The Emerging Role of the Learning & Development Consultant

Perfect Presentations

2010-06-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

Interesting Links (December 2008)

2008-11-29T01:53:00.000-08:00

A Practical Guide for Developing Leaders

Here's a practical guide for developing leaders provided by Dan McCarthy, adapted from June Delano, a colleague of his, now with Monitor Executive Development.

While the guide does not include everything a leader needs to learn, it does offer ideas for developing people before and during new leadership assignments.

Related to this I'd also recommend (re)reading The Leadership Pipeline by Charan et al

--------------------------------------------------------

Standing in the rain - linked to Lessons in Leadership ?!

Here is a thought provoking post from HBR's Vineet Nayar - which is likely to resonate with all parents who stand on the football pitch touchline in all weather at weekends !

"There is a forgotten lesson we leaders can learn here as we deal with the thundering rain in the world of business right now.

Once you are wet, the fear of getting wet is over and you start enjoying the rain. With the fear gone, you return to your work with unmitigated enthusiasm. However, if you freeze indoors because of rain, there is no way you will reach anyplace."

--------------------------------------------------------

Top 100 Tools for Learning

Jane Hart provides a clear & simple list of the on-line tools being used around the world to learn, network and communicate.

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2008

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: tools learning)

--------------------------------------------------------

Running Learning as a Business

Here is a helpful short video from David Vance former President of the Caterpillar Corporate University on the need to run L&D 'as a business' to gain credibility & traction within an organisation.

Learning Technologies 2009 - reflection on the Nov. '08 magazine

2008-11-12T08:18:00.000-08:00

The UK Learning Technologies conference series is fast approaching its 10th year. I'm delighted to be involved in the forthcoming 2009 event, contributing on Driving adoption - the value of partnering with HR.

As a previous attendee, I've always looked forward to receiving the associated magazines - sent out in the run up to the conference. This year is no exception - and I've just found time to read the November issue (the first of three in the run up to the 2009 conference).

I find it interesting that: the topic is technologies and the contributors are among those thought-leaders I follow on-line, and yet there is still something helpful about getting the content in paper format. I'm not sure I can explain this - but it may have something to do with the amount of content visible on a single page vs. screen. I find myself scanning across the columns, making connections etc in a less linear fashion than when on-line.

A few key quotes that attracted my attention

Donald Taylor - "Skills Finally Matter ... Differentiation now has just one source: people ... The oft repeated phrase 'people are our most important asset' is not quite on the money. An organisation's most important asset is what its people can do: their skills and knowledge."

Jane Hart - "The social aspect of learning has often been missing from on-line learning initiatives up to now .... in all areas, the sharing of knowledge and experiences by learners is invaluable."

Jay Cross - "invent-as-you go learning".

Clive Shepherd - "Learning 2.0: Learners in this context are just people looking to get things done and using their initiative to overcome any obstacles in the way (like being short of information or not knowing how to go about doing something)."

This is just the 'tip of the iceberg' from the content provided.

My Reflections:

As Nigel Paine states "ultimately learners need to take control of their own learning destinies and use the resources available to maintain and develop their skills and competence" ... and clearly Web 2.0 technologies have made it much easier to do this.

Equally, I'm not confident that we will reach a 'tipping point' where the benefits of proactive workplace-centred life-long learning are accepted by a significant majority. The classic Change Management article 'Change or Die' highlights the challenge of changing human behaviour - however logical and beneficial it is.

So I feel we need to be careful not to to be lulled into a sense of complacency that 'if we build it they will come'. Maybe, rather than talking about a shift to self-directed learning, we need to think more about partnership - where the organisation is focused on motivating colleagues to partner with them on investing in their unique learning journeys.

With learning technologies, we need to understand the range of motivations that fuel an individual's enthusiasm to use them - and help reinforce this.

There are somewhere in the region of 4 million managers in the UK ... what would it take to get 400,000 (10%) periodically publishing their reflections/insights as blogs/slideshare content etc, 2 million (50%) actively maintaining their professional networks via linkedin, and 3 million (75%) using an RSS reader for work-related feeds ?

Interesting Links (November 2008)

2008-11-03T00:01:00.000-08:00

Leadership: 109 Movies that Inspire

From the Totally Consumed blog here is a great post on the leadership themes that are well illustrated by classic movies.

These include:

Apollo 13 (1999) Problem-solve & team work.
Braveheart (1996) Cultivate your vision and others will follow
Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) With responsibility, comes accountability
Dead Poets Society (1989) Words are powerful, use them wisely
Ground Hog Day (1993) Do it right the first time.
Lord of the Flies (1990) Never underestimate what people are capable of.
It’s a Wonderful Life (1947) It’s about who we are, not what we own.
for the other 102 see the original post !

