In an incredibly fast-paced world, it’s often difficult to plan for the present, let alone the future. Whether you’re closing a deal or putting the finishing touches on a big report, there’s always something urgent to do right now. In this environment, even knowing what you’ll be doing next week can feel like an impossible task, so trying to plan two years ahead can be incredibly daunting. 

Yet, as is often the case in life, taking the time to stop, smell the roses, and plan ahead will set you up for sustainable, long-term success. Accordingly, robust succession planning is imperative for high-performing businesses. 

Don’t just take our word for it, research by PWC shows that 79% of companies in top-performing quartiles engage in succession planning. By comparison, just 21% of other companies have formal succession plans — a huge gulf between high-performers and the rest! 

With this in mind, we’ll analyse why succession planning is vital for your business. We’ll start by defining succession planning, before examining the state of succession planning, and offering four best practices for succession planning. 

Ready to start planning for success? Start here. 

Succession planning means proactively planning for the future. No, it doesn’t require a crystal ball. Rather, it’s all about answering one simple question: when someone leaves the business, who will step up to fill their role? Knowing the answer to this question ensures businesses can strike a balance between current and long-term success — especially if the departing employee is in an influential leadership or executive position. 

There’s nothing worse than being blindsided by someone leaving the company and having no one ready to replace them. Everything grinds to a screeching halt as you scramble to fill the void of knowledge and skills they leave behind. By having a clear succession plan, you can avoid this scenario, ensuring there is a knowledge transfer between the exiting employee and their successor as part of the training and handover process.

As such, a central aspect of succession planning is creating a continuous pipeline of talent, thereby ensuring smooth transitions and minimal disruptions when an employee leaves. Robust succession planning means that when someone leaves the business, the next person in line will have the appropriate skills, experience, and knowledge to step up and fill that role.

As the University of Washington explains, “succession planning is the process of identifying the critical positions within your organisation and developing action plans for individuals to assume those positions. A succession plan identifies future staffing needs and the people with the skills and potential to perform in these future roles.”

BamooHR adds that a good succession plan “focuses on identifying potential leaders and high performers, helping them develop so they can advance within their organisation.”

To achieve this, you must identify promising talent and potential leaders early and continuously develop their skills to ensure they are prepared to be promoted to a new role when the time comes. 

While succession planning generally focuses on executive and leadership roles, as these are seen as the most impactful and difficult to fill, this doesn’t have to be the case. If someone is being formally developed to take over a specific role — whether that’s a CEO, a baker, a personal trainer, or a receptionist — that’s a succession plan. 

Ultimately, good succession planning is all about thinking three steps ahead. Rather than resting on your laurels and thinking ‘things are going well right now’, ask yourself ‘what would we do if X person left tomorrow? Could anyone fill their role, or would we be left shorthanded?’ If the answer is that you don’t have a plan, it’s time to start identifying potential replacements in your organisation and developing their skills. 

Now that we understand what succession planning is, it’s time to examine the current state of succession planning, including which companies engage in succession planning, the costs of succession planning, and the benefits of succession planning. 

While most businesses recognise the value of succession planning, few actually succeed. 86% of leaders believe succession planning is an urgent priority for their business, yet just 14% think they’re doing it well. This is a huge discrepancy and an even bigger missed opportunity! The good news is that if you are among the 14% of businesses that are good at succession planning, you have a huge competitive advantage. 

What’s more, just 21% of teams say they have formal succession plans. An additional 20% have informal succession plans, while 20% say they don’t currently have a plan but want to develop one. By comparison, 79% of companies in top-performing quartiles engage in succession planning, underscoring the importance of succession planning for high-performing businesses. 

According to ASIS, the most common reasons teams cite for not having a succession plan are a lack of time and resources to develop one (31%) and that their organisation is too small to have one (18%). 

According to a recent report by Ceridian, 65% of organisations use succession planning for key leadership roles. This figure drops to 61% for subject matter experts, 60% for critical technical experts, and just 50% for people leaders. 

Despite this, the report recommends that good succession planning should “be broad and consider the organisation holistically” rather than focusing exclusively on senior executives. 

Ceridian also found that 57% of teams rely on technology as part of their succession planning process, using dedicated succession planning tools to map talent and identify future leaders. 

