13
Louise Pasterfield
Managing Director
Sponge
Putting people first
Louise Pasterfield, founder and
managing director at SpongeSpongeSpongeSponge, sets out
the single most important New Year's
resolution for L&D
Putting people first - three small words
that, combined, can make a big difference
to L&D in 2019.
For some organisations, 'people first'
learning will require a shift in how they
deliver workplace training. But those L&D
teams that make this their top New Year's
resolution will be rewarded with more
engaged learners and better results. Here's
why.
Aligning learning solely to business goals
will only get you so far. Human-centered
design that puts people first in the content,
design, strategy and implementation of
learning is the one principle that will help
drive the desired improvements in
performance and results.
Learners are changing
It might sound obvious, but it's a fact that's
often overlooked: to provide learning with
impact, you must understand the needs of
the people it's targeting - your workers,
and usually your customers, too. Which
leads us to the key question: how well do
you really know your learners?
One thing we do know is that learners are
changing, and that means the learning
must change, too. The respected
workplace learning and technology expert,
Elliott Masie, argues that "our learners are
leading and pushing innovation, as they
expand and evolve their approaches to
curiosity, discovery and information". He
pinpoints four of the biggest changes as:
• Learners no longer memorise;
• Learners would rather watch than read;
• Learners want learning closer to the
moment of need, not a yearly trip to the
classroom;
• Employees need a learning experience
platform that can aggregate all learning,
formal and informal.