------------------------------
Richard Branson on Success
From Leadership Now:
When we place too high a value on achievement and fulfillment, we often overlook the important parts of life like character, relationships and service. Richard Branson made a profound statement on success in his book, Business Stripped Bare. The last sentence may take a few reads for its implications to soak in.
Successful people aren’t in possession of secrets known only to themselves. Don’t obsess over people who appear to you to be “winners”, but listen instead to the wisdom of people who’ve led enriching lives—people, for instance, who’ve found time for friends and family. Be generous in your interpretation of what success looks like. The best and most meaningful lives don’t always end happily.

---------------------------------------
Making learning 'stick' - the role of the manager

Chris Morgan on his blog provides a clear and concise article on the role of the manager in making learning stick.

A good manager will be regularly monitoring progress. A great manager will have agreed specific tasks and/or assignments that will force the employee to apply the new behaviours.

---------------------------------------

HR Departments - do they need to be exemplars of talent-management best practice ?

2008-10-21T02:27:00.000-07:00

Imagine the following scenario:

You have recently moved into a small town with two hairdressers/barbers. Each week you walk past both salons. One individual always has immaculately cut hair, while the other looks clearly pays little attention to their appearance. Both are fully qualified, with plenty of certificates on display in their premises.

Which would you choose to cut your hair just before you go for an important job interview?

To what extent would other factors (price, waiting time, customer feedback …. ) influence your decision ?

“In a knowledge economy, companies with the best talent win. And finding, nurturing, and developing that talent should be one of the most important tasks in a corporation.” FAST COMPANY, 2005

Hence, to what extent is it important that senior HR professionals manage their own departments as exemplars of talent-management best practice?

Does this build credibility and trust with business leaders, enabling HR to style the organisation-wide people-strategy? Alternatively, is this viewed as diverting effort from supporting the core business agenda?

I doubt there are clear answers to these questions. Equally, I feel that it would be helpful for the HR profession to invest more time in understanding this issue. We should aim to research which elements of talent-development best-practice are best ‘sold’ to leaders through how we manage the HR department, versus using economic (ROI) arguments; just-in-time relevance, or (iii) client feedback from pilot projects.

I’ll be interested to hear your views on this.

Revisiting the HBR 2002 paper "Everything I Know about Business I Learned from Monopoly"

2008-10-14T08:56:00.000-07:00

Originally published by Harvard Business Review in 2002, "Everything I Know About Business I Learned from Monopoly" by Phil Orbanes provides great insights for all working in HR/L&D. I recently rediscovered this paper in my files.

Orbanes is cited as "one of the world's foremost board-game designers". To be successful he needs to understand what makes people want to compete - and win.

I see clear parallels with a people-manager needing to understand what makes their direct reports want to be engaged and committed to the organisation's mission.

Orbanes presents six principles of "Great Game Design"

Make the rules simple and unambiguous
Don't frustrate the casual player
Establish a rhythm
Focus on what is happening off the board
Give 'em chances to come from behind
Provide outlets for latent talents

Make the rules simple and unambiguous

"people can [also] find a game bewildering if the aren't given a sound structure and clear guidance"

So, while from an L&D perspective the use of simulations in training can help cut through real life complexity, this also hints that the inconsistency and unpredictability of the workplace needs to be mitigated where possible.

I see strong links here to a central role of leadership - namely defining the vision & mission of the organisation/team and communicating to reinforce understanding. From an HR perspective, this also needs to be supported by ensuring employees have a good understanding of policies/processes & the wider psychological contract.

Don't frustrate the casual player

"if a game is to last ... it must appeal to a critical mass of casual players who will rapidly comprehend and enjoy playing it"

I'd suggest this insight can be related to the issues of information overload in the modern workplace. Just as there is a wealth of entertainment options competing for an individual's leisure time, employees need to navigate conflicting priorities.

When an organisation changes its strategy (i.e. game), mass communication is needed, and it needs to be kept simple ! To 'enjoy playing it' I'd suggest aiming to involve employees in collectively working out the details of the change. I see a great role for Enterprise 2.0 tools in achieving these aims. Podcasts help focus leaders on keeping communications short and to the point, Blogs provide a level of access & interaction with senior management that was previously only enjoyed by HQ staff.

Establish a rhythm

"If a game paces itself effectively, people will instinctively know which phase they are in. If the pace doesn't build, its not so much of a game."

Orbanes makes his own connections to the workplace: "Is there an analogy for business to the beginning, middle, and end rhythm in games ? I think so. A good manager might engineer these types of shifts over the course of a critical project - and be prepared for different moods and levels of motivations from people". I'd certainly agree that building 'Interpersonal Skills' is a powerful lever for enhancing Leadership.

For HR, I also see the importance of guiding an annual cycle of managing performance - with well-understood phases of goal setting, feedback and reward.