While succession planning may seem like a daunting task, it will set your business up for success in the long term. Identifying and promoting internal talent has a far higher success rate than hiring external talent. 

34% of external hires for senior leadership positions fail, compared to just 24% of internal hires, underscoring the benefits of internal mobility and succession planning. 

What’s more, the HBR estimates that only 39% of outside hires would perform better than an internal hire, while employees who move into new jobs internally are 3.5x more likely to be engaged.

Moreover, 79% of companies from top-performing quartiles hired CEO replacements internally, far higher than the overall industry average. 

Despite this, only 65% of teams even advertise open positions internally, while 57% of employees believe it would be easier to find a new job in a different organisation than to find a new job internally in their current organisation. In other words, many teams are shooting themselves in the foot by not promoting internal roles! 

Given this, it makes sense that 62% of L&D professionals are prioritising internal mobility this year.

To learn more, see our article on why internal mobility is vital in today’s workforce. 

Not having a succession plan may be costing your business. A lot. While it may seem like a significant time investment upfront, failing to have a succession plan can be incredibly expensive in the long run. 

The HBR finds that poorly managed C-suit transitions at top-performing companies result in a loss of $1 trillion in market value per year. Plus, the average cost of replacing a failed executive is 10x their salary. 

You might be thinking ‘that’s all well and good, but I work for a small business, not a C-suite organisation.’ Well, you’re not exempt. Analysis by Gartner found that employee turnover due to poor internal mobility and a lack of future career opportunities costs an average-sized organisation a whopping $49 million per year. That’s $49 million that could have been saved by succession planning and internal mobility. 

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. According to SHRM, the average cost-per-new-hire for companies is currently $4,129, far higher than the cost of transitioning an existing employee into a new role. As Toggl Hire notes, “an average company loses anywhere between 1% and 2.5% of their total revenue on the time it takes to bring a new hire up to speed.”

Whatever way you slice it, failing to plan ahead can be costly, so it pays to invest in succession planning. 

When teams do engage in succession planning, the benefits are significant. 94% of employers say having a succession plan improves employee engagement. Employees agree, with 62% saying they would be ‘significantly more engaged’ if their company prioritised succession planning. 

Employees are also more likely to want to work for a company with a strong culture of succession planning. 34% of employees say they are remaining in their current role because they foresee an opportunity to be part of the future growth of the company. 

On the flip side, employees are willing to jump ship to companies who do engage in succession planning. 37% of people say opportunities for career advancement elsewhere would convince them to leave their current job, while 27% say they would leave their job for the chance to learn and develop new skills.

Ultimately, 94% of HR professionals say internal recruiting helps retain their most valuable talent, while 81% added that internal hiring improves retention overall. Therefore, succession planning is essential to consistently attract and retain top talent. 

If, like many organisations, you understand that succession planning is vital but don’t know where to start, we’ve got you covered. Here are four succession planning best practices to set your business up for sustainable success. 

Good succession planning must align with your overall business strategy. As Altus puts it, “if your succession strategy seems like a departure from your long-held goals and beliefs, it will be difficult to get everyone on board with the process.” 

Employees must understand how succession planning aligns with your organisation’s broader strategy, goals, and values. Therefore, clear communication is vital throughout the process. You should explain to employees why succession planning is important and how it aligns with your company’s goals. Doing so will ensure buy-in and engagement throughout the process while also giving employees a clear path to career advancement. 

To get started on this alignment, see our article on how to align L&D to the organisation’s strategy.

It’s never too early to start succession planning. From the moment an employee comes on board, you should take note of their strengths, weaknesses, and overall potential to transition to other roles in the future. 

Of course, it is not enough to simply identify high-potential employees, you must also work with them to overcome potential skill gaps. 

According to the Harvard Business Review, this is where many teams let themselves down. 98% of businesses say they are good at identifying high-potential employees, yet, they spend just 10% of their time developing these potential leaders. 

As such, businesses must both identify and develop candidates throughout the succession planning process. 

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We’ll analyse why succession planning is vital for your business, including four succession planning best practices to set your business up for sustainable success. 

Why succession planning is vital for your business

Unlock your teaching potential with this month’s drop of professional learning courses. Join Kath Murdoch in discovering the power of inquiry-based learning, Jen McVeity in the Seven Steps to Writing Success approach to persuasive writing, and Katie Novak in Universal Design for Learning. 

