microlearning — Organizer The Edge

I’m sure you’ve ready plenty of advice on how to manage people who vary widely in age. But there’s another aspect of the multigenerational workforce we don’t talk about enough: ensuring that your organization has leadership development programs that work for all employees. That might feel like a tall order if some of your employees grew up with Woodstock and others with TikTok. So I want to encourage you: Through my work with Fortune 500 companies, I’ve consistently found that combining a few key building blocks can ensure that your employees are building the capabilities they need to thrive even in these disruptive times.

*mage by* *Mikko Koivuneva* *from* *Pixabay*

There’s No Age Limit on Development

According to the Department of Labor, Millennials (born 1981-1996) make up the largest share of today’s workforce (36%). Generation Xers (1965-1980) represent 31% of workers; Gen Z (1997-2012) is 18%; and Baby Boomers (1946-1964) are 15%. The Silent Generation (1928-1945) accounts for 1%.

Younger generations often claim the spotlight when it comes to learning and development. That’s only natural as companies try to strengthen weak leadership pipelines and bring unprepared new graduates up to speed. Older generations still want to learn and grow at work — but feel they have fewer opportunities to do so.

I’m passionate about the fact that learning is essential for all generations: It’s crucial for retention, engagement and even well-being. So how can you make sure employees of different ages have options that align with their needs and preferences?

Mentorship Builds Connections

Mentorship and reverse mentorship have far-reaching benefits across generations. Millennial and Gen Z employees don’t just gain knowledge from mentors; they also build relationships that are equally crucial for their future success. As younger generations report difficulties forming relationships due to hybrid work, mentorships take on added importance.

For older employees, mentoring contributes to a sense of purpose at work. Passing along their years of acquired knowledge can be deeply meaningful. They also have a lot to learn from their younger peers — from tech skills to work-life balance.

Formal programs can help employees find mentors more effectively. More than eight out of 10 of Gen Z employees believe mentorship is crucial, yet only half report successfully securing a mentor. Organizations need structured approaches that make these connections accessible and sustainable.

This connection gap was top of mind when my company created our New Lens® platform. The content can drive rich, meaningful conversations about topics that drive high performance and accelerate progression. We built in features to facilitate peer learning and create opportunities for employees to learn from each other's experiences.

Going with the Flow

Another leadership approach that I’ve seen employees of all ages respond well to is growth in the flow of work. Microlearning — “snackable” content that employees can access anywhere — is one way to deliver relevant information right when employees need it. But you can also use low-tech methods like holding post-project reviews, sharing learnings at meetings and providing in-the-moment feedback.

Why is growth in the flow of work so effective? Research has shown that we all retain more when we can put what we’ve learned immediately into practice. We know this intuitively but often underestimate its importance because most of us are also short on time, with an average of 24 minutes to spend learning during a typical work week. Growth in the flow of work fits into busy schedules more easily than a conference or offsite.

Different Generations, Different Preferences

While employees of all ages value connection and relevant, in-the-moment learning, other preferences vary across generations. In implementing New Lens®, my company has seen younger generations, who grew up online, instantly take to microlearning. But you may not realize that this approach also appeals to the sensibilities of Gen Xers, who want autonomy and flexibility in learning.

Baby Boomers, on the other hand, like more structured approaches like classroom training. To stoke enthusiasm among younger employees for in-person sessions, ensure that they include participant interaction, and then highlight the opportunity to build the relationships that Gen Zers and Millennials often struggle to develop.

Meet Diverse Needs with a Unified Strategy

Implementing a truly multigenerational approach to learning and development requires careful planning. Start by assessing your offerings for unconscious generational bias. Are your programs inadvertently designed primarily for one generation's preferences?

All employees need and deserve opportunities to grow and learn—whether they're just starting their careers or approaching retirement. By combining mentorship programs, flexible learning formats and growth in the flow of work, you can create development experiences that resonate with everyone. This approach doesn't just accommodate generational differences—it celebrates the diverse perspectives that make your organization stronger.

Ready to explore how New Lens® can help develop leaders at your organization? Learn more about our platform or contact us to start a conversation about your leadership development needs.