Focus on what is happening off the board

"a well-designed game makes people feel better afterwards - and for many players, that's due to the larger social experience, of which the game is only the core activity"

Gallup recognise the importance of having 'a best friend at work', if employees are to be highly engaged. Also, as the HBR paper states "... a manager must consider people's work:life balance".

I see HR taking a lead in this area: championing the benefits of flexible working etc.

Give 'em chances to come from behind

"One of the trickiest aspects of game design is achieving just the right balance of skill and luck"

This raises the issue of what role is there for 'luck' in the workplace. Reward & recognition mechanisms need to be fair and consistent (i.e. driven by acknowledging the outcomes achieved from skill) if they are to motivate rather than demotivate others. Equally, good performance management processes should provide reasonable support to help struggling employees turnaround poor performance, with manager setting clear, attainable goals for improvement.

But, just as a Monopoly 'Community Chest' card can introduce a new, improved situation for a player, I see the need to invest in both the predictable future (e.g. grooming high potentials for the next level of leadership) and the unpredictable (e.g. encouraging 'skunk works', by expecting 10% of an employees effort to be directed towards bottom-up projects).

Provide outlets for latent talents

"great games and great workplaces, also offer outlets for skills that people would like to express but don't use during their normal routines"

Orbanes also highlights that "Chess and Bridge had their heyday in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s when wide-ranging opportunities to exercise intellectual powers or gain intellectual stimulation on the job simply did not exist".

In the workplace there is an increasing trend for multiple careers. As individuals' interests and circumstances change over time, organisations can capitalise on this if they provide outlets such as secondments. I'd also see the role of L&D/HR as helping employees better manage their own career development. They can then effectively partner with the organisation on creating appropriate outlets for their skills and interest.

No doubt I've only scratched the surface of the links that can be drawn between 'making engaging board-games' and 'engaging employees by the board'. Please share other workplace insights generated from this introduction to the principles of board-game design

FYI: The HBR article also makes comment on the use of game-playing to build teams:

"at very least an afternoon of playing games builds relationships among workers and increases the social capital within an organisation..."

Also see an old article of mine "Unleashing the power of metaphor in business games"

PS: in the current economic turmoil it would be interesting to consider what 'new rules' Waddingtons should add to their board-game .... or was it great insight that while the waterworks, the electric company & the railways stations could all be privately held, the bank is centrally managed ?!

Learning 2.0

2008-10-08T04:14:00.000-07:00

Clive Shepherd provides a helpful summary within his blog of the latest research from the elearning guild on 'Learning 2.0 - Learning in a Web 2.0 World'

Clive highlights that: "It is the belief of the authors that younger workers will demand it, and that organisations who adopt it will do better when it comes to attracting and retaining talent."

I'm also struck by the following bullets from the Key Findings of the report:

Only 28.1% of members report that their organizations are preparing workers on using Web 2.0 approaches for learning and work.
Among members working in organizations with 10,000 or more workers, 10.8% cannot access LinkedIn, 26.2% cannot access Gmail, 35.0% cannot access YouTube, and 39.2% cannot access either Facebook or MySpace.

I don't think we should be surprised by this data, but it also shows the magnitude of the challenge to move from uptake by individual early adopters to embedding this as the norm for the majority of the workforce, especially in large organisations.

Given that I'd hope that the majority of business leaders value networking & informal learning (as levers that have made them successful in a pre-Web 2.0 world) - I feel we need to challenge ourselves to do more to help them understand that the new technologies are first & foremost just tools to help their workforce network and learn more efficiently & effectively.

Great Leadership - Carnival

2008-10-08T01:10:00.000-07:00

Check out the Great Leadership Carnival currently being hosted by Dan McCarthy.

I particularly like the following insights (the bold emphasis is mine) - but there are many more lessons to be taken from the rest of the content !]:

"When leaders infuse the organizational culture with the element of human value, it has a ripple effect. First, it helps leaders form an emotional connection with the people they lead. Second, it strengthens the emotional connection among the people they lead as employees adopt the leaders’ values in their interactions with one another. Third, the sense of connection reaches out to customers (or patients, in New York-Presbyterian’s case) when frontline employees become intentional about demonstrating human value" [Michael Lee Stallard]

-----------------------------------------

To manage well requires that you recognize the subtle, but important, differences between people and that you know how to put those differences to work for your organization. Great managers thrive on helping people experience incremental growth. The dynamic creativity of figuring out how to move from the player to the plays is the real genius of a great manager.

Leadership isn’t about that at all. Leadership is about finding the words, stories, and images that bring great clarity to people. And that’s just different from being a good manager. You could have both talents, but good managers don’t necessarily make good leaders.