With downloadable resources, theory videos and a variety of engaging materials, our courses provide a comprehensive understanding of these essential teaching practices.

Learn how to create a whole-school initiative that fosters authentic learning, problem-solving, and essential transferable skills with inquiry-based learning. Transform your students into confident persuasive writers with the Seven Steps approach and create a more inclusive learning environment with Universal Design for Learning.

Which awesome content partners have we added to the platform?

Discover the power of inquiry-based learning with distinguished educator and author, Kath Murdoch. With over 30 years of experience in teaching, researching and publishing, Kath has become a leading authority in the field. The Power of Inquiry, based on Kath’s book, is designed for K-8 teachers who want to ignite a passion for learning in their students by implementing inquiry-based practices. Educators will learn how to create a whole-school initiative that fosters authentic learning, real-world problem-solving, and essential transferrable skills such as critical thinking, planning, self-management, organisation and communication.

Transform your students into confident and persuasive writers with our innovative course by Seven Steps to Writing Success. Led by Jen McVeity, founder of Seven Steps and author of over 20 books, this comprehensive program is based on the proven Seven Steps approach to writing. You’ll discover how to break down writing into individual skills, from brainstorming initial ideas to creating powerful conclusions. Engage your students with sizzling starts, tightening tension, dynamic dialogue and descriptive language, banish boring writing and make your students’ work stand out with these persuasive writing techniques. 

Are you ready to transform your teaching approach and create a more inclusive learning environment? UDL Now! Introduction to Universal Design for Learning is our new course by internationally renowned education consultant, Katie Novak, Ed.D. With over a decade of experience and 12 books to her name, Katie is an expert in Universal Design for Learning (UDL), universally designed leadership, and inclusive practices. This course will give you an introductory understanding of UDL, from the ‘why’ to the ‘what’ and the ‘how’. Discover how to increase options for representation and engagement and create accessible and equitable learning environments both in the classroom and online. 

Which great content partners are coming soon to EC Premium?

With over 40 years of experience as a teacher, administrator and researcher, Dr. Thomas Guskey’s work is dedicated to helping educators use quality educational research to improve student learning outcomes. Dr. Guskey, will soon release a 4-part series of courses on Grading, Assessment, Professional Development and Mastery Learning. Dive deep into these topics and learn how to utilise Dr. Guskey’s rich resources to enhance your assessment and reporting strategies.

SharingStories is a non-profit organisation dedicated to preserving the rich cultural heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities using digital technologies and vibrant artistic forms. Their upcoming courses offer a unique opportunity to learn about the diverse cultures of Indigenous Australians, and to gain insights into the importance of preserving traditional languages and stories for future generations.

Adrienne Hornby, a health and wellbeing consultant for schools, will release an exciting course that will help school leaders and their staff build a culture that is proactive, not reactive, towards staff wellbeing. In this course, Adrienne addresses teacher burnout, improving school outcomes and performance, and creating a positive school environment.

Check out a short preview of the course by Balanced Choice, who offer programs for young people to develop their social, emotional, psychological and physical wellbeing. The courses show educators and support staff how to engage, regulate emotions and uplift students in the classroom by teaching them how their choices shape their identity.

Balanced Choice preview

Our Featured Playlists are included in all schools’ Learning Hubs and are a great way to see a variety of high-quality content from different providers, all with just one click!

Creating an inclusive school culture and classrooms that prioritise inclusion is critical. Our Inclusive School playlist offers a wide range of resources to support all school staff. Whether you’re a teacher seeking general or subject-specific strategies, a school leader striving to instil inclusive practices into your school’s culture, or another school staff member seeing to enhance awareness and comprehension of inclusion, we’ve got you covered.

And this is just a sample of what our library has to offer. If you’re hungry for more, we recommend using the search bar to explore additional courses provided by these amazing content creators!

EC by Go1 is thrilled to announce that we are expanding into the United States, with our Senior Education Success Manager, Katy, leading the charge. Katy is currently building an awesome new course that will be rolled out nationwide.

I’m so excited to be designing a course that’s about a topic near and dear to my heart: Special Education. This course will cover a range of topics related to special education in the United States. It provides and overview of the legal requirements and procedures for identifying and serving students with disabilities, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Individual Education Plan (IEP) process. It also covers best practices for writing IEPs and conducting IEP meetings, as well as briefly touching on strategies for providing effective instructional supports and accommodations, such as co-teaching and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Additionally, the course explores some of the most common disabilities that qualify students for special education services.

