Social learning for innovation, connection and knowledge: Why we built Slick+
Managing knowledge and delivering learning in the hybrid workplace is critical, but can also be challenging. In a series of blogs we look at some of the main issues that often arise, and how that has driven us to design Slick+. Last time we looked at knowledge bottlenecks and the role that both communities of practice and social technologies play in moving towards a system of collective learning. In this post we explore further the need for technologies that are specifically geared towards social learning, and why we build Slick+ to bridge a gap. Why we need technology that actually supports situated learning It’s long been accepted by learning professionals and the industry in general, that much of our workplace learning is informal in nature and actually falls outside of activities planned by learning and development teams. Another popular concept is the 70-20-10 model that is still used as a yardstick in many organizations to plan out learning strategies. This says that 70% of our learning comes from experiences carried out in our role, 20% comes from interacting with peers, colleagues and experts, and 10% comes from more formal training and learning. Even though a learning and development strategy may reflect 70-20-10, investments in learning technologies and tools seldom do.They rarely support the informal and peer-to-peer learning that goes on within an organization and therefore don’t offer very good ROI; there’s often a disconnect between how employees actually learn and the systems that support them. The truth is that in many organizations the technology in place to support situated learning is somewhere between poor or non-existent. The pitfalls of the LMS This contrasts sharply with support for learning management systems (LMS). Most medium and large-sized organizations have an LMS or subscribe to courses that are available on what is basically an LMS. This will be the main learning technology, but it is not designed to support the 90% that is about more experiential and social learning. It is designed to cover the 10% relating to more formal learning. We get why organizations need an LMS and we’d usually recommend that learning functions invest in one. You do need formal learning and sometimes you need to show that people have taken a particular course. But an LMS comes spring-loaded with many problems. Courses don’t get completed. Mandatory learning is often regarded as a box-ticking exercise or as pain in the backside. There’s little engagement and knowledge transfer. Occasionally there’s a bit of gold dust with some e-learning that is both valued and enjoyable, but the majority of learning is regarded as a pretty dreary, lonely experience which takes time out of the flow of work. An LMS and the related SCORM-friendly course material can also be pretty expensive so the result can be high cost, high levels of learner dissatisfaction and underwhelming returns on investment. Social learning fuels engagement and more… During the course of this blog series, we’ve argued the role learning plays in areas such as engagement, retention, innovation, job satisfaction and a whole host of other benefits. This is continually reflected in industry research. For example, the recently released 2024 LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report suggests that 70% of people say learning improves their sense of connection to an organization, 80% say it adds purpose to their work, and 90% of organizations are making learning as their “no 1” employee retention strategy. And you can be sure the 2025 research will tell a similar story. It doesn’t take much to realize that most of that learning-driven “engagement” comes from situated learning and the excitement of new growth and development opportunities, overcoming challenges in a role, learning directly from colleagues and sharing insights with peers. This is the kind of people-centred learning that is not supported by the LMS. The massive technology gap around social learning The truth is that there is a MASSIVE gap in technologies that support social, informal and peer-driven learning, and adequately complement formal learning. We’ve explored how technology is a key enabler that can help overcome knowledge silos and reduce knowledge gaps, as well as uncork knowledge bottlenecks. But so often this technology is lacking. This is what drove us to design Slick+ .Slick stands for Social Learning for Innovation, Connection and Knowledge. The ‘plus’ acknowledges that this is a future-focused journey where we join our customers as partners in problem-solving, future-proofing and creating a culture of continuous learning (and inspiration!). To dive deeper into effective strategies for elevating your hybrid training programs, download our latest eBook, ‘Effective Strategies for Elevating Hybrid Training’. This resource is a must-read for HR managers and L&D leaders looking to optimize their tech-enabled learning initiatives while preserving the human element. Get your copy today! What makes Slick+ different from the traditional LMS? Slick+ is designed to complement formal learning and the world of the LMS: to enhance the existing (often extensive) investment in LMS, integrate into the existing learning ecosystem, and ramp up the more relatable, context-specific learning that we know is so crucial for competitiveness, employee retention and innovation. Essentially, Slick+ is a Social LMS for the way we work today. A Social Learning [Management] System! Based on our experience to date, Slick+ is a truly disruptive technology that can help establish a culture of collective learning that you simply can’t achieve with an LMS. Let’s explore a little more detail, how Slick+ is different from a more traditional LMS: What makes Slick+ different from other learning technologies? Social learning technologies are not new in organizations, and are actually pretty mature, especially those designed to support engagement, knowledge-sharing and communities, including professional communities of practice where learning often takes place. But to date these learning technologies have tended to be more about tools and less orientated around social learning systems for knowledge sharing between peers. Our observation is that existing social technologies, including systems designed to support knowledge sharing: Social Learning System in action Slick+ provides an exciting opportunity to drive learning in the modern, hybrid workplace in
