Internet Learning Volume 4, Number 2, Fall 2015 | Page 39

Internet Learning
processes, with the first steps focusing
on identification of need and subsequent
steps working to identify, implement, and
evaluate the solutions to the identified need.
Needs at the corporate level may need to
be addressed at multiple employee levels,
with multiple learning approaches, but
the core of the process should be a unified
strategy to improve employee and company
performance to better serve the customer.
These employee needs and
motivations apply across learning platforms,
but the delivery mechanism for instruction
in the workplace is increasingly that of
elearning. In the context of the overall
need for workplace learning and employee
motivations for learning a well-designed
elearning program addresses the needs
of multiple stakeholders. To address this
workplace learning as a whole is discussed
and then the elearning component is added
into the context of the broader workplace.
Beyond the tools used to perform
the job, employees today are
also responsible for learning
about changes to the company’s
approach to doing business,
changes to what customers need,
and changes to the competitive
environment.
an entire firm. This expansion of learning
into every part of a firm is a natural extension
of the need for all functional areas in a firm
to continually grow and improve service to
the increasingly complex and competitive
external environment in which all industries
are working today.
Learning activities in the modern
firm can encompass a number of different
areas. Technical learning involves developing
new skills for new tools, whether those skills
are applied to a new software application, new
manufacturing equipment, or some other
technical aspect of the business. This type
of learning is often the first type considered
because of the rapid advance of technology in
all aspects of life but it is not the only area of
change and learning for today’s workers.
Beyond the tools used to perform
the job, employees today are also responsible
for learning about changes to the company’s
approach to doing business, changes to
what customers need, and changes to the
competitive environment. These learning
activities ultimately connect to the overall
corporate strategy of the firm and, by
extension, impact every employee, in every
department, at every level (see Figure 1).
Learning’s Role in the Workplace
Traditional views of functional areas
in a firm may relegate workplace learning
to only a human resource function. The
reality of the modern environment, however,
is quite different. Harmon (2015) identifies
Learning & Growth Measures as one element
of a departmental scorecard applied to
departments, processes, and activities across
Figure 1. Employees are responsible for
change according to customer needs.
Learning in the modern workplace is much
more than a question of introductory
training or policy updates, although those
elements do require training to maintain
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