As our Senior Education Success Manager, Katy works to ensure that our EC Premium platform is a highly effective professional learning tool for our schools and partners in the US! Katy brings a rich career in K-12 education; following five years at Teach for America as a teacher and then a leader, Katy went on to lead as an instructional coach and school improvement specialist in Hawaii, and then an education program specialist in Arizona. She holds a Master of Education for Arizona State University.

Katy lives in the second sunniest city in the world (Phoenix).

This month, get ready for a stellar line-up of renowned educators and authors that are set to bring their expertise to our professional development courses.

The EC Premium Content Insider – March 2023 edition

This month, get ready for a stellar line-up of renowned educators and authors that are set to bring their expertise to our professional development courses. 

Partnering with Go1’s Enterprise Account Executive, Nick Ramsey, we investigate the current state of workplace stability, before diving into internal talent mobility and the interesting rise of talent marketplaces. 

The current state of workforce stability 

In a world where change is often the only constant, the idea of stability can feel like a faraway dream. One could assume there would be a limited case for ‘stability’ given the current state of the world’s workplace. 

Can today’s employees really expect, or desire, stability after the last 5 years of digital transformation, pandemic disruptions, and rapid innovation?  

Thankfully, the answer is a resounding yes. While the working world may be characteristically unstable, and could remain so for some time, there is a strong case for doubling down on efforts to stabilize your working environment. If for no other reason than to appeal as a breath of fresh air in the context of the otherwise chaotic 2020’s.  

Don’t just take our word for it, the Reserve Bank of Australia recently reported that “workers' perceptions of their own job security have declined in recent years.” Similarly, the ADP finds that just 20% of workers feel their jobs are secure.  

As such, employees are crying out for a greater sense of stability. According to a recent survey, 56% of people say that job stability is more important to them than flexibility. What’s more, 30% of people say that job stability is the number one reason they stay with their company (notably, even more important than salary for some), while 60% rate job stability among the top three most important reasons they remain at their job. On the other hand, employees who feel insecure about their job are 37% more likely to be disengaged.  

Accordingly, a sense of stability at work is vital. Yet, it is safe to assume that most of your workforce are feeling the effects of the wider working world’s instability. If they are also experiencing any lack of clarity or ownership around their position and pathways at work, you can be sure that their engagement will take a knock.  

Luckily, there’s a solution: talent mobility. Here’s everything you need to know about how internal talent mobility can help stabilize your workforce.  

Skills development and career mobility are two of the most powerful ways an employer can increase their employees’ job security.    

We spoke to Nick Ramsey, Go1’s Enterprise Account Executive, to gather his insights into where large organizations are (or should be) focusing their efforts to keep their best people in-house.  

How valuable do you believe skills development is when future-proofing an organization? 

It’s never been more important.  The ever-growing skills gaps in key industries and areas has been widely publicised and we continue to see the impact of automation, accompanied by an increasingly volatile economic climate.   

Skills development helps organizations future-proof their workforce – whilst offering employees much-desired opportunities for growth and development. 

Where do you believe the balance should lie between autonomous (led by the employee) and structured (led by the employer) skills development?  

I definitely believe the employer has the responsibility to make the right development opportunities available for their employees.  The utopia is to build a learner-driven culture of curiosity as the pillar of a world-class learning culture.  It’s definitely easier said than done. Learners need direct motivation and to understand the “why” of what’s in it for them.   

Tools that can unlock this include targeted learning campaigns, marketing learning correctly and using data & insights to drive engagement.  That’s why talent marketplaces have so much potential – they can identify the gap in the learner’s knowledge and present an opportunity to fill that gap with a relevant, personalised learning experience.  

A Talent Marketplace is essentially an internally leveraged platform which connects talent to opportunities. Employees promote their individual skills, career goals and preferences while gaining access to a broader selection of pathways than a traditional talent management program would provide. Josh Bersin describes them as a ‘Linkedin, but within the company’.  

Have you noticed any increase or change in the conversations around Talent Marketplaces in the industry of late?   

