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Nick van Dam is an internationally recognized consultant, author, speaker, and thought leader. He is a director and chief learning officer in global talent for Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited. He also is founder and chairman of the e-Learning for Kids Foundation, which provides children with free digital education globally (www.e-learningforkids.org).

Nick Dam

April 2013 - TD Magazine

Inside the Learning Brain

April 2012 - TD Magazine

Designing Learning for a 21st Century Workforce

ELearning Diplomat

Nick van Dam is an internationally recognized consultant, author, speaker, and thought leader. He is a director and chief learning officer in global talent for Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited. He also is founder and chairman of the e-Learning for Kids Foundation, which provides children with free digital education globally (www.e-learningforkids.org).

Nick van Dam

Employing an adapted and integrated L&D and DE&I framework provides business leaders with a promising strategy to create sustainable change in the workplace and society.

Workplace Equity Through L&D

A May 2016 article in McKinsey Quarterly, “Learning at the Speed of Business,” explores what digitization means for the next generation of corporate learning.

Transforming Learning for the Digital Age

During a recent ATD online course, Essentials of Brain-Based Learning, the instructor, Margie Meacham, shared ideas for brain-aware activities that support engagement, retention, and application. The large group divided into small breakouts to delve further into how these activities, such as flash cards, graphic organizers, and videos, are actually used in their respective organizations. Back in the large group discussion for sharing excellent practices, one participant mentioned a technique that had not been discussed: concept posters. Concept posters are a staple for ATD Forum labs and sessions at the ATD International Conference and Exposition. Generally, they are customized and adapted for both the theme and the approach. They were also used during the 2014 ATD Forum Fall Lab at Cochlear in Centennial, Colorado, where the theme was The Suite Spot: Developing Agile and Innovative Leadership. Sample concept posters are provided based on this session. The purpose of a concept poster, a human-centered design method, is to concisely and visually convey the essence of a concept, idea, or point of view for the purpose of gaining support for implementation. It can serve as part of a business case to move an organization from the current state to a future state because it is a visual pitch story. The tool graphically conveys a compelling point of view; thereby, promoting a shared vision within a group. Additionally, concept posters help groups obtain buy-in from decision makers and provide a roadmap for moving forward. Developing Concept Posters Because the brain processes images faster than words, you can convey ideas much more succinctly in this graphical manner. The active physical engagement (doing) of the participants also contributes to neural connections. When facilitating the development of a concept poster, set the context by demonstrating how the concept poster can distill of a lot of information into its core essence by using a compelling graphic and a few words. The primary rules for a concept poster include being self-explanatory and visual. Using a blank large sheet of paper, the facilitator can sketch a quick outline of where elements might appear on the poster or show an example. Some of the components might include the following: title for initiativetagline for initiativeprimary stakeholderskey featuresprimary goalstimeline for implementationbenefits of the initiativesketch or diagram the idea. Easel size paper is ideal for sharing and communicating with others. While a concept poster can be either an individual or small group activity, it can be completed in 15-30 minutes. Once completed, feedback on how others understood and received the message is extremely valuable. In some Forum labs we have added a formal process for reviewing and feedback. Having other participants use questions to get further clarity can be meaningful and helpful. For this feedback process we place the posters on the wall and let another group use a “check list” and discussion to assess the poster for clarity and meaning. Here are some resources to assist with developing a concept poster. Like all new activities, sometimes it is more effect to “just do it” and not introduce it as a “concept poster method for the human-centered design toolkit.”Resources Innovating for People: Handbook of Human-Centered Design Methods. LUMA, 2012. “Concept Poster Session” by Gamestorming Blog.“Inside the Learning Brain” by Nick Van Dam. T+D, April 2013. “Tool: Business Design Concept Poster” by Noise Between Stations Blog. “Speed of Processing in the Human Visual System” by S. Thorpe, D. Fize, and C. Marlot. Nature, 1996, Volume 381. Effectiveness of Visual Language, Wharton School of Business Infographic.

