Inequity Amplified: A spotlight on digital division in developing tomorrow's workforce, today.

INEQUITY AMPLIFIED:
A SPOTLIGHT ON
DIGITAL DIVISION IN
DEVELOPING TOMORROW’S
WORKFORCE, TODAY.
BY JAMIE WALKER
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exponentially easier. A typical corporate employee
has good quality internet at home with generous
data plans. They also have Wi-Fi at home and at
work, reducing the data cost of mobile use. Their
job will often come with a desk, a computer and a
mobile device. Access is easy.
As COVID-19 thrust New
Zealand into lockdown,
the digital divide across
our country became clear.
Organisations moved rapidly to work remotely and
education at all levels was delivered at a distance;
yet, in early April 2020, official government
estimates were that about 82,000 Kiwi homes
with school-age children did not have any access
to the internet and/or fit-for-purpose education
devices. In addition, schools who had surveyed
parents and expected good levels of ‘connectivity’
found that in some cases this was a single, shared
mobile phone.
This divide was most evident in New Zealand’s
poorest communities, including parts of Auckland
which provide the frontline workforce for some of
the country’s largest employers. As many as 1 in 5
homes in those suburbs have no internet access
at all according to Auckland Council.
This serves to amplify existing inequity and
impacts directly on workforce development.
SEGREGATED LEARNING
The digital divide was a known issue, but with inperson
delivery completely stripped away and no
other alternatives, it was thrown into stark relief.
Learning from a position of privilege is
Compare this to an employee in a front-line
role without a desk and computer, where
mobile devices are not permitted and living in
a household where the only source of internet
access is a personal device using mobile and
prepaid data.
This places very practical constraints on learning
design and delivery. That inspiring opening video
from the CEO could add considerable personal
cost to the user and prevent further learning due
to data limits. That email-driven password reset
for your learning management system is a serious
block for someone who doesn’t access email often
or at all.
There is a real risk that, as learning professionals,
we will increase that digital divide, not diminish it.
RECOGNISING LIMITATIONS
As effective learning opportunities are
increasingly reliant on digital solutions and digital
infrastructure, those without do not enjoy the
same opportunities. Those who can, surge ahead
in their capability and advancement.
It does not sit comfortably with our excitement as
learning professionals for the potential of virtual
and augmented reality, gamification, and learning
organisations where our learners seek out their
own learning and utilise a landscape of digital
opportunities. It’s hard to be blended, flipped
and personalised if your employees can’t access
technology.
We know that the impacts of rapid technology
change and an aging workforce will make
reskilling, career mobility and constant learning
26 TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT | DECEMBER 2020

JAMIE WALKER
As effective learning opportunities
are increasingly reliant on digital
solutions and digital infrastructure,
those without do not enjoy the
same opportunities.
essential for tomorrow’s workforce. In fact, it is
essential now for today’s workforce as they look
ahead to tomorrow.
The digital divide makes this much harder, so how do
we respond to the challenge?
A CALL TO ACTION
We work to know our workforce and, where possible,
engage them in the design process. Human-centred
design processes are excellent for understanding the
practical constraints (and opportunities) that might
be involved.
We are moving to people owning their own
learning, pushing less and not bringing people into
training rooms, so we need to better understand
learning engagement and identify those who are
disadvantaged by removing their most accessible
means of learning.
settings and advocate for our frontline teams.
Access to Wi-Fi and hardware during the working
day helps, but we know that our corporate workforce
access digital learning when and where suits them
best. This is an advantage over those who can’t.
As learning professionals, we critically challenge
our own assumptions and those systemic biases
all organisations possess. We try to recognise the
inequities at play and consider who our solutions
won’t work well for.
In short, we focus pragmatically on what works best
for our workforce, while lifting learning capability
overall. We have a responsibility to our people,
our organisations and our communities to bring
everyone into tomorrow’s workforce with us.
We are not limited to one form of delivery; instead,
we are clear on the desired impact and reverse
engineer design and delivery that works. Perhaps
audio on the commute home might be a better way
to reach people with limited data or simpler devices
than the slick interactive content we had in mind.
Different segments of our workforce often need
different solutions. Sometimes training in-person is
still the best option.
We work to develop the strategic capability of
our workforce. In the same way that literacy is a
fundamental enabler of learning, so too is digital
literacy and the ability to navigate digital learning
opportunities successfully.
We grapple with access to technology, if not
personally or at home, then at work or in community
JAMIE WALKER
Jamie Walker is group learning and development manager for SkyCity Entertainment Group. After nearly 20
years’ experience, he remains driven to achieve concrete results through capable people and high-performing
teams. Contact via LinkedIn or Twitter: @jamiewalkernz
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