Absolutely.  I'm noticing that agile organizations are recognizing the challenge of identifying and mapping the skills and capability of their workforces – and beginning to address how they can fill the gaps.  It’s a task riddled with complexity but there is some amazing tech hitting the market that can have a huge amount of value when deployed correctly.   

It’s still a space that’s growing – but one that will only continue to become more prevalent in the coming years.   

Do you know examples of organizations successfully implementing a Talent Marketplace?  

The early-adopters of talent marketplaces in Enterprise organizations are already starting to see the benefits.  By their own admission, it is still early days, and they recognize that they are still in something of a pilot/MVP phase, particularly on identifying the right skills frameworks and technology to use.   

Tools like Gloat and Eightfold.ai are being widely adopted, whilst we’re also seeing the conversation in more mid-market sized organizations, too.  The positive here is that organizations are both identifying the gaps in their organization – and in turn the solutions required to address them.   

What place does skills development have in talent mobility? 

As always, L&D has a major role to play in this process to encourage talent mobility and stability. Attaching upskilling, reskilling and development opportunities is critical to a well-rounded talent mobility program. A robust development programme provides employees with the opportunity to gain new skills, thereby allowing them to explore new roles and opportunities outside of their current remit and take up other positions internally. In other words, L&D and internal mobility go hand in hand.   

One sure-fire way to achieve this is by offering an integrated talent marketplace platform. Providing employees with a clear understanding of where they might need to upskill, as well as the learning pathways to gain these skills, will win their loyalty and engagement.   

Josh Bersin also notes that promoting internal opportunities is one of the most powerful management practices in business. In fact, 94% of HR professionals say that internal recruiting helps retain their most valuable talent, while employees who move to a new role internally are 3.5x more likely to be engaged at work. 

To learn more, check out our blog on why internal mobility is essential in today’s workforce.  

For more insights, be sure to subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs. 

With insights from Nick Ramsey, Go1's Enterprise Account Executive we explore investing into skills development and competency, with a close look at the rise of talent marketplaces.

Stabilize your workforce with internal talent mobility

With insights from Nick Ramsey, Go1's Enterprise Account Executive, we explore investing into skills development and competency, with a close look at the rise of talent marketplaces.

The term ‘sustainability’ is appearing increasingly often in the world of business. Whether it’s social sustainability, environmental sustainability, or economic sustainability, this is something that companies can no longer afford to ignore. As such, taking a strong stance on sustainability is no longer an optional extra. It’s essential.  

But before you start thinking that sustainability is all about planting as many trees as you can (though that certainly wouldn’t hurt), there’s much more to it than just that! 

Let’s jump right into the world of sustainability in business and check out some of the different types of sustainability. We’ll also offer actionable steps that businesses can take to increase sustainability. Finally, we’ll attempt to answer the question that we’re sure is on everyone’s people’s lips: “why should you even care about sustainability in business?” 

Social sustainability can often be left by the wayside in favour of other types of sustainability initiatives that are deemed ‘more important’. The truth is, it plays a key role in employee safety and wellbeing in the workplace. It’s equally as important as environmental and economic sustainability.  

The question is: how can we move social sustainability up the priority ladder so it sits in its rightful place next to environmental and economic sustainability?  

Like so many things in the workplace, the answer is education. 

Workplace learning tools are more than just compliance-based training. Many of these platforms have courses that can educate all members of the workplace about how they can be more socially sustainable. 

It can help them answer questions like:  

What can we do to increase psychological safety in the workplace? 

How can we make sure that everyone feels represented within the company? 

How can social sustainability help public perspective of a company? 

One example of social sustainability that we saw explode in popularity at the height of the pandemic was giving employees the option to work from home. By providing this option, employers showed that they cared about their employees’ wellbeing during a very uncertain time around the world. In other words, it gave employees one less thing to worry about!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that environmental sustainability is a hot topic in business from an individual level right up to major corporations.  

Understandably, different companies will have different capacities for how they can demonstrate environmental sustainability. However, the point is that companies must make an effort that is visible to both employees and consumers. 

The increasing pressure for businesses to demonstrate economic sustainability is more than just hearsay to make businesses feel guilty. There are some real stats behind it! For example, a 2018 Nielsen study of US consumers revealed that a huge 81% of global consumers feel strongly that companies should be doing something to protect the environment. 

