Redefining Workplace Learning For The 21st Century By Jenny Dearborn, Vice President, Chief Learning Officer, SuccessFactors – an SAP company Forbes, October 2013 Disruptive technologies and shifting demographics are redefining the workforce. In response, smart companies are reinventing workplace learning in an effort to make their programs more relevant and effective, and to create a culture that encourages continuous learning and develops innovative leaders at all levels of the organization. “Today, workplace learning has achieved mission-critical status,” says Sam Herring, CEO of Intrepid Learning. “Global CEOs face an environment that is more competitive than ever—one in which they live or die by their ability to lead innovation, which can only be realized by having world-class talent that is highly competent, motivated and engaged. Top companies understand this connection, and they know that success requires more than waging a war to acquire talent; it requires that they strategically develop the talent they need to envision and execute the business strategies that will make them successful in the future.” Get out of the classroom For most of the last century, workplace learning had a familiar look and feel:  students sat in rows taking notes as an expert stood at the front of the room and dispensed information. Technology offered new ways to communicate and learn, but all too often technology-based learning programs turned out to be little more than upgraded versions of the same traditional K-12 model. Today, that is changing rapidly. New advances in mobile devices and cloud technology, a deeper understanding of neuroscience and how humans learn best, and the emergence of the millennial workforce—the tech-savvy generation that is the largest in U.S. history—is creating a growing demand for more innovative and informal approaches to workplace learning. “Employees no longer see their careers as the function of a single organization, but as the culmination of a purposeful set of development experiences they own themselves,” says Mary Slaughter, senior vice president and chief talent officer at Sun Trust. “When you combine their motivations with ubiquitous, on-demand access to skills and knowledge, and the unrelenting pressure to increase workplace productivity, it’s fruitless to maintain traditional, static learning architectures.” How workplace learning is changing In the very near future, workplace learning will be about social collaboration, team-based activities, and decentralized peer-to-peer learning. Learning will be mobile, and access will be continuous and instantaneous. Workers will attend fewer scheduled classes and online training sessions. Instead, short videos, game-like simulations, and peer communities that offer networking, information sharing and informal coaching will engage and motivate workers by delivering “anyplace, anytime learning.” In the future, workplace learning will be increasingly experiential and relationsh ...

1. Redefining Workplace Learning For The 21st Century
By Jenny Dearborn, Vice President, Chief Learning Officer,
SuccessFactors – an SAP company
Forbes, October 2013
Disruptive technologies and shifting demographics are
redefining the workforce. In response, smart companies are
reinventing workplace learning in an effort to make their
programs more relevant and effective, and to create a culture
that encourages continuous learning and develops innovative
leaders at all levels of the organization.
“Today, workplace learning has achieved mission-critical
status,” says Sam Herring, CEO of Intrepid Learning. “Global
CEOs face an environment that is more competitive than ever—
one in which they live or die by their ability to lead innovation,
which can only be realized by having world-class talent that is
highly competent, motivated and engaged. Top companies
understand this connection, and they know that success requires
more than waging a war to acquire talent; it requires that they
strategically develop the talent they need to envision and
execute the business strategies that will make them successful
in the future.”
Get out of the classroom
For most of the last century, workplace learning had a familiar
look and feel: students sat in rows taking notes as an expert
stood at the front of the room and dispensed information.
Technology offered new ways to communicate and learn, but all
too often technology-based learning programs turned out to be
little more than upgraded versions of the same traditional K-12
model.
Today, that is changing rapidly. New advances in mobile
devices and cloud technology, a deeper understanding
of neuroscience and how humans learn best, and the emergence
of the millennial workforce—the tech-savvy generation that is

2. the largest in U.S. history—is creating a growing demand for
more innovative and informal approaches to workplace learning.
“Employees no longer see their careers as the function of a
single organization, but as the culmination of a purposeful set
of development experiences they own themselves,” says Mary
Slaughter, senior vice president and chief talent officer at Sun
Trust. “When you combine their motivations with ubiquitous,
on-demand access to skills and knowledge, and the unrelenting
pressure to increase workplace productivity, it’s fruitless to
maintain traditional, static learning architectures.”
How workplace learning is changing
In the very near future, workplace learning will be about social
collaboration, team-based activities, and decentralized peer-to-
peer learning. Learning will be mobile, and access will be
continuous and instantaneous. Workers will attend fewer
scheduled classes and online training sessions. Instead, short
videos, game-like simulations, and peer communities that offer
networking, information sharing and informal coaching will
engage and motivate workers by delivering “anyplace, anytime
learning.”
In the future, workplace learning will be
increasingly experiential and relationship-based, knowledge
will come from everywhere, and companies won’t be able to
control or standardize it. Corporate-sponsored training will
become less important and knowledge assessments or
certifications will become more important. Companies won’t
care how their employees acquire knowledge or obtain a certain
skill or ability, but only that they canprove their expertise.
“Companies that understand the power of learning are thinking
holistically about how learning happens in the workplace, and
they are seeking to create environments where learning thrives,”
Herring says. “They understand that classroom training (or
derivatives such as e-learning or virtual classroom sessions)
isn’t enough. They know that an effective learning environment
often must include performance support to provide ongoing
reinforcement, easy access to knowledge repositories for quick

