Anchor Bias (or "anchoring") -- is the act of basing judgement on a familiar reference point that is incomplete or irrelevant to the problem being solved. It is a term used in psychology to describe the common human tendency to rely too heavily, or "anchor," on specific information, for an irrational reason, perhaps because it was the first available, or even worse, because investments have already been made assuming it was correct.
Anchored in the Past
If you were a senior professional who had been responsible for company investment in a standard Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, like SAP or Oracle, you likely argued to shell out a million or so dollars more for the related Learning & Development Module, figuring "it says it has all the latest capabilities and integrates with all our other systems. So, no brainer." Unfortunately, with the rapid development of Learning Management Systems (LMS) technology you are now likely to have a tool that is woefully obsolete. Sure, with a few manual workarounds it can administer and track required compliance training. But does not do much else effectively. Many companies currently find themselves in this space, and there is likely to be an "anchor bias" preventing them from admitting that a mistake was made. For reasons of defending one’s personal reputation and strategic management abilities, a manager might be loath to admit that newer, cheaper, more effective technologies are now available that have features and functions which you desperately need to manage your diverse workforce, especially when considering your growing segment of millennials. These millennials rank personal development opportunities as one of their primary reasons for joining and staying at organisations. They expect learning experiences at their companies, similar in variety, and technological sophistication that are already available across the public internet. But yesterday’s large-scale, LMSs simply can’t yet support or worse, perform so ineffectively, that the user’s experience is a net negative. As a Central Administration Offer (CAO) or corporate executive, you also might want to be able to provide your company people with access to new innovative approaches to learning, and to give your managers better post-training analytics in order to help them budget and govern the use of social media and other tools within their company. Unfortunately, many of the monolithic LMSs currently in place do not provide access to these kinds of functionality and have not kept up with advances prior to and beyond Web 2.0 technologies.
New Options, Opportunities and Requirements for the LMS
Deloitte’s Josh Bersin recently noted that we are entering into a new world of ecosystems and learning platforms that enable people to leapfrog over their current systems and move on to something better (EdCast’s 2016 Future of Learning Conference at Computer Science Museum, Mountainview, California). In addition, multiple findings from Capterra, a company dedicated to HR technology research, support this sentiment. Notably they found that over 25% of HR incentives, Training Managers and Employees were dissatisfied with their LMS. Moreover 66% of those wanting to update their LMS, cited that these systems lack required features. The same study indicates that the most desired new features are: Live/Video Conferencing; Integrated Talent Management Capabilities; Mobile Learning; and Social Learning.
Ten Features Critical to the Next Generation of Scalable Learning Management Ecosystems:
Based on our experience and knowledge of the marketplace, we recommend ten specific features that should be considered when evaluating requirements for your current LMS or considering a new system:
- Up-to-date code and technical architectures, fully integrate with Web 2.0 Services that enable better cloud-based security, plug and play extensibility;
- More and better data visualisation and big data analytics;
- Profile-based AI functionality that enables prescriptive and adaptive learning with optional support for Gamification;
- Full bore video service including ability to not only watch but also annotate, author and curate video for others;
- Discoverability and reuse of proprietary learning objects across the enterprise;
- Cost reduction based on a pay-as-you-go use of functionality rather than on a license cost that assumes everyone needs and will use the same features and functions of the system;
- Integration with talent management systems and processes;
- User Focused Support for mobile and social learning, including video conferencing;
- Virtual classroom tools including scheduling, enrolment, tracking and assignment processing;
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Built-in authoring for the creation of eLearning modules.
Eliminating the Unnecessary
All these features may not be needed by every company, or even for every employee group. But they must be considered as potential requirements or opportunities for increased ROI so that companies do not find themselves paying long-term licensing fees for them. That cannot do the right job. With large-scale, monolithic LMSs, you get what you pay for and that is ONLY the minimal number of bells and whistles that their developers have put in to get past the sales demonstration stage. Remember that they are selling the whole ERP. Typically there isn’t much due diligence done on LMS functionality, before an executive decision is made. If you need to add on functionality your vendor often replies with "that sounds like an excellent future opportunity", which is typically consultant code for "Don’t hold your breath". This is a phenomenon that doesn’t exist for the innovative smaller, learning only, players who live or die based on their ability to deliver superior technology enhanced experiences.
Selecting your optional Learning Management System
There are currently over 542 learning management systems on the market, a number that grows daily, as new and more innovative technologies hit the marketplace. No question, a revolution is taking place. If your company has been subject to "anchor bias" in the past and views switching away from their old ERP as anathema, perhaps it is now time for a brave soul to make the case again. Soon any HR executive worth their salt will have to overcome, fear of change. You need to adopt these new technologies or become just as obsolete as the systems they are defending. If you are interested in exploring new LMS capabilities, you may want to explore Adrenna, Agilix or Paradiso. We highly recommend seeking support from an expert that knows the market and can accurately capture your learning requirements and opportunities for improved ROI. Feel free to reach out to us with either questions or professional advice.
Authors: Ronald Kantor and Justin Paul, are Talent Management Consultants at Latchmere Performance Solutions Co. Ltd. Ronald Kantor (Ron@LatchmereSolutions.com) is a Senior Solutions Architect Ph.D. in Education & Human Development, Justin Paul (Justin@Latchmereconsulting.com) has helped executives in over 30 countries improve leadership capability.
Series Editor: Christopher F. Bruton is Executive Director at Dataconsult Ltd, chris@dataconsult.co.th. Dataconsult’s Thailand Regional Forum provides seminars and extensive documentation to guide business on future trends in Thailand and in the Mekong Region.
