Learning & Development for a Changing World

Corporate learning and development (L&D) programs today must address an urgent problem: reskilling workers for the technology-enabled workplace, with greater efficiency and effectiveness to keep pace with a dynamically changing world. Across the business landscape, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things, and other advanced technologies continue to drive change in the digital era. Now, to make the most of the human-plus-machine partnership, higher-level skills are being demanded of workers.

For example, 21st-century skills known as the 4Cs—communication, critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity—will increasingly distinguish what humans uniquely bring to the workplace. Yet how can learners build such competencies when so much time is spent acquiring and mastering knowledge, which traditionally has been the focus of training? Clearly, new learning approaches are needed. Educators, policymakers, and L&D professionals alike must recognize that 21st-century skill development requires a 21st-century training approach. The static models of the past no longer suffice. Every learner is different; therefore, formulaic and one-size-fits-all models suit no one.