3. micro-learning lessons, collaborative communities to tap the
wisdom of the crowds, and most importantly, abundant
opportunities to practice new skills in the work environment, to
reflect on one’s performance, and to improve.”
Learning should be continuous
Employees should begin their workplace learning their first day
on the job—and never stop. No one should ever wait for a
training class or direction from management to get what they
need to be successful. Considering the rate at which information
changes and the nature of our always-on culture, employees
must be proactive. They can’t afford to wait to acquire the
knowledge and skills they need for a new job or an expanded
role in the organization. In the future, learning will be
continuous and so easy to access that there will be no excuse for
people to fail to get the information they need.
Writing in Harvard Business Review, leadership development
expert Jack Zenger offers a dramatic example of what can
happen if employees don’t take charge of their own career
development. When Zenger reviewed his company’s database,
he found that the 17,000 business leaders from around the world
who had taken part in his firm’s leadership training programs
had an average age of 42.
“But the average age of supervisors in these firms was 33,”
Zenger writes. “In fact the typical individual in these companies
became a supervisor around age 30 and remained in that role for
nine years — that is, until age 39. It follows then, that if they’re
not entering leadership training programs until they’re 42, they
are getting no leadership training at all as supervisors. And
they’re operating within the company untrained, on average, for
over a decade.” In the process, they are learning bad habits that
become deeply ingrained and difficult to change. And by
leaving the decisions about their development to others, they
risk eventually stalling or derailing their careers.
Measure results, not activity
Finally, it’s essential for companies to measure the impact of
workplace learning and leadership development in a meaningful

4. way, by tying those programs to actual business results.
Companies are most comfortable with what they can easily
measure and understand. As a result, the learning organization
often tracks the “effectiveness” of programs by measuring the
number of classes offered and how many employees attended.
That’s like having your manager ask what results you achieved
this year and responding, “I went to a lot of meetings.”
With big data and predictive analytics there is no longer any
excuse for not connecting learning to business-impact metrics.
Learning success can be assessed in terms of sales cycles, deal
win rate, service response times, customer satisfaction, product
quality and other business metrics as well as employee
engagement and productivity. When we redesigned workplace
learning at SAP, for example, employee attrition dropped 80
percent. That was a big win for our company.
What it comes down to is this: If you can’t prove that the
workplace learning you’re offering has a positive and
measureable effect on your business, then why bother providing
the training?
How is your company redefining workplace learning to help
ensure its future success?
Assessment 2 – Individual Project
Leveraging off this article, you are to research on workplace
learning –
· Examine the impact of employee training and development on
organizational profits
· Discuss budgetary considerations in human resources, such as
accommodating the need for employee training
· Reflect on this within your own organization; and propose
changes for the future
2000 Words (+/- 10%)
Please ensure –
1. You have a cover/title page with your name on it.
2. You have a reference page.
3. You number your pages.

5. 4. You save your essay in the following format – FULL NAME
– MGT205 – ESSAY
5. NO PDF SUBMISSIONS!
MGT203 - Human Resource Management
Research Essay – Feedback Sheet
Title: Redefining Workplace Learning for the 21st Century
Student Name:
Considerable room for improvement
Some room for improvement
Of an acceptable basic standard
Of a good standard
Of an excellent standard
Is the essay well researched?
Evidence of relevant reading.
Demonstrates deep understanding of the issues raised in journal
articles and other academic sources.
10 marks

6. Is the essay well structured?
Essay is logically structured
Clear introduction
Effective conclusion
10 marks
Is the essay well contextualised?
Ability to contextualise the material presented within the
broader context of ideas, concepts and models from this course.
10 marks
Is the essay well-argued?
Relationships between ideas are made clear
Appropriate evidence used to support statements
Direct quotations are used economically but effectively
Ability to compare and contrast material from difference
academic sources.
15 marks
Is the assignment well-written?
Writing is clear and concise
Sentences are properly constructed. Spelling and grammar are

7. correct
Writing is formal and academic
2.5 marks
Is the assignment well-presented?
Presentation and use of citations
Accurate and appropriate presentation of reference list.
2.5marks
Marked out of a total of 50 marks and converted to 20%
weighting
_____________________________________________________
________________
B200B
TMA
Spring 2013
_____________________________________________________
________________
Question: ‘The airline industry has firms which can be great
examples of operations management. There are processes and

8. resources to manage very carefully in order to have satisfactory
outputs and results’.
Analyze the above statement using examples from B200B
material and an airline company, and discuss in particular the
following issues: managing micro-operations for an airliner,
handling emergencies and delays, serving passengers,
reservations handling, baggage handling, meals, maintenance,
training of crew…
(100 Marks)
NOTES TO STUDENTS
Cut-off date: Submit this assignment no later than 27 April,
2013.
Word count: 1500 words (plus or minus 10%).
Referencing: You must acknowledge all your sources of
informationusing full Harvard Style Referencing (in-text
referencing plus list of references at the end). Use E-library: to
get journal articles on the topic (using Emerald or EBSCO).
Use at least 2 or 3 articles.
Plagiarism: It is very important to use your own words.
Plagiarism will lead to a significant loss of marks. Extensive
plagiarism could mean that you failed your TMA.
Plagiarism means copying from internet, from unreferenced
sources, from other students’ TMAs or any other source.
Penalties for plagiarism ranges from failure in the TMA to
expulsion from the university.
Answering: Your response to the question should take the form
of a full essay format divided into a number of paragraphs with
introduction and conclusion without subheadings and bullet
points. Use B200 ‘reader three’ chapters (Processes), especially
chapters 1, 2, 4. Also search information on a specific airline
company and use E-library.
This TMA is 20% of B200B Grade.