Embed employee learning within public sector transformation to succeed

In this hyper-disrupted world, nearly half of Canadian workers must be reskilled by 2026. The half-life of skills is shrinking, the pace of technological change is accelerating, and the next wave of change will only continue to follow this trend. Innovations — think generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) — now mature much faster than in the past.

Across the government and public sector, legacy approaches to learning may be holding progress back in this operating environment. How? Learning is now critical to futureproofing organizations and providing meaningful and engaging career experiences — the kinds that attract and retain top talent. Some 65% of workers prefer to learn on the job. But government and public sector organizations aren’t typically structured to provide training in this way.

That makes now the time for these organizations to get ahead of the trend and put learning into the flow of life and work. In fact, weaving learning right into ongoing transformation programs can help. Doing so drives greater impact and skills mastery in real time, all the while reframing career journeys to drive individual and organizational success.   

How is reality changing for government and public sector organizations today? 

Necessary transformation abounds in this sector. Government organizations at all levels are actively pursuing transformation initiatives in one shape or form. By the numbers, the EY Tech Horizon Study 2022 showed some 56% are either in the early planning stages of broader transformation or making incremental changes as a first step towards that goal.

Massive digital and technological changes are catalyzing a corresponding change in the workforce. What does that look like? There’s a dramatic acceleration in digital service delivery and increased virtual interactions with citizens across many areas of government. Going forward, government employees will need to innovate at speed and stress-test new digital solutions. They’ll have to deploy emerging tech and operating models with agility, continuously developing skills and adapting working practice.

This momentum implies people working in these organizations will be expected to perform new activities — and become future ready to do so effectively. It also highlights a considerable opportunity to bridge transformation and learning in support of better outcomes overall. 

Embedding learning in transformation programs enables teams to enhance value, all while de-risking transformation itself. 

People aren’t ready to face the rapid acceleration of technology changes that transformation entails. But traditional learning simply cannot keep up in this new working world:

• External learning is generally available from only a select few sources and often pushed by supervisors. 
  What do government organizations need instead? A wide variety of sources, both traditional and transformational, pulled by employees based on needs.

• Learning is static, delivered at a point in time, limiting learners access to instructors.
  What do government organizations need instead? Learning that is accessible at the right time, in the right context — plus access to experts through a variety of formats and channels.

• Training is constrained to a classroom or a desk.
  What do government organizations need instead? Learning in and out of the classroom in a breadth of environments.

• One-time instructional learning is out of context and disconnected from the work.
  What do government organizations need instead? Unique experiences aligned to the work, tailored to the needs of the employee.

A different approach to putting learning in the flow of organizational life allows the public sector to make progress quickly and make it last.

When organizations put humans at the centre of transformations, they become 2.6x more likely to succeed compared to organizations that do not. Weaving learning across the transformation process can take that principle further by:

• Providing necessary scaffolding and support to enable teams to perform at their best
• Creating an environment of transparency and safety that de-risks large-scale delivery
• Help enabling colleagues to share knowledge and support one another, significantly reducing overall disruption

At EY, we’ve developed an approach to bridging transformation and learning in support of better outcomes across the government and public sector. To work well, learning in the flow of work must be: 

• Experiential: Connecting to human emotion and relevant hands-on, tailored and contextual experience is key to committing learning to memory. We take care to tailor the learning experience to your organization’s specific context — your unique challenges, learner profiles and environment.
  
  
• Integrated: Integrating learning into work, solving real problems or using real scenarios, builds real work products. This means it’s more efficient and immediately applicable, meaningful and memorable.
  
  
• Blended: Blending digital learning experiences with facilitated, hands-on experiences through world class learning labs, classroom-based cohort learning and mentor/apprentice journeys supports personalized learning paths and enhanced skill acquisition, and motivates learners to continue learning.

Building on that foundation, we weave learning academies into the transformation process in keeping with four guiding principles:

1. Learning that is current and reflects pace of change…

• Industry-advanced technical content with adaptive, enduring capabilities.
• Immersive content that draws on day-to-day roles and experiences.

2. Impactful, personalized learning experiences…

• Learning is informed by tailored journeys and personas.
• Relevant on-the-job experiences spark personal investment.

3. Learning that has a clear purpose and relevance…

• Inspiring, purpose-driven approach to work and learning.
• Links with performance management.

4. Collaboration to embed learning and address real problems…

• Embed learning into the flow of work.
• Knowledge-sharing through a community of practice.
• Working together to address problems and share experiences.

What’s the bottom line?

For government and public sector organizations to successfully navigate the rapid pace of digital and technological change, they must embed learning in their transformation efforts. This approach not only prepares the workforce for future challenges by making them future ready, but also enhances the success rates of transformation initiatives, leading to sustainable progress over time.