Here are the results of the 2014 Learning in the Workplace survey taken by over 1,000 respondents worldwide*, who rated the importance (value/usefulness) of 10 different ways of learning in the workplace.
Results of the 2014 Learning in the Workplace survey ©C4LPT | Not important | Quite important | Very important | Essential | VIP + Essential |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Company training/e-learning | 24% | 39% | 21% | 16% | 37% |
Self-directed study of external courses | 14% | 34% | 34% | 18% | 52% |
Internal company documents | 15% | 40% | 30% | 15% | 45% |
Internal job aids | 20% | 36% | 28% | 16% | 44% |
Knowledge sharing within your team | 2% | 11% | 31% | 56% | 87% |
General conversations and meetings | 2% | 20% | 38% | 40% | 78% |
Personal & professional networks and communities | 3% | 23% | 36% | 38% | 74% |
External blog and news feeds | 10% | 25% | 39% | 26% | 65% |
Content curated from external sources | 9% | 32% | 38% | 21% | 59% |
Web search for resources (eg Google) | 3% | 17% | 33% | 47% | 80% |
The red shaded areas and red figures highlight where the most responses have been received, and in the last column (which is an aggregate of the Very Important and Essential scores) the blue figures show the top 5 rated ways of learning at work.
These results show that, as with the 2013 and 2012 survey, company training/e-learning is the lowest rated way to learn at work, and knowledge sharing within teams is the the highest rated way to learn at work.
What does this mean for L&D departments? It suggests the focus of their work should be in the areas that are seen as high value, e.g.
- supporting knowledge sharing across the enterprise
- developing self-service resources
- offering and guiding group learning opportunities
- building the personal and social learning skills that will ensure all employees can thrive in today’s workplace.
*Who took the survey?
- Location: In 46 countries incl USA, Australia, Canada, UK, New Zealand and other countries in Europe, South America & Asia
- Industry: 38% edu-related; 62% non-edu related (incl 11% technology, 10% Government, 8% financial services, 4% healthcare, 4% retail)
- Organisation size: 63% from orgs with more than 250 people, evenly split between other org sizes
- Function: 47% HR/L&D, 53% from all other functions (incl 10% IT, 5% Sales & Marketing)
- Job type: Non-managerial/other: 53%, line managers: 8%; middle: 20%, senior: 19%
- Age: <30 : 7%, 31-40 : 26%, 41-50 35%, 51-60 : 26%; >60 : 6%
- Sex: Male: 41%; Female : 59%
This means that we need to do things better or different….. http://t.co/TzhEgXiJ7a
2014 Survey Shows Again That Company Training/E-Learning Is The Least Valued Way To Learn At Work http://t.co/a8o2dyZ2KA
Do u agree? 2014 survey shows company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn http://t.co/b8E708tY8X #edtech #cpchat
Fm @C4LPT: 2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work http://t.co/9WRoSUOshd
2014 Survey Shows Again That Company Training/E-Learning Is The Least Valued Way To Learn At Work http://t.co/WMkyXKoQk7
RT @TracyGravesande: 2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work http://t.co/08EdTceR…
RT @C4LPT: 2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work http://t.co/UxV54Rinim
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2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work http://t.co/azZ9eJ6FRm #L&D #HR
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RT @C4LPT: 2014 Learning in the Workplace survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn http://t.co/…
RT @C4LPT: 2014 Learning in the Workplace survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn http://t.co/…
2014 survey shows that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work Workplace http://t.co/mJzZWtgwI8
Is it possible to drill down the data or make the worksheet avaiable. I believe that a thousand responses is not a valid quantity for generalization.
