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Generational stereotypes are everywhere. Millennials are glued to their phones and have a love affair with avocado toast. Gen Z can’t get enough of Tik Tok. You’ve probably heard them all a million times. We all fall into this trap occasionally; maybe you’re guilty of saying ‘Ok, Boomer’ once too often. 

While these stereotypes are often harmless fun, to ensure L&D remains forward-thinking and sustainable, we must look past broad stereotypes and find the substance lying underneath. 

Currently, L&D faces a unique challenge. Four distinct generations share the modern workforce, each with different approaches to work. While most sectors are grappling with this challenge in some way, L&D faces an especially tricky proposition: simultaneously appealing to distinct — sometimes opposed — generational learning styles.

So, how do we bridge the generational learning divide and create sustainable L&D roles? 

Go1 is here to help. We’ll set the scene by looking at generational differences in a changing workforce, before analysing Gen Z’s learning and managerial needs. Finally, we’ll bring it all together by asking: what is L&D’s role in bridging the generational divide? 

From A to Gen Z, we’ve got you covered. 

Generational differences in a changing workforce

The modern workforce is changing. Fast. If you’re stuck in the mindset that Millennials are the future, then it’s time to adapt because that future has arrived. According to Pew Research, as of 2017, Millennials accounted for 35% of the workforce, making them the majority. Millennials are followed by Gen X (33%), Baby Boomers (25%), Gen Z (5%), and the Silent Generation (2%). 

These figures represent a huge change from 25 years ago when the workforce was far more homogeneous. In those days, Baby Boomers comprised 50% of the workforce, followed by Gen X (29%) and the Silent Generation (21%). 

With generational diversity on the rise, it’s worth asking: what will the future workforce look like? 

What will the future workforce look like? 

According to Fast Company, Gen Z made up 40% of all consumers in 2020, with a combined purchasing power of $44 billion. This purchasing power translates into the workforce, with Inc estimating that Gen Z will make up 24% of the global workforce by 2021. 

Looking further ahead, Future of Work Speaker Anita Lettink estimates that by 2030 Millennials and Gen Z will make up 75% of the workforce. Some estimates put this number even higher, claiming that Millennials alone will make up 75% of the workforce by 2025. Either way, younger generations are on the rise. 

However, don’t expect Millennials and Gen Z to take over completely. Research by Pew shows that older workers are remaining in the workforce longer than previous generations. According to Pew, “in 2018, 29% of Boomers ages 65 to 72 were working or looking for work, outpacing the labour market engagement of the Silent Generation (21%) and the Greatest Generation (19%) when they were the same age.”  

These figures predict a generationally diverse future workforce, for which L&D must prepare.

While a healthy mix of youth and experience can be your team’s greatest strength, generational diversity also presents challenges for L&D, as different generations have different ways of working and learning. Life experiences, societal factors, and the rise of technology make this inevitable. 

For example, it is unlikely that you would manage a team of Baby Boomers in the same way you would manage a team of Gen Zers. Similarly, learning content will look different depending on which generation you are targeting.  

To engage Gen Z and ensure L&D’s continued sustainability, we must be wary of outdated mindsets and thinking habits. It is no longer 1994, where Baby Boomers comprised half of the workforce. L&D strategies that worked then may not suit the next generation. With Millennials and Gen Z rising rapidly, L&D must adapt to deliver learning content, ways of working, and managerial styles that appeal to younger generations. 

With that in mind, it’s worth asking two big questions to safeguard L&D’s future: how do younger generations learn, and how should you manage younger generations? 

There has long been a stereotype that Millennials and Gen Z have short attention spans. At best, this is a half-truth. 

While studies show that Gen Z has an average attention span of 8 seconds, compared to an average attention span of 12 seconds for Millennials, the truth is far more impressive: Gen Z has developed a sophisticated ‘content filter’.  

Because they have grown up with access to so many digital platforms and so much information, Gen Z has evolved the ability to quickly assess large quantities of information. As such, they are better able to judge what is worthy of their attention and what isn’t. 

Once something does grab their attention, Gen Z’s attention span is comparable to previous generations. Essentially, younger learners are more selective, meaning you have to work harder to earn their attention. In an L&D context, this means you may have to go the extra mile to create engaging content that immediately appeals to Gen Z. 

