1. Learning at the speed
of business
What digital means for the next generation of corporate academies.
by Richard Benson-Armer, Arne Gast, and Nick van Dam
Corporate universities areenteringtheirsecondcentury,justasthe
businessesthatrelyonthemaretransformingthemselvesforthedigital
age.WhenpioneerssuchasGeneralMotorsandGeneralElectricbegan
offeringstandardizedin-housetrainingprograms,about100yearsago,they
focusedonimpartinglower-level,day-to-dayskills.Backthen,itmayhave
seemedfancifultoimaginethefull-fledgedacademiesthatwouldemerge
inlaterdecades.Butemergetheydid:GE’sCrotonvilleleadershipcenter,in
1956;McDonald’sHamburgerUniversity,in1961;andtoday’struelearning
institutionsforglobalcorporationssuchasApple,Boeing,andDanone.
Nowanewphaseisunfoldingattheseorganizations,whichmustgrapple
withtoolsandplatformsthatfacilitateknowledgesharingandemployee
interactionsonanalmostlimitlessscale,challenging—andsometimes
appearingtosweepaway—theoldbrick-and-mortarmodel(exhibit).
WHERE THE FINDINGS LEAD
In2014,wequeriedsome1,500globalexecutivesaboutcapability
building.Lastyear,wesharpenedourfocus,surveyingapproximately
120seniorlearning-and-development(L&D)officerstogainamorein-depth
understandingofthepresentstateandprobabletrajectoryofcorporate
May 2016

2. 2
academies.1 Wealsoconductedmultiplebenchmarkingvisitsatbest-in-class
organizationsandinterviewedmorethanadozenchieflearningofficers
(CLOs)withexperienceatsomeofthelargest,mostsuccessfulcompanies
aroundtheworld.Ourfindingsderive,moreover,frominsightswe’vegleaned
throughpracticalexperiencewithcorporateacademiesglobally.That
includesMcKinseyAcademy,thisfirm’sdigitaloffering,whichservesnot
onlyourconsultantsbutalsoourclients,tohelpdevelopleadersandbuild
functionalcapabilities.
Thegreatmajorityofourrespondentsexpectcorporatelearningtochange
significantlywithinthenextthreeyears—boththecapabilitiesimparted
andthenewagilityrequiredtomatchthefasterpaceofbusiness.Mostalso
acknowledgethatthesedevelopmentswillprobablyhaveamaterialcost:
overthatperiod,morethan60percentoftherespondents’companiesplanto
increasetheirlearning-and-developmentspendingand66percenttoincrease
thenumberofformal-learninghoursperemployee.
What’sworryingisthelevelofdissatisfactionwiththestatusquo.Only
57percentoftherespondentsbelievethattheiracademiesare“veryorfully
aligned”withcorporatepriorities.Evenfewer(52percent)reportedthatthese
institutionsenabletheircompaniestomeetstrategicobjectives.About
40percentofCLOssaythattheirinitiativesareeither“ineffective”or“neither
effectivenorineffective”inassessingthecapabilitiesandgapsofemployees.
Theseshortcomingsaremostpronouncedamongmidlevelmanagersand
seniorleaders—reflecting,inourexperience,howdifficultitistoinstillnew
attitudes,particularlyatthehigherlevelsofacompany.
Manyrespondentsalsothinkthattheseorganizationsdon’tsufficiently
deploythefullarrayoflearningtools,methods,andapproachesnow
available.Theyreportthatclassroomtraining,experientiallearning,andthe
on-the-jobapplicationofskillswereinregularuse.Butlessthanhalfofthe
organizationsavailthemselvesofpeerandself-directedlearning,educational
initiativesthattakeparticipantsoutsidetheircomfortzones,orrisk-free
learningenvironments.Aboutone-thirdoftherespondentsreportedthat
theirorganizationslacksystemstosharelearningamongemployees.And
thesurveyedCLOsoverwhelminglythinkthattheirorganizations’digital
capabilitiesaretoolow.
1
The respondents’ organizations spend roughly 4 percent of their payroll budgets to build capabilities and
invest about 34 hours per employee a year in formal learning. Research, both by us and by others, suggests
that the ratio of learning expenditures to payroll is generally inversely proportional to an organization’s size.
The Association for Talent Development (ATD), for example, reported that small organizations invest about
5.4 percent of payroll on learning, midsize organizations 3.0 percent, and large organizations 1.7 percent. See
State of the Industry, Association for Talent Development, 2015, www.td.org.

3. 3
THE DIGITAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITY
Digitizationoffersahugeopportunitytotransformlearningandaddress
someofitscurrentdeficiencies,thoughitbearsnotingthatdigitallearning
toolsarenotnew.Whatisnew—anddisruptivelyso—isthefactthatthe
contentoflearningismovingtothecloud,becomingaccessibleacross
multipledevicesandteachingenvironmentsandoftenbeinggenerated,
shared,andcontinuallyupdatedbyusersthemselves.
Unsurprisingly,ourresearchindicatesthatyoungeremployees—millennials
andpostmillennials,orGenerationZ—feelthegreatestlevelofcomfortwith
digitization.AtChinaFortuneLandDevelopmentCompany(CFLD),Han
Qing,theheadofCFLDUniversity,explainsthat“deployingdigitallearning
andusingtechnologyispartofourstrategybecausetherearemoreandmore
youngpeoplejoiningtheworkforce.TheyareusedtomobilephonesandPCs.
Andtheydemandmoredigitallearning.”
Integratedcloud-basedplatformsenablemorethanjustnewcomputer
programsorniftysmartphoneapps.Sophisticatedorganizationsarenow
expandingtheiruseofcloud-basedlearningtorunsuchpersonalized
applicationsasMOOCs(massiveopenonlinecourses),SPOCs(smallprivate
onlinecourses),instructionalvideos,learninggames,e-coaching,virtual
classrooms,onlineperformancesupport,andonlinesimulations.
Exhibit
Analytics for learning
to enhance performance
and measure impact
Workplace learning
that is core to a
company’s culture
The corporate academy
of the future
Mobile platforms
for learning at your
fingertips
In-person classroom
experiences that are high
impact and immersive
The next generation of corporate academies supports
learning at the speed of business.
Physical separation from
the “daily grind” to develop
new skills and behavior
Cloud-based learning
that is mobile
and multiplatform
Use of big data and predictive
analytics to improve learning
continually
A culture of social learning,
real-time feedback, sharing,
and networking
Web 2016
Corporate academies
Exhibit 1 of 1

4. 4
OneglobalAsianoriginaldesignmanufacturerweknowoffersadigital
3-Dlearningenvironmentatitsvirtualmodelfactory.Thissystemlets
employeeparticipants“see”and“feel”complexequipmentdeployedat
manyofthecompany’splants.Danone—longcommittedtoencouraging
professionalandindividualdevelopmentthroughmeanssuchasmore
thantenlearningfacilitiesaroundtheworld—successfullyrolledoutits
cloud-basedDanoneCampus2.0in2014.Easilyaccessibleandcontinually
updated,thisinnovativeapproachtolearninginvolvesDanoneemployees
intheirowndevelopmentbyprovidingadigital,user-friendlyspacetoshare
bestpractices,tohighlightthelatestinternalandexternalknowledge,andto
fosteracultureofcollaborativelearningandnetworking.
Unleashingthepowerofcollectiveintelligenceisespeciallycriticaltothe
digital-learningtransformation.Increasingly,thelearnerandthelearner’s
innercircle—colleagueswhosendeachotherarticlesorrecommend
contentthroughacentralonline-learningsystem—actascurators.In
largeglobalcompanies,HRorLDcan’town(orevenshareownership
of)detailedknowledgeabouttheexistingandemergingskillsadiverse
workforcemusthavetoimprovetheperformanceofeachbusiness.But
employeesthemselvescanbeempoweredtoshareknowledgeacrossthe
company,anapproachthatalsohelpssolvetheperennialproblemofwho
willbethetrainer.Whentrainingisautomated,consistencyimprovesand
C-suitemessagesgostraighttothefrontline,avoidingpotentiallydistorted
“translations”passedonatacompany’smiddlelevels.
