session overview

Wednesday 25th January 2012

11:30 - 12:30 Track 2 Session 1

Learning infrastructures

What are the right systems to support learning in your organization? For years corporate academies were all the rage - until it was discovered that they didn't work terribly well. Now they are resurgent, but in a very different form. Analyst David Wilson uses that difference to illustrate some of the ways organisations have changed in their use of systems and have come to understand what really works. Meanwhile, Harvey Searle has woven effective learning into the heart of his organisation - where financial and medical compliance are crucial. Harvey's approach combines technology, processes and people to create a true learning infrastructure.

P1: The fall and rise of the corporate academy

David Wilson, Managing Director, Elearnity

The way large organisations run L&D has changed over recent years, and for David Wilson that change is typified by the rise of corporate academies. But academies are not new. Many organisations created academies 5 years ago that no longer exist, or have changed beyond recognition. What are academies, and why did they decline only to rise again as a benchmark model for organisational learning?

Building a compelling academy experience
Role-based learning journeys as the central thread of the new academy
Rationalising business and functionally-aligned learning curricula
Understanding context, ensuring relevance, and enabling personalisation
Diversifying learning channels and delivery methods

P2: The infrastructure for effective learning at work

Harvey M. Seale, Group L&D Manager, Nuffield Health

With 15,000 employees spread over 250 sites, ensuring everyone takes clinical and financial risk reduction seriously at Nuffield Health is no small task. Harvey Seale has avoided the cheap – but ineffective – approach of ‘next button’ e-learning. Instead he has put in place the technical infrastructure, processes and communications structure to make this crucial learning part of how the company operates. From creating courses to ensuring the right learners are automatically identified and kept informed, Harvey’s approach makes this vital learning far more than a bolted-on administrative task.