Learning in Context: Challenges and Opportunities for Learning and Development in Sri Lanka

  

Learning and Development (L&D) is no longer a space of its own but rather it is affected by different factors including culture, regulations, labor market trends, languages, infrastructure and maturity of various sectors. These factors vary considerably in Sri Lanka in the export-oriented manufacturing (such as clothing) industry, finance, government, hospitality, and the increasingly popular IT-BPM sector. Programs exported to other parts of the world usually fail due to the assumptions based on the number of people who have access to the internet, the learners being similar, and the teams working equally.

To improve the efficiency of training, it is worth adapting the content to the local environment with the help of case studies, Sinhalese or Tamil materials, job-related tasks, and examples of the real working situations in Sri Lanka. Such strategy makes the training more relevant and the transfer of skills more efficient with the help of better motivation and self-confidence (Baldwin and Ford, 1988; Grossman and Salas, 2011). To the policymakers, it translates to the fact that L&D must support national objectives, including productivity, quality, compliance, and digital inclusion in addition to supporting the needs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which are essential in providing employment.

The Hard Problems L&D Must Solve:

The issue of resource constraints continues especially in the SMEs and in the state sector where the budgets are fixed upfront and training is usually centralised. Executives thus require plausible, fast-cycle evidence of value, time-to-competence, less re work, higher first-pass yield, less audit findings, hours of study devoured. The second issue is the lack of skills match: companies state their shortage of digital fluency, analytics, supervisory coaching, and communication and graduates experience underemployment, the indicator of the mismatch of curricula with the goals of work. A third limitation is the language and accessibility; a lot of good quality materials end up in English and the alternative literal translation without any localization to the idiom or the situation compromises psychological safety on the side of the otherwise well-endowed learners. Lastly, the vendor ecosystem can be disunited; content libraries are delivered without manager enablement, on-the-job evaluation or dashboards making it hard to justify budgets under cost pressure by executives. 

Opportunity Zones for outsized impact

A performance-centered design approach is a key task-oriented position in different roles, including the negotiations of a merchandiser, the Anti Money Laundering (AML)/Know Your Customer (KYC) alert of a branch officer, the quality check of a supervisor, and medication administration of a nurse. Knowing possible mistakes and the skills required to perform such duties, we are able to develop specific micro-interventions, such as brief training programs and job aids. The use of smartphones is common in Sri Lanka, which facilitates effective learning by means of offline courses, WhatsApp notifications, and prompt evaluations, which makes training affordable and available. Apprenticeship and dual training models also assist students to shift into the employment in such areas as hospitality, construction, and healthcare (World Bank, 2021). Also, the ability to develop skills in relation to job roles at both corporate and national levels can help in improving targeted learning and workforce planning where sector councils may be instrumental in financing and standardizing the required training content (National Skills Development Authority, 2022).

A Practice Blueprint for Organizations

The lessons of this sprint can be transformed into a minimum viable curriculum consisting of five to seven micro-modules to each role, a printable job aid, a coaching guide to managers, and a job-embedded assessment tool. Effective delivery of this curriculum can maximize learning that can be implemented through the use of micro- modules and group discussions, shadowing using checklists, and finally, practical applications and feedback. In order to measure the effectiveness of the training, a four-level framework that will measure reaction, learning, behaviour, and results can be adopted. (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2006). In the case of priority programs, a return on investment (ROI) analysis will add more value.

This also requires the long-term sustainability. Thus, the implementation of the learning into the key operating procedures, criteria of promotion, and the level of manager performance measurements can be used to develop the idea of the continuous improvement. The use of simple dashboards to monitor progress and contribution to key performance indicators will ensure that these goals are kept in mind. Moreover, A/B testing or difference-in-differences analysis performed between branches would help to isolate the effect of such efforts and present useful data to be refined and success.

        

Policy Levers to Multiply Effect

By facilitating clear standards of micro-credentials, quality assurance by the providers, and fair assessment practices, government and industry agencies will be able to develop the skills more efficiently. They are able to facilitate digital learning through funding resources that provide open and multilingual training on various topics such as safety, customer service, and fundamental digital skills. They also have the ability to offer grants or tax reductions to assist women coming back to work, rural young people and those with disabilities to take advantage of these opportunities. Periodic skills survey and an occupations-skills map in line with industry demands can assist in redirecting funds to key areas such as quality, compliance, digital services, and green skills. In addition, effective training programs in the country can be enhanced by the national manager-as-coach programs, according to which supervisors are crucial participants of the training process. 

Conclusion

To conclude, there are issues and possibilities to apply the learning and development in Sri Lanka, which demand the multifaceted approach, which should be adapted to the local context. Integration of performance-based methodology in designing will assist organizations to create efficient training projects to address specific skills gaps and national goals as well as the need of SME. Moreover, modern technology, such as mobile learning solutions and particular micro-interventions, can be used to increase the accessibility and engagement of learners. The industry stakeholders and policy makers should have to liaise in order to develop transparent standards and a structure to aid in successful training, quality, as well as long term sustainability. Coupled with the assistance of the ecosystem created, which pays more attention to the development of the skills and to the process of adapting to the specifics of the various spheres, Sri Lanka will be able to produce the strong workforce capable of surviving in the rapidly evolving global world. In contextualizing L&D in Sri Lanka, we can adopt Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory. Especially when focusing on Micro-modules, Apprentice Programmes and in Mobile Learning Solutions as aforesaid, organizations can assure that those are practical, culturally relevant and sustainable by adhering to Kolb's Theory. Last but not least, the dedication to constant improvement and innovation in the L&D will result in the economic growth, the rise of productivity, and the brightness of the future for all people.

 

References

Alvarez, K., Salas, E., & Garofano, C. M. (2004). Training needs assessment. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 15(1), pp.51–63.

Baldwin, T. T., & Ford, J. K. (1988). Transfer of training. Personnel Psychology, 41(1), pp.63–105.

Bersin, J. (2018). The Disruption of Digital Learning. Bersin by Deloitte.

Brinkerhoff, R. O. (2006). Telling Training’s Story. Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler.

Cascio, W. F., & Boudreau, J. (2016). The search for global competence. Alexandria, VA: SHRM Foundation.

Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2016). e-Learning and the Science of Instruction (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

CIPD. (2023). Learning in the Workplace: Annual Survey. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

Fuller, A., & Unwin, L. (2004). Expansive learning environments. Education + Training, 46(4/5), pp298–299.

Grossman, R., & Salas, E. (2011). The transfer of training: A meta-analytic review. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 22(2), 111–135.

Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing cultures. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1).

Kirkpatrick, D. L., & Kirkpatrick, J. D. (2006). Evaluating training programs: the four levels. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. pp. 50-60.

Noe, R. A. (2020). Employee Training and Development (8th ed.). McGraw-Hill.

World Bank. (2020). Skills Development in Sri Lanka. World Bank Group.

World Economic Forum. (2020). Jobs of Tomorrow: Mapping Opportunity in the New Economy. WEF.

UNESCO. (2022). Digital Learning for All: Evidence from Low- and Middle-Income Countries. UNESCO Publishing.

ILO. (2020). Sri Lanka: Skills for Economic Growth. International Labour Organization.

Rummler, G. A., & Brache, A. P. (2012). Improving Performance (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.