UK Training Industry Press Releases

A ground-breaking study by Towards Maturity, into the effectiveness of technology-led leadership and management development, reveals that learning technology is bringing executive development out of the classroom and firmly into the workplace. Martin Baker, CEO of LMMatters, says the research - the results of which are revealed today - confirms that online, on-demand learning is enabling busy executives to access knowledge immediately, effectively and seamlessly, when and where they need it.

Unique research - backed by LMMatters, the UK partner to Harvard Business Publishing - has found that learning technologies are bringing leadership and management development out of the classroom and into the workplace.

The ground-breaking study, by the highly respected independent benchmarking organisation Towards Maturity, investigated the use of technology-led learning for leadership and management development, and its impact on business performance.

Revealing the results at LMMatters annual leadership seminar on 15 June, London, Laura Overton, MD of Towards Maturity explained: "It is clear that the choice for learners is no longer simply between classroom and self study."

"Equally, the 'blend' is no longer just about the 'eLearning sandwich' where participants are required to take a prerequisite eLearning course prior to attending the classroom, and then revisiting the eLearning for refresher training."

Learning technology now supports a third of all coaching, action learning programmes and workshops, she says, and two thirds of programmes include online resources, such as check lists and job aids, to support the application of skills back in the workplace.

In general conversation, many managers and providers still say they prefer face-to-face and more 'traditional' methods of delivering leadership and management learning. Yet the study highlights that, when exposed to new media, the preference for pure classroom training diminishes.

Contrary to expectations, when asked to identify managers' top three methods of learning delivery, survey participants did not include 'the classroom':

Senior Managers

•          Paper (58%)
•          Dedicated online resources (45%)
•          Mobile devices to deliver content (38%)

Middle Managers

•          Mobile devices to deliver content (68%)
•          Immersive learning environments (49%)
•          Video (of best practice from outside the organisation) (41%)

First Line Supervisors

•          eLearning courses – “off the shelf” (60%)
•          Virtual Classroom (46%)
•          In-house social media (40%)

Future Managers

•         External social networking (39%)
•         Mobil devices to deliver content (38%)
•         Immersive Learning environments (32%)

Many participants said that managers preferred solutions that either delivered on-demand learning at the point of need - through the provision of timely information - or immediate access to a community which could provide them with support.

Martin Baker, CEO of LMMatters, points out that: "Learning online can be such an integral part of 'doing' that managers who learn to solve challenges in this way may not consider this traditional 'training' at all."

"Anecdotal evidence tells us that this approach works. But surprisingly, before this study there has been little or no research into the effectiveness of online leadership and management development - despite the fact that [according to previous research by Towards Maturity] 50% of all leadership and management programmes are now e-enabled."

"It is undoubtedly learning technologies that are enabling leaders and managers to access knowledge immediately, effectively and seamlessly, where and when they need it."

The research also clearly points to an expected increase in the use of eLearning, the breadth of media used and the proportion of training budget to be allocated to learning technologies in the near future. The study also shows that increasing the proportion of innovative approaches, new media and user-generated content preferred by future leaders, is expected to lower costs for IT infrastructure and software.

The executive summary of the report Reinventing Leadership Development is available at http://lmmatters.com/docs/Reinventing_Leadership_Development_Executive_Summary.pdf.

Or you can access the full report at http://lmmatters.com/docs/Reinventing_Leadership_Development.pdf.

Some more highlights of the research follow.

Facts and figures - survey results

Participants from more than 180 organisations (in the private, public and not for profit sectors) providing development opportunities for more than 35,000 leaders and managers, took part in the survey. More than 80% face the challenge of supporting those leaders and managers across multiple locations (around a third in multinational locations). In these circumstances, technology enabled resources are proving increasingly popular.

More budget for technology-led leadership and management development

•3 out of 10 organisations have seen their budget for leadership and management development increase over the last two years (only 1 in 4 saw a decrease).
•3 out of 10 anticipate further increases in overall leadership and management development budget over the next two years (3 in 10 also expect a decrease).
•27% of the leadership and management development budget is spent on learning technologies.
•6 out of 10 organisations anticipate that the proportion allocated to learning technologies will also continue to increase (only 1 in 10 expects a decrease).

Why are organisations using learning technologies?

80% of participants are introducing learning technologies into the mix in order to:

•Improve efficiency (saving time and cost).
•Improve productivity (through sharing of good practice between managers, reducing time to competency and ensuring faster application of learning back in the workplace).
•Increase agility (in terms of increasing speed of engagement and responding to changing business needs).

What results are organisations getting from using learning technologies for leadership and management development?

•Four out of five report that they are reducing cost, increasing the speed of engagement with learning and reducing time spent away from the business.
•Two thirds believe that technology is helping to deliver a more consistent and faster application of learning back into the workplace, and is reducing time to competency.
•Three out of five organisations which are trying to improve sharing of good practice amongst managers report that this is happening.

Conservative quantifiable benefits reported include:

•16% cost savings
•15% overall reduction in study time
•8% increase in qualifications or certifications
•8% improvement in their current measures of learner satisfaction/engagement
•9% improvement in extending the reach of learning

The top tools used in technology-led leadership & management development include:

•71% use video conferencing/virtual presence
•70% use Learning management systems
•63% use other online resources such as eBooks and eJournals
•63% use diagnostic tools

Whilst growth is expected in all media, the biggest increases are expected in the following areas:

•55% expect growth in virtual classrooms
•48% expect growth in podcasting
•43% expect growth in video conferencing
•43% expect growth in in-house social media
•43% expect growth in mobile devices to deliver content
•42% expect growth in custom eLearning and video content of best practice within organisations

About Towards Maturity

Toward Maturity's not-for-profit benchmark practice provides independent, expert advice and support in using learning innovation to accelerate business performance.

Towards Maturity leverages the wealth of data provided by its benchmark, an internationally recognised longitudinal study based on the input of 1,200 organisations and 3,000 learners over eight years.

Benchmark findings, case studies and resources are available to download for free on the website www.towardsmaturity.org.

About LMMatters

Leadership and management online learning specialist LMMatters is the UK partner to Harvard Business Publishing. We believe in providing the right resources to deliver critical skills to your workforce, when and where they need it.

Our portfolio includes:

Harvard ManageMentor: The trusted, world-leading leadership and management development programme from Harvard Business Publishing, with live Tips of the Day and RSS feeds straight to your desktop.

LMKnowledge: A multi-media collaborative information resource that can be used to share knowledge with your colleagues and reinforce corporate communications.

50Lessons: A library of more than 1,200 inspiring video lessons from the world's most respected business leaders

Together the LMMatters team has vast experience in understanding what works for your organisation, recommending leading technology-enabled leadership and management resources.

We pride ourselves on our high customer satisfaction, work closely with our clients to understand what success will look like for them, and support them to achieve these goals.

Contact details:

Contact name:  Susie Finch

Tel: 01453 768855

Email: sfinch@lmmatters.com

Website: http://lmmatters.com