This article is the follow-on from the article “Content is King” - which focuses on why content is the real foundation of a good people development strategy in a modern digital world.
The aim of this article is to unpack the key power behind good content for learning design and if ‘Content is King’, who is the ‘Queen’ and why is the Queen so powerful in our people development strategy.
Like in the game of Chess, when your king is surrendered, you lose the game. Your competitor wins the game as their King is still active and alive. This is also true in the Learning and Development game. If you surrender your content and it is no longer alive and active on the board, then your competitor will win as their content (King) is alive and active on the board (the board being = their ‘people development strategy’ as outlined in the article “Content is King”).
So if the Content is King and it holds this primary title in your people development strategy then let’s look at what this Queen is and why it is that the Queen is such a powerhouse regarding our people development strategies.
What are the characteristics of the Queen in the game of chess? Simply put: she has the power to move in any direction, she changes the game, while working with other pieces she creates immense impact, she defends the King at all cost and when she has been lost the game becomes more difficult to win; because of the competitor’s Queen.
Within a good people development strategy, the Content is King and the Queen is the ‘immersive learning tools’ or ‘immersive media-rich tools’ to package and deliver good content.
So what are immersive learning tools? These are learning instruments which package content in a visual and interactive manner, allowing the learner, to quickly understand and build confidence and capability faster. Immersive learning tools deliver greater relevance and customisation and they hold an immensely positive impact on the learner and the business that uses them.
So how does Immersive learning tools enhance content today in comparison to old approaches to learning:
Why are ‘immersive learning tools’ so powerful?
Never before has technology given us so many options with regards to the engagement of learning and development of our people, processes and systems. Historically, this technology was expensive and restricted to a classroom - now we are digitally enabled, where the world is our classroom, with cost-effective immersive learning options that can be applied any time, anywhere and on any device, in any language of choice and linked to the necessary support.
It is our estimation that more than 90% of industries have yet to use ‘immersive learning tools’ to create interactive libraries of content for the people in the small, medium and large companies that make up that industry.
Why are these tools so powerful?
The King (Content) + The Queen (Immersive Learning Tools)
Immersive learning tools have the same characteristics as the Queen in the game of Chess:
Business Case to Using Immersive Learning Tools
A business example of integrated digital learning (where the King and Queen’s power were harnessed for business improvement and empowerment of people).
An owner of a corporate cleaning business employs staff to clean the reception and toilet areas of large buildings, they have managers overseeing staff, dealing with customers and reporting on productivity. The business used old-style training techniques to educate staff and managers in English regarding the use of cleaning machines, equipment and techniques. This was cumbersome and unproductive due to annual churn in staff being common in the industry. The cleaners used written reports that were placed at the back of toilet doors to show cleaning times.
Customer, systems and productivity reporting was also manual, cumbersome and time-consuming. This limited the number of accounts the business could manage and growth was not necessarily profitable.
THIS BUSINESS NEEDED A DIGITAL IMMERSIVE LEARNING REVOLUTION
We implemented a digital learning academy with immersive learning content (with local-vernacular voiceovers) that demonstrated how to use the equipment and run the business, placed IoT (Internet of things) devices onto toilet doors on all levels in large buildings which measured toilet use and informed cleaners when toilets required cleaning. An MDM App on each person’s phone or company iPad’s with free secure business data and geopositioning allowed free ongoing communication, learning and reporting. The staff became digitally enabled and empowered for real-time learning, which resulted in less staff churn and managers were able to increase their accounts with realtime reporting and improved productivity.
This is just one of the millions of examples waiting to be implemented using immersive learning solutions - the power of the Queen has not even begun to show her benefits within our people development strategies.
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