Shaping Digital Adoption for HR and L&D Professionals

Digital adoption is the idea that each user gains the ability to utilize digital tools as they are intended and to the fullest extent. This means that one could take a completely new user and help them become entirely self-sufficient and competent in their abilities to use software, a specific program or any online tool confidently. While not new to the HR and L&D world, this idea is especially important in order to ensure that you and your organization are getting the most out of your technology investments.

For example, if your customers are only using part of your product, they might not see its full value; the same goes for your employees. If your employees are only using part of the software you purchase, you are unlikely to see the improvements you intended.

We’ll go into more detail on how to effectively understand and utilize digital tools and technologies that will help you shape better digital adoption in your organization.

It’s critical for HR and L&D professionals to respond correctly to the changes we’ve experienced within the past year. With these changes came some challenges regarding readiness, technology, and tools. However, learning how to understand and utilize such tools and technologies effectively will help improve the overall progress of your organization.

As learning professionals, developing adaptable practices and improving existing ones will increase productivity during tough times and ultimately lead to smarter digital adoption.

As we gradually move to a more digital world, it is crucial to recognize that this shift cannot be avoided. The pandemic has taught us throughout the last year that the changes being made now are more geared towards becoming almost exclusively digital.

With more and more learning sessions being held online in virtual classrooms and the hybrid working and learning style gaining more popularity, this shift from face-to-face to digital has forever changed the way we work and learn.

Digital learning has evolved and significantly been impacted by the pandemic as we see more digitalization present in the learning space. Switching so rapidly from face-to-face to digital has accelerated the push to learn more online and use the tools available to us as effectively as possible. How we as HR and L&D professionals choose to critically think about taking advantage of this opportunity and use this technology to our advantage will ultimately push us towards success.

Here we’ve summarized the top 3 digital learning tools adopted by learners which have positively impacted their professional development.

One of the areas in which a significant increase in usage has been seen is virtual communication tools. At a time when people and organizations could only communicate virtually, and the only option was to become more digital, the spike in usage of such tools was unavoidable.

This growth has ultimately helped push forward many companies that were still not moving towards becoming more digital, forcing them to change all communication processes almost overnight. With this reliance on digital, and with so many of our actions turning to be solely online, it’s no wonder that virtual communication tools are becoming the norm.

According to the CIPD Learning and Skills at Work Survey in 2021, there is an 84% increase in the utilization of virtual classrooms and webinars. Not only have we seen this change in the usage of tools such as video communication tools, but we have also observed changes in our online experiences with one another.

The rise in awareness of digital body language is also a pertaining factor in how we effectively communicate online. Reading the body language of others online is an essential skill that has surfaced, especially since the start of the pandemic. The importance of accurately being able to read other’s digital body language and vice versa is a key contributor to effective and impactful communication and the overall success of a business.

Leveraging this uptake and rise in virtual learning and teaching may be difficult at first but is not impossible! Learning how to optimize your virtual learning practices and improve your virtual classrooms can be easier than you think.

Learn more about improving your virtual classroom experience from one of the top experts – Jo Cook!

As a result of this increase, the usage of digital tools, professional programs, and learning courses started popping up more frequently in our everyday professional lives. In fact, according to the CIPD Learning and Skills at Work Survey in 2021, there has been a 79% increase in online content and programs.

This rise in available online content represents a great opportunity for companies to speed up their processes and make learning more accessible to their global workforce. If your organization is not investing in digital content and digital transformation, it is certainly putting itself at a competitive disadvantage. With the direction in which the market is going now, it’s safe to say that this digital industry is growing.

Many companies have already made necessary adjustments to their strategies after seeing the impact and effects of the pandemic. 70% of these companies urged the fact that this switch was moderate or significant. As the lasting effects of the pandemic are still being felt today, how organizations respond to this change moving forward is crucial to future success.

Creating smarter and more logical plans to become more digitalized and organizing every process so that it can withstand such situations is the only way to keep up with the digital shifts were seeing in the market.

Although there was not as big of an increase seen in blended learning (55% increase), the potential for a more significant impact is there.

For example, utilizing technology to support thinking, collaboration, and even reflection can bring out rich blended learning methods. In doing so, we are then automatically able to make progress in the right direction.

This statistic shows more specifically that only 55% of professionals were thinking (or had at least in their minds) of some environment or similar idea to blended learning. Such learning techniques such as blended learning are gaining more momentum and are seen to be more flexible in delivery style and even more cost-effective in the long run.

There are many different types of people who use technology. Whether it be someone just starting or those who have been tech-savvy for a long time, it’s important to embrace new technologies with your stakeholders to move towards better digital adoption.