As winning the war on talents has emerged as a factor in determining which companies stand out in the marketplace, smart corporate trainers are now moving their talent training from traditional classrooms to mobile devices.

A participant holds up her hand to answer questions during the ASTD 2013 China Summit held in Beijing, Dec 3, 2013. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
 

"The move to technology-enabled learning, such as mobile learning and social learning is a trend," said Tony Bingham, president and chief executive officer of ASTD, the world\'s largest association dedicated to the training and development profession.

"It speeds the learning distribution, the efficiency, the effectiveness of learning," he added. "And it shifts the model from the professional trainer being the only one who can train in an organization to one where everyone is considered a trainer. That changes the game."

The shift came as technologies, together with the increasing penetration rate of smartphones in China, both can act as big enablers to drive up the corporate training industry in the country.

According to industry insiders, by the third quarter of 2013 China accounted for nearly 40 percent of the global smartphone market.

IDC, a US-headquartered consultancy, predicted China\'s smartphone shipments will exceed 450 million by 2014, spurred by the information and communication technologies including cloud computing, big data and the 4G networks.

Earlier this month China granted high-speed fourth-generation (4G) licenses to the country\'s top three telecom carriers - China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom.
China has been suffering consistent talent loss in recent years. According to an earlier report citing the Global Talent Competitiveness Index, China ranked 47th among the 103 countries covered by the research. The 103 countries represent 86.3 percent of the world\'s population and 96.7 percent of the world\'s GDP.

"People may think that we have to use money to attract and retain talents. However, if they find that there is no chance of being developed or being educated, they will also quit their job," said Mindy Yeh, managing director of the global talent management company DDI Greater China.

"Salaries are not necessarily the number one thing on their mind," Tony Bingham told China Daily. "If you want to be an employer of choice, the right thing to do - both for the company and for the individual, is to develop them."

"When it comes to corporate training, a lot of companies are going mobile and using social media as a networking tool, where everybody can share their insights or how they apply skills," said Mindy Yeh in an exclusive interview with China Daily during the ASTD 2013 China Summit held in Beijing on Dec 3.

The summit, started by ASTD in partnership with HRoot, the leading online platform of talent management in China, introduced the latest industry trends and internationally recognized learning practices to Chinese businesses.

Training and development practices for Chinese businesses have gained recognition worldwide over the past few years. This year, Chinese winners of the ASTD BEST and Excellence in Practice Award include Quanta Computer, China Telecom and Hong Kong-based Mass Transit Railway Corp.

"Training has elevated its value within organizations over the last five to ten years. And China specifically is making huge investments in their people," said Tony Bingham.

"As companies continue to figure out how to get their leaders ready faster, more efficiently and more consistently, mobile learning is one of the hottest trends," he added.

However, he said, it doesn\'t mean traditional classroom training is obsolete, because mobile or social learning doesn\'t replace the need for deep learning.

"If the purpose of training is to change behaviors, then traditional classroom training still has its value," said Mindy Yeh. "Because in classroom training, participants have more real experiences interacting with the facilitators, and practicing and getting feedback from their classmates and the facilitator."

According to an ASTD industry report, roughly 55 percent of training is still conducted in the classroom.

"As learning professionals, you have to learn to pick and choose where mobile or social learning makes sense, and where it doesn\'t," said Bingham.

The coverage of 4G services will extend to 16 cities by the end of this year, according to China Mobile, the country\'s largest telecom carrier by subscribers. And that number will reach 340 cities in the world\'s second largest economy during 2014.

"There are 7.1 billion people in the world, and there\'s 7 billion plus mobile activations," said Bingham. "And that\'s a huge opportunity for the entire (training) field and for organizations as a whole."

Chinese companies have been stepping up efforts to create an effective learning environment, and invest in a more rigorous approach to train and develop their employees, in a bid to attract and retain talents from home and abroad.