Is Classroom Learning Dead?

Guest: Nick Fewkes
Host: Darren Lancaster

Introduction

Nick Fewkes:
If you really want to be effective, you’ve got to support leaders. You’ve got to help them understand the full journey of capability growth you’re trying to achieve — and that looks different in every organisation.

Darren Lancaster:
Hello and welcome to the Talent Download podcast. I’m really pleased to welcome today’s guest, who’s travelled a long way to be with us — all the way from Australia. Nick Fewkes is part of our APAC team and one of our learning and development leads.

I think it’s really important to understand the shape of the market across APAC and the UK, because there are actually a lot of similarities. We certainly see that within Amberjack, and that global consistency in what we do as a business is incredibly valuable for people listening and watching.

Nick’s only just arrived — a bit of jet lag involved — but it’s great to have you here. Nick, why don’t you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your role?

Nick’s background

Nick Fewkes:
Thanks, Darren. I’m the Head of Delivery for the development side of our learning and development business in Australia. I lead a team of instructional designers and facilitators, bringing early careers talent development to life across the country.

More recently, my role has evolved from being Australia‑focused to becoming more global, supporting development teams here in the UK as well. It’s a really exciting time.

Darren Lancaster:
You’re originally British, though — tell us a bit about that journey.

Nick Fewkes:
I moved to Australia about 14 years ago and haven’t looked back. I now sit in that slightly odd space where Australians think I sound British, and Brits think I’ve got an Australian twang — which probably suits a global role quite well.

I’m originally from the Channel Islands, and my career path has been… unconventional, to say the least.

A non‑linear career journey

Nick Fewkes:
My first job was actually as a fly‑fishing guide in Wyoming. I spent my days in the wilderness talking to people about their careers, and one conversation really stuck with me. Someone told me that you can never predict how your career will unfold — you only connect the dots looking backwards.

That’s definitely been true for me. I was a zoologist, worked in Kenya and Thailand on wildlife conservation, then made the very logical jump into accounting and auditing at KPMG and BDO.

When I moved to Australia, I filled a unique niche — auditor during the week and zookeeper at Taronga Zoo on the weekends. That combination taught me a lot about transferable skills, motivators and career pathways.

Eventually, that led me into teaching — science from zoology, maths from accounting — and then into learning and development. Over time, I realised that the real thread running through my career was soft skills. Those were the assets people saw in me, and they could teach the technical skills around that.

The learning landscape today

Darren Lancaster:
Give us a view of what the learning landscape looks like right now, particularly across APAC.

Nick Fewkes:
The world is a much smaller place than it used to be, and many of the trends we’re seeing in APAC mirror what’s happening in the UK.

AI capability is a major driver, but it’s not the whole story. Early careers talent comes in with very different backgrounds and experiences — some straight from university, others with prior work experience. Development needs to be contextualised both to the organisation and to the individual.

You’ve also got generational expectations at play. Gen Z want leadership opportunities quickly, and organisations are trying to balance that with long‑term capability growth. AI sits in that mix, alongside leadership skills, emotional intelligence and adaptability — and those trends are fairly consistent globally.

AI, development and human skills

Darren Lancaster:
AI’s had an immediate impact on education and learning. How are organisations keeping up?

Nick Fewkes:
It’s challenging. Organisations are making strategic decisions about how they want to use AI, often driven by business needs rather than early careers development.

Our role is to focus on the human‑centred skills — creativity, emotional intelligence, communication — the things AI can’t do. It’s about understanding how to work effectively with people while leveraging AI in the background.

AI isn’t the whole story. It’s how it’s used alongside human capability that matters.

From best practice to next practice

Nick Fewkes:
We talk a lot about the difference between best practice and next practice. Best practice looks at what’s worked in the past or is working right now. That’s important — and something we continuously benchmark against globally.

But next practice is about impact. It’s about giving graduates real scenarios, real business challenges, and opportunities to create tangible outcomes.

Innovation challenges are a great example. Graduates work on real organisational problems, present to senior leaders, and sometimes see those ideas funded and implemented. That’s where development moves from theory to impact — and where graduates start building a personal brand.

ROI and the role of leaders

Darren Lancaster:
What pressure points are employers facing?

Nick Fewkes:
ROI is a big one. Measuring the impact of development isn’t easy. Immediate feedback is useful, but long‑term impact is harder to isolate because so many influences come into play.

That’s why leaders are so important. We often refer to the 70‑20‑10 model. We deliver the 10%, but the 70% happens on the job, and the 20% — the bridge — is leadership. Supporting leaders to understand and enable that journey is critical.

What really delivers impact

Nick Fewkes:
The programmes that deliver the strongest outcomes are flexible and consultative. Off‑the‑shelf solutions rarely work on their own.

We need to understand an organisation’s culture, values and capability frameworks — and then understand the cohort itself. Sometimes what the organisation wants and what the cohort needs don’t fully align, and that’s where nuance matters.

That ongoing consultation, even during a 12‑ or 18‑month journey, is where we add real value.

Feedback, generations and data

Nick Fewkes:
Feedback is important, but it needs context. There’s a risk of over‑reacting to outliers.

Gen Z are very clear about what they want and are comfortable sharing feedback. The challenge is understanding what action to take and what will genuinely add value.

We use data — both qualitative and quantitative — but ROI in development is rarely driven by numbers alone. It’s about patterns, consistency and long‑term outcomes.

Face‑to‑face vs virtual learning

Nick Fewkes:
Post‑COVID, we’ve seen a shift back towards face‑to‑face learning. In Australia, demand has moved from roughly 60/40 virtual to face‑to‑face, to closer to 50/50 — with face‑to‑face increasing.

Graduates want connection. Bringing cohorts together costs money, but the cultural value and sense of belonging it creates can pay dividends well beyond development — including attraction and employer brand.

The future of early careers

Darren Lancaster:
Looking ahead to 2026, what do you think the future holds?

Nick Fewkes:
Personalised, contextualised development will only become more important. Capability alignment, intentional design and clear purpose are key.

Graduate programmes aren’t just entry points — they’re launch pads. That may mean rethinking what “success” looks like, including project‑based roles, social impact, and alumni networks.

If we want to stay relevant, we have to keep asking difficult questions and challenging how things have always been done.

Quick‑fire round

Darren Lancaster:
One word to describe today’s early careers talent?

Nick Fewkes:
Potential.

Darren Lancaster:
Biggest mistake organisations make in early careers L&D?

Nick Fewkes:
Inflexibility.

Darren Lancaster:
Classroom learning — dead or evolving?

Nick Fewkes:
Dead.

Darren Lancaster:
AI in early careers — threat or opportunity?

Nick Fewkes:
Opportunity.

Darren Lancaster:
Biggest differentiator for employers by 2026?

Nick Fewkes:
Adaptability.

Darren Lancaster:
And finally — one word that should define early careers programmes of the future?

Nick Fewkes:
Amberjack.

Closing

Darren Lancaster:
Nick, thanks so much for your time and insights today. It’s been a great conversation, and I hope everyone listening has enjoyed it. We’ll be back again very soon.