While it may not be initially expected, environmental sustainability has an impact on employee retention too. Another study of 1000 US employees revealed that more than 70% would choose to work at a company if it had a strong environmental agenda. 

Here are some ways, both big and small, that companies can demonstrate a commitment to environmental sustainability: 

Investigate the type of power used to produce products. If they’re made with coal power, is there any potential to switch to a more sustainable power source like solar or wind? 

For documents that you would typically print onto paper, try keeping them as a digital file. Many programs allow for documents to still be highlighted or have notes made on them digitally, negating the need for a printout. You’d be shocked how quickly a sheet of paper or two adds up to thousands of sheets in a business! 

For every waste bin you have around the office, have one for recycling as well. You’ll find that simply having the option to recycle will mean that a lot less goes to waste. It’s a small, short term financial investment for long term environmental gain. 

A big part of maintaining economic sustainability within a business is finding that sweet spot between cutting unnecessary spending while also still investing money in things that could benefit the business’s long term financial growth. 

As much as we’d like it, there’s no yellow brick road that leads straight to Oz in the world of economic sustainability for businesses. 

To determine what increased economic stability may look like for a specific business, it’s best to get in touch with a financial advisor or equivalent professional. In doing so, businesses can get a clear idea of what specific actions they can take to increase and maintain economic sustainability. 

Why should you care about sustainability in business?

You may think sustainability is more of a ‘nice to have’ rather than a ‘must have’ for your business. After all, shouldn't things like financial growth and creating a superstar team of staff be the priority? The truth is, sustainability goes hand in hand with both of these things. 

While environmental, social, and economic sustainability all have distinct business functions, they can be likened to a house of cards. If all three are there, the house of cards can stand with ease. The moment one of them is removed or bumped a little too hard, the house of cards is at risk of collapsing.  

That’s not to say that not focusing on one of these types will cause a business to collapse entirely (there’s usually a lot more to it than that). However, if for example, environmental sustainability is being neglected, the social and economic sustainability of a business is likely to suffer as well. 

For more insights, subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs. 

Before you start thinking that sustainability is about planting trees, there’s more to it than that! We’ll answer the question: “why should you care about sustainability in business?”

Sustainability as a business priority

Have you ever stayed late at work for a meeting in a different time zone, kept your Slack notifications on because your boss expects immediate responses, or, that dreaded cliche, attended a meeting that could have been an email? If these problems sound familiar, you’re experiencing the pitfalls of synchronous communication. 

Synchronous communication is just a fancy way of saying real-time communication. Common examples of synchronous communication include face-to-face conversations, in-person meetings, and phone calls. In other words, any form of communication where you respond instantly. 

While this type of communication certainly has its upsides, the alternative  — asynchronous communication — can be equally beneficial. Yet, it is often overlooked in the workplace, even though a majority of employees (52%) prefer asynchronous communication, and 42% say asynchronous communication is the future of work. 

With this in mind, we’ll explore the benefits of asynchronous communication for L&D. We’ll start by contrasting synchronous and asynchronous communication, before diving into the benefits of asynchronous communication, and finally outlining best practices to embrace asynchronous communication. 

Synchronous communication vs asynchronous communication

To understand the benefits of asynchronous communication for L&D, it’s vital to first understand the difference between synchronous and asynchronous communication. Let’s compare the two communication styles. 

Synchronous communication is simply a fancy way of describing real-time communication. Any time you are talking to someone and they reply instantly, that’s synchronous communication. Examples of synchronous communication include: 

To expand on this, RingCentral defines synchronous communication as “that which takes place in real-time between two or more parties. Put simply; a synchronous communication exchange is an interactive, ‘live’ interchange between people.”

Accordingly, the key characteristic of synchronous communication is that it’s immediate. Synchronous communication happens in real-time as a ‘live’ exchange between two or more people. When you picture a conversion in your head, there’s a 99% chance you’re picturing synchronous communication. 

In contrast, asynchronous communication features a lag between one person sending a message and another person responding. Where synchronous communication happens in real-time, asynchronous communication involves a delay.

For example, sending a message on Slack and waiting an hour for a reply is a form of asynchronous communication. Other examples of asynchronous communication include: 

Basically, any form of communication where you don’t reply instantly is asynchronous. 

