WHY IT'S TIME TO BRING LEARNING TO THE C-SUITE - Intao
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WHY IT’S TIME TO BRING
LEARNING TO THE C-SUITE
By Andrew Dyer, Susanne Dyrchs, Allison Bailey, Hans-Paul Bürkner, and J. Puckett
C ompanies face a Herculean chal-
lenge in today’s fast-evolving work
environment. Such is the pace of change
second, reinvent the organization of learn-
ing within their business.
that businesses are disappearing more
quickly than ever before. If they are to Three Forces Changing
survive, never mind thrive, company Corporate Learning
leaders must learn to adapt. And here, the Every CEO is now focused on responding
operative word is learn. to the enormous challenges posed by the
global COVID-19 pandemic. However, the
Much has been said about companies’ ca- companies that have the most forward-
pacity to adapt. Much less has been said thinking approach to learning appear to
about companies’ capacity to learn. And be more resilient than their peers in the
yet, in our estimation, a company’s capaci- face of this greatest of unforeseen events.
ty to learn determines its capacity to adapt Clearly they have understood the three
and, ultimately, its chances of surviving far forces that are shaking the foundations of
into the future. If your company isn’t learn- the corporate learning environment. As
ing, it isn’t growing—and it’s probably on a soon as the worst of the crisis is over, ev-
losing path. ery CEO must do the same.
Of course, most companies have a learning Let’s look at each of these forces in turn.
and development function within their (See Exhibit 1.)
Human Resources department. Corporate
learning has a long, albeit checkered, his The Changing Basis of
tory. But as we show in this report, some Competition—The Rate of Learning
new forces require company leaders to take Companies used to compete on the basis of
two urgent actions: first, rethink the pur- their positional advantage—the price and
pose of learning within their business; and quality of their goods and services; theirExhibit 1 | Toward a New Raison d’Être and a New Practice of Corporate Learning
Three learning change drivers From the old L&D paradigm…
• Companies competing on scale, quality, or
network
• Learning centered outside the workflow
• Classroom focused and static e-learning based
• Static L&D anchored in legacy
Changing state Changing nature Changing paradigm
of competition of work of learning
Competing on the rate In a time of COVID-19 and Habituating and nudging
of learning; changing digitization, companies are based on defined skill and …to the rise of learning ecosystems
landscape of learners, turning bionic; adaptive capability taxonomies,
including machines and content curation and and ongoing, real-time Make learning a C-suite priority
1
communities delivery; tech and tools, AI, analyses of learning needs
VR, AV, IoT, and increased Move toward business-led learning with
2
interaction between strong L&D support
humans and machine
3 Embed learning in the workflow
The learning offering Skill half-life decreases and Personalized, bite-size, Harness the power of data-driven and
4
becomes a key magnet the cost of buying talent blended, immersive, and science-based learning
for top talent acquisition increases, so skills need to on-the-go upskilling and 5 Create a corporate “learnscape”
be developed in-house reskilling
Source: BCG analysis.
ability to influence suppliers, consumers, The Changing Nature of Work—
and others in their network; and their abil The Rise of the Bionic Company
ity to recruit and retain the most talented Even before the onset of the global
people. At the turn of the century, however, pandemic, the world of work was rapidly
the world became more dynamic, and com- changing, as companies adapted to the
panies started to compete on the basis of growing prevalence of digital technology
their adaptive advantage—their ability to in daily life. At BCG, we have been talking
work in agile ways, innovate quickly, and for some time about what we refer to as
adopt new approaches in response to the rise of the bionic company: the innova
changing marketing conditions. Now, al- tive fusion of human and machine in the
though these remain important, another workplace.
basis of competition has risen above them
all in the digital age: learning advantage. But since the emergence of COVID-19,
The winners of tomorrow will be those which forced governments around the
that can accelerate their rate of learning. world to impose stringent lockdown mea-
sures, more than 300 million employees
Modern technologies such as IoT sensors, have been obliged to work remotely, away
digital platforms, and AI are quickening the from their offices. This, we believe, has cat-
rate at which companies generate, gather, apulted companies three to five years into
and process information. In effect, these the digital future.
