Written by Louise Ballard, Operations Director at IKON.

Why IKON continue to evolve the way we support your learning

Over the last few years, I’ve noticed a shift in the conversations we’re having with clients.

Training remains important. Organisations still want learning that helps people handle difficult situations at work, and feel better prepared when they arise.

What has changed is the conversation around what sits alongside that training. Clients are increasingly looking at the bigger picture. They are thinking about how learning is accessed across different teams, how new starters are brought up to speed, how Continuous Professional Development is supported, and how people can revisit learning when they need it.

For many organisations, the challenge is no longer simply arranging a course. It is creating an approach to learning that supports people throughout their time in the organisation.

That shift has influenced the direction of IKON as a training partner.

Learning happens in different ways

Some people learn best through discussion and practice in a training room.

Others benefit from revisiting a resource after a difficult situation at work.

Some want access to additional learning in their own time.

Others need a way to pick up learning that was delivered before they joined the organisation.

The reality is that most people do not learn something once and remember it forever. Learning develops over time. People pick things up from training, from experience, from colleagues, and from the situations they deal with every day. That is why many organisations are looking beyond individual training events and thinking more carefully about the wider learning experience they provide.

Trainer-led learning remains at the heart of what we do

Despite the growth in digital learning, one thing has not changed.

People still learn from people.

Some of the most valuable learning happens when people share experiences, talk honestly about challenges and learn from someone who has faced similar situations before. That is why trainer-led learning continues to sit at the heart of IKON.

Whether we are delivering Conflict Resolution Training, Managing Challenging Behaviour programmes or supporting Affiliate Trainers, the focus remains the same.

Helping people apply learning to the reality of their roles.

Technology has an important role to play, but it works best when it supports learning rather than attempting to replace it.

Supporting the wider learning experience

Over time, our conversations with clients have expanded well beyond the training session itself.

We are discussing how new starters access learning, how organisations support Continuous Professional Development, how learners can revisit resources, and how different learning experiences can be connected rather than treated as separate activities.

Although these conversations look different on the surface, they often come back to the same thing.

How do you make learning available when people need it, rather than only when a course is scheduled?

That challenge has shaped the continued development of the IKON Academy.

Not as a separate service…. Not as an alternative to trainer-led learning.

As the learning environment that brings different learning experiences together.

What is the IKON Academy?

The IKON Academy is the learning environment that sits behind every IKON experience.

Whether someone attends an In-Person course, joins a Live Online session, completes E-Learning, books onto an Open Course or develops through an Affiliate Trainer programme, the Academy provides one place where learners can access learning and development opportunities.

The Academy supports different types of learning, depending on how someone engages with IKON.

• Access pre-course information and resources
• Revisit learning materials
• View certification and learning records
• Access additional learning opportunities
• Continue their professional development
• Explore further areas of interest and specialism

For organisations, it helps bring learning together in one place rather than spreading it across multiple systems, resources and records.

Looking ahead

The Academy is not a new direction for IKON… It is the natural progression of work that has been evolving for several years. We will always believe in the value of great training.

What continues to evolve is how we support people around that learning. Increasingly, organisations are looking for more than a course. They want learning to work for the whole workforce, from someone joining the organisation for the first time to someone with years of experience behind them. That is why we continue to invest in the IKON Academy.

Not because learning has become more digital.

Because the expectations placed on learning have become broader.

The Academy helps us respond to those expectations while staying focused on what has always mattered. Helping people learn something they can genuinely use when they return to work.

For me, this is the part that matters most.

A course can create understanding in the moment, but confidence is built in the days and weeks afterwards, when people are back at work and trying to use what they have learned in real situations.

As Operations Director at IKON Training, this is a big part of what I care about. Not just whether training has been delivered, but whether it gives people something they can draw on when they are back at work and faced with a difficult situation.

Stay connected

If this reflects the kind of support your organisation is looking for, Explore the IKON Academy to see how we help learning continue beyond the course.

You can also learn more about the IKON team and me behind this approach here.

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