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Stuart Banbery

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Factors affecting L&D in 2015?

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Hello everyone,

I'm currently writing a paper on PLEST (Political, Legal, Economic, Sociological and Technological) factors expected to impact on the L&D sector going forward.

What are everyone's suggestions on what these may be?

Thanks,

Stuart

10 Responses

  1. I understand that an all

    I understand that an all party committee in Parliament has now decided that it will sponsor the tabling of a Private Member's bill to outlaw employment discrimination on the grounds of ability.

    This will have major ramifications for L&D as it will effectively render illegal any form of CV screening, recruitment selection, assessment centre, use of ability battery testing and competency based interviewing.  Consequently all training in these areas will cease.

    Competency frameworks will become obsolete immediately and therefore TNA will have to re-engineered and relearnt.

    Any suggestion that a learning intervention is aimed at improving skills or making behaviour change to be more competent will by default be seen to be de facto discriminatory.

    L&D may not survive at all!

    As you can tell this is no more than a joke to see if anyone actually reads this far!.

     

     

     

  2. Feedback So Far…

    Hello everyone,

    Thank you for your responses, below is a list of some of the answers I have received so far;

     

    Political – Creation of new apprenticeship programmes, reduction in publicly funded programmes, long lead up to next election

    Economic – Focus on programmes for which there is a critical business need, economic uncertainty

    Social – Greatest impact in B2C market where opportunities have declined significantly

    Technological – Security in cloud-based solutions could be a risk

    Legal – Regulatory record keeping could drive need for new training management solutions,

     

    Please add to the list or comment as you see fit, thanks.

     

  3. My PESTLE wish list for 2015

    Thanks Stuart for stating this thread and thanks Rus for making me laugh out loud.

     

    OK, I know a wish list is somewhat different to a prediction, but here goes:

    Political – introduction of high-level apprenticeships that combine practical, supervised on the job learning with academic study and assessment. [I get this impression this doesn't exist. Forgive my ignorance if wrong – if so, then my wish is much more of it] Much greater emphasis on education that equips people for work, as opposed to passing heaps of exams.

    Economic – funding for apprenticeships to be extended to reach younger school leavers. Reduction in long residential courses in favour of practical, modular courses that allow 'back at the desk' application. Greater focus on L&D that delivers business results (not just L&D and/or HR results).

    Social – wider adoption of MOOCs by more and different people/places for a wider range of topics, as people of all ages and stages decide to learn something new. Baby boomers experimenting with different learning formats in order to stay up to date.

    Technological – more mobile (inc tablet) learning. Using tech to provide more 1:1 learning cost-effectively.

    Legal – legislation that eliminates the 'unpaid work experience' that too many employers are still putting too many hopefuls through, which currently favours certain segments of society and prevents diversity.

    Environmental – fewer weighty course manuals going to landfill because learning materials are designed and produced to be cloud friendly.

     

     

  4. PESTLE
    Hi Dawn – thanks for comment. Re Legal – I worked as an unpaid and then low-paid intern when I lived in London. I had no help from parents but I had savings from previous jobs, and in that respect I recognise I am one of the lucky few, but nevertheless the situation certainly took its toll and I ended up quitting my job and ending a three year relationship too, as the stress of the situation was not sustainable. Unpaid internships shouldn’t be allowed.

  5. PESTLE

    Wow John, thanks for your response and that really brings home just what unpaid interns go through. I think it's a truly awful way to introduce young people to the world of work.

  6. PESTLE

    Thank you very much for your contribution everyone, it's really helpful and interesting.

    I hope your wish list comes true Ruth…which of them do you think will?

    What does everyone think the main trends / patterns will be in training / L&D next year?

  7. unpaid internships……

    …it's a free country isn't it? Surely, no one is forced to take an unpaid internship

     

    Rus Slater

  8. unpaid internships
    Rus – you’re right to an extent, but when entire industries use this method as a base for free/cheap labour, you are left no choice but to work under those conditions, otherwise someone else will, and then you risk never realising your ‘dream’. It just means Industries such as music and film are populated with rich kids whose parents can bankroll their internships, as Dawn alludes to.

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Stuart Banbery

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