Dive Brief:

• Beauty retailer Estée Lauder has announced it will partner with LinkedIn Learning to open up LinkedIn's course database to its global population of full-time office employees as well as permanent office staff in select countries. Estée Lauder said it is the first beauty company to partner with LinkedIn Learning.
• In three months since it began rolling the platform out to employees, Estée Lauder said it saw nearly 6,000 staffers access the platform globally. Top users of the platform within the company clock between 40 to 100 hours worth of content each, and "digital-first focused learnings" — including leadership, data and analytics, and digital marketing — are among the most popular subjects. The platform allows users to access content either at their desk or remotely.
• The partnership demonstrates the company's commitment to education and continuous learning, Alyson DeMaso, Estée Lauder vice president, global learning and capability building, said in a blog.

Dive Insight:

Estée Lauder joins a host of companies offering online learning and development content to their employees. As L&D practitioners look for ways to offer content that’s relevant and accessible to staff members, e-learning solutions like LinkedIn Learning are providing needed opportunities for a U.S. workforce that is statistically underskilled.

LinkedIn Learning has emerged as a leader in the race to address the skills gap with a vast library of content aided by its acquisition of Lynda.com in 2015. The platform's innovations include custom video content solutions that can be catered to a specific workforce. It's this type of customization that has become a common characteristic of e-learning generally.

Whether staff members are looking to upskill in specific disciplines, like digital learning, or to enhance their soft skills, like leadership and communication, the ability to find content when they are ready to use it boosts information retention rates. L&D professionals are steadily moving to the role of curator, experts previously told HR Dive, rather than teachers themselves. This shift necessitates the ability to provide ready access to material that employees can use in real time and on demand.