In conversations with large employers in industries undergoing transformational change, ranging from IT Services to Banking & Insurance to Manufacturing, we hear how all of them are seeking transformation of their People so they have the Mindset, Critical thinking, Communication and Collaboration skills to innovate faster and outcompete others.

When we ask how many they are training in these critical soft skills, they often tell us it's only 1-2% of their entire workforce!

Why is scaling learning such a challenge to the biggest companies?

It isn’t a question of budget because spend on soft skills training is rising in every market. So, what gives?

Let’s take Collaboration skills, vital for agility across a business. Often, it’s the lack of collaboration that’s at the root of the ‘silo’ problem many large companies have that inhibits the innovation and agility required to compete with fast-moving competitors.

It makes no sense to cherry pick a small percentage of the “leaders” in a workforce to train collaboration skills. Effective collaboration comes from mass participation.

Ditto for developing an open communications culture where the ability for anybody to say No if No is the right answer is critical to getting a team to be high performing. Most people find saying NO difficult without being trained effectively in how to do it.

Futurist John Hagel says, “Scalable learning is the key differentiator for enterprises of the future.”

And 7 out of the 10 top skills demanded of enterprise globally right now are Behavioural, according to research from the OECD,WEF, and McKinsey.

But many organizations are constrained in thinking that training behaviours at scale can’t be done.

Often it’s because they’re still relying on live instructor-led training which limits scalability. Such workshops can work well for team bonding which is important. However, to train a workforce at scale in the new mindsets, skills and behaviours needed for agility, a technology-led online learning solution that’s infinitely scalable is the only real option.

When considering online options, HR teams often succumb to defaulting to giving “access” to tens of thousands of courses in a content library and then spend hours ‘curating’ journeys to help busy employees navigate these content landfills.

But results are elusive; it’s an open secret now that access and completion rates for soft skills training on content libraries and MOOCs clocks in at less than 15%. Indeed, most organizations we speak to confess adoption is just 2-5%!

Our clients understand the importance of scaling behavioural skills training effectively with an “Intentional” learning approach so that 100% of teams complete the training together. Over the last several years, partnering with forward-thinking clients that are serious about People Transformation has allowed us to perfect team-based learning that scales and delivers measurable transformational change.

For example, manufacturer Hirdaramani Group bring this approach of “consistency” and “intentionality” to training key professional behaviours across teams working in 4 countries.

Diversified conglomerate Kuok Group use our Global Business Skills (GBS) and FORWARD behavioural training courses to power their digital transformation strategy across ten countries. HCLTech scales our cohort-based learning right through cross-functional diverse teams in more than 40 countries. SAP anchors their training of “How we Run” values and upskills sales professionals with GBS in more than 20 markets with us.

This is delivering unparalleled results, not least an NPS of +72 when the industry average is -25. Most importantly, these clients are enjoying completion rates of over 90% of all employees getting to the finish line, and upskilling by an average of at least 60%.

Size Matters when getting teams and workforces ready for the Mindsets and Behaviours of Change and Digital Transformation.