At a time of profound change in business models organizations, “upskilling” and “reskilling” are key in HR practices. But what do they actually mean and what is their impact?

Understanding and being open to change, in order to generate a new outlook or new ways of doing things, is the main aim of learning. Yet a 2016 study by the Harvard Business Review showed that many training sessions serve no real purpose. “Corporations are victims of the great training robbery. American companies spend enormous

Learning is all about searching for new meanings and connections. Like all explorers, learners need to accept – and indeed recognise – the risk of losing their way and coming up against a deadend. For their part, training designers should create environments that are secure and conducive to learning

Designing a training course involves giving participants the opportunity to activate a range of motivational drivers, so content must be selected and structured with the utmost care. It also means putting participants in problem-solving situations and creating experiences that are powerful enough to change established routines and knowledge.

If we think back to our time as young learners, we all remember a teacher who explained things well and helped us to understand. But what does it mean to ‘understand’? And how can understanding be made easy?

Engage, Explain, Experiment, Explore, Embed. This is the “5E” model in a nutshell – the underlying principles of our practice as trainers and the experiences we create for our learners, all based on neuroscience and other educational sciences.

As explained in my previous blog post, most jobs will be dramatically impacted by both technological and sociological upheavals in our environment. In addition to technical skills, professionals now need to have good general knowledge, social skills, and learning-to-learn skills. Cooperation, creativity, communication and critical thinking are already universally acknowledged to be crucial.