Five Flaws of Digital Learning Platforms for Manager Performance

The landscape of manager development evolved significantly with the rise of digital learning platforms. Solutions like LinkedIn Learning, Udemy Business, and Coursera for Business have transformed how organizations approach “learning at scale,” offering thousands of courses on critical management skills, from giving feedback to leading remote teams. These platforms provide video lessons, downloadable resources, skill assessments, and even AI-powered course recommendations. 

However, hundreds of hours of conversations with managers and L&D leaders reveal that, in their experience, these platforms often fail to address the complex needs of today's managers despite their robust features. A widely known statistic –rarely shared publicly– is that digital learning platforms have very low utilization, typically hovering in the 10-15% range (i.e., for every 100 seats an organization licenses on a digital learning platform, only 10-15 of those seats are being used each month).

In order to better serve managers and increase adoption, learning and development solutions need to be built around five crucial principles – learn more in our recent blog post. 

The Challenge of Personalizing Content at Scale

While digital learning platforms offer extensive course libraries, research shows that truly effective manager development requires more than access to content. These platforms can suggest relevant courses, but their content necessarily prioritizes broad applicability over personalization. To maximize engagement and justify production costs, platform content must speak to the widest possible audience, resulting in generalized frameworks and approaches. 

This compromise toward generalization means the material often lacks the specificity needed to resonate deeply with individual learners. While emerging AI solutions promise more customized content, the fundamental challenge remains: managers must invest significant time and effort translating standardized frameworks into their specific contexts, accounting for their unique combination of capabilities, personality traits, and team dynamics.

The Time Constraints of Modern Management

Recent studies highlight a critical challenge: the average employee has less than a half hour per week for professional development. This time constraint becomes particularly significant for managers, who are increasingly overwhelmed and at significant risk of burnout. Course-based learning, which requires dedicated time away from daily responsibilities – often in the form of hours – may add to this burden, rather than alleviate it. Digital learning platforms initially promised to solve this challenge through "bite-sized" content that could be consumed at the learner's convenience, eliminating the scheduling barriers of traditional in-person training. However, most managers struggle to fit even these more flexible learning options into their packed schedules. 

Further, with hundreds, or even thousands, of courses for managers to choose from, they are likely to end up spending even more time searching for the most relevant, credible course for their needs. 

Bridging Theory and Real-Time Application

A fundamental challenge of digital learning platforms lies in connecting theoretical knowledge to real-time management challenges. While these platforms can excel at delivering comprehensive frameworks and best practices, managers often need immediate, actionable solutions for time-bound, sensitive issues like performance problems or team conflicts. The gap between completing a course and applying its lessons in a specific situation can limit the practical value of these learning resources. 

Additionally, due to their standardized nature, the information provided by these courses fails to incorporate the realities of team dynamics and employee capabilities, preferences, and aspirations. This puts managers in the position of determining just how to incorporate the lessons they’ve learned with their teams – a delicate and time-consuming prospect.

The Importance of Organizational Context

Research from Gartner indicates that incorporating company context into development opportunities can boost performance by more than a third. This presents a significant challenge for standardized learning platforms, which must deliver uniform content across all subscribing organizations. Without built-in mechanisms to align learning with specific company policies, procedures, and cultural norms, managers may find themselves needing additional resources, time, and brainpower to contextualize this learning.

A Fast-Moving World Means Quickly Outdated Content

The rapid evolution of workplace dynamics presents another consideration. With 70% of employees reporting disruptive change impacting their organizations in just the past year, development solutions need to adapt quickly to emerging challenges. While digital platforms regularly update their content libraries, the traditional course creation and production cycle may struggle to keep pace with rapidly evolving management needs, from implementing hybrid work policies to leveraging AI in the workplace.

As organizations evaluate their approach to manager development, the limitations of digital learning platforms deserve careful consideration. Today's managers need solutions that can deliver relevant, practical support aligned with their specific challenges and organizational context. While digital learning platforms may sometimes play a valuable role in the learning ecosystem for employees and managers alike, organizations will likely look to complement them with other approaches that provide more comprehensive support for their managers.

To learn more about the five essential criteria for modern manager development solutions, read our companion piece: "The Performance Catalyst: 5 Steps to Developing High-Performing Managers."

Humancore has created the first AI-powered advisor for managers. To learn more about how an AI-powered advisor can transform your organization's approach to manager development, contact us at [email protected].