Preparing Workers for Web 2.0
I’ve been working with Steve Wexler and the eLearningGuild on the eLearning 2.0 survey and report. I reported some interesting findings around Tools Used on my eLearning blog.
In looking at the emerging data, one of the more interesting results is shown in the following:
In this case, I’ve excluded education and government (only corporations). The results are quite startling.
- 93% of corporations have done nothing to help their workers
- For corporations with 500 - 10,000 employees - over 40% are not even considering helping their workers
This again suggests the challenges we face around work literacy.
The good news is that there are lots of folks who are seeing the need here.
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September 8th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I wonder how this compares to how many are preparing their workers at all for the workplace. I also wonder if you asked them what level of expertise in Enterprise 2.0 they assumed new workers would have? In other words, do they assume that workers will come to the workplace with those skills so they don’t need to prepare them (it will happen organically as older workers transition out of the workplace)?
My experience is that companies don’t prepare for new technologies (or technology use) but rather react to it. If there is a pull from customers or workers, they will begin to train workers in that area. However, rarely will companies proactively train unless they pride themselves on being innovative. I do find it interesting that that very large corporations tend to use Web 2.0 than the smaller or mid sized companies. This could be because Web 2.0 satisfies a need for communication and interactivity which more traditional structures don’t meet. However, it could also be the sample size skews the results (how many are in the sample size for over 10,000)?
September 8th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Good points Virginia. My guess is that there’s an assumption that new workers will come more prepared. But given that most of the workforce is not prepared and new workers have gaps and they will quickly become old workers, I think there’s a lot of underestimating going on.
FYI - there are quite a few respondents at all levels. There are margins of error of course, but still I would say they are good general indicators.
September 13th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
At first I was shocked that 93% of corporations are doing nothing to help employees move towards Web 2.0. After some thought, revisiting some recent conversations, I immediately could see specific examples matching your results.
Virginia makes a good point and in my experience, organizations rarely prepare for new technologies, they react to it. The downside to reacting is they are not taking the time to plan a strategy, or completely understand the process or the benefit. Then after they jump in as a reaction, they are disappointed in the results, therefore it doesn’t work.
She makes another good suggestion of change happening organically. Unfortunately, there are many senior workers, meaning those not born with technology in their hands, not willing to embrace new methods, ideas or new technologies. There are others, very willing to learn and embrace and those help bridge the gap, but they are the minority.
It would be interesting to know which industries as not considering adoption in the 2,001 – 10,000 vs those in implementation or have completed implementation.
A very nice post, thanks for sharing.