The relationship between the workforce and learning has never been more of a priority globally, with new jobs being created, more ‘digitized' ways of working and automation expected to drive 375 million workers to develop and learn new skills by 2030. Many skills we required in past are becoming obsolete and this wave of change is on the increase.

Heads of business report that their staff are not developing skills fast enough or leaders deeply enough. In today's highly competitive global economy and intensely competitive talent market, organisations understand that if they do not constantly skill up and rapidly build their leaders, they will not be able to execute their key business objectives.

At the same time, employees at all levels are demanding access to dynamic learning opportunities that fit their individual needs and schedules. We live in a world where we can personalise how we shop, what we watch and how we communicate, our employees now expect accessibility as part of their working lives and careers.

HR departments are at the forefront of this perfect storm.

The role of workplace training has become more important to deal with the proliferation of these new roles and skills. So much so that it is now listed as one of the most important aspects of HR, ranked 2nd in the 2017 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report.

The realisation that most HR teams are coming to is that true learning is not dependent on the volume of information, but more on how that information is packaged and delivered.

Technology has conditioned workers to expect quick and easy experiences (enter the likes of Google and Siri) so they can get the answers they need and get back to work. Today's learners want more on-demand performance-led, ‘point-of-need' options in their learning programmes that fit into their busy, fast-paced work environments. Performance-adjacent learning tools minimize friction by making it easy to access information and quickly return to the job at hand. The key to their use and relevance lies in their accuracy and efficiency – the faster the tool to help the learner arrive at the solution, the better.

To succeed, in the wake of learner demand, measurable benefits and reskilling potential, organisations need to shed hesitance and flip the status quo. Heads of L&D need to strongly bias continuous, fluid learning for today's learners. One thing is certain: Point-of-need and on-the-job learning experiences are revving up, promising more creativity with engaging learning interactions to drive stronger results.

Thanks to advances in technology workplace training is on the precipice of its biggest evolution to date, the challenge of developing new ways to put employees in charge of the learning experience by leveraging real-time personalisation instead.

We are moving from a one-size-fits-all model towards one that is personalised to the organisation and to the individual. The thought of using learning content that's completely flexible is mind blowing; the number of different variables makes it seem like an impossible dream.

This post is courtesy of HR Innovation & Tech Fest NZ partners Kineo, a global workplace learning company that helps businesses improve performance through learning & technology.