New Jam Pan Fixture: Learning Now TV

New Jam Pan Fixture: Learning Now TV

John Hinchcliffe, Talent Manager, joins the LNTV team 

Those of you who have an attention for detail may have noticed that we recently added John Hinchliffe to the leadership ranks of Jam Pan. With an incredible career behind him, experience both as a freelancer and in-house, John is also the forever humble winner of Silver at the Learning Awards this year for ‘Learning Professional of the Year’. It was a no brainer to bring this extremely passionate and talented individual into the Jam Pan team.

And since he’s joined us, already we are starting to become more engaged with the industry and our incredible talent pool of freelancers. But that’s not all he’s been doing, having recently just become a permanent fixture on the monthly Learning Now TV (LNTV). brushing shoulders with industry giants like Colid Steed and Kate Graham.

This month, the LNTV session saw John explore the impact Covid has had on our industry, primarily how it’s drastically shifted the demand for certain roles. Here we talk to John about why he joined Jam Pan, what he’s up to at Learning Now TV and some of his key findings as a reporter for them. Check out his segment on the show below.

Q: Welcome to Jam Pan John! What made you join us?

I’ve utilised Jam Pan since it’s very beginning and have previously used them for sourcing amazing Instructional Designers when I’ve worked in-house. I’ve also personally been a freelancer through Jam Pan and now I’m really pleased to take up the position of Talent Manager here. It feels like a natural progression given my experience with the brand.

I’ve been in L&D for over 10 years now and one thing I have a deep passion for is helping people within the industry. Whether this is helping people understand what areas they need to upskill in or even where they can find a new role, this position allows me to do that on a massive scale in order to help enable our amazing talent here at Jam Pan.

I’m very much focused on helping our freelancers be aware of what the industry is requiring at that time, what skills may be required to accomplish this and giving resources to be able to bridge that gap. It’s also about being able to provide an independent eye and a wealth of experience to help new freelancers know what they need to provide to help their profile and portfolio give the best first impression to prospective clients.

Q: That’s awesome! So, what’s got you on our digital tellys then?

Throughout my career in digital learning, LNTV has always been a huge source of inspiration and guidance for the areas I have worked on. It provides a real wealth of insight from so many excellent learning professionals and I was thrilled to be asked to become a monthly contributor on the show. The big focus for me is what tips, tricks and insights can I provide to the audience to really bring them value in their role. This is something that is very close to my heart with all the mentoring and community building initiatives I am involved in, thus this allows me to do this with an audience I might not have previously been able to help.

Q: That’s a great agenda to have. With that in mind, what were you covering this month?

For this month’s episode I really wanted to focus on the changing demand for evolving roles during Covid as this is something that a lot of people will not be aware of. I think for me the main takeaways are that organisations are having more of a desire to utilise individuals who are able to take into consideration the whole learning experience and produce digital resources that work effectively with this. This in turn means that learning professionals need to look at the skills they currently have and what skills they require in order to bridge this gap to be prepared for the growing demand.

Another takeaway is that due to Covid, organisations are currently looking to maximise the functionality and effectiveness of the technology they have as opposed to looking to purchase new systems.

We’re also starting to see a growing demand from corporations who are eager to invest in researchers to plan how they are able to be prepared for the future with such areas AI, Chatbots and VR being investigated. At the moment it’s difficult to think about what life will be like after Covid but we can be certain that at some point in the future these technologies will become mainstream and by corporations investing in their knowledge of these now, it really sets them up for success when that time comes.

Supporting our communities

We’re so delighted that John is able to have a regular feature on Learning Now TV and spread knowledge which supports the ongoing evolution of our industry. With such drastic changes in just the past six months alone, we’re certain there’s plenty more uncertainty to come. One thing we know for sure, though, is this: businesses will have to evolve, or die. And with that comes a change in the way L&D does things too.

As John said, new skills are already in demand as L&D seeks to extend the capabilities of their teams and people and we believe this will continue. So whether you’re a freelancer looking for a new gig or a L&D professional who’s looking to add new talent to your team, talk to us today. John and the rest of the team would love to help.