Don’t wait for performance to drop before taking action. Discover how the New Lens® platform helps organizations support managers with bite-sized, actionable learning—built for today’s fast-paced, high-stress environments.

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Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning recently surveyed leaders and L&D professionals about what they’re looking for in a leadership development program. At the top of the list? Scalability.

One of my passions—and one of the reasons my company developed our own learning platform—is expanding access to leadership development, so it’s exciting to see companies recognizing how important scalability is. At the same time; however, I know that making scalability work at your organization can be a tall order.

For a long time, scalability and quality have seemed at odds in leadership development. An organization could spend its budget on highly effective, but expensive options like coaching for fewer people. Or it could bring leadership development to more employees, but settle for cookie-cutter programs.

But that conundrum is becoming a thing of the past. Scalability and quality can go together in leadership development—no matter the size of your training budget. To get both, though, you have to embrace an approach that’s both high-tech and high-touch.

Why is scalability so important?

Before we get into the nuts and bolts of scaling quality leadership development, let’s talk about why it’s such a big deal right now.

For starters, there’s a real gap in leadership pipelines. Only 20% of companies feel confident that they have strong future leaders lined up, and this is something we hear from clients all the time.

At the same time, companies are starting to recognize the power of informal leaders—the people who don’t have a leadership title but still play a huge role in driving teams forward. A recent Harvard Business Publishing report highlights how organizations are shifting toward flatter structures and more cross-functional collaboration. That means people who used to simply carry out tasks are now expected to influence stakeholders, make strategic decisions, and communicate business impact—in other words, to lead, even without a formal title.

With leadership expectations evolving, the challenge isn’t just developing leaders—it’s making sure leadership skills reach everyone who needs them.

With tech, think beyond AI

That brings us back to the question of how to make leadership development more scalable while maintaining quality. With just about any issue in business, people seem to rush to AI as the answer. While exciting things are going on, AI isn’t a magic-bullet solution for leadership development yet. The lingering problem is getting people (and teams) to actually use and benefit from them. But AI can be part of your scalability solution. In the Harvard survey, 60% of respondents said they’re incorporating AI into their development programs. (As my own company trains an AI coach, we’re focusing on making sure that using the coach will fit into people’s busy schedules.)

However, don’t let AI overshadow other useful technologies. Micro-learning platforms are another huge trend right now, with nine out of 10 L&D professionals saying that the employees they serve prefer them. I’ve seen firsthand with our own platform how busy professionals embrace using “snackable content” to get leadership insights when and where they need them.

Technology can also extend the reach of other leadership development tools. If you’re used to thinking in terms of using a single leadership development program at your organization, this may require a shift in mindset. But there’s lots of potential. For example, my company is very excited right now about the potential of combining our learning platform with our coaching services to help companies stretch their budgets farther.

Enlist your current leaders for development

 As I touched on earlier, technology is only part of the story when it comes to scaling leadership development. Leaders will always need to learn from other leaders, no matter how advanced AI and other high-tech tools become. I’ve also found that most organizations haven’t fully tapped into the knowledge their own people have. Unleashing this knowledge makes it a whole lot easier to scale leadership development.

One strategy I always recommend is teaching your current leaders (including the informal ones) how they can help develop others. Ensure that the development they receive includes both coaching and delegation skills. Employees whose managers are adept coaches are eight times more engaged. And delegation gives employees a chance to grow “in the flow of work”—I’ve seen firsthand that this approach amplifies engagement, innovation, and customer satisfaction.

Another way to enlist current leaders in scaling development is creating a mentoring program or updating your current one. Some of your employees may already have mentors or mentees, but formalizing mentorship programs makes them more powerful. Mentorship doesn’t just impart the information your people need to develop as leaders. It also ensures that information is relevant—the “touchstone” of an effective leadership development program—and it helps build the relationships your future leaders need.

What’s next?

I’m optimistic about scalable leadership development and the possibilities it holds. Making leadership development available to more employees will affect productivity—and even small shifts in productivity across a large population of employees can lead to big results. So how do you want to get the ball rolling to integrate scalability into your organization’s approach? 

This article was originally published by Neena Newberry in Fast Company.

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