Concept Posters: Incorporating Brain-Aware Methods into the Curriculum

December 2022 - TD Magazine

Reduce the friction that is preventing learners from engaging with your learning.Businesses spend billions of dollars trying to understand consumer behavior, resulting in marketing strategies that aim to get consumers to buy their products. However, in those companies, many L&D functions are not leveraging the same insights and strategies to reach their learners. Treat your learning solutions like products, and minimize the friction between the solutions and learners. One way to do so is using BJ Fogg's behavior model to evaluate your learning initiatives.Identify the frictionThe Fogg behavior model looks at three conditions that must be present for someone to engage in a behavior: motivation, ability, and a prompt. When one of them is absent or diminished, so is the likelihood that the desired behavior will occur.For example, let's say you have a missed call on your cell phone. Why didn't you answer the phone? Maybe you heard it ring, looked down and saw who was calling, and decided you didn't want to talk to that person right now. You heard the ring—that was the prompt. Nothing was keeping your from answering the call (that is to say, you had the ability). You just didn't want to—you didn't have the motivation to engage in the behavior.Now let's say the phone rings, and you're expecting the call and want to take it. But you can't find your phone, or it's in another room and you can't get there in time. Again, you heard the ring (the prompt), and this time you wanted to take the call (motivation), but you weren't able to get to the phone in time (ability).Finally, let's say you're expecting the call, and your phone is right next to you. However, the ringer is set to silent. The phone rings, you want to answer and are able to do so, but you never hear the ring—you received no prompt to answer it.That's how Fogg's behavior model works. The presence or absence of any of the variables can contribute directly to the likelihood that you'll engage in a given behavior.What if we look at learner behavior through that lens? You've created a great learning initiative and spent a lot of time and money on the learning ecosystem. However, you don't seem to be getting the traction you're hoping for. Here are some questions to consider:Are learners aware of the learning solution? Are there prompts that alert learners to its availability?Are learners motivated? Do they want to engage in learning?Are they able to engage with the learning solution?Is there anything preventing them or making it more difficult for them to access it?If you have opportunities in any of those areas, then you have friction between learners and the learning solution. Friction, in this context, is the absence of prompts or is anything that impedes motivation or ability when it comes to a learning initiative.PromptsIf learners don't know about your learning initiative, it may as well not exist. These days, people are inundated with prompts—pop-ups on smartphones, ads on social media, digital billboards, and the like. How can we ensure that learners are prompted to our initiatives? The traditional methods are static and push prompts.A static prompt is one that is in a fixed physical location, such as a poster in a breakroom. It works fine when your audience tends to be isolated in one particular location. But if someone is not in that exact location, they won't see it.A push prompt is much more targeted. It entails identifying your audience members and sending a prompt to them, such as an email reminder that a course is available. However, you often can't customize that prompt by audience member—everyone gets the same message. And you can't time the prompt so that it reaches an individual right when they need it most. Thus, there are some limitations to what we have traditionally used as prompts in our learning ecosystems.This is an area we should pay close attention to because it has the potential to change rapidly. Imagine if we could activate a prompt for a specific learner at a specific time and in a specific location with a learning solution that is designed precisely for the activity that they are engaging in in that moment? It would be similar to finding an exclusive offer from Starbucks popping up on your phone whenever you're within 50 yards of a store.MotivationMotivation should be the easiest variable in this equation. If your initiative meets a learning need, learners should be inherently motivated to engage with it. However, that isn't always the case. In my experience, there are two major reasons. The first is that the solution does not meet a learning need (which is a subject for another article). The second, and more egregious, reason is that learning solutions get bogged down with demotivators that dilute learners' eagerness.Given the massive increase in video use for learning, there are some lessons to be learned from how people engage with YouTube and how we think about the videos and other learning initiatives we create.I often use the example of having a hole in my drywall and turning to YouTube to see how to fix it. Not surprisingly, there are numerous options from which to choose. We've all become accustomed to using filters to narrow down internet search results, although we often do our own visual filtering first. For example, I can take a quick look at a results list on YouTube for drywall repair and immediately rule out, or at least deprioritize, some of the videos. The first thing I'll look at is time. I expect that this should be a relatively simple task, so I'm not looking for