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What makes us human and how to humanise your L&D strategy

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What makes us human?What makes us as people tick? What drives our behavioural patterns and instigates action? And how can we, as L&D professionals, tap into what makes us human to drive a more successful learning strategy that utilises modern, digital technology?

Today we’re going to talk about the Human Givens and how they can (and should) be applied to learning and development strategies to enhance user connections to learning, and ultimately improve the impact of your training.

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So what does being a human mean in the context of learning and development? Our interpretation is this:

By acknowledging what motivates and drives fundamental human behaviour, we can tap into those components which allow people to flourish and move in the direction of achieving their potential in the workplace.

How relevant to L&D?

How relevant to L&D?

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The Human Givens

These Human Givens provide us with an opportunity and template to assess our overall internal learning proposition. Whilst no one learning intervention will satisfy all of them, they do allow your L&D team to stand back and consider what more you could do with these principles both now and in the future.

So what are they and how do they work in a learning context?

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Humans need security

Human Given 1

What it means for L&D: Providing the learner with a safe territory in which to learn, allowing the learning to unfold at the learner’s own pace.

How to apply it to training: There are plenty of ways that you can make a learner feel secure in their working environment. Here’s some ideas of how to connect with this Given:

• Give learners the ability to explore learning in your LMS (or other learning platform) at their own pace individually, allowing them to build trust in the system

• Promote participation in social support groups - Provide a thriving social learning community, which can help to foster feelings of security and solidify learner confidence

• Focus on achievement, not punishment - Reward the learner with points, badges and leaderboards, providing a sense of completion and satisfaction and allowing them to feel more secure in their knowledge and within their role

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Autonomy and control

Human Given 2

What it means for L&D: Utilising linear push training versus individually owned pull training, giving learners a feeling of owning their own training and development.

How to apply it to training: Empowering learners to take control of their own learning can be an extremely powerful tool; one that is often under used in most organisational training contexts either due to a limitation of the platform and content, or because of the organisation’s reluctance to relinquish control. So how could you provide a sense of autonomy?

• Provide a ‘Sandbox’ approach to your learning platform: This type of open environment works by allowing and encouraging learner exploration with phrasing such as: “Would you like to complete xxxx or go somewhere else?” Allow for a modularised approach to training, in which each module provides alternative versions and delivery methods

• Provide learners with the ability to access other learning content, including for other roles and departments

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Part of a wider community

Human Given 3

What it means for L&D: Leveraging the sense of community and collaboration can motivate and engage learners more effectively than some standalone training.

How to apply it to training: Think of different ways your employees can work together to learn and share knowledge. Here’s some ideas to put this Given into practice:

• Implement a social learning community: This will create an interactive platform for specific departments or employees to share, discuss, debate and ask each other questions. Allow your learners full access to all areas within this community, further stimulating their desire to participate and interact with peers and trainers they can learn from

• Expose your learners to a variety of facetime content such as virtual classrooms, forums and face-to-face events; this gives them the opportunity to share experiences and personally interact with colleagues or peers

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Friendship, fun, love & intimacy

Human Given 4

What it means for L&D: Increase your learner’s engagement by tapping into the human craving for fun and friendship.How to apply it to training: This Human Given is about feeling part of something larger then ourselves, in which you can gain a connection with others. A cohesive and thoroughly blended learning approach will satisfy this Given. Key examples include:• Introduce a buddy/mentor/coaching scheme which allows your employees to develop

their current skills whilst easily building relationships in the workplace• Design e-learning that utilises gamification mechanics to engender fun, drive

engagement & learning retention. Eg) you could design a learning game that adopts a leader board or points system for employees to track their progress, whilst competing and collaborating with each other

• Create a cohort/ecosystem approach via digital and traditional face-to-face means, where long term relationships can form and blossom. A shared experience can be a powerful emotional force which nourishes this Given and L&D must harness this connectivity to ensure it continues outside the formal environment.

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Competence and achievement

Human Given 5

What it means for L&D: Utilise the natural desire to progress and achieve personal goals to better motivate your learners.How to apply it to training: Every employee wants to experience a sense of accomplishment in the workplace and it is human nature to desire success and seek reward from it too. • Open Badges allows your employees to take control and showcase their skills and

competencies by displaying the digital badges they have attained on their CV, LinkedIn profile or LMS. They are a great way to motivate learners as they provide a well-recognised acknowledgement of achievements, which in turn encourages participation in training and strong completion rates

• Provide learners with an opportunity for promotion. Learners must be able to see the prospect or opportunity of climbing up the status ladder.

• Similar to how you can unlock levels within a game, why not try creating advanced learning modules giving your learners the chance develop the skills they’ll require in their future job role? Upon successful completion of training, why not experiment with an extended training option allowing them to upskill training further and drive user engagement.

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Could your L&D strategy be humanised?This sound theoretical research and focus on the fundamental elements which make us human is the crux of what gamification has unwittingly tapped into in L&D.

Fifty years ago families and communities joined clubs, socialised at churches or pubs and congregated around a piano to sang together; now people do the same but around their computers for the same reasons: to be part of something bigger and to share experiences with others. So ask yourself, could your learning be more human?

Thanks for reading! Questions? Get in touch at hello@learningpool.com