If there was ever a time to embrace digital technology for business – it’s now. Digital technologies are helping the global workforce adjust to a world that is already vastly different in 2020 than it was in 2019. Not only is the business environment changing rapidly, but digital technologies themselves are changing and evolving at lightning speed and disrupting the landscape of work, leaving a wave of conundrums in their wake.
Some perplexing challenges can be attributed to the current technological era, described as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Experts have predicted that robotics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and other digital technologies will change the world in unexpected ways. Employees will need to have entirely new skillsets and expand their use of software applications.
Here are some things to keep in mind as more technology opportunities present themselves in the coming months and years.
Software fluidity redefines training
Many companies begin digital transformation with their employees—preparing them for complex software applications with continual training, often provided in different training formats.
In this digital-empowered work environment, most employees must learn how to fluidly use various company-related software applications. A wide range of jobs require deep knowledge and high proficiency using multiple software applications. Previously, employees could master an application as it applied to their job and successfully fulfill the job’s requirements. It’s not so simple anymore. The change in an application’s functionality can happen overnight, requiring must-know-now knowledge for an employee to successfully perform their job.
This rapid pace of software change requires an alternative training method. Many learning and development (L&D) organizations have created different training methods—from eLearning to instructor-led to virtual reality—to teach employees how to use software.
However, training departments are having trouble keeping up with the rapid pace of software changes.
Today, employees need a faster, digitally powered methodology to not just learn how to use complex software, but also to use applications as they relate to employees’ job duties and tasks. All these factors have led to a new training method—digital adoption.
Digital adoption: faster, easier learning and expanded application use
Digital adoption is often defined as achieving a work environment where digital tools are used in the manner intended and to the maximum extent. An employee with the proper digital adoption technology at their fingertips will better be able to make use of your company’s digital tools and assets.
Companies are embracing digital adoption because it does more than teach the basic functions of a software application. It also shows how the application can be used in the context of employees’ jobs. The aha moment of digital adoption happens when technology becomes second nature to employees. The value of that kind of employee knowledge is priceless.
Guided Learning through GP Strategies and our Partners at Whatfix
In 2020, GP Strategies partnered with Whatfix to provide a digital adoption platform that integrates key learning methodologies, such as listed below, into our digital user adoption approach:
- Contextual learning – Content is deeply personalized and promotes user engagement.
- Interactive learning – This promotes learning by doing, inside the applications. Learning content is dynamic, giving users a better way to learn.
- Real-time learning – With real-time learning, content can be adjusted to a user’s needs, improving user productivity by providing the right information, at the right time.
Through our partnership with Whatfix, we can provide a digital adoption platform to manage and control the disruptive technologies that are changing the workforce. To learn more about digital adoption and how you can achieve the full potential of your software applications, request a demo today.
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