As Owl Labs explains, “asynchronous communication is any type of communication where one person provides information, and then there is a time lag before the recipients take in the information and offer their responses.” 

Likewise, Holloway adds that asynchronous communication “happens when information can be exchanged independent of time. It doesn’t require the recipient’s immediate attention, allowing them to respond to the message at their convenience.” 

Thus, the key characteristic of asynchronous communication is that it is not immediate, affording greater flexibility and more time to digest information. 

Essentially, if synchronous communication is live, then asynchronous communication happens on delay. 

To learn more, start your free trial with Go1 today to access word-class training on synchronous vs asynchronous communication and much more. 

The benefits of asynchronous communication

Now that we understand the difference between synchronous and asynchronous communication, let's explore the benefits of asynchronous communication. Strap in, because there’s a lot to cover! 

First things first, asynchronous communication is what employees want. The majority of employees (52%) prefer asynchronous communication to synchronous communication, with 42% saying asynchronous communication is the future of work. It’s never a bad time to give your employees what they want! 

Employees prefer asynchronous communication because it offers far more flexibility and autonomy than synchronous communication, putting them in control of their communication.

Rather than feeling like they have to be ‘on call’ to respond to any request at a moment’s notice, asynchronous communication allows employees flexibility to work at their own pace, digest information, and give more considered and thoughtful responses. 

Why is flexibility so vital? According to the HBR, 59% of people say that flexibility is more important than salary or other benefits. That’s right, most employees would prefer more flexibility to more money, making asynchronous communication an easy win. 

This flexibility can be vital if your employees work across different continents and time zones. In these situations, getting everyone online simultaneously can be a massive logistical challenge, making asynchronous communication a lifesaver.  

When flexibility increases, employees also feel they have a better work-life balance. 

By encouraging asynchronous communication, employees have more control, autonomy, and ownership over how they communicate, rather than being beholden to rigid, synchronous communication. 

For example, rather than attending a mandatory 7:30 meeting, with asynchronous communication, employees might drop their kids off at school, log on when they get home, and contribute their brilliant ideas in a dedicated Slack thread instead. 

All of this leads to a significantly better work-life balance — and the stats back this up. 61% of employees say asynchronous communication results in a better work-life balance, while 35% say asynchronous work results in more purposeful and less distracting communication.

If you’re a results-focused manager, you might be thinking: ‘flexibility and work-life balance are great, but will asynchronous communication result in better output from my employees?’ The answer is a resounding yes. 

64% of people believe asynchronous communication maximises their productivity, as they don’t have to wait for others to complete tasks. Moreover, 69% say it gives them time to perfect ideas and responses before communicating.

Further, research by Slack finds that asynchronous communication saves three hours per week on average by replacing in-person meetings and inefficient communication styles. As a result, employees can reclaim wasted time and be far more efficient. 

While flexibility, productivity, and efficiency all fall under the modern L&D remit, asynchronous communication also benefits L&D teams in a direct, tangible way. 

36% of remote workers say they would prefer to give up email than Slack, Microsoft Teams, or other asynchronous collaboration tools. Given the ubiquity of email, this statistic underscores how valuable asynchronous communication tools are. 

Yet, 70% of L&D teams say their eLearning platform isn’t integrated with their preferred communication platform — a huge missed opportunity for L&D teams looking to get an edge on their competitors! 

Despite these incredible benefits, many businesses are shooting themselves in the foot by not offering asynchronous communication. 58% of people say their company doesn’t have the tools to support asynchronous work, while just 38% work for a company with asynchronous work policies. 

Additionally, in a recent survey, workers said that 40% of meetings could be replaced by asynchronous communication tools like Slack. We know that ‘meeting that could have been an email’ is a common cliche, but that’s a staggering amount. 

If you’re among the 58% of teams who currently don’t have the tools to support asynchronous work, we’re here to help. Below, we’ll dig into best practices for how businesses can embrace asynchronous communication. 

Best practices for asynchronous communication

At this point, it’s clear that the benefits of asynchronous communication are too good to ignore. So, what should your team do to embrace the async way of life? While there is no one-size-fits-all guide to asynchronous communication, here are a few best practices. 

Many people default to synchronous communication because it’s all they’ve ever known. In-person meetings and face-to-face conversations have long been the norm, and it’s hard to break these ingrained habits and unlearn our unconscious biases. 