technologies bypass the slow, unwieldy
managerial hierarchies that have tradition- It is a future that won’t stand still. Our re-
ally dominated corporate decision making. search suggests that companies will need
As a result, companies are starting to oper- to upskill or reskill approximately 60% of
ate at superhuman speed, learning about their workforce over the next two to five
the market and reacting to it in seconds. years. But given the pace of change, they
will need to go further in order to ensure a
But there has to be a human corollary to continuous flow of innovation, creativity,
this digital transformation. If a company is and skills from their employees. The aver-
going to use advanced technology to accel- age half-life of a skill is now just five years.
erate the rate of learning, the individuals Consequently, we calculate that 1 billion
and teams that make up the company must jobs will need to be reconfigured over the
accelerate their rate of learning, too. next ten years. It’s a daunting task.
Boston Consulting Group | Why It’s Time to Bring Learning to the C-Suite 2The Changing Paradigm of are organized outside the day-to-day flow
Training—The New Science of of work and lack any analytical backbone
Learning for assessing who is learning what and for
Over the past few years, behavioral econo- which strategic reason. If this was ever the
mists, neuroscientists, and cognitive psy- right way to conduct corporate learning, it
chologists have achieved major break- is certainly wrong now.
throughs in their understanding of how
people learn. They have found that people Going forward, CEOs should take back
learn best when the training is personal- overall responsibility for corporate learning
ized, packaged in bite-size formats, incorpo- and give it a new raison d’être—namely, to
rated into the daily work routine, and sup- improve the business’s performance in a
ported with timely nudges and reminders. way that enlarges its overall contribution
This new science of learning has not yet to society. There can be no other rationale.
fully entered the workplace—but when it Upskilling and reskilling employees are
does so, it promises to revolutionize the parts of the task of improving a company’s
way companies perform. performance, of course. But the task is
much greater than that—and it has signifi-
Companies must change not only how they cant implications for the organization of
deliver learning within the workplace, but learning within a business.
also what they deliver. Traditionally, corpo-
rate learning has been the Cinderella of When company leaders reconsider the
the broader education system—unglamor- rationale for corporate learning, they will
ous, underappreciated, and tasked with reach an inescapable conclusion: the prac-
topping up the know-how and other skills tical organization of corporate learning
acquired in school and university. How must be completely reinvented. This is a
many people would willingly single out a major task. It cannot be undertaken lightly.
corporate learning course as the education- But some companies have already begun
al experience that made the greatest differ- to reinvent their corporate learning organi-
ence to their career—rather than the class zation, and they have done so by taking
of an inspirational professor or the sage ad- five crucial steps.
vice of a mentor or the startling revelations
of a game-changing book? Not many. Step 1: Develop a New Strategy
and Make Learning a C-Suite
But the ambition of corporate learning in Priority
the future must be to provide that critical, The first step for CEOs to take is to develop
career-defining learning experience. a new company-wide strategy that recog-
nizes learning as the internal engine of or-
ganizational change and optimal perfor-
The New Raison d’Être and mance. In this sense, learning is about
Practice of Corporate Learning improving not only the skills of individuals
Given the new competitive environment, and teams but also the modus operandi of
the rise of the bionic company, and the the company. It is fundamental to the suc-
emergence of a transformative science of cess of the entire business.
