The adoption of Learning and Development (L&D) technology in the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sector has been on the rise in recent years. BFSI organizations are recognizing the importance of upskilling and reskilling their workforce to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving digital landscape. L&D technology has emerged as a powerful tool to enable efficient and effective training and development of employees in the BFSI sector. Here’s some of the latest L&D trends in the BFSI domain.

Microlearning & Platform based approaches to workplace learning & development

Kris Gomes, Chief Learning Officer at Avendus stressed upon the point that the current workforce is a netflix generation. The content has to be instantly engaging and delivered in bite-sized chunks i.e. Microlearning.  Microlearning is characterized by its brevity, accessibility, and flexibility, allowing learners to access and engage with the content quickly and conveniently. Learners can absorb and retain information more effectively when it is presented in small, manageable chunks that are easy to understand and process. This content should be easily accessible on a digital platform that can pull in other employees to the platform and usher in an era of social learning where individuals acquire knowledge, skills, behaviors, and attitudes by observing and imitating others within a social context.

Are classroom based learning programs on their way out?

Deepak Rathish, Lead Learning & Talent Development at UTI Mutual Funds suggested a hybrid/blended model where classroom learning co-exists with digital learning tools. According to him, digital can become an excellent enabler for classroom learning. Sarita Chand, Founder, Skills Caravan mentioned that with a greater scrutiny on reducing manpower costs a blended approach that is augmented by digital tools is the right way.

In today’s world, anyone who proposes that classroom learning is the only/best means of skilling your workforce will quickly lose the confidence of other stakeholders.

An on-demand approach can help employees learn in the flow of work by accessing training exactly when they need it. Another recommendation was creating a subscription-based repository of industry specific learning artifacts that can benefit the entire BFSI ecosystem.

Making Learning as a Service Affordable

The most important consideration to choosing the tools and interventions in your learning journey is cost. A blended approach helps here as it ensures your dollar goes a long way compared with a classroom only approach which can be quite costly. The key to getting learning to enhance productivity & upskill/reskill employees was to capture organizational knowledge. To enable that to happen, one needs a platform where one can quickly create bite-sized content out of classroom content that is easily searchable. The cost of creating & deploying such content should be cheap & the technology user-friendly so it can be done in-house.   

A hybrid approach

Mr. Harish Dayani, SVP, HR – Learning & Development, Aditya Birla Health Insurance Company Limited, noted that upskilling and learning are critical to staying relevant in the fast-changing BFSI industry. Online learning can be effective, efficient, and accessible. At the same time, traditional classroom-based learning provides a more immersive, social, and interactive learning experience that cannot be replicated online.

Therefore, organizations should aim to strike a balance between online and classroom-based learning. This could involve offering a mix of e-learning modules, live virtual training sessions, and in-person classroom training.

Moreover, technology can be used to enhance classroom-based learning by facilitating collaboration, knowledge sharing, and engagement. For example, gamification, simulations, and virtual reality can be used to create immersive learning experiences that are both fun and effective. Additionally, technology can be used to personalize learning by providing learners with customized learning paths based on their preferences, learning styles, and skill levels.