Working for a technology company means that we are often faced with the dilemma ‘if we build it, will they come?’. We are living proof of the Rogers theory of Adoption having to identify Innovators and Early Adopters to embrace new software that we release whilst waiting patiently for the Laggards to catch up. We have been through almost an entire cycle with the development of e-learning  - most companies today use e-learning  or online learning technologies in some form and the market is approaching maturity. New customers who join us these days are almost apologetic for being slow on the uptake to embrace e-learning and online learning solutions, and dare I say, the world of Learning &Development is a better place for it. e-Learning has revolutionised the organisational learning culture– giving companies the ability to reach and train all their staff.

Again, we have now started a new cycle- this time with innovative technology that revolutionises the way companies manage and develop their employees. I am referring to Talent Management software like the integrated suite released by Mindleaders ThirdForce nearly a year ago. I recently read Bersin & Associates report  on ‘Talent Management Software 2010’ in their findings,  the USA are ‘finally out of the early adoption phase’ with  17% of organisations with talent management software having some type of integrated suite (like ours) and 34% wanting the full suite from one solution provider (like us).

However, I know that traditionally the UK runs a few years behind the US, so believe we are still very much in the Early Adopters stage. When getting feedback from the market, I am hearing familiar old phrases like ‘‘I am not sure we are quite ready for that yet’’ similar to those we used to hear when we first introduced organisations to e-learning. Over time, I have no doubt that the majority of employers will be using Talent Development systems because fundamentally they work. Having recently introduced the system into our own organisation, the efficiency, visibility and alignment that we now enjoy across the organisation is powerful. As a result, in 10 years time the market for such technology will be nearing maturity with only the Laggards being dragged into the modern world, and we will be introducing the next big thing

Having established that we must be an Early Adopter, I looked on Wikipedia for their definition of a Laggard: An individual last to adopt an innovation. Individuals in this category show little to no opinion leadership, they typically have an aversion to change-agents and tend to be primarily focused on “traditions”, likely to have lowest social status, lowest financial fluidity, be oldest of all other adopters. Laggards use friends and neighbours as information sources, dislike change, and accept new things only when forced to.

 So, my question is – which one are you – Early Adopter or Laggard?