learning, company leaders must rethink
the purpose and reinvent the practice of To reflect the new significance of learning
learning within their business. within the company, CEOs should make
learning a C-suite priority. One way to do
In most companies, the purpose of learning this would be to switch responsibility for
is simply to upskill employees. As a result, this critical activity from the HR function
CEOs have mistakenly delegated the com- to a dedicated L&D function headed by a
pany’s vital learning agenda to their L&D chief learning officer who sits on the exec-
function—which all too often focuses nar- utive board. (See Exhibit 2.) Giving the
rowly on creating and delivering content CLO a seat at the table would send a clear
through in-person or online courses that message that the company regards learning
Boston Consulting Group | Why It’s Time to Bring Learning to the C-Suite 3Exhibit 2 | The New Role of the Chief Learning Officer
Shift in role Enlarged scope
Oversee L&D, which moves from Work with business and tech
Level 3 or 4 in HR to become to allocate learnable tasks to
part of the C-suite machines and humans, devise
learning journeys, and embed
them in the workflow
Expanded operations More accountable
Run the corporate learning business outcomes and
system, incorporating the measured impact
new tech stack Give learners new skills and, in
exchange, gain engagement
and productivity
Source: BCG analysis.
as a strategically important function. Much CLO role the status it needs in order to
the same was done three decades ago, make a difference. Other Fortune 500 com-
when forward-thinking CEOs switched re- panies that take the role seriously include
sponsibility for their company’s data from Citi, Merck, Facebook, and Google—
the IT department to a dedicated chief although Facebook uses the title global
data officer with a seat on the board. This head of L&D, and Google has a vice presi-
was a smart response to the fact that the dent of people development.
vast wealth of data being created by the
new information technologies was fast be- Step 2: Build a New Learning and
coming critical to business success. Development Function
The CEO and the whole executive team
But this step is not just about moving must take overall responsibility for making
chairs around in the boardroom. The new learning a strategic imperative for the
CLO—or whoever takes on this role in the company. The task is simply too important
boardroom—should receive an expanded to be delegated to one or two executives,
mandate, with responsibility for building a no matter how senior. For practical rea-
new learning and development function, sons, they will need to partner with the
embedding relevant learning in the company’s centers of excellence for people
workflow, harnessing the power of data- and organizational management—namely,
driven and science-based learning, and the HR function and, above all, the L&D
creating what we call a corporate function—if they are to deliver the neces-
learnscape. sary change. Unfortunately, most L&D
functions are not fit for this purpose.
It is an enormous challenge. This is why we
believe that the ideal candidate to oversee Our research suggests that four out of five
a company’s L&D activities is someone CEOs are asking the following questions:
with the vision, energy, creativity, and de-
termination to be able to ascend to the top •• Why are we not capable of
of the company—a potential CEO. systematically upskilling and reskilling
our employees?
In 1990, Jack Welch created the world’s
first CLO position, appointing Steve Kerr •• Why can’t we learn and adapt to the
to the role at General Electric. Kerr later changing business environment as fast
moved to Goldman Sachs, where he ful- as our competitors?
filled the same role. But since then, sur-
prisingly few companies have accorded the •• How can we future-proof our talent?
Boston Consulting Group | Why It’s Time to Bring Learning to the C-Suite 4Part of the answer lies in the current state come with a new price tag: corporate learn-
of the L&D function. In many companies, ing will likely require a higher budget. In
L&D is alarmingly outdated, held back by a our experience, companies underinvest in
legacy mindset that impedes progress and L&D. So how much should CEOs set aside
puts the future of the whole business at for learning? The answer will vary from
risk. Company leaders must undertake a company to company and from sector to
radical overhaul of their L&D function, in- sector—but as a rule of thumb, CEOs who
troducing new, more flexible organization- want to prioritize learning should aim to
al models and roles that reflect the new double the amount they currently spend
skills required by the function and allocat- on L&D activities. The CEO’s task is not
ing an expanded budget for its use. simply to increase the size of the budget,
however; it is also to increase the efficiency
We see five main types of roles in the fu- of budgeted spending. Right now, too much
ture L&D organization: gets wasted on activities that fail to achieve
positive learning outcomes and boost over-
•• Learning architects will translate all company performance. Indeed, in our
business needs into end-to-end learning estimation, efficiency can—and must—be
solutions that mix immersive classroom, tripled.
online, and on-the-job approaches.
