At a recent Professional Services e-learning Forum, L&D teams were likened to “cobbler’s children with no shoes”. This allegory describes the phenomenon where professionals are so busy with work for their clients and their teams that they neglect using their professional skills to help themselves or those closest to them. A beautiful metaphor, but is it true to life?
The Professional Services e-learning Forum draws it members from the UK’s largest accountancy and legal firms. A straw poll of members included the question: “What’s included in your firm’s approach to enhancing the professional development of its e-learning people?” In descending order the most commonly used channels were:
Conferences (e.g. Learning Technologies) Formal e-learning Informal learning Formal face to face learning Professional memberships (e.g. eLN) Coaching or mentoring.