Flatteningtheknowledgehierarchynotonlysharpensthemessagingand
broadensthepoolofavailablecontentbutalsoenablesfasterdeliveryand,
potentially,moresophisticatedperformancemeasurement.Weexpect
LDandHRpersonneltobecomelesstheauthorsofwhatgetstaught
indigitalformatsandmorethefacilitatorswhoensurethatemployee-
generatedcontentcanbeseamlesslydispersedthroughoutthecompany.
Ourrespondentsratedtheircompanieshighlyondesigninganddelivering
learningprograms—morethan75percentsaidtheywereeffectiveonboth
counts.Butdigitizingeducationeffectivelyrequirestheadditional,more
technicalcapabilitiesthatawired-inworlddemands.
Formakenomistake,itreallyisanewworld,learningatthespeedof
business.Sincethereislessneedtowaitforscheduledtrainingsessions,
“pull”cancomplement“push,”asemployeesempoweredtoupskillandreskill
themselveslogontouser-friendlylearningplatforms.MuchasAmazon
makesbooksinstantlyavailableanywhere,anytime,onitsKindleandother
devices,thedigitizationoflearningcanprovideunprecedentedaccessto
relevantknowledge,alotofitatrelativelyloworevennocost.

5. 5
Theimpactoftoday’sbestsystemsandtoolscanbejustasprofoundas
Amazon’s,eveniftheresultsaren’talwayspreciselymeasurable.Asan
executiveatoneleadingglobalcompanynoted,investinginmodernlearning-
and-developmentplatformsissofundamentalthatittranscendssimple
metrics—akintobuildingahouseandthentryingtomeasuretheROIof
theplumbing.Despitetheabilityofdigitalplatformstomakethecollection,
analysis,andscoringofdatamoresophisticated,thefullmeasureofimpact
can’tbecapturedtothedecimal.
THE ENDURING CASE FOR (AT LEAST SOME) BRICKS AND MORTAR
Similarly,forallofthenotableadvancesthatdigitizationpromises,
comprehensivelearningcannotbebasedonthecloudalone.Companies
stillhavecompellingreasonstolocatesignificantelementsofcorporate
learningintangible,specializededucationalfacilities—increasingly,with
ergonomicallydesignedfurniture,plentyoflight,andinteriordesigngeared
specificallytolearning.Inourexperience,anysuccessfuleducational
programallowsemployeestounplugandenjoyarespitefromanalways-on,
24/7tempo.
Theimportanceofthisphysicalseparationfromthedailygrindshouldnotbe
underestimated.Ifemployeeshavenoopportunitytostepawayfromtheir
workingenvironments,thesameoldbehavior,forgoodandill,isconstantly
reinforced,andthechanceformorereflective,committedlearningis
lost.HarvardprofessorRonaldHeifetzcallsthisa“balconymoment”:the
imperativeforleaderstoleavethe“dancefloor”periodicallyandreflectonthe
patternsandmovementbelow.
Dedicatedlearningfacilitiesalsobefitthegravitasofaprofessionalfunction.
Howevervirtualbusinessmaynowseem,westillbelongtoaphysicalworld;
evenAmazonrecentlyestablisheditsownphysicalbookstores.It’sworth
noting,aswell,thatmillennialsbenefitfromhigh-touchlearningnoless
thanworkersfrompreviousgenerationsdo.Youngeremployeesmayspend
moretimeonlineandbemorecomfortablewithmobileapplications.Butthey
shouldnotbeforced—and,inourexperience,don’tdesire—toengagesolely
withdigitallearningtools.
Indeed,corporateacademiesprovideanunparalleledopportunityfor
employeestoshareexperienceswithfellowparticipantsandtoconnectwith
companyleaders.Manybest-practicecorporateacademiesdeploytheirtop
executivesasvisitingfaculty;GE,forinstance,haslonguseditsmostsenior
leadersinmanylearningprograms.AmajorAsianoilandgascompanywe
knowincludesthenumberofdaysseniorexecutivesspendinsuchteaching

6. 6
capacitiesintheirperformanceevaluations.Thevalueofthisinteraction
isparticularlyhighforcompaniesthatoperateacrossbusinessesand
geographies.
