Take our learning strategies from classroom to office

I have worked in the public and private sectors, including two small and medium enterprises and a start-up.

The workplaces have the Workforce Skills Qualification framework to help boost productivity, for which Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) benefits can be claimed. The organisations have also won the People Excellence Award for ensuring that lifelong training is in place.

Despite these measures, something was lacking. Most of the time, these workplaces were top-down driven and junior employees hardly had any say in the companies’ direction or existing problems.

In many educational institutions, students are engaged and empowered to think out of the box through crowdsourcing, open innovation, collaborative learning, flipped classrooms and problem-based learning. It is through such learning and teamwork that start-ups are founded.

Once these students enter the workforce, though, they soon realise that many organisations do not really practice these pedagogies.

Perhaps government assistance grants such as the PIC and Wage Credit Scheme could incorporate these pedagogies as a benchmark for companies to implement and to claim tax relief. Companies should also consult local universities to help spread these pedagogies to their workplaces.