a long video. The shorter the better.Likewise, learners have an expectation of how simple or complex a task is and at least some sense of how long it should take to learn. If they see that a video is 30 minutes long, and their perception of the task doesn't line up with that amount of time, you may lose them right away.I start playing a six-minute video from the list. After a lengthy introduction, a bio of the host, and several examples that don't apply to what I'm looking for, the host eventually starts the process of explaining how to execute the repair. It took over one minute to get there. That is an informal measurement I call "time to learning"—or how long it takes before I get to the actual learning. Time to learning is especially important when considering whether our goal is knowledge retention or knowledge acquisition. In other words, are learners in this for the long haul, or do they just need a quick one-off fix that they will rarely if ever need again?When looking at learning from a knowledge retention standpoint, time to learning is slightly less important. We know we're going to get deep, and participants learning about the instructor's credibility can be helpful to set the tone. But if we seek knowledge acquisition, or disposable knowledge, time to learning matters a lot—especially if there are several options from which to choose.For example, imagine I need to generate a report for my manager, who is out sick. I've never done the task before, and it's highly unlikely that I'll ever have to do it again. After some digging, I find a few videos that will help me figure out what to do. However, the videos don't cover only the report I need to generate; they cover all the reports in the entire program and explain where the data from those reports comes from and why they're important to the business.Are those bad things for me to know? Of course not. But they're not relevant to what I need to do right now. Getting what I need is like searching for that how-to needle in a haystack of video instruction. I may resort to other options, such as trial and error (risky) or asking a colleague (now two of us are wasting time trying to figure this out).Going back to the drywall video: I stuck with it for more than a minute only to see how long it would take for the purposes of this example. If I had a real need, I doubt I would have held out for more than 10–15 seconds.We can and should apply the same lessons to our video content libraries and consider where we are adding friction that we should remove. In most cases, those are demotivators that don't reflect the quality of our instructional design yet may deter learners from ever finding that out.AbilityAnother go-to source for information in people's nonwork lives is Google. Here's what happens if I search for "how to repair drywall"—let's count the clicks: I open the browser to Google and type the search term, then click Search. One click. What I see first are a few links to associated terms like "water damage" and "peeling" that enable me to refine my search. Below that is a frame from a video already queued to a specific timecode that is likely to address my need. Below that are links to a few more videos, all with descriptions and timecodes of key moments in the videos. Next up is the "People also ask" section, which displays several ways that others have posed their question that may be more in alignment with my need. And finally, I get a list of results that I would normally expect to see on Google. All from one click.Now think about your learners and, more importantly, your learning ecosystem. Most likely your version of Google is some sort of learning management system or learning experience platform. How many clicks does it take learners to get there? Once someone arrives at your version of Google, how many of the features described above does it have? How easy is it for learners to find what they need?Many of us are presumably still in a situation where learners must go through six, eight, or even 10-plus clicks to find what they need. Number of clicks and speed to solution are ways we can assess learners' ability to engage in the desired behavior.Nobody wants to click through a never-ending menu. Individuals have been conditioned that they shouldn't have to, and they are far more likely to give up somewhere along the way than they are to reach the end.Other ability barriers include bandwidth and hardware. Sometimes our instructional design comes with ability barriers. If you have motivated learners who know about your initiatives, make it as easy as possible for them to access and engage with learning.Enhance learning's impactThis article has numerous questions you can ask about any given learning solution. It's going to be difficult to get satisfactory answers to all of them. But what you can do is identify an area that you believe may be causing friction for your learners and is something that you can influence.In other words, we all want better bandwidth, but you probably have an extremely limited ability to influence that yourself. You may have a better chance implementing some prompts for learners that can move the needle. Or you may be able to reduce the number of clicks required to access content with some adjustments to your internal websites or portals. Start small by looking for areas to reduce friction with existing learning solutions, and then incorporate the ideas into the design phase of future ones.If you treat your learning program like a product and view your learning ecosystem as a mechanism for reaching your audience and providing that product, it may change your perspective.

