Your “five moments of learning need”, explained

[KristinaLechuga]

As IT has grown more complex, pervasive and accelerated, IT training and education has become an entirely different game. So it’s more important than ever that you get the expertise you need—easily and at the right time. This blog takes a deeper look at the “five moments of learning need” and explores how HPE Digital Learner helps IT practitioners by providing flexible and continuous learning options.

Have you ever been in the middle of a task and realized, “wait—I’m not sure how to do this”? Maybe you were halfway through an enchilada recipe and thought, what does it mean to “fold in” the cheese? Or maybe you were assembling a piece of furniture and realized you’ve put it together completely wrong because the instructions weren’t clear. What do you do next?

Moments of tension like these are when you need the right learning solution to get the job done. And accessing learning options at the right touchpoints, especially in real time, is key to successful outcomes.

That’s where the five moments of need come in.

The five moments of need is an academic framework to explain when and where someone must seek knowledge¹. These moments are:

1. When you learn something for the first time
2. When you want to learn more
3. When you try to apply and/or remember
4. When something goes wrong
5. When things change

In real-life scenarios, particularly in IT, these moments of need may look like:

• A new piece of equipment arrives, and employees must learn to use and manage it.
• An IT practicioner needs to expand industry skills to boost career prospects or take on new challenges. 
• An IT employee has completed a course on a new tool or technology, and now needs to apply what they learned on the job. 
• A key piece of IT infrastructure stops working correctly, and information is needed quickly to troubleshoot the issue.
• An IT staffer needs to cover for a colleague or gets a new assignment—a refresher or new expertise may be required.

By anticipating such key moments, IT leaders can strategically and seamlessly integrate learning opportunities into the workflow. Instead of disrupting normal day-to-day work with a training course that feels inconvenient, clunky and irrelevant, training is accessible in a convenient and timely way. With the right learning tools in place, learners will quickly appreciate having a solution at their moment of informational need.

Why learning matters to organizations and employees

Learning brings huge benefits to both organizations and employees, and recent industry data shows how impactful it truly is.

Organizations that invest in learning are more successful, see more innovation, and achieve higher results. Companies that invest $1,500 on training per employee see 24% more profit². And in today’s competitive IT industry, learning and development opportunities help attract (and retain) top talent. Companies with strong learning cultures see a 30-50% increase in retention rates³.

Employees who are encouraged to learn at work are happier, more successful, and less likely to quit. 76% of employees say that a company would be more appealing if it offered additional skills training, and 86% of Millennial-aged workers would not leave their current position if training was offered by their employer³.

Learning in 2023 and beyond

Education and training have changed drastically in the last decade. Learning in 2023 is increasingly on-demand, personalized, and diverse. New learning trends include:

• Continuous learning options: anytime, anywhere—and perfect for today’s hybrid/remote workers
• Catering to individual learning preferences with more flexible and easily accessible training approaches
• Learning incentives, like digital badges and certificates
• Diverse delivery formats (self-paced eLearning, office hours, virtual classrooms)
• Expert support, such as the ability to ask questions to reinforce learning and increase retention.

The five moments of learning need can be met in an updated and effective way by implementing the above features.

HPE Digital Learner for every step of the way

HPE Digital Learner is there for you, just in time, at all five moments of need. It provides unlimited access to self-paced eLearning on HPE technology, IT industry trends, and business and personal skills development. Made for the modern learner, it provides continuous learning options in diverse delivery formats so you can learn what you need, how you want, from wherever you want. Learn more at hpe.com/ww/digitallearner.

 Sources

¹ https://www.5momentsofneed.com/

^² shiftelearning.com/blog/the-true-cost-of-not-providing-employee-training 

³ elearningindustry.com/39-statistics-prove-value-of-employee-training

Kristina Lechuga
Hewlett Packard Enterprise

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