So when you actually "learn" leadership - you actually make a great shift in your worldview. You cannot build a new worldview on top of your existing ones. You have to let them go. [Gautam Gosh - citing Marcus Buckingham]

-------------------------------------------------

6 Unwritten Rules to Advancement in the Workplace (aka - Professional Networking 2.0)

Network and build relationships both within and outside your organization.
Find ways to become visible in your team and organization, e.g., seek out important assignments.
Lobby for yourself and your work, do not be afraid to “brag” about your accomplishments.
Communicate effectively and ask for feedback.
Find a mentor, coach, sponsor; developmental relationships not only provide knowledge and experience, but can help expand your professional network.
Develop a good career plan; prepare for each step, learn the right skills.

[Britannica Blog]

-------------------------------------------------

You will not grow if you sit in a beautiful flower garden, but you will grow if you are sick, if you are in pain, if you experience losses, and if you do not put your head in the sand, but take the pain as a gift to you with a very, very specific purpose.

The message here is that we can learn from every experience, and that in fact every experience can be regarded as a gift. This, perhaps, is a hard thing for us to hear - we have been conditioned to think of illness and pain in a negative way and we try to avoid suffering at all costs. But all growth involves pain and so perhaps we should be less eager to shy away from it, learning instead to welcome it and take something of value from these experiences. [Michael Miles on 'the wisdom of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross]

Interesting Links (October 2008)

2008-10-07T07:38:00.000-07:00

Help More, Judge Less

Marshall Goldsmith (HBS Discussion Leaders) provides a list of seven steps to stop finger pointing during a crisis.

These are:

Encourage everyone on your team to remember four words that can help all of you get though your crisis in the best way possible: help more, judge less.

Try to get team members to focus on a future that they can impact, not a past that they cannot change anyway.

Try to get people to take responsibility for their own behavior.

Ask each person to reflect on the question, "What can I learn from this crisis?"

Ask everyone on your team to reflect on the question, "What can we learn from this crisis?"

Encourage each team member to avoid speaking when angry or out of control.

Before speaking don't just ask, "Am I correct?" - ask "Will this help?"

As mentioned in the discussion linked to the article - this is good advice at any time ... but especially helpful at times of stress. As Marshall states:

"Anyone can provide leadership when times are easy. Great leaders - and great teams - step up when times are tough. Rather than get lost in whining, have each team member focus on how he or she can grow from this experience. "

_____________________________________________________

Are Leaders Portable ?

How do you ensure that incoming high performers deliver as promised?

Also from HBS, is this easy to digest article from Boris Groysberg, Andrew N. McLean, and Nitin Nohria. They highlight that

"Too many hiring companies wrongly assume that certain skills and experience are just what they need and will transfer automatically to their own setting. Sure, general management skills (performance evaluation, vision setting, financial acumen) translate well to new settings. But other assets—including strategic abilities such as cost control expertise, and industry-specific knowledge—may or may not prove portable, depending on the hiring company’s needs. For example, hiring an expert cost cutter when your company must drive top-line growth could set him up for failure—though that same executive would likely excel if your strategy hinged on cost management"

This may sound like common sense - but as the article states:

"When a company hires a CEO from General Electric—considered the United States’ top executive training ground—the hiring firm’s stock price spikes instantly. But not all newly hired stars deliver as promised. One former GE giant, for instance, underwhelmed his new employer with an annualized rate of return 30% below the S&P average."

_____________________________________________________

Remote Working - avoiding the pitfalls

Management Issues highlight "Five ways to get Remote Working Wrong" - mistakes that companies tend to make when setting up teleworking or remote working programmes.

Telecommuting is a growing trend - so this paper will be of interest to many.

The first pitfall is that organisations rush into it without any concrete policies and procedures in place

The second common pitfall is to over-invest in technology, with companies rushing out to buy the latest technology and gizmos when often they did not need to.

The third failing was the failure to train managers. It is now well recognised that managing someone from afar requires a different set of management skills, especially how you communicate and stay in touch with your remote team.

Fourthly, firms often failed to explore whether this type of initiative even fitted within their business model.

Finally, organisations too often failed to pilot their programme before "going live".

L&D colleagues will be particularly interested in bullet 3, especially as the authors highlight "Yet too often day-to-day pressures or budgetary constraints meant training around this new form of management simply failed to happen".

_____________________________________________________

Finding the Right Boss

Few things have more impact on your happiness at work than the person you answer to every day.

The Washington Post highlights the need for workers moving between roles to place greater emphasis on understanding their potential future boss they state: "Here are a few signs to watch for during your next intervie to help you find a boss you respect"

Meetings with all the right people. If you don't have an interview with the person who will be your direct supervisor, watch out.

· A willingness to talk about himself. It's not appropriate to grill the interviewer about his qualifications, but it's perfectly acceptable to ask about his education and experience, and how he wound up in his job. You're trying to get a sense of whether you can learn from this person.

· A positive vibe about the person who held the job before. Ask your prospective boss what happened to the last person who held the position for which you're applying.

