Go1's time at Learning Live Digital: The Rules of Content Strategy

In a climate where digital learning content is more diverse than ever before, this session looks at  how content should be deployed to ensure learning sticks, discussing the latest research and rules of content strategy.  

The host Michael Strawbridge, the Global Head of Community at The LPI, was joined by panellists James Frappell, EMEA Customer Success Director at Go1 and Joe Hill-Wilson, Chief Commercial Officer at Learn Amp. The webinar opened with a survey asking the audience how familiar they were with a decentralised L&D strategy, discovering that the majority were unsure what a decentralised L&D strategy looked like and what makes one successful.  

Before diving further into the relevance of a decentralised L&D strategy, the panel spoke of how we’re living in an exponential time of change, due to new emerging technology, hybrid working models, as well as a shift in employee work and culture values. Michael stated that L&D leaders are struggling to keep up with this pace, without solid systems and dynamic approaches in place. Businesses are having to work harder to translate old workplaces into new environments that align with employees’ personal beliefs and expected digital experiences. Research from a recent Microsoft report supported this growing disconnect between teams and their leaders, with 87% of workers stating they are more effective when working remotely, whilst 80% managers disagreed. 

Joe told the panel that with mounting pressure from senior leaders and teams, as well as macro trending concerns of retention and engagement, a role change for L&D departments is vastly needed. Instead of solely being the deliverers, L&D teams need to become product owners, ultimately building capability for product deliveries across the business by using tools and approaches that encourage self-serving behaviours. By acting as a guide and facilitator, time is then freed up for L&D leads to deliver on higher value work with the aim to greater impact and ROI. 

Joe spoke of the importance of a balanced approach when it comes to centralising and decentralising in order to create a self managing culture of learning and encourage individual progression. The learning journey is not linear, and although the employees' progress, as well as company-wide requirements, need to be centralised and structured, the creation of specialist content and the delivery within teams can be decentralised, providing a more fluid approach.  

This balance can take some of the responsibility away from the L&D team, filtering into other departments through practices such as peer to peer learning - with research from the Fosway report revealing that 50% believe this is the most effective way to drive learning adoption.  

So how can businesses ensure their content is engaging and effective across departments? The panel spoke of four pillars central to delivering such key strategies including: in-house, third party libraries such as Go1, user generated and web curated content. 

They then delved into some practical examples from organisations such as Specsavers who utilised a decentralised L&D offering. By using Learn Amp, Specsavers were able to prove ROI on learning, saving $62K in costs within their L&D team, which amounts to a 67% return on investment in year 1.  

James feeds into the discussion, sharing insights on the shift in L&D across the EMEA market and how integrating digital learning content to reduce cost is no longer paramount. Now, 70% of L&D leaders across EMEA deem upskilling and reskilling agendas as critical to supporting cultures and hybrid working.  

Touching on the evolution of technology, the panel discussed the emergence of augmented reality as well as virtual reality providers to create a fully immersive experience for learners. The quality and breadth of digital learning content are at an all time high, and as budgets grow, established players in the field are doubling down on high quality content that can be used in a decentralised format. With such a vast selection, James said we will see organisations work both with content aggregator partners as well as more niche learning providers to suffice all customers needs. 

Rounding out the seminar, Michael referred back to the opening question and the key topics James and Joe addressed throughout: namely the importance of balance and flexibility between integrated centralised and decentralised systems.  

To conclude the webinar, Joe advised that technology is not a silver bullet, and it ultimately boils down to how you apply it. They reiterated that learning outcomes need to be closely aligned with a businesses’ overall expectations in order to be effective in employees’ professional development. 

Check out the full presentation in full here: