Transformational technologies such as social software create big changes-not just in how people do their jobs but in how the jobs themselves are structured. It’s clear that social learning is approaching such an inflection point, with the future of the learning organization very much on the minds of the learning leaders that I talk to.  My colleague Amar Dhaliwal used a recent entry on this blog to talk about what the learning organization should be doing to prepare for this change. I’d like to take a little more time here to start a discussion about how I expect individual job roles in the learning organization to change as social learning becomes prevalent.

I think that it’s really important for learning professionals to remember that no matter what new technologies come along, formal learning will always have a role in enhancing business performance. This is especially true in heavily regulated industries such as healthcare, aerospace and defense, manufacturing, utilities, and financial services. These industries must train to rigid standards and ensure that individuals meet strict criteria for certifications to retain their professional designations.

Taking the larger context of formal and informal learning in a socially networked world, learning professionals have the opportunity to play a critical role: that of a community facilitator. Instead of your learning managers designing, scheduling, and tracking every course – in the next wave, workers will be at center stage. The focus will be on ensuring people have the knowledge and tools to do their jobs well – and on creating a corporate culture that values collaboration and knowledge sharing.

The job of community facilitator isn’t necessarily an easy one – your team will have to continuously ask the right questions and find new ways to encourage participation. But, your learning organization most likely already has the skills and capabilities needed to serve as effective community facilitators – they just need to apply these capabilities towards a new way of thinking about learners and the learning process. For example, one Saba customer has deployed Saba Collaboration to foster social learning among its sales team. The learning organization played a critical role in getting the team members to the site and encouraging discussions about appropriate topics – becoming a broker of peer-to-peer learning rather than a seller or provider.

When it comes to leveraging social technologies for informal learning, some in your learning organization may fear a loss of control over the quality of what’s being delivered. This may be particularly true for trainers. On the other hand, many trainers will jump on board right from the start. At the company I mentioned above, trainers were at the center of social learning in its in initial form, which was a supplement to instructor-led and virtual training. They have continued their involvement as the communities have grown.

For those trainers who are worried about the loss of control that social learning entails, you should remind them that a decade ago the learning community feared that e-learning and “virtual” learning would also make trainers and learning administrators obsolete. Just the opposite has been true. Note that social learning isn’t about eliminating tried-and-true formal processes. They still have their place. Rather, it’s about strengthening learning processes through the power of the community.