The exciting news for L&D is that Gen Z is very open to workplace learning. In fact, they expect it. According to Purdue Global, 84% of Gen Z expect their employer to provide formal training. 

Gen Z’s selectiveness is key to understanding their learning habits. Shift Learning highlights Gen Z’s love of “snack media”, finding that they can multitask between five screens at once. For L&D, this may mean short-form content and microlearning are necessary to engage Gen Z learners. 

McKinsey also highlights Gen Z’s selective approach to learning, saying, “Gen Zers...are more pragmatic and analytical about their decisions than members of previous generations were...this generation of self-learners is also more comfortable absorbing knowledge online than in traditional institutions of learning.” 

According to McKinsey’s survey, 65% of Gen Z value knowing what is going on around them and being in control. Given this, Shift Learning identifies autonomy, collaboration and human connection, visually stimulating multimedia, and flexibility as critical to engaging Gen Z learners. 

Unsurprisingly, Gen Z also has a very positive view of learning technologies. According to Pearson, 59% of Gen Z and 66% of Millennials believe technology can change the way we learn in the future, with a further 54% of Gen Z saying it can enhance the learning experience. Moreover, 59% of Gen Z say YouTube is their preferred learning method (47% spend more than 3 hours per day on YouTube). For Millennials, books still come out on top — just. 

Notably, 47% of Gen Z and 41% of Millennials enjoy using interactive apps or games to learn. Plus, 44% of Millennials and 31% of Gen Z like online courses with a video component, with Gen Z watching an average of 68 videos per day across all social platforms. 

The lesson for L&D professionals is clear: video and interactive learning are indispensable to engage younger generations. 

These findings don’t mean that Gen Z is entirely isolated or self-directed in their approach to learning. On the contrary, many still crave real-life connections, with 37% of Gen Z worrying that technology weakens their ability to maintain strong interpersonal relationships. 

Given this, only 22% of Gen Z say they prefer self-directed learning, with 78% identifying teachers as very or extremely important in the learning process. 57% of Gen Z and 41% of Millennials also prefer in-person activities with classmates. 

Gen Z’s preference for collaboration makes sense, given a study by Barnes & Noble College found that 51% of Gen Z prefer to learn by doing, with 37% preferring to learn by reading, and only 12% preferring to learn by listening. 

Time supports these findings, with a recent survey showing that 60% of Gen Z enjoy sharing their knowledge with others online, indicating a desire for collaboration. Additionally, 64% contribute to websites because they enjoy learning new things, while 76% feel that their online experiences will help them reach their goals.

Gen Z expects formal workplace learning — don’t be afraid to provide it 

Grab their attention quickly with interactive, multimedia content

Provide autonomy, but prioritise collaboration

Personalisation and flexibility are vital

We know what Gen Z wants from their learning, but how can leaders best manage Gen Z to ensure they feel secure in their roles? There are a few key statistics that illustrate Gen Z’s expectations of workplace life: 

90% of Gen Z workers prefer a dynamic and fast working environment

40% of Gen Z wants to interact with their boss daily or several times each day 

23% of Gen Z expect texting to be an essential part of workplace communication

76% of Gen Z feel responsible for driving their careers 

Let’s unpack these statistics to explore a few key themes. Firstly, it’s clear that Gen Z has different communication preferences than previous generations, as 23% think texting is essential. A recent survey even found that 75% of Gen Z would rather have a difficult conversation over text than on the phone. 

Additionally, 40% of Gen Z employees expect daily interactions with their boss, reinforcing Gen Z’s desire for continuous collaboration and human connection. 

Finally, more than three-quarters of Gen Z feel responsible for driving their career. As such, managers need to give Gen Z employees the tools, confidence, and autonomy required to drive their careers. 

Deloitte highlights another notable factor in Gen Z workplace management. According to their study, Gen Z only credits school or university studies with 26% of the skills, knowledge, and experience they currently have or use in their jobs. 

In contrast, on-the-job training from employers and continuous professional development accounts for 44% of the skills, knowledge, and experience Gen Z draws on at work. Due to this, younger generations may need more on-the-job support from managers. 

Supporting younger generations to create more sustainable L&D roles is essential. However, managers must not neglect the here and now. 