· A strong career of his own. You want a boss who is considered a rising star, Ask around to see what sort of reputation he has within the company, as well as his field. Is he getting regular promotions? Does he have a strong internal network? "You really want to be near the movers and shakers, if possible," she said.

· Encouraging nonverbal cues.Was the person on time and attentive? Did she look you in the eye? Is her attention focused on you during the interview? If not, don't get your hopes up.

· A good hunch. A big part of finding the right job is pure chemistry. A job may seem great intellectually, but if you have a bad feeling about it, there's probably a reason, even if you can't articulate it.

I'd suggest this theme is equally applicable for internal transfers - and thus the 'chemistry' is something HR should help the business lines determine as part of talent management.

Keeping L&D/HR focused on the 'Big Picture' during the economic downturn.

2008-10-03T01:07:00.000-07:00

While talk of recession dominates the current business agenda we should not forget that most are short lived. Hence, I believe that the L&D topics being debated before the phrase ‘sub-prime mortgage’ entered the popular press remain important.

The economic growth of China continues. It is thus inevitable that, like Japan beforehand, management and leadership practices associated with their climb up the world order will be of global importance. Currently the vast majority of textbooks read by our UK managers are written by US opinion leaders: but should we expect this to be the case in 10 years time? For HR to influence the uptake of ideas from these new thought-leaders, we will need to build global partnerships.

Global communications and mobility have changed how the efforts of individual employees are aggregated. Management structures refined over the past century now look clumsy if not obsolete, as ‘amplifying effort’ (i.e. colleague engagement) becomes the greater challenge for leaders. Gary Hamel’s thesis on “The Future of Management” provides great insights, and now HR must help take up the challenge.

Mentoring, coaching and on-the-job experiences have always been an important part of workplace learning. Training is becoming increasingly squeezed both from a time and financial point of view. In a world where vast amounts of knowledge can be accessed with a couple of key strokes, ‘just-in-time’ performance support rather than ‘just-in-case’ training is being demanded. Understanding and integrating the ROI of training and other forms of learning has never been more important than at present.

Equally, a harsh economic climate provides some additional opportunities for those involved in Learning & Leadership. The psychological contract with employees has already moved away from expectations of ‘a job for life’ in return for loyalty and commitment. Individuals who accept the need to invest in life-long learning are most likely to successfully navigate a world of rapid organizational change and multiple careers. Building this mindset and ensuring organizations contribute to keeping their workforce ‘employable’ is likely to be most valued now.

Leadership judgment is critical at this time, as poor business decisions are unlikely to go unpunished. Perhaps more important, however, is the ability to execute whatever business strategy is selected. This depends on successfully changing employees’ behaviours, a complex challenge where HR expertise can contribute significant business value.

Hence I hope that the value of L&D/HR will come to be better recognised by business leaders as they navigate the current economic downturn.

Interesting Links (September 2008)

2008-09-16T02:10:00.000-07:00

Being Wired or Being Tired: 10 Ways to Cope with Information Overload

Here is a great paper that pulls together solid practical advice for managing information overload.

"Dealing with information overload has become a task for each and every one of us, and yet very few of us have actually stopped to think about the best way to do this. We know that we are interrupted. We know that such interruptions affect our work and capacity to think in an adverse manner. And yet, because of the very problem itself — the constant flow of information and tasks demanding our every moment—we do not stop mid-flow to assess and organise.

Examining each information input in our lives, including the content, delivery method, and access device, will help us to realistically assess what it is we’re doing with our time. Consciously thinking about the effectiveness and desirability of each stream of information, and of ways to improve them, will help to get the best information to you in the best way"

___________________________________________________

Powerful Leadership Proverbs

Leadership Now highlights Axiom: Powerful Leadership Proverbs - written by Bill Hybels with church leadership in mind. However, there the advice is highly transferable. Leadership Now focus on five of the 76 guiding principles that have shaped his leadership - this includes:

"Values Need Heat: When you heat up a value, you help people change states. Want to jolt people out of business as usual? Heat up innovation. Want to untangle confusion? Heat up clarity. Want to eradicate miserliness? Heat up generosity! New “states” elicit new attitudes, new aptitudes, and new actions. It’s not rocket science. It’s just plain chemistry. Which is a lot about heat….Over time, sufficiently hot values will utterly define your culture"

___________________________________________________

Balance Scorecards

The Palladium Group provide plenty of free information from their recent meeting - which includes practical insights on the use of balanced scorecards in work-class organisations. Download the conference report here.

______________________________________________________

Millions of Britons regret their career choice

Reported by Management Issues - "Almost half of all UK workers, if given the chance, would have studied something totally different after leaving school and a fifth feel that as a result they plumped for the wrong career, according to new research"

____________________________________________________

Multiple bosses - do gender differences cause problems?