However, by opening a dialogue (you could start by sharing this article or exploring Go1’s vast training catalogue) and explaining the benefits of asynchronous communication, your teammates will quickly get on board.

We’ll explore the benefits of asynchronous communication for L&D, outlining best practices to embrace asynchronous communication.

The benefits of asynchronous communication for L&D

It may only be February, but have you started to think about your compliance training for 2023?  We know that it can be hard to find the right compliance provider whose style matches your organizations. With Go1, you have multiple providers to select from, ensuring your compliance content meets the needs of your company.  Check out a few of our outstanding compliance content partners below.

What content partners should you check out this month?

Topic coverage: Compliance, Harassment, Data Compliance, Health and Safety, Privacy

155 courses in Premium, ranging from 25 minutes to 2 hours

Top courses: Preventing Discrimination and Harassment; Workplace Diversity, Inclusion, and Sensitivity; Code of Conduct Essentials

Award-winning Sexual Harassment program (Available in English and Spanish)

High-quality video-based learning with interaction and assessments

10+ courses in Premium, 20 minutes in duration 

Top courses: Work Health and Safety (Australia); Work Health and Safety (Australia); Sexual Harassment (Australia); Workplace Bullying (Australia); and, Privacy (Australia) 

Topic coverage:  Health & Safety; Financial Compliance; Data Compliance; Management; Construction; Education

120+ courses in Premium ranging from 10 to 100 minutes in duration 

Top courses: Ladder Safety, GDPR, DSE, Whistleblowing, Anti-Bribery

Courses approved by CPD, IOSH, ROSPA, IIRSM, IATP, CITB, Skills for Care 

Languages: UK English and machine-translated in 30+ languages  

What great new content have our current content partners added to the Content Hub?

Over 2000 titles have been added to the Go1 Content Hub in the past month. Below are some highlights of those additions.

Coorpacademy has added over 430 new titles in the past month, each of them available in English, French, and German (over 1300 new courses total). Specializing in contemporary content needs and aligned with the World Economic Forum’s top skills, new titles from Coorpacademy range from The New KPIs to 5-minute Yoga for Better Digestion and from Hire and Coach Qualified Salespeople to Understanding the Blockchain.

lawpilots has increased their content offering with 230+ new courses available in 35 different languages. With an engaging UX and frequent scenarios, topics include anti-corruption, conflicts of interest, export control, anti-money laundering, data protection, and information security.

Mind Channel now has over 25 sleek new microlearning courses in English and French. Ranging from 6 to 12 minutes in duration, new titles include Introduction to Continuous Improvement, Developing Female Leaders, UX Design & User Experience, and Hand and Power Tool Safety.

Packt has added 30 additional courses on popular tech topics. New titles, which range from 94 to 873 minutes (that’s over 14 hours!) include Learn Power BI, HTML Tutoring for Beginners, Salesforce Anti-Patterns, Mobile development with .NET MAUI, Building Analytics Teams, and Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Certification and Beyond.

Pinktum has expanded their content offering with over 200 new courses available in six languages: English, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, and Chinese. This latest batch of titles from this customer favorite includes Unconscious Bias – Recognizing and Reducing Prejudices and Stereotypes, Becoming More Productive and Satisfied at Work, Successfully Leading Hybrid Teams, and Lateral Leadership — Leading Effectively Without Being a Supervisor.

Thomson Reuters is in the midst of refreshing their content catalogue, and as a result they have added over 40 new courses in 15 languages. Topics from this renowned compliance provider include anti-money laundering, whistleblowing, data privacy and security, and business continuity management. 

BizLibrary has refreshed their library and added hundreds of new courses in all topics, from leadership and mental health to Microsoft 365. *BizLibrary is restricted in some regions.

This week I looked for courses that would help with change management.  Like all organizations, Go1 is always looking for ways to grow and improve and often that comes with the need to lead others through those changes. Always looking scanning the library for different formats, I found the book summary of The Heart of Change by John Kotter and Dan Cohen from our content partner Soundview, who provides us with a number of executive book summaries.  This quick read gave some great information and advice on how to implement change, get buy-in, and make the change stick. I appreciated the format of this summary, with quick callouts and anecdotes.

It may only be February, but have you started to think about compliance training for 2023? Check out a few of our outstanding compliance content partners.