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Cegos Asia Pacific Survey Identifies the 2014 Workplace Learning Trends across APAC Region

2014-04-09 08:00 1741

SINGAPORE, April 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Cegos Asia Pacific, part of the Cegos Group, a worldwide leader in training and development, surveyed Managers and Learners across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore to identify the current learning trends within the workplace.

Results from their findings identify the number one training motivation as soft skills for development and personal growth. The results also indicate a marked increase in blended learning as a preferred training method across the region. Learners are taking more control of their own learning by leveraging technology and tablets have become the number one device of choice for accessing online learning while mobile devices have overtaken desktops and laptops for the first time.

The results were tabulated after polling 2,796 Managers and team members (Learners) from 872 different corporate and governmental organisations, including 475 Human Resources/Training/Learning Professionals, across 6 Asia Pacific countries, about their professional training and development practices, wants & needs. GenY represented 56% of respondents.

Key highlights

Training motivation, access and provision

  • The number 1 training motivation across APAC is soft skills development for personal growth with "New Skills" being the primary driver for individual Learners.
  • 1 in 5 respondents have had no training in the past 12 months.
  • Over 16% of those surveyed are dissatisfied with the training provided by their organisations and feel they receive insufficient focus on soft skills development to help them build new skills.
  • Organisational training (technical, company and product), is the one training focus provided by organisations demonstrating the imbalance of what is provided versus what is being asked for.
  • Majority of Learners are turning to their managers and peers for information on training, up from 31% in 2012 to 40% this year.

Training delivery methods and tools

  • Traditional classroom training remains the predominant training delivery method
  • Online Learning is the second most popular learning delivery method at 54% usage
  • The sharpest increase in learning method is with Blended learning moving from 39% learners experiencing it in 2012 to 43% in 2014.
  • The continuing rise of blended learning indicates that human interaction remains fundamental but that technology-enabled learning has a greater role to play in the mix.
  • Looking at the preferences of individual countries for online learning tools, there are some clear trends emerging. Indonesia (62%), Malaysia (58%) and India (52%) are the greatest users of tablets -- all three countries have dramatically increased their tablet use compared with 2012's figures.
  • The rise in technology led learning may also help partly explain the underlying reasons for the growing gap between learning professionals and the Learner community itself with the majority of the 475 Learning Professionals confirming they had not initiated meaningful enabled learning solutions in their organisations despite recognising the trend being evidenced in the wider market. With greater financial pressures on organisations, leveraging technology to enable greater learning provision, offers productivity and cost avoidance wins and is an obvious focus. It is clear that budget is not the big issue here.

Notable Country Specific Findings

Australia showing signs of a decrease on training and development focus

  • Australia remains a well-developed training market with the need to refresh existing skills, the number one driver for training this year, cited by 19% of respondents (up from 15% in 2012).
  • However, Australia has dropped from top to bottom position in terms of the proportion of learners undertaking training through their organisations, down from 100% in 2012 to 53% this year.
  • This decrease in organisational focus on training may be a blip and has, (according to those learning professionals interviewed), been impacted by economic and political constraints. That said, further market uncertainty driven by potential softening in the services, manufacturing and mining industries, may delay a rapid bounce back of training budgets and may force more learners to take greater control of their own development.

Chinese organisations more committed than ever

  • 83% of training is funded entirely by the employer (although this figure is down from 94% in 2012). This corresponds with a dramatic shift away from self-initiated learning to employer-initiated training with only 10% of employees now initiating their training compared with 43% in 2012.
  • China is focusing its efforts on developing business, management and leadership skills in recognition of developing talent for competitive advantage in today's global marketplace.
  • Technology-led training delivery has improved significantly in China this year. Online learning is up from 16% in 2012's survey to 45% this year and blended learning use has risen dramatically too, up from 7% to 39%.

India's employees have had to take control

  • One of the standout findings this year is that organisation's in India are failing to meet the growing training needs of their highly motivated Learners and dissatisfaction levels with training are rising.
  • A staggering 77% of employees have had to fund their own training to some degree.
  • 73% of Learners now train out of office hours on working days or on days off, up from 65% in 2012.
  • Tablets are the number one tool for accessing online learning in India this year, up from 29% in 2012 to 52%.

Indonesia leaps ahead with tablet use

  • Indonesia has leaped ahead to become the greatest user of tablets for online learning in Asia Pacific, having doubled its user base from 31% in 2012 to 62% this year.
  • Indonesia has increased its training efforts this year with 86% of workers having been trained over the past 12 months compared with 77% in 2012's survey. This is impressive for a country viewed as 'developing'.

Malaysia's Learners take on learning in their own time

  • This year Malaysia has seen a significant rise in training after office hours on working days, up from 19% in 2012 to 36% this year demonstrating increased employee pressure to be accountable for their training.
  • Malaysia's workforce has a clear preference for using tablets for online learning and has the second highest proportion of Learners using tablets for online learning, almost doubling from 30% in 2012 to 58% this year showing a 'leapfrog effect'.

Singapore is increasingly dissatisfied with its training

  • The 2012 survey noted seeds of dissatisfaction with training and this year's survey shows the problem has become even more deeply rooted with major implications for talent management and employee retention given that Singaporean Learners are more driven by getting a new job and a pay rise than in any other country surveyed.
  • Online learning use is up this year from 38% to 42% and Singapore is the most mature in its use of mobile devices. Until recently that was purely for social means, but increasingly mobile devices are being applied to work and learning which can account for this increase in online learning overall.
  • Among the key focus areas of training in Singapore this year are product training and management training.

To download your free copy of the full report including more country specific highlights, please visit http://www.cegos.com.sg.

Jeremy Blain, APAC Managing Director of Cegos states:
"We were keen to uncover how the learning landscape had changed since our first survey in 2012. Some key trends continue like technology-enabled learning, blended learning uptake and the huge popularity of tablets as learning tools. Our findings indicate a growing trend towards informal learning but there is a growing need for some Learning Professionals to connect with learning technology. Our survey also found that some countries are faring better than others. Indonesia is leading the way as an emerging learning economy, alongside the huge commitment to training and development now evident in China."

Source: Cegos Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd.
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