According to a recent survey by Cornerstone, 53% of Millennials feel their managers help them identify the skills they need, while only 37% of Baby Boomers agree. 73% of Baby Boomers also say that their employers aren’t investing in their learning, compared to just 53% of Millennials.

To ensure L&D remains sustainable, managers must strike the right balance between planning for the future and equipping employees with the skills they need to succeed now. 

While there is no catch-all solution for managing Gen Z, a few overarching themes emerge. Panopto identifies three essential strategies for managing Gen Z, namely: make everything mobile, include experiential learning, and encourage informal social learning.  

Forbes takes a similar approach. Their advice for managing Gen Z includes providing alternate methods to leadership, offering varied ways to communicate, and getting serious about job perks. Likewise, Shift Learning emphasises flexibility and an intuitive, easy-to-use workflow.

Similarly, HR Technologist offers four expert recommendations for managing Gen Z. They also believe that flexibility and strong internal communication are must-haves, adding that a fast-paced environment and using visuals instead of text can also be effective strategies. 

What is L&D’s role in bridging the generational divide? 

The modern workforce is more generationally diverse than ever. As always, L&D has an important role to play. 

With things changing rapidly, L&D teams must be agile, adaptable, and willing to question engrained thinking habits. As the workforce shifts away from traditional methods and towards Millennials and Gen Z, learning and managerial styles must also change to create sustainable roles for the future.

Doing so ensures that L&D roles will be attractive to future employees, and therefore sustainable. No one wants to work for a team whose methods are stuck in the 90s when the alternative is embracing the latest training methods and technologies.  

Training Industry provides an excellent summary of L&D’s role in bridging the generational divide, saying, “the answer to training a multigenerational workforce lies not in a unilateral approach to training but in a multilateral one that factors in the perspectives and preferences of the target audience...give your audience the flexibility of deciding how they will learn based on their work and life experiences as well as their professional capabilities.”

Go Fluent also offers a helpful piece of advice, saying, “to create an effective multigenerational training that speaks to everyone, have a hyper-personalised blend of these three things: tech, content and the human element.”

Bridging the generational divide is all about sustainability and changing with the times. Gen Z is coming. Fast. L&D teams need to be ready.  

False

How do we bridge the generational learning divide and create sustainable L&D roles? We’ll set the scene by looking at generational differences in a changing workforce, before analysing Gen Z’s learning and managerial needs. Finally, we’ll bring it all together by asking: what is L&D’s role in bridging the generational divide? 

Bridging the generational divide to create sustainable L&D roles

We'll look at generational differences in a changing workforce, before analysing Gen Z’s learning and managerial needs. Finally, we’ll bring it all together by asking: what is L&D’s role in bridging the generational divide? 

Go1 is excited to announce that we have won the Partner of the Year award from Chart Learning Solutions Sweden AB. 

After consistently delivering high usage numbers with satisfied customers in Australia, US, Canada, India, Singapore, UK, and Malaysia, Go1 has successfully rolled out the Chart award-winning soft skills training in Leadership Development, Sales Excellence, Customer Service and Building Performance Teams. 

“We are proud to have a strong partnership with Chart Learning Solutions. We hear from many of our larger customers that they enjoy the consistent high quality of their courses and the range of soft skills content. The fact that each of Chart’s courses are prepared for blended learning is also attractive to many of our customers." 

Peter Hörwing, CEO of Chart Learning Solutions, said: 

“Our objective is to provide researched skills development in e.g. leadership development. As of today, there are 13 core competencies that every leader must master in order to be long-term successful. Building these assets in the early career foster the best global leaders. Go1 has developed great analysis tools for us to understand how we can continuously improve. We are happy to award “Partner of the Year” to Go1.” 

Chart Learning Solutions is a performance improvement company through online learning. They develop people in Leadership, Sales, Customer Service and Team Performance. They do this through their Assessments, Online learning with virtual coaching. 

CHART’s Performance Assurance System (PAS) provides you with a five-time award-winning learning process that has revolutionized how organizations can achieve exceptional engagement results from training initiatives. In their PAS process, your organization will build high-performance results with collaborative Learning Communities and live coaching.

Go1 makes it easy for organisations to learn, with the world’s most comprehensive online library of learning resources. Go1 pulls the world’s top online learning providers into one place, delivering all the learning an organisation needs in a single solution. With over 1.5 million learners – and growing – Go1 is a world leader in online learning. 

