Today’s globally mobile workforce needs personalized training, as well as just-in-time resources to address the ever-changing demands of a multicultural business environment.
Blended Learning offers a holistic approach to talent development that meets these demands.
As we look to the future and prepare for working in the global market place, it is important to take notice how the face of the globally mobile workplace has changed. PwC’s Talent Mobility 2020 underscores the shift in mobility expected by 2020: with this shift comes a variety of workplace challenges.
If we take a snapshot of the global workplace today, we find a demographic shift from homogeneous cultures to a disparate combination of cultures. Imagine the scene today in 2016; a Dutch company has a manufacturing operation in Guangzhou, China. Expats are sent from the offshore offices in Malaysia, Germany Brazil, USA, Russia, and Italy to expand operational and development segments in emerging markets. At the corporate office in Amsterdam, established in the 19th century, the employee composition is now 50% Dutch. The remaining 50% are from other EU countries as well as Japan, USA, Canada, The Philippines, China, and Turkey. 2020 globalization is here!
It is no longer adequate to train expats to leave their home culture and work in a host culture when both countries are no longer homogeneous. In addition to expats, local team managers and international business travelers benefit from training on the cultural and work style differences that these demographic shifts are creating. So how do we enable our colleagues to excel and achieve desired outcomes in this challenging, culturally diverse work environment?
Research tells us that instructor-led training is ideal when:
And eLearning is ideal when:
Current corporate training practice tends to either provide e-learning as a stand-alone program that is under-utilized, or an event based in-person training that does not provide the sustainability required. The optimal learning environment for preparing employees to work in complex heterogeneous cultures requires a blended approach.
Research indicates optimal adult learning occurs when:
This blended learning process is the new face of global mobility training. Blended Learning is a long-term investment to ensure sustainable skills in the global workforce. A culturally agile workforce is able to communicate and collaborate; it leverages heterogeneous cultural values for improved outcomes in the workplace.