Is Netflix Impacting Talent Development?

    

In a time of doom, gloom, and economic stagnation, the business world was pleasantly surprised bynetflix-1.jpg the recent financial news coming from Netflix.  After several flat quarters in a row, Netflix added 3.6 million new members in the third quarter of 2016 which surpassed their own expectations and the expectations of Wall Street.  Netflix now has more than 86 million subscribers.

That is a lot of subscribers and Netflix continues to disrupt many entertainment sectors including the National Football League which has seen its “untouchable” brand and rating drop by almost 12%, which is unheard of and getting a lot of people at the networks and on the teams nervous.

Today, individuals can literally build their own personal entertainment schedules and consume it whenever and wherever they want.  Busy on Monday nights and can’t watch Gotham? No worries, record it and go to on-demand on Tuesday to watch.  Want to watch the newest movie releases after they leave the theaters? No problem, go to Amazon or Apple.  Want to go back and watch a 1990s comedy series, log into Netflix.  But wait…

In addition to the old content, Netflix also has developed their own new and unique content to attract and retain their customer base.  I think the Netflix disruption has also indirectly impacted the world of developing talent.  There are some interesting parallels for consideration if you work at a large company that offers training or if you are a training manager.

The first discussion point is user expectations.  Most employees at large companies no longer have expectations of live training events to develop their careers and enhance their potential value to the organization.  At best, they will be given access to a Netflix-like training resource such as SkillSoft or Lynda.  Like Netflix, consumers login and access thousands of training and development assets.

But just like the Netflix consumer want more, so will corporate employees who desire new skills and tools to be more effective.  Here are four things to consider:

Specialized content is king

It’s a winning formula for Netflix and it will be for training and development.  Participants are going to start demanding customized, high quality online training and you are going to have to give it to them.  In addition to content, other tools like Business Simulations create unique and differentiations offerings,

Employees want curated lists to take advantage of commoditized content

With thousands of assets available, participants are lost.  For example, I just helped a client develop a curated list of existing (and paid for) Business Acumen content.  I believe we are going to see more corporate Instructional Designers evolve their roles to be more like radio DJs choosing lists of content for their listening audience.

Customers will pay a premium for value

Whether you change internal customers to consume eLearning or give it to them for free, they will pay for value.  Value means quality content, exercises, and tools like simulations that move beyond electronic page-turners into meaningful learning experiences.

Expectations are high

The same old junk that worked 15 years ago doesn’t work today.  Employees are much savvier and have higher expectations. Poorly designed page-turning training is not going to work as employees will be able to sniff out “cheap” the second an inferior training solution hits the open market. The implication is that organizations need to provide high value, high-touch solutions that both satisfy their skill needs and impact on improved business performance.  Like the old big three TV networks have become stuck in decades-old mindsets, so are large organizations which are about talent development.

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Robert Brodo

About The Author

Robert Brodo is co-founder of Advantexe. He has more than 20 years of training and business simulation experience.