Become a Key Influencer in 3 Easy Steps

So I must confess, I'm a huge fan of webinars. I can watch them while at work and if I'm lucky, get valuable resources.

I recently took a webinar from TTC Innovations on "The Future of Learning and Development" Become a Key Influencer in Your Company's Retention and Success Strategies."

It started with a generational overview and the characteristics of each (Silent, Baby Boomers, Gen X, and Millennials).  Which I'm not so sure anymore that generations are a thing... 

But any who.. once they established their street cred with stats, interviews, and personal research they went into detail about three steps to keep retention high and L&D successful for this new group of workers that will take over the workforce in a few short years.

The following are my personal opinions for mastering each step.

Step 1: Share impacts of "business as usual" with leadership

Do an analysis of the current organizational environment, current training, set ups/structure, the motivation of learners, and resources/support within the workplace. Then summarize the current state of the learning and development going on (or lack there of), identify where the future of L&D is going (mobile, more visuals, personalized learning, video, collaboration) and the gaps that exist.

Sit down with them and have a conversation about what can be done; brainstorm; maybe even provide an example or two to show how you could implement some aspects of this "innovated learning style" into current courses.

It's all about open communication and planting the seed.

Step 2: Become a [Trend] Expert

I replaced the word millennial expert with trend expert. (I'm telling you.. this generational thing may be a huge marketing scheme)

It's not about catering to a group of people, it's about being inventive and adapting to technology. Let's face it, this world has become increasingly visual and less focused. We're able to connect on so many platforms that you better bring your A-game if you want to engage someone.

So instead of focusing on a group of people, focus on the trends and how to adapt to them.

Step 3: Realign Your Learning Strategies 

Once you've identified the trends, think about how you could apply this to your business or company. We know that change doesn't happen over night, so it's important it's OK to start with small changes. Think about the members or clients taking your courses... how do they like to learn?

Allowing a person to have options in their learning creates higher engagement and the more likely they are to want to learn more. 

For example, chunk content into smaller modules and give the learner a pretest. If they score high enough, they can advance through the course. If they scored lower than expected, they can view the module and try again. #SelfPaceLearning 

In conclusion, it's really about being knowledgeable of what's happening in our world, what are you inspired by, figure out a way to try something new, and reflect on what happened. 

Keeping employees and becoming successful begins when you start to observe, listen, and dare to try something new.