News story

Mind Tools reveals the secret of how managers want to learn

LondonLearning NewsMind Tools for Business

Presenting the results of latest research with 1,000 managers in the U.K. and U.S., Mind Tools CEO James Manktelow and SVP, Commercial Development Ollie Craddock will reveal the key to engaging the modern-day manager at the Learning Technologies 2017 exhibition.

With increasingly heavy workloads and busy schedules, on-the-job learning and personal development often seem to drop down the list of priorities for many. In fact, previous research by Mind Tools, one of the world’s leading providers of management, leadership and personal excellence skills training, showed that 66% of those surveyed felt that they were just too busy to learn1.

Unfortunately, this has left many learning and development (L&D) departments feeling disconnected from their learners as they struggle to break through the “too busy” barrier.

So, what can we do to ensure that our managers are getting the training and time that they need to develop and grow?

In a seminar at Learning Technologies 2017 entitled, “How Your Managers Want to Learn”, Mind Tools will show L&D professionals how to create an environment that will inspire their managers to learn.

CEO James Manktelow and SVP, Commercial Development Ollie Craddock will present what they’ve learned from new research carried out this month with 1,000 managers across the U.K. and U.S., and discuss the different ways to keep them engaged with learning despite their hyper-busy schedules.

When asked what managers need to help them develop the right skills for work, Manktelow said, “Managers today don’t have the time to take a day out of the office to be taught skills that may not even be entirely relevant to their situation. Our own research from 2016 has shown that 65% of respondents already focus their learning efforts on self-paced resources2. In this seminar, we look at why people prefer to learn outside the work environment and explain why more businesses should embrace this opportunity.”

An on-demand learning culture is increasingly considered by industry experts - such as business management consultancies Bersin by Deloitte and CEB - to be the best solution, giving people the control to develop the skills they need to meet a challenge as it arises, rather than companies prescribing the training that their learners will receive.

“L&D departments are seeing a trend towards their people utilising resources outside of traditional prescribed-training solutions. However, if the quality of the learning material is not maintained, this can have negative consequences for the business. As such, an L&D team proactively making high-quality, on-demand content available to its learners can benefit everyone,” Manktelow said.

As well as delivering this seminar, Mind Tools will also be exhibiting at Learning Technologies 2017, from 1-2 February on Stand E4.

Manktelow concluded, “If you’re keen to learn more about how Mind Tools can help you to get the most of your learners in 2017, be sure to drop by the Learning Technologies exhibition for a chat with the team, or visit mindtools.com/corporate for more information.”

Notes

1,2 Source: mindtools.com research, January 2016