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E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R YH e l p i n g C r e a t e T h e B l u e p r i n t F o r T h e 2 1 s t C e n t u r y I T W o r k f o r c e

TECHNOLOGY LEARNING

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CONTENTS

REDEFINING ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY LEARNING 4

SOFTWARE IS EATING THE WORLD 5

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION EVOLUTION 5

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION: A. WHAT IS THE FUTURE 6

OF TECHNOLOGY LEARNING IN THE ENTERPRISE?

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION: B. THE CHASM BETWEEN 8

IT AND LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT IN THE

ENTERPRISE - IS IT REAL?

CREATING A FRAMEWORK TO CHANGE THE 10

LEARNING CULTURE OF YOUR ORGANISATION

E M P OW E R YO U R T E A M . P OW E R YO U R B U S I N E SS .

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Pluralsight’s first Technology + Learning Leadership Debate

& Excecutive Dinner was held at the Pulitzer Hotel in Amsterdam

in June 2016 and brought together over 20 technology leaders

and Chief Learning Officers.

RE D EF I N I NG ENTERPRISE TE C HNOLOGY LEARNING

SOFTWARE IS EAT ING THE WORLD

E M P OW E R YO U R T E A M . P OW E R YO U R B U S I N E SS .

If you went to bed last night

as an industrial company, you’re

going to wake up this morning

as a software and analytics

company

- Jeff Immelt, CEO

and Chairman of GE

Advances in technology such as data analytics,

artificial intelligence and cyber-security are

profoundly influencing how businesses operate.

Whether it’s through software analytics to make

more strategic decisions or protecting customer

data with robust security software, all companies

are becoming more technology-driven as they

seek a competitive long term advantage.

DIG ITAL TRANSFORMATION EVOLU T ION

Naturally this has implications on the pace

with which businesses acquire and retain digital

skills as they look to digitally transform. As

Pluralsight CEO Aaron Skonnard put it at the

Roundtable, developers’ skills have a “half-life”

of two years, meaning that every two years,

only half of their skills remain relevant.

As a result, there’s now a race to understand

emerging technologies, keep pace with the

changing skills landscape, and understand how

new technologies will impact all businesses.

“

”

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Adopt a culture of learning

Teams need to build a culture to encourage

learning within their teams. This is not an

easy process as the discussion revealed due

to for instance an aging workforce.

Enable learning - anywhere, anyplace

Mobile learning emerged as a key trend.

Software needs to be made available so

learning can be consumed on-the-go, at home

as well as in the office. This is particularly in

demand by the millennial generation.

Encourage self-directed learning

Shifting to a self-learning culture empowers

employees to take control of their own skills

training. Taking this approach enables them

to pursue the most relevant courses for them,

enhancing motivation and engagement

with their organisation.

ROU NDTABLE D ISCUSS ION:

Firstly, there is a challenge

to ensure that IT teams

can learn and navigate

the constantly evolving

digital skills required

for their specific roles.

Secondly, there is also

a growing demand for

IT workers to have

a deep tech knowledge

of trending areas

including, cloud,

big data, agile software

development, machine

learning and cyber security.

E M P OW E R YO U R T E A M . P OW E R YO U R B U S I N E SS .

The discussion identified four trends

revealing how businesses and their

teams can anticipate the next wave of

technologies to impact their business:

There are a number of trends

around technology learning

rapidly changing what

is required of both IT

workers and organisations.

A . WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF TECHNOLOGY LE A RNING IN THE ENTERPRISE?

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ROU NDTABLE D ISCUSS ION:

Promote openness

It was commented that there should be

a culture of ‘openness’ between both

teams. Open conversations recognising

the strengths of everyone across the

board should be encouraged and will help

understand how they can work together

as one team.

Respect each other’s expertise

Both teams should know and respect

each team’s expertise. For example,

the IT department will have a deeper

understanding of their industry, whereas

the L&D team will have a better

understanding of how people learn

and how to encourage learning.

Effective communication is king

All agreed that effective communication

is critical for strong collaboration.

Both teams should regularly schedule

meetings and use internal social media

platforms to keep conversations open

online and build rapport. In one company,

members of the L&D team join most

important IT department meetings so

they can keep up-to-date on their

immediate business priorities.

Experiment with technology

Shifting to a self-learning culture empowers

employees to take control of their own skills

training. Taking this approach enables them

to pursue the most relevant courses for them,

enhancing motivation and engagement with

their organisation.

Attendees agreed that the ‘chasm’ between these two departments is a current

reality but shouldn’t exist in the future. However, all acknowledged improvement

in the industry with some firms taking several steps to close this gap

and make both teams work better together.

In addition, the discussion revealed a number of other recommendations on

how the two departments could work more effectively with each other to drive

enhanced learning outcomes for staff and the business. These included:

E M P OW E R YO U R T E A M . P OW E R YO U R B U S I N E SS .

B . THE CHASM BETWEEN IT AND LEARNING & DE VE LOPMENT IN THE ENTERPRISE - I S IT REAL?

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As technology continues to transform how

all businesses operate, it requires extensive

partnership between learners, L&D and IT

teams to change the learning culture of

the organisation.

It will also take a shift in mind-set

and behaviour to accelerate the adoption

of on-demand, online continuous learning

platforms and processes. Early adopters

are already seeing huge strides in their

capability with new skills, and enhanced

productivity levels as a result.

As IT teams continue to demand digital

learning experiences anywhere, and on any

device, it will further drive the need for

a 360-degree approach to learning,

encompassing assessment,

skills development and mentoring.

We’d like to thank the participating

panellists, speakers and event attendees

for a thought provoking and engaging

evening of discussion.

For more information on Pluralsight,

please visit: www.pluralsight.com/business

C R E ATI NG A FRAMEWORK TO C H ANGE THE LEARNING C U LTUR E OF YOUR ORGANI SAT I ON .

E M P OW E R YO U R T E A M . P OW E R YO U R B U S I N E SS .

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