Dive Brief:

• Cruise ship operator Carnival Corporation announced Monday the launch of a remote learning platform that will deploy to its more than 100,000 ship employees by the end of 2019.
• The platform, called the Global Learning and Development Information System (GLADIS), uses a range of programming including videos, instructor-led presentations and podcasts that provide "continuous learning and professional development" to staff across the company's nine global cruise line brands, Carnival said in a statement. GLADIS can operate without internet access.
• Carnival said GLADIS follows another recent learning launch in CrewTube, a "'YouTube-like' platform" for smartphones and tablets that assists with onboarding new crew members.

Dive Insight:

International waters present a unique challenge to traditional learning and development programs, and this is not the first time Carnival has turned to new solutions to train employees. The company partnered with virtual reality platform Pixvana earlier this year to create a VR tool for restaurant servers on its Seabourn Cruise Lines brand.

The launches are part of a trend, particularly among large employers, toward a concept of organizational "agility" in which staff across departments are able to fill a variety of roles and projects depending on the organization's needs. Key to building such agility is a continuous learning process in which employees are given opportunities to develop new skill sets at times in areas that don't directly correspond to their day-to-day duties, experts previously told HR Dive.

This differs from previous understandings of corporate training as a "check-the-box" process in which workers complete training purely so that employers can claim compliance. In fact, some 41% of employees used the phrase "ticks the box" to describe their own employers' training offerings, according to an April survey by learning platform Intrepid. That signals many employers have yet to embrace alternative formats for learning and development.

Carnival's approach combines multiple learning formats in order to deliver a continuous learning experience, but medium isn't the only way to change up the message. Employers with more traditional workforces are rolling out L&D models that deliver training rapidly and in a personalized way that guides workers through different courses naturally.

Others, like fast food brand Sonic, have added elements of competition to employee development that simultaneously encourage team-building. Sonic's annual Dr. Pepper Sonic Games provide a way to both enhance the company's work culture for team members and provide continuous training, its vice president of operations told HR Dive in 2018.