Thatsaid,learningisanexpertise,nolessthandisciplinessuchas
marketingorfinance.It’sthereforecriticaltomaintainacorelearning-
and-developmentteamwithprofessionalsinthatfield.We’veobservedthat
toomanyLDorganizationsareledbyemployeesfromothercompany
functionswho“graduate”tomanagingLDafewyearsshortofretirement.
Companiesthatareseriousaboutmodernizingtheirskill-buildingeffortsas
digitizationtransformscorporatelearningmustattractanddevelopleaders
withdeepexperienceinthisuniquefunction.Someglobalorganizations
areevensendingseniorpersonneltoanewexecutivedoctoralprogram,
launchedbytheUniversityofPennsylvania,designedspecificallytoprepare
CLOsandotherseniorexecutivesforsuccessaseducationalandtalent-
developmentleaders.
TYING IT ALL TOGETHER
Ultimately,webelieve,thefutureofcorporateacademiesliesinblended
learning,whichcombinesclassroomforums,in-fieldapplications,personal
andresults-orientedfeedback,andonlineengagement.Thereisnomagic
numberforallocatingtimebetweendigitalandin-personlearning;different
industries,anddifferentcompanieswithinthem,mustdeterminethe
mixthatmakesthemostsensefortheircircumstancesandcapability-
developmentpriorities.Connectivityallowsorganizationstomeetmanyof
themostimportantlearningobjectives:avoidingdisruptionsinday-to-day
business,deliveringcontentconsistently(asopposedtoin-persontraining
withdifferentfacilitators),andsustaininglearningforemployees(who
reviewthecontentaftertheendofeachlessonandthenupdateandshare
theirnewknowledgeinrealtime).
It’scritical,too,foranorganizationtoexpressitscommitmentfromthe
veryhighestlevels.Justasthedigitalandphysicalelementsoflearning
mustfittogetherinarationalway,LDshouldcollaboratewiththeC-suite
toensuregeneralagreementoneducationalprioritiesandtherequired
funding.“IfLDisnotastrategicpartnerfortheimportantinitiativesofthe
company,”notedtheCLOofoneEuropeantelecomweinterviewed,“you’re
justworkingreactivelywiththeotherbusinesses.Inourcompany,thereis
astrongalignmentbetweenlearningandouroverallbusinessstrategy.But
that’sbecauseofastrongpushfromtheCEO.”
Farsightedcorporateleadersunderstandthevalueproposition.When
criticaltrainingprogramsbecamemandatory,aleadingfinancialinstitution

7. 7
wearefamiliarwithboosteditslevelofengagementandmoraleandhalved
itsabsenteerateforkeypositions.Acrossmanydimensions,theeffectsof
corporatelearning—especiallyinthedigitalage—willfindtheirwaytothe
bottomline.
Corporateacademiesarepoisedforchangeontheorderofmagnitude
experiencedacenturyago,whentheydevelopedfromlow-levelworkshops
intomatureinstitutions.Thedisruptionnowunderwayisremarkable,
representingatransformationevenwhencomparedtowhathadbeen
standardpracticesattheendofthe20thcentury,whenthefocuswaslargely
onclassroom-basedlearning.Achievingthenextlevelofchange—akinto
therevolutionthatAmazonbroughttoretailing—willrequireanimble
balancebetweendigitalandphysicalplatforms,culturalmessagingand
technicalcontent,andreal-timeandactivelysharedlearning.Thesudden
emergenceofamoredigitallyengagedgenerationandthestepped-uppace
oftechnologicalchangesuggestthattimeisoftheessence.Successfully
navigatingthecomingtransformationwillrequirenotjustashiftintools
andapproachesbutalsoanagile,engagedorganization.
Copyright © 2016 McKinsey Company. All rights reserved.
Richard Benson-Armer is a director in McKinsey’s Stamford office, and Arne Gast is a
principal in the Kuala Lumpur office. Nick van Dam, a principal in the Amsterdam office, is
McKinsey’s global chief learning officer.
The authors wish to thank Jacqueline Brassey, Andy Moffit, Nicolai Nielsen, and Silke-
Susann Otto for their contributions to this article.