Companies that have created a strong
•• Content curators will source a wide learning and development capability in-
variety of new skills-based material clude Audi, Lendlease, and Salesforce.
from all kinds of providers in the Salesforce, a cloud-based software compa-
learning ecosystem. ny, has developed a learning platform
called Trailhead that provides ways to
•• Learning technologists will design and learn in-demand skills, earn résumé-worthy
implement the right technology stack credentials, and connect to the company’s
with the right mix of tools—from ecosystem of learners. The “trails” are, as
traditional learning management the company explains, “guided learning
systems (LMSs) to modern learning paths through modules and projects.” Put
experience platforms (LXPs)—and another way, they are an individual’s “per-
fit-for-purpose learning apps. sonal game plan for exploring new skills.”
Salesforce also has a Trailhead Academy,
•• Digital designers will apply their which offers in-person and virtual learning
expertise in user experience (UX) and experiences. Some companies, such as Au-
user interface (UI) design as well as in todesk, use the Trailhead platform to drive
digital product development. learning across their own organization.
•• Data scientists will help the company Step 3: Embed Relevant Learning
unleash the power of the data collected in the Everyday Workflow
through online learning platforms by The new science of learning calls for a new
marrying them with performance way of delivering corporate skills-based
management data and then measuring learning. For the past century, much peda-
the true effectiveness of learning gogic thinking has been based on the work
programs. of Hermann Ebbinghaus, a brilliant
nineteenth-century German psychologist
With these new people—from diverse who pioneered the experimental study of
walks of life—on board, the L&D function memory and developed the forgetting curve,
will start to look very different. And like which revealed how rapidly people forget
the rest of the company, it will have to act what they learn for the first time. The for-
differently, too, abandoning old ways of getting curve was useful to companies in
working and embracing more agile, itera- an era when learning and development
tive, customer-centric, and cross-functional chiefly involved imparting knowledge—
approaches. Inevitably, this change will and knowing what. Now, however, compa-
Boston Consulting Group | Why It’s Time to Bring Learning to the C-Suite 5nies need to focus not just on knowing fact. Nevertheless, we now routinely rec-
what but on knowing how because in to- ommend them to our clients, and the re-
day’s fast-paced world—where the what sults are encouraging. This is because they
changes all the time—the application of provide an answer to the question of how
knowledge has become especially critical. companies can use new skills and new
This is why we recommend that companies knowledge to develop new behaviors.
forget the forgetting curve and focus in-
stead on the learning curve, which demon- Relevance is the starting point. If the new
strates how a series of timely interventions skills and know-how are to stick, they must
can dramatically improve the way employ- be relevant to the individual or team as
ees remember essential business skills. well as to the whole company. Given appro-
priate autonomy, individuals and teams are
Only about 10% of corporate learning hap- in the best position to determine what is
pens in formal in-person or online courses. relevant to them. Of course, companies will
Why? Because most people fail to recall want to match personal learning preferenc-
more than 75% of the information they es with the company’s analyzed skills gaps.
learned the week before unless they have But if companies can trust employees to
reason to use it in the workplace. For this choose what they want to learn (by identi-
reason, companies must find a way to em- fying what is relevant to them), rather than
bed relevant learning in their employees’ telling them what to do, this is the first step
everyday workflow. toward success. It satisfies what behavioral
economists call intrinsic motivation.