Are You Driving Learners Away!

They're creating computer code, carting food and passengers around in their own cars, and popping in monthly for a project meeting. What's their story? Are these occasional workers underemployed, unable to secure a salaried job? Are they Millennials and Generation Z-ers sampling different occupations before they commit to a career? Or Baby Boomers making some extra cash to supplement their retirement savings?They could be any of those―or none of them. Meet the gig workers, a burgeoning population in the labor force that is changing the way company leaders look at workforce planning and the way people view work."As individuals have entered the workforce and evolved, they are asking for more flexibility," says Kurt Heikkinen, president and CEO of staffing company Montage. And, as access to health insurance has become increasingly separate from full-time employment, "workers have really gained a sense of freedom. They look at [their careers] as a series of gigs, a series of projects and experiences, as opposed to a long-term career at a given employer."Figure 1: Gig Workers Look Like the Broader WorkforceThe following charts illustrate the demographics of self-identified gig workers compared with those of the entire U.S. workforce. Source: Morning Consult.But these aren't the typical temp staffers of yore―the "Kelly Girl" secretaries and Manpower workers who filled in for office staff when an employer had a hole in the schedule. Nor are they limited to the classic freelancers in creative fields―writers, editors, musicians, and graphic artists. Nowadays, gig workers run the gamut, from Uber drivers to IT technicians to travel nurses. And they are an integral and growing part of the knowledge economy.Many businesses have embraced this pipeline of on-demand talent. Yet, despite all the promise of the gig economy, it is a work in progress. The rules are still being written as companies and workers alike adjust to new ways of getting work done.Two Types of Gig WorkersGig work itself is not new. "People have always worked this way," but the prevalence and types of gig jobs have changed over the years, says Diane Mulcahy, author of The Gig Economy: The Complete Guide to Getting Better Work, Taking More Time Off, and Financing the Life You Want (Amacom, 2016). "This kind of work is growing at a rapid rate," she says, particularly in white-collar jobs and the tech economy.There are two types of gig workers, Mulcahy says: first, those who are searching for full-time work and need to make some cash and contacts while they job-hunt and, second, those who simply don't want or need full-time employment.The latter group includes a lot of younger people, for whom the idea of a 40-years-and-you-get-a-gold-watch kind of job is something their grandparents did. They aren't attracted to what they see as an outdated model of sticking with one company―or even one profession―for an extended time. But this group also includes retired or semi-retired people who may or may not need the money but who want to stay engaged and active regardless. And there are also mid-career folks who want the flexibility and freedom of doing what they want more or less when they want, drawing on years of experience to cherry-pick appealing projects.In the United States, more than 40 percent of workers are employed in "alternative work arrangements," such as contingent, part-time, or gig work, according to Deloitte's 2018 Global Human Capital Trends study. In a 2016 Adobe survey, 56 percent of office workers predicted that everyone will do some gig work in the future. Asked to look ahead to 2020, 28 percent of business leaders and chief human resource officers said they anticipated an increase in gig workers, the Deloitte study found."The vast majority [of gig workers] are folks who easily could go get [traditional full-time] jobs somewhere," says Lori Williams, vice president of fulfillment at Gigster, a software developer that has 80 employees on staff and works with 1,000 gig workers. "They've chosen this lifestyle."The top benefit of the arrangement for them is autonomy. They have greater control over their schedule and they can avoid routine annoyances such as bad managers, office politics, and interminable staff meetings. They also might learn new skills and gain valuable experience at a temporary stint, ultimately giving them the tools to advance in other gigs or in staff jobs.Employers, too, enjoy the perks of an open relationship, gaining access to skills and talent without having to commit to a full-time hire. And managers can supplement staff with gigsters who have the talent and knowledge not only to advance a project, but to teach regular employees new skills."It's really [about] how can we continue to scale as an organization?" says Vlasta Dusil, senior vice president of HR for computer technology company SAP's Cloud Business Group. "We talk about diversity, with gender, with different generations. In our view, this is another way of looking at diversity."Growing PainsStill, there are some drawbacks―for both sides. The "flexible schedule" so many people crave can lead to them being underemployed. The gig worker might also miss out on the advantages that come from committing to one employer. Among those advantages is professional development."How are these people going to train and develop and grow?" says Jennifer Graham-Johnson, SHRM-SCP, recently retired chief HR officer at WestRock Co., a paper and packaging products manufacturer."I do worry we are going to have a group of people who are . . . unable to advance" if they ever decide they want full-time employment because they haven't had the opportunity to develop their skills and knowledge through training and classes.Then there's the issue of employee benefits.Gig workers don't get health insurance, paid time off, or 401(k) contributions from employers. Offering them the same perks that staff members get could set an employer up for legal challenges and negate savings typically associated with hiring gig workers.It could also harm recruiting efforts. After all, good