Kevan Hall highlights an interesting study here on Multiple bosses - do gender differences cause problems? in his Life in a Matrix blog.

The study found

Women who had only one female boss reported more psychological distress (such as trouble sleeping, difficulty focusing on work, depression and anxiety) and physical symptoms (such as headaches, stomach pain or heartburn, neck and back pain and tiredness) than women who worked for one male boss.
Women who reported to a mixed-gender pair of supervisors also reported more of these symptoms than their peers who worked for a single male boss.
Men who worked for a single supervisor, regardless of the supervisor’s gender, had similar levels of distress.
Men who worked for a mixed-gender pair had fewer mental and physical symptoms than those working for a lone male supervisor

interesting data .....

Performance Support vs. Training (continued)

2008-09-05T02:38:00.000-07:00

My thanks to JD & Dave Ferguson for their comments to my initial post on this topic - and I fully agree with the comment "we should make clear the purpose of training (or any other intervention) -- improved performance"

So on reflection, I'd like to add a third theme to my previous comments on Performance Support.

It is well accepted that from a typical well-designed training intervention, some delegates will gain significantly and translate the skills gained into improved business performance, while others on the same class will gain little, or be unable to positively impact business performance with any new knowledge/skills gained.

[for more on this - see my enthusiasm for evaluating training using the methodology proposed by Brinkerhoff]

In my view we should expect the same from Performance Support.

...why is it that some truck drivers efficiently get from A to B using Sat Nav., while others using the same system end up stuck in country lanes ?!

When training & performance support are blended, those already using Brinkerhoff's 'Success Case Method' are likely to be gaining important insights on the relative importance of the performance support associated with the training being evaluated.

What is new - is that in situations where performance support is being used to replace 'just in case' training - there could be merit in taking a similar approach to evaluation (i.e. accepting that performance support does not yield uniform outcomes, but through understanding the enablers & barriers to it translating into improved business performance - we can get more from these tools)

Performance Support vs. Training

2008-09-03T12:18:00.000-07:00

The August edition of the ASTD Training & Development magazine includes a thought-provoking article (page 23) titled 'Training is Broken'. The authors Bob Mosher & Frank Nguyen state "with training's limitations under scrutiny, it may be performance support's time to shine".

to expand further ....

"The problem with our information age is that even with the most successful of formal learning experiences, the amount of information needed to be effective, combined with the rate at which that information changes, makes many well-intentioned training efforts flawed before they are ever released."

Performance Support is defined as providing the right people with the right information at the right time. In other words: expanding just-in-time 'coaching' to replace (where appropriate) just-in-case training. For example, relying on the Microsoft paperclip comes to mind vs. seeking to learn up-front the full functionality of MS Word.

The authors advocate creating a 'total learning culture', and in particular:

"It is impossible to add PS (performance support) to your array of learning options without it affecting how you design and deliver training. PS enables competency in the way that training enables mastery. The two should not be kept exclusive"

My reaction to this is twofold:

Firstly: further thought needs to be given to the sequencing of training & performance support.

Depending of the learning objectives for the individual, it may be sufficient to rely on performance support to generate competence ... equally, it may be appropriate for a smaller segment of the workforce to be subsequently formally training to a higher level of mastery (which will in itself create a further channel of performance support for the rest of the workforce).
To minimise the costs/complexity of creating performance support, it may be more cost effective to provide a cut-down training intervention 'up-front' (to help all learners navigate how to find the support available, rather than relying on automated software). In this case training may be positioned to 'top & tail' performance support.

As the authors state "Changing the strategy from one of knowledge gain to one of knowledge application is the first key step".

Secondly: I'd suggest that consideration should be given to the consequences of different learning styles when creating performance support (as well as for formal training).

Honey & Mumford's work is generally accepted as a helpful model of categorising learning styles.

For Activists - it may be most appropriate to develop maps ... avoiding performance support (PS) adopting a 'telling' approach, but accelerating skill building by providing structure to the information required to be assimilated. For example: to accelerate networking skills - championing the value of organisational structure diagrams (e.g. linking such graphics with a company's 'yellow-pages' database of employees & their interests).
For Reflectors - it may be appropriate to link the guidance provided through PS with typical questions that would lead to expanding on the core 'answer'. For example: to accelerate networking skills - providing a report of the 'top five' colleagues citing a particular qualification within a company's 'yellow pages' together with a prompt to consider if additional key words may help refine the data.
For Theorists - it may be helpful to link the guidance provided through PS with sources of background information. For example: to accelerate networking skills - providing easy to access links to e-learning modules, books & articles from within a company's 'yellow pages' database
For Pragmatists - it may be helpful to ensure there are rapid e-learning modules / video clips / subject-matter-experts that can demonstrate the steps required. For example: to accelerate networking skills - providing video clips of accelerating a task through effective networking.