We recommend the “5Rs” approach. (See
Exhibit 3.) Although these five timely inter- Content is not the sole determinant of rele-
ventions underpin the learning curve, they vance, however. In addition, relevant job-
do not yet constitute scientifically proven related learning must be delivered to the
Exhibit 3 | Overcoming the Forgetting Curve with the 5Rs
Recognition and rewards | 1 month later:
badges, feedback, and followup
Review | 2 weeks later: video call/meeting with
peer, classmate, tech, or supervisor
Rhythms and routines | Within a week:
apply at work/in project + feedback
Repetition and reflection | 24 hours later:
virtual gamification, nudging, and virtual coach
Relevance | Identifying the individual’s learning
needs and delivering the right content
100% 100%
Remembered
Remembered
Forgetting Learning
10 minutes 24 hours 1 week 1 month 10 minutes 24 hours 1 week 1 month
From remembering knowledge… …to learning skills-based behaviors
Sources: Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve; BCG analysis.
Boston Consulting Group | Why It’s Time to Bring Learning to the C-Suite 6learner at the right time, in the right for- ment. One way to help amplify the success
mat, and precisely when and where the of this process is to develop what we call
learner needs it. As a result, besides being learning journeys. Most companies deliver
personalized, it must also be bite-size, corporate learning as a curriculum for a
blended, immersive, and on the go. particular group (for example, shop floor
workers or factory managers) or for a par-
So, beyond satisfying the criteria for rele- ticular task (for example, onboarding). But
vance, companies’ learning programs must organizing corporate learning as a series of
incorporate what behavioral economists learning journeys allows companies to pro-
call extrinsic motivation. This is where the vide personalized learning that, at the same
other four Rs come in: time, boosts the business’s performance.
•• Repetition and reflection involve These learning journeys are typically ex-
nudging and encouraging employees— pressed as questions. One classic learning
for example, via a company learning journey for an employee involves asking,
app, a gamification tool, or a virtual “How can I increase my value?” For CEOs,
coach—as a way to reinforce their that same journey can be framed in a dif-
learning within 24 hours of their ferent way: “How can I maximize the
previous learning experience. Repeti- potential of my employees?” One early
tion via reminders is an important adopter of this approach was BHP, the
aspect of such reinforcement, but so is Anglo-Australian mining and metals com-
reflection on the learning that each pany, which has designed and implement-
individual has already achieved. ed individual learning journeys for more
than 6,000 managers, integrating learning
•• Rhythm and routines of the business into the workflow with on-the-job nudging
offer opportunities not only to incorpo- and virtual coaching.
rate the new learning into everyday
patterns at work but also to deliver Step 4: Harness the Power of Data-
feedback and further embed learning in Driven and Science-Based Learning
the course of the workflow within a The new model of corporate learning that
week of initial learning. we advocate will depend on highly digitized
AI- and machine-learning-based technology
•• Review entails assessment of the platforms. They will make possible the new,
individual’s learning progress with relevant, personalized approaches to corpo-
peers, classmates, colleagues, or a rate learning. They will ensure that compa-
supervisor within two weeks of the nies can readily incorporate individual and
learning experience, in order to help team learning experiences into the rhythms
identify potential gaps, necessary and routines of the everyday workflow.
additional learning cycles (termed They will permit the curation of content
micro-learning cycles), and other learning that is aligned with corporate skills assess-
needs. ments and personal learning preferences.
