramatic change.  Now, when someone needs to “learn” something, we must consider the various ways they can gain these skills or information:  they can go to a class, they can take an online course, they can look up support information on the web, they can read a book, or they can find someone who knows what to do and get help.  And we, as L&D professionals, must “formalize” this informal learning environment and make sure we align our investments toward talent management and the needs to build deep levels of skill.

This shift has created tremendous challenges for the corporate training department.  Our research shows that 68% of knowledge workers now feel that their biggest learning problem is an “overwhelming volume of information.”   This information exists in many formats, it is often out of date, and they are not sure how to find what they need.  In some sense the need for “formal” training is greater than ever (you can make sure you get the right information presented in the right way).  Yet in fact, now corporate training professionals must grapple with a whole new set of issues:  how do I create a complete “learning environment” (not a learning program) which supports this new world of formal and informal learning?

And the shift has impacted our profession as well.  Our research members now tell us that the biggest help they need is not in developing new content, but rather building the organizational learning culture and understanding the new skills and disciplines they need to be effective.

As you can see, the framework is multi-faceted.   If you would like to walk through it in detail, I encourage you to read our in-depth whitepaper.  Briefly, the framework has six main areas:   Learning Programs (the solution-oriented training solutions you deliver), Audiences and Problems (a clear segmentation of your audiences and their specific needs), Learning Approaches (the four ways in which learning solutions are developed and delivered), Learning Disciplines (the things you as an L&D professional must now know to stay current in this area), Tools & Technology (the vast array of technology you can rely on to build and deliver these solutions),  and Learning Culture (the underlying business processes, management processes, and talent management programs which support enterprise learning).