Listen to this articleBelow is our recent interview with Seth Oberman, President of Skye Multimedia:
Q: Could you provide our readers with a brief introduction to Skye Multimedia?
A: Skye Multimedia was founded with the goal of developing interactive training that keeps the attention of the learner and maximizes retention. We relied heavily on emerging and engaging technologies. In the 20+ years since our founding, those goals and strategies have not changed. We have, however, learned that with all the current trends in training and technology it is easy to just jump to the “flavor of the day” and hope it will become effective training. We certainly know the available technologies, but we also understand the answer is not just technology.
Successful delivery of learning solutions for business problems also depends on a deep understanding of instructional methodologies. When you partner with Skye, we bring decades of experience in instructional knowledge and best practices – and getting projects across the finish line. We are agile, efficient, and friendly. Working with us is always a personal experience.
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Q: Can you give us insights into your services?
A: We are a full-service learning and design company that delivers custom, turnkey training solutions covering content, design, programming, media (audio, video, animation), along with LMS integration. We focus on understanding the business problem and company culture to deliver the best solution for the job. The training may be online, instructor-led, or blended. It may be traditional, micro, gamified or just-in-time performance support.
Q: Who are your clients and what are some of the key challenges you are helping them solve?
A: Our clients range from startup to fortune 100 and everything in-between. We have deep ability in life sciences and particularly pharmaceuticals, but we also have expertise in aerospace, technology, retail, and government industries. We work broadly across these organizations to offer onboarding, leadership, sales enablement, systems training, as well as ethics and compliance training.
Like every part of today’s organizations, the learning and development departments are experiencing a massive change in the environment – and in the technologies available to address them. Generation Z joins the workforce this year and HR departments will have to find the methodologies to personalize and educate learners across five generations with the two youngest generations together composing almost 70% of the global workforce. These generations were born in the tech age. Every minute of every day Facebook users post 2.5 million pieces of content. YouTube users upload 72 hours of new video content. They are comfortable with Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. Add to that, they have elevated expectations that their companies will invest in and develop them. An enormous 87% say that professional development is especially important in their decision to join or stay with a company. So, I guess the problems are still the same – helping learners to see the relevance, keeping their interest and focus and making sure the information is understood and retained. It is just that the bar is so much higher.
Companies have a looming problem. Technologies like AI, machine learning and data analytics are quickly becoming the foundation of corporate competitiveness, but people with these skills are scarce and hiring is competitive. Yet, while internal training is a choice, 47% or nearly half, do not have a strategic focus on training to close that gap. In fact, nearly 42% of used training content is compliance-oriented. Organizations that have focused their learning teams on compliance alone are going to have to quickly develop new strategies to fill these gaps.
Q: What are the benefits of working with your company?
A: For starters, we are really experienced and have developed best practices leading to practical solutions that can help companies to solve these gaps. From the beginning, we differentiated our company by using technologies that others were not comfortable using – we are on top of today’s technologies and we know when and how to use them. With the multi-generational makeup of today’s organizations, the power of technology to create engaging and memorable experiences, cannot be overstated.
We are nimble and current. We bring creative solutions to complex problems. While most L&D companies bring on huge teams of content writers, we were using the gig-economy model long before it became popular, and passing along all the benefits to our clients. Rather than staffing a bench of expensive consultants, Skye has a vast network of freelance writers and consultants. We source the team for your project based on the talent needed for that project. This means we keep your cost lower while bringing you the most knowledgeable talent for your project.
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Q: What are your plans for the future?
A: Our plans are to keep investing in technologies that will help us deliver the great experiences that the audience expects. We are currently working on delivering adaptive learning solutions, investing in AI, and exploring the potential in VR. We will continue to innovate in modern learning formats like microlearning and gamification.