What happens when knowledge gets stuck in silos
Managing knowledge and delivering learning in the hybrid workplace is critical, but can also be challenging. In a series of blogs we look at some of the main issues that often arise, and how that has driven us to design Slick Plus. Last time we looked at the damage caused by knowledge leakage. In this third article, we look at the knowledge silos that occur, especially in larger organisations. Have you ever had one of those nightmare calls where you’re speaking to customer services to get an issue resolved and you keep on getting passed from department to department? Nobody seems to know what the other department actually does and each time you get forwarded you have to explain the problem again…and then you end up back at the team where you started! Not only is this very frustrating but you’ve wasted valuable time listening to the same dreadful piped music. What are knowledge silos? This kind of bad customer experience is common in companies where knowledge silos are rife. There is where information, knowledge and skills across an organisation are not shared or accessible; instead, they are isolated and compartmentalized, leading to deep-seated issues, fragmented processes and yes, poor customer service. Knowledge silos lead to knowledge gaps where key groups of employees can’t access (or possibly completely unaware about the existence of) the knowledge they need to do their jobs effectively. In the case of the call, it’s unlikely to be the fault of the customer agents you spoke to. They probably did their best. But perhaps they’ve had no training to deal with your problem or may not have had access to a knowledge base where they could quickly retrieve the answer or to a system where they could ask a colleague, or find out who’s best placed to deal with the issue. What damage do knowledge silos create? If you think knowledge silos are bad for customers, they’re even more frustrating for the people who work there. At an individual level, they limit what people can achieve in their roles. They waste time trying to find information or knowledge that is siloed; even trying to find the right expert can be hugely time-consuming. There have been various estimates of how much time is actually spent on fruitless searching, with some research indicating that knowledge workers can waste almost as much as 25% of their working day, with time wasted even higher for senior executives. Check out our calculator to help you identify some indicators about how much this wasted time is costing your organisation. Knowledge silos and gaps are also a barrier to learning and development, where there are less opportunities to access the right skills and expertise. According to LinkedIn Learning’s 2023 Workplace Report, 29% of employees identify “opportunities to learn and develop new skills” as an important factor in considering a new job, one of the top five factors. And ultimately knowledge silos lead to a poor and ultimately frustrating employee experience, putting the brakes on achieving great results, limiting opportunities for personal and professional growth, preventing skills mobility, creating multiple examples of the duplication of effort and making it harder to connect meaningfully with peers. Why are there knowledge silos? Knowledge silos are endemic in medium and larger organisations. They come in all shapes and sizes: along location and geographical lines, across the organisational structure with different teams and divisions, across types of job such as back office and frontline workers, by different languages spoken, hierarchical, contractual, and so on. And if you thought the “what” sounds messy, the “why” is equally complicated. Knowledge silos form and are then amplified and strengthened for a number of overlapping reasons: Practical: practical reasons such as a lack of an overarching system or technology to share knowledge. For example, our customer agents on our call couldn’t access a centralised knowledge or collaboration system that could have supported them to resolve the issue. Structural: departments, functions, and teams often sit on their knowledge and what they are learning. Looking to our customer agents again, perhaps they are outsourced, working from home or located separately from the product team, and never get opportunities to learn about what other teams across the organisation actually do. This can be especially amplified if organisations are struggling to adapt to effectively manage hybrid, flexible and asynchronous workplace models. Cultural: an organisation’s culture and its sub-cultures can result in differences in attitudes to sharing knowledge, as well as a general reluctance to share – for example in very risk-averse organisations where there might be strict protocols around keeping information private. For instance, is your culture more ‘information is power’ or ‘knowledge is influence’? Political: sometimes leaders put the brakes on knowledge sharing initiatives for political reasons, for example due to disagreements or even rivalries created by internal marketplaces. All of the above conspire to make it difficult for an individual to share what they know, creating a multitude of knowledge bottlenecks and therefore missed opportunities. (We’ll be covering bottlenecks in more detail in our next blog.) Busting knowledge silos and bridging knowledge gaps But knowledge silos and gaps are not inevitable. This is not a wicked problem which is impossible to tackle. There are things that can be done and even moving a little bit in the right direction can make a significant improvement to driving efficiency, upskilling employees and improving culture, team by team, process by process, community by community.. Busting those silos and bridging those gaps doesn’t happen overnight but requires a holistic and strategic approach. At a high level here are some of the steps that usually need to be in place to move the need on removing knowledge silos. Recognising the problem and understanding its extent is important. This can kick-start the right conversations, create the momentum to improve knowledge sharing and help identify the tactics and interventions that will make a difference. Knowledge silos are partly cultural. Removing them requires behavioural change. Leadership and senior management influence employee