benefits are one of the selling points companies use to attract full-time talent. Why would people want to join your team as full-time employees if they can enjoy the freedom and flexibility of gig work and get the same benefits as regular employees?The bigger issue may be that offering the same benefits to contractors and regular staff could get the company in trouble with the IRS, which has a 20-point test to determine whether workers are independent contractors or employees entitled to the employer-paid share of FICA taxes. Microsoft and other employers have had to pay millions of dollars in back taxes and damages after being sued by workers who said they were paid like independent contractors but treated like employees.Figure 2: What Motivates Gig Workers? Source: Shiftgig, Profile of a Gig Worker, 2018.Playing Catch-UpGovernment and businesses are lagging on other fronts related to the gig economy, too. Banks, for example, might be skittish about lending money to a potential homeowner who doesn't hold a permanent job. And gig workers don't get unemployment benefits, COBRA, or worker’s compensation.Companies can help fill the gaps. One way is to offer voluntary benefits that are fully paid for by the worker but administered by the employer. E-commerce website Etsy, for example, has partnered with Stride Health to act as a health insurance broker for the people who create the art, jewelry, and other items sold on Etsy.Still, the gig economy is clearly moving faster than the institutions that deal with these workers."I don't think we've caught up to this type of worker," says Arthur Tacchino, chief innovation officer at the compliance technology company SyncStream Solutions. "The workforce is changing. So how are the coverage, insurance, and benefits going to evolve to fit the newer kind of workforce we are seeing?" There's no clear to answer that, Tacchino says."Regulators and courts are trying to apply 20th-century law onto a 21st-century problem," says Richard Meneghello, an employment attorney and partner at Fisher Phillips. "Our hope is that once people realize it's not just a passing fad, regulators and legislators will get more serious."One agency trying to change with the times is the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is taking a fresh look at compensation for gig workers. The agency is considering revising its rules to make it easier for people who are classified as independent contractors to receive stock awards from the companies that employ them, the New York Times reported.While governments and financial institutions adjust, the market for gig workers is maturing, fueled by technology platforms that help both sides of the work arrangement find each other. Online labor platforms such as Upwork, Gigster, TaskRabbit, and Freelancer are not only empowering the gig economy, but revolutionizing the way workers and companies connect."The technology is making the whole market more efficient," says Marion McGovern, author of Thriving in the Gig Economy (Career Press, 2017) and co-founder and former CEO of M Squared Consulting.Upwork, for example, connects computer-industry freelancers in 170 countries to employers who need their services, charging the worker a fee of 5 percent to 20 percent of the job's pay. ShiftPixy and others hire workers (paying the employer share of payroll taxes and taking care of other compliance issues), then "lend" them to clients in the hospitality and restaurant industries. The company has an app that allows people to broadcast their availability and apply for certain shifts in their communities.As Uber was creating its digital platform for drivers, the job market for gig work was exploding, says Scott Absher, ShiftPixy's CEO. "People are looking for ways to recobble their income," and these platforms make that more efficient, he says.Managing the GigSo how do today's people managers handle gig workers, follow the law, and head off potential tensions with full-time staff? Some tips:Decide who will drive the decision-making on hiring. A simple procurement process may be enough to fill an open gig for an IT techie, while a speechwriter for a CEO will likely require input from the chief executive.Pay people promptly. "I can't tell you how many companies are on 60- to 90-day schedules" for contracts, McGovern says. But individuals expect to be paid faster and more often.Know the law—and do not treat gigsters like employees. In fact, don't even use the word "hire" to describe the working arrangement, advised Rebecca Cenni-Leventhal, founder and CEO of staffing and recruitment firm Atrium. People who work gigs are "engaged," not hired, she cautioned.Protect confidential company information. This is especially important when using outside contractors for a business dealing with sensitive client information, such as health data and Social Security numbers.Let your own staffers gig―even at your company. Since many workers crave the opportunity to learn something new, offer full-time staffers the chance to develop by giving them a gig in-house.Keep staffers and gigsters separate, when warranted. "Having [gig workers] participate in regular team meetings or asking them for regular updates and reporting is not wise," says Cenni-Leventhal, as that may cause them to be viewed as employees rather than independent contractors. "Inviting them to one holiday party isn't too much of a risk, but when you start having them participate in team-building activities and attending company functions, it can get tricky."Make your gig workers feel welcome and valued. "Make sure you afford them the correct level of respect," McGovern says. "This is someone who is going to add to the team, bringing in skills or knowledge and experience to help the effort."On top of that, she adds, it's important to recognize the dignity of their career choice. After all, it's a work arrangement more business leaders can expect to manage in the coming years.Copyright 2019, SHRM. This article is reprinted from www.shrm.org with permission from SHRM. All rights reserved.

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