2020 has been a challenging year by all measures. In just six months, the world has witnessed the dramatic crippling of businesses, with multiple countries across the globe facing recessions. The average worker is suffering in one way or another. Millions have lost their jobs globally, and just as many are facing disruption in their work-life and finding themselves unprepared for the world that is emerging.
It is a great delight that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the apex financial regulatory body, continues to show leadership in sustaining and restoring almost every aspect of the Nigerian economy. The CBN is setting an example of how organisations can build resilience and sustainability internally.
A recent Phillips Consulting (pcl.) study revealed that employee “experience at work”, and “opportunity to learn” (talent development) were top priorities for employee motivation. However, the same research revealed that only 7% of organisations were prepared to prioritise learning and talent development during this period. Most of these organisations cut costs in response to declining revenue, and talent development was the first casualty. 93% of respondents indicated that their talent development budget had either been cancelled, significantly slashed, or delayed, and this could potentially negatively affect employee motivation levels.
To compete favourably, grow, promote employee satisfaction, and empower staff for phenomenal performance in a world where information is now a commodity, organisations need to see talent development as an urgent necessity. Employees who are not empowered with knowledge will consistently fail to perform at the expected competency levels.
Data shows that organisations that prioritise learning have been the most resilient, as their efforts at continuous training and development result in a motivated and engaged workforce that is equipped to cope with fresh challenges.
The CBN is emphasising its development of this resilience and consolidating its corporate leadership by becoming the new champion in talent development, not just in the public sector, but at par with the private companies as well. The incumbent Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele foresaw the future and invested significantly to upgrade the bank’s digital learning platform three years ago.
The journey started in 2017, when the CBN partnered with Phillips Consulting, a leading organisation in digital learning, to launch the CBN Open Online Learning (COOL 1.0) platform. Pushing the envelope further, the CBN has now upgraded to Percipio (COOL 2.0) to become one of the very few organisations globally to move to the significantly- enhanced Learning Experience Platform (LxP).
Percipio is an intelligent Learning Experience Platform that immerses learners in content curated into over 700 continuously updated learning paths. The courses and videos in Percipio are scenario-based and designed to drive better learning outcomes and give learners the narratives they crave. Thus allowing CBN staff to discover, learn and self-direct their learning, using an intuitive search technology called Elasticsearch.
With Percipio, employees can also learn new skills and upskill in a large number of subjects (over 120,000 assets) by watching videos, reading books, or listening to audiobooks anywhere, anytime, on any internet-enabled device with the ability to download content for offline play, search, play and resume content, and integrate with Siri(ios) and google assistant. Of course, new digital skills in artificial intelligence, blockchain, and cybersecurity have become as relevant as they have become popular.
Phillips Consulting joined in the recent virtual launch of COOL 2.0, where the CBN Director of Capacity Development Department remarked: “This is a fantastic platform, a significant improvement from the previous platform and will further enhance learning in CBN. Thank you and your team for the upgrade and partnership. We will do our best to encourage staff to continue to take advantage of this platform”.
CBN’s demonstrable leadership sets an example for many other government parastatals and even private sector organisations who should embark on this journey. The CBN’s decision to maintain employee development, in the face of reduced budgets, shows that it is a justifiable investment. Not only has the CBN been able to reduce its training cost per head, but it has also increased the number of employees who have access to customised, relevant and timely training content.
The Partner for Digital Learning at pcl., Mr Paul Ayim, expressed delight in the great interest that the CBN has sparked off through the success and near-perfect timing of its digital learning journey started three years ago, which puts it at par with the most sophisticated organisations globally. With the way the world is going and the increasing presence of a younger and more agile generation in organisations, the digital learning route is the way to go, and the CBN is leading the way.
Phillips Consulting is a leader in organisational learning, trusted for over 28 years by leading organisations in Africa’s Private and Public sector to provide value-driven, innovative learning & performance support solutions.
Want to try Percipio for free? Contact pcl. via digitallearning@phillipsconsulting.net