If we look to Performance Support (PS) to build a certain level of competence (and thus reduce the need for some forms of formal learning) do you agree that different learning styles matter ?

Interesting Links (August 2008)

2008-08-15T00:47:00.000-07:00

What is your personal learning strategy ?

Leading Blog presents a short, informative summary of the book Crucibles of Leadership by Robert Thomas.

Thomas writes that crucibles “are like trials or tests that corner individuals and force them to answer questions about who they are and what is really important to them. Crucibles become valuable when we intentionally mine them for lessons that make us more effective, aware and integrated."

Thomas says that we have to change our approach to learning. We shouldn’t wait for just the right moment to arrive, but learn in the moment—in real time—to, as he writes, “learn while doing.”

Hence the main thesis of this work is that preparation is essential to learning. ie "In order to take advantage of our crucibles, we must develop a Personal Learning Strategy (PLS)".

Put another way - I'd suggest that this reinforces that L&D professionals have an important role helping leaders & manager 'Learn how to learn' (as well as this approach being at the heart of effective Executive Coaching)

_____________________________________________

Colleague Engagement

Management Issues highlights ten steps towards engagement based on research undertaken by the business consulting organization SCORE.

The list covers a lot of ground that will be familiar with consulting on building colleague engagement. Equally, for me the following steps stand out:

2. Try to approach your people with fresh eyes and take into account their unique perspective.

10. Be consistent. Don't start programs and then drop them after a few weeks. So stick with it.

How often are these steps overlooked - by assuming best practice in one area can be directly transplanted elsewhere. Also: approaching this long-term challenge with a series of short term initiatives ?

_______________________________________________

Team Building

In another easy to digest article - Management Issues highlight 'Five Simple Keys to Building Solid Teams'

1. Honesty
2. Trust
3. Mutual Respect
4. Recognition
5. Support

_____________________________________________

Can You Lead with Kindness ?

This month Leadership Now asks 'Can you Lead with Kindness ?' This is a review of a recent book by Bill Baker and Michael O’Malley

The authors state:

The fact is, kindness isn’t always nice. It pushes others to do better; it asks them to try out things that they are uncertain they can accomplish; it requires them to engage in activities that they are not sure they will like. Another fact is this: Folks don’t always take kindly to kindness. Leaders, even great ones, cannot save everybody.

Kind leaders are framers. - They reinforce expectations for employees by establishing clear boundaries, standards of conduct, challenging goals, and organizational values.
Kind leaders are interpreters. - They tell the truth about how each worker and the entire company is doing. They help individuals adapt to change and make sense of their efforts.
Kind leaders are enablers. - They stimulate calculated “stretch” and risk-taking, without sheltering people from their own mistakes. They fight cynicism and facilitate growth

The Leading Now commentary includes the observation that:

"great leaders are not great because they are super-human. Instead, they are ordinary but growth-oriented people with character that have chosen to make a commitment to a bold course of action that is in the best interest of those they serve despite the odds"

... hope for us all !

Learning and Development Carnival

2008-08-03T07:53:00.000-07:00

Chris Morgan is hosting the first Learning & Development Carnival on his Learn2Develop blog.

Chris does a great job signposting the various article brought together by this event

Well worth a look !

Interesting Links (July 2008)

2008-07-19T04:01:00.000-07:00

Heads in the Sand on Succession Planning

This month management-issues.com provides an insightful report on succession planning recently undertaken by Novations

"A survey of more than 2,500 senior HR executives by consultancy Novations Group has found that, nominally, succession planning among North American firms seems to be in relatively good shape, with just seven per cent of firms admitting to having no succession planning in place at all.

But peel back the figures and a more worrying picture emerges, it reported. More than a fifth said that, even though they had succession planning in place, it was valueless because, as often as not, they ended up recruiting someone externally anyway."

---------------------------------------------------

Can Google Lengthen Our Attention Span?

Writing in the Harvard Business blog, Diane Coutu started an interesting discussion on the impact of Google on challenging the thinking of individuals

"Here are a few suggestions for increasing your curiosity quotient – and how Google can help:

Don’t be afraid to look dumb. Infants are born passionately curious. They instinctively explore, investigate, and test their environments. Tragically, many of us develop inhibitions as we get older and grow afraid of appearing ignorant. Yet we will never increase our level of curiosity unless we give ourselves permission to formulate and test new hypotheses — and to be productively stupid. The beauty of Google is that it allows us to be stupid in private. Are you not sure which countries make up the G8? Not to worry. Google it.
Never stop questioning. As a number of people have observed: “Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton asked why.” Google helps us ask why. When I looked up the word curiosity in Wikipedia, for example, I read that curiosity is an “emotion.” That didn’t sound right, so I googled Freud and found that he described curiosity as a “derivative of the sexual instinct.” That seemed to me an oversimplification as well. In having me quickly place the two alternatives side by side, Google made me question the differences between emotions and instincts. It encouraged me to think critically.
Expose yourself to lots of different experiences.People, travel, play, and books can all introduce you to exciting new worlds. Google can, too. Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor’s memoirs, which relate her sometimes incomprehensible spirituality after suffering a stroke, reminded me of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s lectures on transcendentalism. I googled Emerson’s essay on “Nature,” where he wrote about becoming a “transparent eyeball.” Yikes. Emerson and Taylor’s experiences have quite a lot in common. So I googled mysticism, and the more I read on the subject, the more curious I became about the brain and the varieties of religious experience. That led to a whole new Google search."

