The MASIE Center - Learning Lab & ThinkTank

The Voice of the Learner: How Employees Learn in 2008

Learning Methods:

• Learning Independently: The majority of employees today rely heavily on self-directed, ad hoc and asynchronous resources like e-Learning to learn for work.  In a six-month period of time, 70% turned to reading, 58% searched the web and 58% participated in on-line e-Learning to gain new skills or information for their jobs.

• YouTube-Type Learning:  Over 30% of respondents viewed a media segment for learning (like a YouTube video) on their computer screens; however, only 6% moved these segments to a portable device like an iPod or MP3 Player.  Mostly, employees indicated that such technology was either not available or not used by their organizations.

Employee/Learner Satisfaction:

• Employees appear satisfied with their ability to learn for work using technology (80%), but are generally less satisfied with the amount of time they have available to learn (48%).  It seems that as options for learning have expanded, perceptions about the availability of time to learn have decreased.  Employees have more learning methods available to them than ever, but have less time to pursue learning and/or feel overwhelmed with their options.

Learner Preferences:

• Learning Changes Ahead: More than half of the employees sampled expect their preferences for how they learn for work to change in the next 2-3 years (54%). 

• High-Touch with High-Tech: Learners appreciate high-touch experiences and indicated wanting more time to receive one-on-one mentoring, coaching or individual training as opposed to OJT or self-directed, ad hoc learning.  This includes group discussions and the ability to directly interact with others at conferences and in classrooms within their own organizations.  Quite a few learners look forward to or hope to get more one-on-one mentoring, coaching or individual training, despite the reality that employees report about having less time for training.

Job Rotation/Stretch Assignments:

• Let Us Stretch: Job Rotation/Stretch Assignments are among the least frequently used learning methods selected only by 11% of employees, predominantly because the opportunities were not available to them.  Half of employees that had not participated in a job rotation/stretch assignment indicated that those opportunities were either not available or not used by their organizations; yet, supporting data suggests that employees overwhelmingly want more of their time dedicated to those kinds of experiences. 

Some Quotes from the Workplace:

Here are a few of the quotes we received from the survey participants:

 “What I like most about how I am currently learning for work is…”

• ‘Having a variety of delivery methods.  Ten years ago it was one way or the highway!’
• ‘The ability to use digital technology for any-time, anywhere learning.'
• ‘I could plug in my Mp3 player in my car and learn while I wait uselessly in traffic.’
• ‘Freedom of delivery vehicle - in person, asynchronous, synch/live, anonymous, collaborative...'
• ’The combination of in-person classes with online reinforcement.’

 
“I would learn better in the future if…”

• ‘I had more time to devote to specific tasks related to learning and advanced technology.’
• ‘I experienced more collaboration and discussions vs. reading and learning on my own.’
• ‘Time were permitted without outside pressure to complete learning.’
  

This survey was conducted by The MASIE Center & The Learning CONSORTIUM.  
To view the complete results, please click the PDF link below.