In a previous post, we discussed two steady trends that are increasingly requiring businesses and other organizations to rethink their approach to leadership training.
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The first trend is the growing proportion of the workforce made up of Millennials—estimated to reach 50% in 2 years and 75% by the year 2025. The second is the growth in the use of artificial intelligence (AI), which, although it is starting to be used in HR and training fields, hasn’t seen its potential fully tapped yet in leadership development.
Here, we’ll look at what Millennials think of current training and what new managers want from their training.
What Millennials Think of Their Training
“Soon, we will have more inexperienced managers, with fewer senior leaders above them, than at any time in history,” says Forbes Contributor Kevin Kruse. So, what do they think of their existing training?
He says a recent survey asked 200 first-time managers aged 27 to 32 working in either midsize or large organizations what they thought. Here are some representative comments (paraphrased in the interest of space):
- There just isn’t enough time to take advantage of available training opportunities.
- My generation doesn’t want to learn from PowerPoints.
- It’s easy to watch TV shows in just a couple of clicks on my phone, but it takes dozens of clicks to start an e-learning course.
- I can find better “training” materials on my own—TED talks, podcasts, reading, etc.
Ready availability, and advances, in technology has definitely raised expectations in terms of how individuals interact with technology.
What Millennials Want from Their Training
Here, Kruse turns to the results of a survey by the Global Leadership Forecast 2018, which surveyed over 25,000 leaders to get an idea of what they wanted to see more of in training. What do they want?
They want their training to be personalized and on-demand. They want coaching from those with more experience. They want training to be ongoing, not just a “one and done” event. And, they want training to be mobile so they can access it whenever, and wherever, they are.
Training has been a key part of employee growth and development for generations. But as those generations come and go—in addition to new technologies—businesses need to think about how to best adapt their training to the needs of the future.
Interested in developing your current staff into becoming future leaders? Join Joan Peterson and Gregg Thompson, of Bluepoint Leadership, as they present the breakout session, HIPO Development Programs: How to Shape High-Potential Talent Through Customized Experiences, at TalentCon 2019. Click here to learn more, or to register, today!
