Learning, Technology and the Future of Work

ABOUT THE SESSION

New technologies, a rapidly changing economy, and employees with new expectations are disrupting the world of work. To keep pace with change, organizations and employees must invest in continuous learning. What are the emerging skills in the highly automated workplace? What are leading edge organizations doing to enable an engaged workforce? To survive, must the knowledge worker become the learning worker?

At the end of the session participants will leave with an improved understanding of:

• How work roles are changing in the face of rapid technology innovation
• Critical skills and behaviours in the workplace of the near future
• Continuous learning as a mission critical activity for any business

• Ways in which leading organizations are keeping their employees engaged and skilled

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Rob Pearson, Director, Executive and Corporate Education

Ted Rogers School of Management

Rob is an educator, business leader, corporate learning thought leader, and filmmaker. He has a rich and varied work history including higher education, healthcare, entrepreneurial start-ups, large creative agencies and non-profits.

During the tech boom, Rob held senior leadership roles in several Ed Tech start-ups and then took on the lead of the Learning and Customer Experience practice at Maritz Canada, a US based marketing services company, now Bond Brand Loyalty.

Most recently Rob served as CEO at the Institute for Performance and Learning, a non-profit association focused on workplace learning. Rob is a life-time member of I4PL and also a past chair of the national board of directors.

Currently, Rob is Director of Executive and Corporate Education at the Ted Rogers School of Management in Toronto. Rob is responsible for setting strategy, business development and overseeing operations.

Rob holds a Ph.D. in Instructional Systems from Syracuse University, an MBA from the Rotman School of Management and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from York University.

Tom Gram

Principal, Gram Consulting

Tom Gram is an experienced learning and performance design leader and consultant. He has led strategy, design and implementation projects in finance, technology, healthcare and government. Tom has held senior roles at Global Knowledge, Klick Learning, IBM and Hewlett Packard in addition to leading a learning technology research group at Mount Allison University.

He currently uses design thinking and lean start-up approaches to help organizations transform their learning and change initiatives.

Tom has an M.A in Educational Technology from Concordia University and is a Certified Training and Development Professional (CTDP) and Certified Management Consultant (CMC).