2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work http://t.co/x3hdA6KD3v via @C4LPT
2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work http://t.co/6kNKsvEQSK via @C4LPT
2014 #survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at #work #eLearning http://t.co/gLWtN1PaCb
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RT @C4LPT: 2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work http://t.co/UxV54Rinim
2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work by @C4LPT http://t.co/9Moxjn1Q0o
RT @bduperrin: 2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work http://t.co/fSXt9rwtNq
I think the attempt on this research was good. However, I am bit concern with the unbalance in the participant selection for the data. For instance, in the edu- related section, it was 38% and the non-edu section there were 62%. It is hard to know which group of participants agreed or disagreed with company training/e-learning. In other words I would need more info to come with accept the data and also to glean anything valuable from this research. However, thanks for attempting this project, it is food for thought though.
What people SAY they want and find useful does not always mirror actual performance results. I wrote a blog about learning myths in February (http://www.bottomlineperformance.com/learning-theories-gone-wild-urban-myths-can-hurt-learning-designs/) that covered this. Today, Annie Paul Murphy, the education writer for the NYT wrote a similar article and quoted the same research I did. Her article is here: http://anniemurphypaul.com/2014/07/are-you-an-autodidact-or-do-you-need-other-people-to-learn/
I think we need caution before we shift too completely into the i”nformal learning is the way to go” camp because most of us are not good at managing our own learning. We choose what we prefer over what we may need, we skip what bores us, and we don’t know what we don’t know. Informal learning has its place but I think we need caution in interpreting survey results that indicate what people believe has been most helpful to them re: learning. People may PREFER doing searches on Google, but will that net them the greatest learning benefit?
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2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work http://t.co/pXfCzpbhq9 via @C4LPT
2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work http://t.co/IUEFCGEO8h via @C4LPT
Thank you for sharing this survey. My thoughts are, that quite often training is perceived in a negative light by employees for several reasons. They are often asked to attend mandatory training without being asked if they need it or have the time to go. In the past, as an L&D person, I could see their frustrations. The quality of the training was often woefully inadequate and there was a sense that we were just running through the motions.
I think thoughts on attending training need to be delved a bit deeper to fully understand the psychology behind it.
2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work http://t.co/8IHEamXrR0 via @C4LPT
RT @_Kavi: company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work http://t.co/JwhIkg5bzM
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2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work http://t.co/wuDmXwYd5X
Interesting results but not surprising. Thank you for sharing. I can see that I will use this data as a means of influencing clients and stakeholders to reconsider their options.
2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work http://t.co/KUv4Cch3dm
2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work http://t.co/EXhIB9IVL3 via @C4LPT
RT @C4LPT: 2014 Learning in the Workplace survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn http://t.co/…
MT @C4LPT Workplace learning: 2014 survey reveals company training (normal & e-learning) to be less valued http://t.co/FHfbgrXBsp
#Learning in the #Workplace Survey shows that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to .. http://t.co/kfIGluPeN6 by @C4LPT
RT @dougpete: 2014 Survey Shows Again That Company Training/E-Learning Is The Least Valued Way To Learn At Work http://t.co/a8o2dyZ2KA
RT @C4LPT: 2014 Learning in the Workplace survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn http://t.co/…
2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work http://t.co/vbgXIhnHhg
@aestrauss Definitely! “General conversations” coming in at 78% 🙂 http://t.co/HBqBFVePy7 via @C4LPT
2014 survey shows that knowledge sharing in teams is the most valued way to learn at work: http://t.co/BtOfWseyL8 via @C4LPT
Company-provided #training and #elearning are actually the least valued ways to learn at work. via @C4LPT http://t.co/RsKn1FRGH3
2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work http://t.co/fianb43IsH
2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work http://t.co/dxyjXBzGb9 via @C4LPT
2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work http://t.co/lY1x5wfGHQ
Jane Hart: “2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work” http://t.co/XVi3ETLW5Z
RT @jrobes: Jane Hart: “2014 survey shows again that company training/e-learning is the least valued way to learn at work” http://t.co/XVi…
That report on top rated ways of learning: http://t.co/keHa4avVrf @TourismMI @PaulWilliams207 @C4LPT