•• Recognition and rewards for achiev- Already, companies are spoiled for choices
ing long-term learning involve having when it comes to these new learning plat-
company leaders publicly acknowledge forms. Knowledge engines such as Valley
successes, including awarding badges autonomously synthesize micro-courses by
and certificates to individuals for their tracking knowledge inside and outside the
learning achievements after a month of enterprise as it changes, helping to predict
new learning. learners’ behavior in order to keep training
relevant, interesting, and fresh. Digital
Relevant, personalized, easily digestible coaching companies such as Humu nudge
content linked to current work and re employees to make their new skills habitu-
inforced by virtual coaching, nudges, and al. AI-powered e-learning and gamification
gamification will drive employees’ engage- providers such as Cognii and Coursera of-
Boston Consulting Group | Why It’s Time to Bring Learning to the C-Suite 7fer a broad range of personalized content ny. It began these efforts after senior exec-
with real-time feedback and analytics utives received feedback from employees
about learning success. Machine-learning- that the company was failing to deliver
based knowledge cloud providers such as timely learning solutions: by the time it
Edcast aggregate and personalize internal developed, polished, and perfected new
and external learning content. Virtual re training programs for delivery, the learn-
ality workplace training specialists such as ing needs in the business had changed. To
Mursion and VR Training design and or- tackle the problem, Sky decided to pro-
chestrate interactions between learners duce learning solutions in real time, reduc-
and avatar-based characters. ing their delivery time from 12 months to
two weeks and increasing fivefold the
Besides changing the way companies deliv- number of managers who received learn-
er corporate learning, these digital technol- ing support. These efforts fundamentally
ogies help companies determine the mix of changed not only the delivery process
hard and soft skills—such as negotiating, change but also the process for tracking
problem solving, and critical thinking— and measuring the learning solutions,
that employees need to succeed and to sup- which is now connected to individual em-
port the business. Although giving employ- ployee outcomes and overall business out-
ees greater autonomy over their learning comes rather than solely to self-reported
(and their choices) reflects, in part, the be- perceptions of effectiveness.
lief that this will help companies become
agile, self-tuning learning organizations, Step 5: Create a Corporate
company leaders will not want to leave ev- Learnscape
erything to individual choice. And this is In a world where companies compete on
where the new technology comes in. It al- their rate of learning and where their ca-
lows companies to conduct individual em- pacity to learn collectively is a driving
ployee diagnostics and granular skill as- force of innovation and growth, it is neces-
sessments to determine when individual sary to create what we call an integrated
employees or teams are ready for the next corporate learnscape. Such a learnscape
career step or assignment, what kind of puts learning at the heart of the compa-
content they like, and what impact their ny’s mission, with individual learning for
learning journeys will have on their job employees, collaborative learning for
performance. It also enables companies to teams and business units, collective learn-
determine the impact of individual or team ing for the organization as a whole, and
learning on overall business outcomes, community learning for the company and
thereby closing the loop between the in- its wider network of stakeholders—
vestment needed and the impact achieved. including alumni, suppliers, customers,
universities, and other content and learn-
Kroger, an American retail corporation, is ing platform providers. (See Exhibit 4.)
using digital technology to create a smart
learning organization. It is partnering with A mature corporate learnscape can be a
Catalyte, a data science specialist that pro- magnet for talented individuals, who are
vides AI-powered solutions to assess and always looking for opportunities to grow.
identify candidates for upskilling programs. At the same time, it can help companies
In this way, it maximizes the return on in- build a competitive workforce without
vestment and, at the same time, develops a having to go out and hire ready-made but
database of information on high perform- expensive talent. Properly managed, a cor-
ers (who merit certifications, rewards, and porate learnscape allows individual em-
promotions) and low performers (who re- ployees, teams, and business units to take
quire customized development programs). responsibility for their own learning. By
giving them autonomy, companies offer
Another company experimenting with employees the opportunity to access the
new approaches to corporate learning is full benefits of a wide range of learning op-
Sky, a British telecommunications compa- tions inside and outside the organization.
Boston Consulting Group | Why It’s Time to Bring Learning to the C-Suite 8Exhibit 4 | Emerging Corporate Learning Ecosystems Take Advantage of the Growing Landscape of
Learners Beyond the Individual Company Level
Exosystem Macrosystem Biosphere
Microsystem
Single cell
1 2 3 4 5
The Individual The Team The Company The Learning Learning Collective
Human or machine Mixed teams of Organizational level Community Nonrelated or loosely
bionic workers Cross-organizational level related entities, norms,
Shifting traditional L&D Multilateral learning The company as a learner External learning partnerships and institutions
focus away from the in communities of in itself, creating a learning and networks with defined Laws, policies, interests,
individual human practice, cross- organization with collective boundaries for constant ethics, and culture that
functional tribes; intelligence and holistic upskilling and thought exchange impact and inspire learning
informal (social) L&D data analytics and development
networks and
systems
Micro Macro
Source: BCG analysis.
