IMI: From Second World War to covid — executive training keeps evolving

Despite time and workload pressures, the need for learningis increasingly urgent

Learners are prioritising fast, flexible, and impactful learning — regardless of the delivery mode. File picture

Ten years ago, an Irish executive looking to continue their professional development through education and enhance their management capabilities or gain some job-specific up-skilling had limited options.

Likely he/she would choose a domestic provider such as the Irish Management Institute (IMI) or UCD Smurfit Business School. Or if he had deep pockets, a willingness to travel and the time to do so, perhaps go abroad to a business school like Harvard or MIT.

Today, that executive is inundated with options for every learning need: from domestic providers like IMI; to borderless digital providers; international business schools offering programmes in remote settings; and global consultancies focusing on capability development at the organisational level — it is a dynamic and highly competitive market that has evolved rapidly in recent years.

While the digital transformation and disruption of the industry tend to grab the headlines, evolving learner needs have always been the key change drivers.

Executive education as we know it began after World War II when leading US business schools started offering non-degree business education programmes. From the 1950s to the 1980s, executive education consisted mostly of university-based programmes where participants learned the latest theories of management and the application of such techniques primarily through case studies and lectures, primarily developing in functional areas (marketing, finance) to prepare for more senior roles and promotions.

However, a shift emerged in the early 1990s. Rather than just catering for the developmental needs of executives and managers, companies started using executive education programmes to drive organisational change through custom programmes, which exploded in popularity: more than half of all members of the University Consortium for Executive Education (UNICON) reported over 50% of their revenues between 2005 and 2010 came from custom programmes. A gap had been recognised as emerging between academic teachings on business and the skills/capabilities that organisations needed.

Changing learner needs continue to drive the evolution of the market. Indeed, the very definition of what executive education represents has blurred from being a once-off business-related training course to lifelong learning and development, with increasing demand for traditionally longer-term courses to be delivered in bite-sized chunks to reflect busy professional and personal lifestyles. This did not happen overnight.

Pandemic enforced change

While the pandemic forced many to embrace new digital delivery methods, in reality the pandemic accelerated digital change in a landscape already disrupted and evolving. 

CarringtonCrisp research dating back to 2017 shows three-quarters of firms considered short bursts of learning delivered flexibly and providing micro-credentials as valuable in meeting development needs, alongside a growing popularity for blended and stackable learning. 

In recent years micro-credentials have been a key growth area for providers like IMI.

Learners are prioritising fast, flexible, and impactful learning — regardless of the delivery model. Despite the influx of borderless digital-first providers, there remains a huge demand for face-to-face learning, especially among senior leaders and senior executives.

As part of IMI research conducted last year to support IMI’s Senior Executive Experience, senior leaders believe face-to-face learning better facilitates relationship building and networking, creates a shared learning experience, and allows participants to engage in real-time discussions and receive immediate feedback from faculty and peers — unlike digital-first and remote learning models.

Similarly, the research revealed that leaders (at all levels) are more time-poor than ever, meaning short bursts of impactful and flexible learning delivered by world-class faculty are vital. 

Indeed, only learning delivered by a world-class faculty justifies taking time away from the day-to-day running of the business. 

Coaching needs and time for reflection were found to be paramount, with younger entrants to the workforce often requiring more support and coaching than previous generations. 

Developing emotional intelligence, trust, empathy, creating a sense of ownership and belonging were all cited by organisations as skills challenges made more complicated by remote conditions, and which require a learning provider that facilitates face-to-face peer learning.

Demand for lifelong learning and skill development will remain strong because organisations need a future-fit workforce capable of responding to changing business needs. 

Some 87% of employers are developing a formal lifelong learning strategy to upskill and reskill staff with over half expecting budgets for L&D to increase in the coming years, according to CarringtonCrisp. 

Seeking quicker returns

But because the half-life of skills is diminishing, individuals and organisations are seeking quicker returns when investing in a learning provider. Part of that return means picking providers with a transparent and trusted learning pedagogy — i.e. IMI’s High Impact Transformation (HIT) model — along with picking providers with strong brands that are recognised by employers and confer greater portability of qualification for individuals.

While the increasing complexity of the business world brings new time and workload pressures, the overall need for learning is increasingly urgent.

Brand, and the supporting values of trust and credibility, are more important than ever. Innovative learning methods that are fast, flexible, and impactful are key to engaging leaders and executives, but it’s vital to hone in on what different participants need depending on their career stage. 

Especially at the senior level, it’s about more than just offering flexible learning — it’s about leveraging content, pedagogy, and an extensive network of connections to offer learners something other providers can’t.