Go1.com has raised over US$80 million in total funding from investors including M12 – Microsoft’s venture fund, Madrona Venture Group, SEEK, Salesforce Ventures, Shark Tank investor Steve Baxter and Oxford University. 

Chart Learning Solutions announces Go1 as partner of the year 2020 

The holidays are over and we are settling into 2021. Whether you are looking for new compliance courses or ways to upskill your employees, we have some great content for you to check out.  

Which content partner should you look into?

lawpilots joined the Go1 library in October, providing global compliance training in three languages - English, French, and Spanish (with more available upon request). Knowing that compliance training isn’t always fun, lawpilots has found ways to make their content engaging, ensuring longer knowledge retention. 

lawpilots works with large customers, like Konica Minolta and Aldi, and is available through the Go1 subscription. Courses available from lawpilots include Antitrust, Preventing of Money Laundering and Funding Terrorism, Export Control and Dealing with Embargoes, Equal Treatment Laws, Anti-Corruption, Compliance Basics, and CCPA for Employees.

This Dublin-based content partner offers eight of their best courses to Go1 customers covering soft skills, like communication and managing stress, along with cybersecurity and GDPR.

This US-based content partner offers over 500 courses on for today’s industrial craftsman in areas like electrical maintenance, plan science, power plants, industrial machining, and welding. 

Looking for new foreign language content?

Go1’s library has a wide variety of languages available from multiple partners. Below are a few of our recent updates to our library.

Mosaico (new partner) – Italian soft skill content

eLearn It (new partner) – Italian IT security and compliance content

Maestro – Spanish healthcare health and safety content

What’s new from our current content partners?

Our content partners are consistently updating our library – adding new content or updating existing content. Here are some highlights from the last few weeks:

The Expert Academy - new courses on sales and customer service

Channel 1 - updated memorable customer service courses

Learning Planet - goal setting and staying motivated

MicroLearn - digital and financial wellbeing

What’s Shannon’s favorite course right now?

I spend all day in our content library and love finding courses that really resonate. And Emotional Life Skills @ Work by Will Interactive is the top of my list right now!

Paying attention to our own emotions, along with those of our peers, is essential to emotional wellbeing. I love how interactive this course is and how the choose-your-own-adventure videos help demonstrate how our words and actions can impact those around us. This course will help you build a community of support, create healthy emotional wellbeing habits, and see signs of emotional suffering in others.

We hope you find something new and helpful from this month's round-up and can't wait to share more in our next Go1 Content Insider — March 2021 edition.

If you'd like to learn more about the variety of playlists and topics available in your region, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager or contact us directly today. 

The Go1 Content Insider is your first stop for all things new in the Go1 Content Hub. In this February update, find out the latest and greatest in the world of content!

The Go1 Content Insider — February 2021 edition

We're excited to announce that the Go1 Learning Content Hub has achieved SAP certification, integrating with cloud solutions from SAP. This integration helps organizations to access the Go1 Content Hub and export with one click into SAP SuccessFactors Open Content Network.

The Go1 Content Hub is the largest curated eLearning library from the world’s top training providers, available for a single subscription within your existing learning platform, or available on ours. 

Our Content Hub contains over 100,000 resources, delivered by the biggest names in eLearning, giving you access to a vast range of topics, including industry specific learning. 

With this, you’ll always have the right training courses to upskill, re-train, and retain your employees. And what's more - you'll no longer need to source and manage multiple content provider agreements. 

The SAP® Integration and Certification Center (SAP ICC) has certified that the Go1 Learning Content Hub integrates with cloud solutions from SAP using standard integration technologies, or that run as an add-on to one cloud solution from SAP. 

“We are delighted to announce that the Go1 Content Hub now has certified integration with SAP cloud solutions,” said Basem Emera, VP of Partnerships and Alliances at Go1.

"The certification gives SAP customers the confidence that our Content Hub, which consists of over 200 providers from around the world delivered in one single subscription, integrates smoothly with SAP SuccessFactors, giving customers complete confidence in their selection. We are excited for the journey ahead.”

SAP SuccessFactors is a world-leading provider of cloud human experience management (HXM) – the new people-focused term for HCM. Their HXM suite lets you provide employees with experiences that recognise their individual value and consistently motivate them to achieve peak performance levels. 

