The accumulation of knowledge is already in the past. Business education of the future is an understanding of relationships, a reduction in the degree of complexity and continuous learning throughout life as an independent discipline. In this regard, the managing director of the WU Executive Academy, Dr. Astrid Kleinhanns-Rollé, talks about the key role of digital culture in companies, as well as about future learning trends.
Business education: Training in the era of digitization
New updates are available for mobile phones: they neutralize security gaps, make devices compatible with new applications and ensure their relevance. Not only our phones, but we ourselves have become increasingly in need of updates. Today, “lifelong learning” is not just a fashionable phrase – it’s about new ways of transferring knowledge and skills in the era of digitization, and these methods are just beginning to take on a definite form. We only begin to notice with the passage of time the real manifestations and consequences of the digital revolution. Similarly, the transformation in the field of additional education for managers is a process that is currently taking place, the consequences of which are not yet understood. However, it is clear that effective training, corresponding to the needs and requirements of people, is impossible without the following main components:
The issue of digital culture
Most companies have already realized that additional education plays a vital role, and this is not least due to new technological developments. However, difficulties sometimes arise in the transition from theory to practice. According to a study conducted by the digital association of Germany, Bitkom, three out of four respondents complain that at work they do not have enough time to get acquainted with new technologies. Employees are expected to have a high level of literacy in the field of information technology, but this is not the only goal for further education. Constant adaptation of knowledge is a prerequisite for companies to become more “capable of learning” and “understanding” in the best sense of the word, which is even more important in this context. Read more: Different ways to introduce children to mathematics at home
All this will give companies maximum flexibility, at any time, allowing them to respond quickly to changes and proactively create their own future. The company learns and develops, and each person should do the same to flexibly adapt to new opportunities both within the organization and the labor market.
Is Knowledge power?
For decades, people have argued that knowledge is power. Today, this is only partly true, given that knowledge itself has ceased to be someone’s unique distinguishing feature, so to speak. At the moment, in fact, it is important to combine separate elements of information and data, develop creative solutions to current problems and respond quickly to new requirements. Information today is easier and cheaper than in the past, to get, but it can quickly become obsolete and unusable. Moreover, the amount of information is practically not manageable. Therefore, we need new approaches in the methods of providing and transmitting information. Read more: The night before the exam: How to deal with sleep
Learning as an independent discipline
What exactly does this mean for additional education in the digital age? Accumulation of knowledge is no longer the main goal of education. What is really important is the ability to find relationships and understand that we learn always and everywhere. The real art lies in the ability to harmoniously combine personal experience, new knowledge, and own actions, analyze, generate new ideas and apply them in new areas of activity, when working on new projects, etc. Training, therefore, in itself becomes a new academic discipline in the context of additional education.
In the era of digitalization, business education can be successful only if modern learning opportunities are tailored to students’ individual needs. This is confirmed by a study conducted by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), one of the world’s three leading agencies for the accreditation of business schools. We will dwell in greater detail on the most important trends.
Trends in education
In conditions when the business has to react to radical changes, the speed becomes one of the key factors, this can be attributed to the training. Consequently, learning opportunities not only have to keep up with the times, which is made easier by the development of technology but also to meet the needs of students. Learning on the principle of accumulation of knowledge will lose its relevance in the future. We must provide people with educational opportunities that will prepare them for solving new tasks every day.
Motivation and enthusiasm
Motivation and enthusiasm are key elements of learning a new type. The educational process should be designed in such a way that employees perceive its relevance and usefulness in the context of solving the problems facing them. If they can correlate learning with previous knowledge, there will be enthusiasm, motivation, and curiosity to explore something new.
It is very important to support students during their travels around the world of knowledge. Teaching online and offline modes can be supported by teachers, but they are no longer classical teachers in the traditional sense, but rather coordinators and partners who can support.
Availability – on-demand training
The availability of content is a key aspect of digitalization and, therefore, of learning. People expect that the opportunities for additional education will be easily accessible, for example, online. It is important that continuous interaction not only between teachers and students but also between all levels of the company. Thus, training will become continuous and interactive.
Since the rigid boundaries between industries and knowledge divisions are gradually blurring and disappearing, new approaches are also needed in training that can unite and interconnect different areas. The development and development, marketing, sales, and finance departments should pool their efforts and work on new innovative solutions to be able to jointly acquire new knowledge. This allows employees within one company to learn from each other, and interaction with colleagues, both formal and informal, becomes an integral part of the learning process.
Knowing how to purposefully provide and use the opportunities of additional education is not only a guarantee of the company’s economic success but also a valuable asset in the labor market. Organizations in which learning is considered a decisive factor and therefore play an important role are attractive to employees.