Handing so much control over to individual Foster a Corporate Learning
employees, teams, and business units may Ecosystem
seem like a bold step, and it may be anath- There is no question that CEOs are facing
ema to executives schooled in hierarchical, the toughest of times. For some, the very
top-down management. But evidence from survival of their company is in doubt. But
the digital world indicates that companies however hard it may seem, leaders must
built on autonomous learning principles focus on plotting their path to a profitable
learn faster and perform better. Even as and purposeful future—and in our view
they empower the individual, they encour- that means putting learning at the heart of
age the exchange of ideas, insights, and their enterprise.
know-how across the organization. In short,
an integrated learnscape is a powerful They can accomplish this by adopting a
force for corporate success. two-pronged approach. First, they need to
recognize the fundamental and critical
Several companies have already begun to goal of learning in the company—which is
recognize the value of creating a corporate to gain competitive advantage and improve
learnscape. Google has encouraged an the performance of the business. Second,
employee-to-employee network called they need to reinvent the practical
g2g (Googler-to-Googler) that fosters a organization of learning within the
corporate-wide autonomous learning cul- company, in five ways:
ture. Vostalpine, one of Europe’s largest
steel companies, places employees in inno- •• Develop a business strategy that aligns
vation hubs to learn, exchange ideas with with the real purpose of learning.
experts from outside the company, and
bring inspiration and innovation back to •• Build a radically reshaped L&D
the business. Other companies that are function.
developing similar integrated learnscapes
include Audi, Microsoft, Uber, and BBVA, •• Embed relevant skills-based training in
the oldest private bank in Argentina. the workflow.
Boston Consulting Group | Why It’s Time to Bring Learning to the C-Suite 9•• Harness the power of tech-enabled of a vast learning community—inside and
learning platforms. outside the company.
•• Create an integrated learnscape. This is a critical development. Indeed, the
extent to which companies possess such an
By reinventing the learning organization in ecosystem will determine the extent to
this way, companies can foster their own which they will prosper in the future. As
corporate learning ecosystem. Around the we will show in a forthcoming article, it is
world, newly emerging business ecosystems possible to assess the maturity of a com
take the form of loose networks of compa- pany’s learning ecosystem and hence its
nies that come together with suppliers, dis- readiness to adapt to meet new challenges
tributors, government agencies, and other and opportunities. Few companies have
participants to deliver products and ser- yet turned their learning ecosystem into a
vices to customers in a frictionless way. competitive advantage. But we are con-
This model works for learning, too. In our vinced that those that do will be tomor-
highly digitized and hyperconnected world, row’s winners.
company leaders are recognizing the value
About the Authors
Andrew Dyer is a managing director and senior partner in the Sydney office of Boston Consulting Group
and a fellow at BCG’s Henderson Institute. He has previously been the global leader of the People & Orga-
nization practice. You may contact him by email at dyer.andrew@bcg.com.
Susanne Dyrchs is an associate director on talent and leadership in the firm’s Toronto office, an ambas-
sador at BCG’s Henderson Institute, and a core member of the People & Organization practice. You may
contact her by email at dyrchs.susanne@bcg.com.
Allison Bailey is a managing director and senior partner in BCG’s Boston office and global leader of the
People & Organization practice. She was formerly the North American leader of the Education, Employ-
ment, and Welfare practice. You may contact her by email at bailey.allison@bcg.com.
Hans-Paul Bürkner is the firm’s chairman. You may contact him by email at buerkner.hans-paul@bcg.com.
J. Puckett is a managing director and senior partner in BCG’s Dallas office. He leads BCG’s Center for Cli-
ent Learning and Enablement and previously led the firm’s Education, Employment and Welfare practice.
You may contact him by email at puckett.j@bcg.com.
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