Go1 makes it easy for organizations to learn, with the world's most comprehensive online library of learning resources. Go1 pulls the world’s top online learning providers into one place, delivering all the learning an organisation needs in a single solution. With over 1.5 million learners - and growing - Go1 is a world leader in online learning.

Go1 has raised over US$80 million in total funding from investors including M12 - Microsoft’s venture fund, SEEK, Madrona Venture Group, Salesforce Ventures, Shark Tank investor Steve Baxter and Oxford University. To learn more about Go1, contact us today.

We're excited to announce that the Go1 Learning Content Hub has achieved SAP certification, integrating with cloud solutions from SAP. 

Go1 Content Hub achieves SAP-Certified integration with cloud solutions from SAP

True or false: goldfish only have three-second memories? Despite the common myth to the contrary, this is false. Some studies even estimate that their memories last up to five months, but that’s beside the point. The point is, you most likely grew up believing that goldfish have three-second memories, before later learning this is a myth, and unlearning this ‘fact’. Maybe you’re only just finding out it’s untrue now and unlearning on the fly. 

Either way, this is an example of unlearning. In the most basic terms, unlearning is the process of updating your knowledge when presented with new information. Out with the old, in with the new.  

We introduced the concept of unlearning in our recent blog on the learn, unlearn, relearn cycle. Now, we’re back for more. 

To help you get a grasp on unlearning, we’ll recap unlearning for L&D, before honing in on unlearning unconscious biases. We’ll ask what are unconscious biases, then move onto recognising unconscious biases, and how to unlearn unconscious biases for a more inclusive L&D. 

As strange as it sounds, unlearning is one of the hottest learning trends of 2021. We explain why in our recent blog on the learn, unlearn, relearn cycle, so, if you haven’t already, reading that is a great starting point. 

For those in need of a quick recap, we defined unlearning as “a healthy, natural, and necessary step in the learning process: being open to different perspectives, and willing to update your beliefs when presented with new information that challenges previously-held conceptions.” 

HR Technologist takes a similar view, defining unlearning as “part of a cycle where the learner refreshes the mind, lets go of old-fashioned notions, and embraces new concepts.” 

Letting go of old-fashioned notions is important because — as you have probably noticed — L&D is changing quickly. You might say that change is the only constant. For example, only 5% of L&D teams expect their strategy to revert to what it was pre-COVID. 

All of this change requires a high degree of adaptability by unlearning old ideas and relearning new ones, making unlearning an essential skill for L&D professionals. 

In the context of L&D, unlearning can manifest in many ways. In our recent eBook 5 new thinking habits for a smarter, stronger L&D, L&D experts Michelle Ockers, Shannon Tipton, and Laura Overton identify several engrained ‘thinking habits’ for L&D professionals to challenge — and even unlearn. They define thinking habits as “the persistent perspectives and settled tendencies that influence the way we think about our professional world of L&D work.” 

Often, these ‘settled tendencies’ go unnoticed, as we simply operate on autopilot. The mindset is: ‘this is just how we do things, why change?’ As a result, many L&D thinking habits go unexamined. Instead, we take them for granted. Unlearning means actively interrogating your thinking habits to ensure they are adding value. Another aspect of this is replacing outdated thinking habits when necessary.

For their complete expert insights, be sure to download the eBook 5 new thinking habits for a smarter, stronger L&D. However, two examples of thinking habits that L&D can challenge and potentially unlearn are Learning First (‘I solve learning problems’) vs. Business First (‘I solve business problems’), as well as Hold On (‘My approach is shaped by past success’) vs. Move On (‘My approach is shaped by a willingness to let go’). 

For many, a crucial aspect of the unlearning process is unlearning unconscious bias. To do this, you must first understand what unconscious bias is. 

The term unconscious bias — often referred to interchangeably as implicit bias — was coined by psychologists Mahzarin Banaji and Anthony Greenwald in 1995. They argued that unconscious associations and judgments influence our social behaviours. Accordingly, they define unconscious bias as “attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious way, making them difficult to control.”

The Office of Diversity and Outreach echoes this, defining unconscious bias as “social stereotypes about certain groups of people that individuals form outside their own conscious awareness. Everyone holds unconscious beliefs about various social and identity groups, and these biases stem from one’s tendency to organise social worlds by categorising.”

