Why Don’t L&D Care About The Environment?

We were staggered to discover that of the articles we regularly send out to our friends in L&D each month, there’s one subject that always fails to get anyone’s attention: The Environment.

Regardless of whether we’re talking about climate change, zero-carbon solutions or green policies, there is no interest, nothing, zilch, nada!

So, we’ve got to ask the question: Why don’t L&D care about the environment? 

What has disengaged L&D from this extremely hot topic?

Perhaps it’s because L&D don’t think ‘The Environment’ falls into their remit; that it’s someone else’s job or at least not a top priority for L&D.

But is that really true or is L&D missing a trick?

Well, what we can be sure of is that technology has advanced to such an extent that lots of face-to-face training can now be delivered just as effectively virtually. This immediately calls into question the legitimacy of the traditional live workshop when more environmentally friendly, cost-effective and convenient alternatives are available.

When you get your head around the fact that taking just one return flight generates more CO2 than the citizens of some countries produce in a year, the environmental costs of transporting delegates to and from venues using whatever train, plane or automobile gets them there faster, might be a little too much to bear in modern times.

In fact, it’s predicted that 50% of all development will soon be delivered online, so maybe it’s time for L&D to put aside any negative preconceptions they have about what can be achieved online and embrace a new and more environmentally friendly approach.

According to a 2017 survey, 90% of people think that eLearning is the same or better than traditional learning anyway. Indeed, our own award-winning, online management development programme STAR^® Manager has been described as ‘better than a live programme’; it combines all the best elements of our live programmes, including direct access to our world-class tutors, on a robust technological platform whilst affording learners the flexibility to complete modules ‘any time, any place’ and on any device. Of course, this also gives you a 100% zero-carbon,  environmentally friendly training solution with no downsides. Plus it generates measurable ROI. So, what’s not to love?

Whilst the quality of technology has enabled online learning to become a credible alternative to traditional workshop delivery, there are still plenty of organisations where online learning just isn’t taking off. This suggests that it’s perhaps the implementation strategy rather than the technology that’s at fault. 

And, this is where L&D can really make its mark. Rather than being tied to traditional classroom delivery, L&D can upskill to work with the technology, not necessarily as technical experts – we can do that bit – but as Learning Coaches^TM.

As Learning Coaches^TM, L&D can reposition themselves at the centre of change agency, stakeholder management and communication to make sure their learning strategies meet organisational objectives and deliver commercially too.

Maybe, only when L&D accept the inevitability of these changes will they be more prepared to engage with an environmental agenda that will impact the way they work forever.

If you’d like to see for yourself just how far online learning has come…

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