Data insights from Cornerstone OnDemand show that the pandemic is driving employees’ appetite for self-directed learning. This in turn means organisations need to provide adequate learning resources. The company also found a six-fold increase in EMEA online learning course registrations in early 2020 when the pandemic hit. While this initial spike has since slightly decreased, online self-directed learning is currently still three times higher than before the pandemic, demonstrating employees’ ongoing desire and need to adapt and expand their skillsets.
“The challenges are far from over,” commented Mike Baker, GVP sales and account management EMEA. “We’re all having to get to grips with yet another new world of work as many workplaces adopt hybrid working and it’s unpredictable what may happen next. Clearly, organisations need to be providing the resources and content to help employees to develop their skills, build their resiliency and ultimately, to enable their workforces to prepare for the future.”
When it comes to the kind of learning content employees are looking for, the data highlighted very different demands and needs. In the UK, courses on “Tips for Productive Remote Work” and “Stay Healthy When Working Remotely” were unsurprisingly among the most sought after. However, British employees have been particularly concerned about keeping up their communication capabilities in comparison to their European peers. “10 ways to have a better conversation” was the most popular learning course for UK employees over the past year, with a course on “How to listen” also amongst the top 10.
The beginning of 2021 witnessed a slight shift in focus, with courses on the topics of wellbeing and self-development, such as “The wellbeing mindset”, “Effective Performance Reviews” and “How great leaders inspire action”, topping the list.
“Not only the way we learn but what we learn has rapidly and constantly changed during the pandemic,” continued Baker. “People and organisations have incredibly different needs and challenges compared to even a few short months ago. As our customers’ need for empowerment, resilience, and agility continues to grow, so does Cornerstone’s innovation. Our goal is to provide modern, bespoke, on-trend and relevant content that delivers the right topics, right in the moment of need to enable the working lives of people, their managers, and their organisations to be more purposeful, inclusive, and impactful.”
With this call for varied content, Cornerstone has witnessed increased engagement with its Learning Playlists, where users can curate their own customised training collections, as employees seek to take charge of their own future development.
To further respond to this growing and varying demand for self-driven learning, this year, Cornerstone has also formed and extended new partnerships with local content providers. The Access Group, Think Biscuit, Thrive Learning, MiCrow, Skillshub, MindTools and Finance Unlocked are some of the content partners providing a wide variety of content for people to easily upskill and reskill for the future.