At the risk of stating the obvious, unconscious biases differ from other biases in that they are unconscious. They form and manifest without us realising. As such, they are difficult to recognise and control. These biases can be based on numerous factors, such as societal or parental conditioning, stereotyping, media intake, past experiences, and our brains’ propensity to organise things into ‘neat’ categories. 

Often, unconscious biases show up when we are operating on autopilot. If you have a ‘gut feeling’ when making an important decision, that can be unconscious bias at play. That’s just how you have been conditioned to react to a given set of stimuli. For these reasons, actively interrogating, updating, and unlearning certain beliefs and assumptions is critical. 

Future Learn outlines many concrete examples of unconscious bias. For example, blonde women are paid 7% more than brunettes in the UK, while 40% of Americans associate a Southern accent with being uneducated. 

Additionally, one of the most common forms of unconscious bias occurs in the hiring process. Research shows that candidates who have stereotypically ‘foreign’ sounding names receive 50% fewer interview callbacks than other candidates. 

Impact Group offers wide-ranging examples of unconscious bias in the workplace, finding that, “48% of African American women and 47% of Latina women report being mistaken for administrative or custodial staff.”

Similarly, a study by Yale University found that male and female scientists, who were all trained to be objective, were more likely to hire men, consider men more competent than women, and pay men $4,000 more per year than women.

Unconscious bias doesn’t just manifest in factors like gender and race — even height is not exempt. In America, 15% of the male population are taller than 6 foot. Yet, 60% of corporate CEO’s are taller than 6 foot. 

Ultimately, these unconscious biases can have huge, business-wide ramifications. Impact Group estimates the cost of unconscious bias to be a massive $64 billion per year. Further, of those who have experienced unconscious workplace bias, just over a third say they feel alienated and reluctant to share ideas, while 80% say they would not refer others to work for their organisation. 

Unlearning unconscious bias for a more inclusive L&D 

Recognising when these biases occur is the hardest part of unlearning unconscious biases. As Future Learn says, “unconscious bias happens involuntarily without any awareness or intentional control.” So, how exactly do you recognise unconscious biases, and take steps to unlearn them? 

When it comes to recognising unconscious bias, the good news is that we’re all in this together. Literally. Everyone has unconscious biases. That’s just how human brains operate. The question is not, ‘do I have unconscious biases?’, but rather, ‘what are my unconscious biases?’ 

Thankfully, acknowledging that you have unconscious biases is a good first step to unlearning your unconscious biases. By being more aware of unconscious biases, you are more likely to catch them when they occur. 

Behavioural scientist Dr Pragya Agarwal explains this, saying, “the more we talk openly about our biases — individual, interpersonal, and systemic — the more it helps...as does having more conversations involving different communities.” 

Dr Agarwal, who recently wrote a book on unconscious bias, outlines other methods to recognise unconscious biases on a societal level. She explains, “we also need to have more conversations in different domains in an open and nonjudgmental way...this will involve looking at words and images that perpetuate and reinforce these stereotypes, and it will require the media to take more responsibility and be accountable.”

She also says bias training can be beneficial for recognising unconscious bias — provided that training is carried out in a meaningful way. According to Dr Agarwal, a day-long course or hour-long test is not enough to undo a lifetime of unconscious biases. Rather, unconscious bias training must be a rigorous and ongoing process, wherein participants continually and actively evaluate their unconscious biases. 

Ultimately, there is no catch-all solution for recognising or unlearning unconscious biases. Some will probably still pass you by. However, don’t let that discourage you. When attempting to unlearn a lifetime of unconscious biases, awareness and commitment are crucial.

Diversity & Inclusion thought leader and Chief Disruption Officer at Emberin, Maureen Frank, provides two excellent pieces of advice for unlearning unconscious bias in her recent guest blog for Go1. 

Firstly, she invites you to “bring your unconscious thoughts into your consciousness, challenge them, and ask yourself whether your thinking is based on factual information before you take action.”

Secondly, she reminds us that, “when dealing with bias, one key thing to remember is: you are not responsible for your first thought; you are responsible for your second thought and your first action.”  

Putting these two pieces of advice into practice can go a long way towards unlearning unconscious biases to create a more inclusive and accepting L&D. 