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Conquering the Brain Drain:
E-learning's promise for succession planning and solutions for human resource
professionals' headaches
Over the next few years, human resource professionals will be faced with perhaps the biggest challenge of their careers—the "graying" of the nation's publicly funded workforce. With nearly 64 percent of current managers eligible to retire (10 - 15 percent of whom actually retire each year 1), how will we ever cope with the "brain drain?"
Maher & Maher, a New Jersey-based consulting, training and eLearning solution provider, has taken this on as their challenge. Together with the United States Department of Labor (USDOL) and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA), Maher & Maher has created a new eLearning solution called O*NET Academy, to offer a glimpse of hope to this challenge.
The Occupational Information Network (O*NET) was originally developed by the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment & Training Administration, along with states working together with NASWA. This new workforce development tool provides a dynamic database of skills, knowledge and abilities covering the information age's world of work.
Kathleen Cashen, executive director at NASWA, came to Maher & Maher knowing that her organization needed to train key personnel in each state to support the deployment of O*NET via eLearning. As a result, O*NET Academy now provides workforce professionals the ability to get the training they need to succeed.
"This year we'll offer more than 50 live learning sessions to workforce professionals across the US, and no one will get on a plane. In fact, no one will even need to leave his or her office, saving the publicly funded workforce system travel costs and staff time," according to Cashen. "Learners can choose from about 40 course titles and a variety of training formats. There is something for every learning need, and every learning style."
The Challenge
As a common framework for defining the world of work, O*NET affects the
way all members of the workforce development system will do business in
the future. Employers, job seekers, professional staff and educators all
need to know about O*NET and how it is applied to improve service delivery
in their particular jobs—a daunting training challenge.
NASWA knew that it needed to train key personnel in each state to support the deployment of O*NET via eLearning. Populated by surveys of businesses in the U.S., O*NET's database is designed as a "common language" for the workforce development system (employers, educators, employment services and job seekers) to help foster better planning and job placement to meet the demands of the new economy.
O*NET Academy: The new way to learn
"When NASWA called on us to help them plan an effective training solution,
we knew the traditional, classroom model was broken," says Richard D.
Maher, president of Maher & Maher, the New Jersey-based designer of O*NET
Academy. "eLearning offered the client a chance to reach many more people
with a consistent message. Since O*NET effects many stakeholders, the
target audience just couldn't be reached as cost-effectively any other
way."
Earlier this year, O*NET Academy came online as the first wide-scale eLearning platform from the USDOL.
The site features a mix of three different eLearning strategies:
- Live virtual classroom sessions (or Webinars, as Maher calls them) offer the opportunity for professionals to join peers live on the Web for targeted training.
- Self-paced courses that feature interactive content for individual learning on a 24x7x365 basis, offer enhanced detail and allow learners to train at their own pace. Learning performance can then be validated through online testing.
- Finally, the Academy boasts tutorials that teach how to use O*NET in common situations, like in writing a resume or taking a job order. These interactive tutorials use step-by-step animations to guide learners through tasks right from their desktop, while simulating real-world situations.
Learning is enhanced by peer group interactions over bulletin boards, free downloads of training materials, product update news, and other forms of knowledge sharing. User feedback shows that learners enjoy the ability to collaborate with others who perform the same job; so virtual classroom technology is employed to allow peers to "meet," using a standard Web browser over the Internet. "That's important as budgets and 9/11 concerns restrain people from traveling to conferences," says Maher.
The Results
If user statistics mean anything, he may be correct. O*NET Academy completed
over 4,000 user sessions in September of this year alone—up nearly 150%
from July's activity. According to Maher, the trend is no fluke. "We're
experiencing fantastic expansion of monthly sessions, and we've been pleased
to see users coming back multiple times to explore," Maher said. "Fifty-one
percent of our users have accessed the site as many as six times. Just
as important, we're seeing this technology explode with our other clients.
We trained nine thousand employees in a little over four months earlier
this year for a large communications firm. Clearly, somebody out there
enjoys this new way to learn."
O*NET Academy users report liking both the content and the format. They specifically mention convenience and easy access to information resources as important features. "E-learning doesn't replace traditional classroom learning all the time," says Maher. "For some forms of training it can, but more commonly, we can take a "blended learning solution" and make classroom sessions shorter and more productive. Classroom training becomes a sort of "boot camp," focusing on role play and practicing skills learned on the Web."
The Academy offers courseware titles targeted at workforce development professionals, educators, employers, job seekers and students. The Web allows product updates to be reflected in training content on one server, and easily distributed to all O*NET users. The training is free.
Looking to the Future
O*NET Academy will continue to expand curriculum and offerings to meet
an increasing training demand. A new emphasis on employers will attract
new users and drive new content development.
Since O*NET information is available to states and locals by free download, many have started embedding O*NET into job search sites and operating systems. This trend is just what NASWA envisioned—increasing integration of O*NET into everyday service delivery. However it requires new forms of support and collaboration as IT staff struggle with best practice approaches for using the tool effectively. So, O*NET Academy will provide a platform for communities of practice to emerge. "That's a natural extension of the technology. We're well positioned to make that happen," says Maher.
As eLearning grows in popularity, and as the publicly funded workforce replaces retirees with new hires, most experts believe these new learning technologies offer a more convenient way to tackle the increasing need for all types of training. From program and product knowledge, to soft skills, Maher believes eLearning is an answer.
"There is certainly no silver bullet. Managing the brain drain will require a multi-faceted approach and a well thought out succession plan," says Maher. "But a younger workforce will demand innovative solutions to lifetime learning, and the growth of eLearning will allow us to keep pace with that demand. The train has left the station and our clients are safely on-board."
For more information, visit: onetacademy.com and mahernet.com
(1. Source: "Succession Management: Building Your Organization's Future." Speech at Workforce Innovation 2002 Conference by Lynn Masiello, Director of Human Resources, USDOL Employment and Training Administration.)