To read the whole article & associated comments - click here

---------------------------------------------------

Let’s Hear It for B Players

Also from Harvard is this easy to digest article on managing so-called 'B' players.

The authors state "These supporting actors of the corporate world determine your company’s future performance far more than A players—volatile stars who may score the biggest revenues or clients, but who’re also the most likely to commit missteps. B players, by contrast, prize stability in their work and home lives. They seldom strive for advancement or attention—caring more about their companies’ well-being. Infrequent job changers, they accumulate deep knowledge about company processes and history. They thus provide ballast during transitions, steadily boosting organizational resilience and performance.

Yet many executives ignore B players, beguiled by stars’ brilliance. The danger? If neglected, these dependable contributors may leave, taking the firm’s backbone with them. How to keep your B players? Recognize their value—and nurture them. "

---------------------------------------------------

Mandela: His 8 Lessons of Leadership

From Time magazine:

Courage is not the absence of fear - it's inspiring others to move beyond it
Lead from the front — but don't leave your base behind
Lead from the back — and let others believe they are in front
Know your enemy — and learn about his favorite sport
Keep your friends close — and your rivals even closer
Appearances matter — and remember to smile
Nothing is black or white
Quitting is leading too

When Jo meets Charlie

2008-07-18T12:55:00.000-07:00

Meet Charlie by Scott Gavin is 'A visual and entertaining example of web 2.0 within the corporation.'

This presentation (and related variations such as Meet Jessica) are proving very popular in my organisation among those keen to learn more about WHAT is Enterprise 2.0.

Equally, when I first came across these presentation last year I felt that they missed the opportunity to speak directly about WHY Enterprise 2.0 tools should be adopted widely in the workplace.

Change is never easy. As I've previously commented upon in the context of Implementation 2.0:

There is currently a significant gap between the early adopters of Web 2.0 collaboration technologies in the workplace - and the majority of the workforce. The fact that the typical worker is drowing under a sea of email communications, but still not grabbing RSS, IM, Wikis, TAGs etc from the hands of IT, illustrates how difficult it is to effect widespread change management.

Hence, my addition to the 'Meet Charlie' franchise aims to approach the 'selling' of Enterprise 2.0 as solutions for some of the most frequent challenges observed with the 'standard' collaboration and communication software.

In 'When Jo meets Charlie' I aimed to address issues such as 'why when I'm constantly interupted by email alerts would I be interested in adding to my problem by installing an Instant Messenger ?'

I'm now posting this externally at the request of my IT colleagues.

I'm delighted in my colleagues ongoing interest in blending their technical knowledge, with the people-centered change-management approaches of 'Learning & Organisational Development'. I hope this helps illustrate the value of collaboration between HR & IT in this area.

I also hope it helps other organisations extend colleague interest in Enterprise 2.0 tools beyond those early adopters - helping enhance collaboration and communication in your workplace.

Enterprise 2.0 - A Strategic Framework

2008-06-27T08:32:00.000-07:00

CIPD have recently published a Research Insight discussion paper on 'Web 2.0 and Human Resources'.

NOTE: I was very pleased to be able to contribute a brief case-study outlining the growing success of our company wiki 'Pfizerpedia'.

[for comment on the CIPD paper see Jon Ingham's thoughtful blog post]

Reflecting on this work (and Jon's comments) - I feel we need to revisit the concept of 'Enterprise 2.0' to ensure organisations (and their HR departments) don't overlook the business implications/opportunities beyond their 'firewall'.

Enterprise 2.0 was originally coined by Andrew McAfee of Harvard, defining it as:

"the use of emergent social software platforms within companies and their partners or customers"

This definition nicely captures the external opportunities with business 'partners or customers' - but (for me) fails to consider the need to organisations to engage with the social aspects of Web 2.0 technologies.

In 'HR-speak', consideration needs to be given to the impact on the psychological contract of banning Facebook. Also, if there are explicit expectations on how staff should behave outside of work (eg relating to defining employment consequences for illegal actions), no doubt this should apply on-line as well as in the physical world.

Given that there can no longer be an expectation of employment-for-life, I'd suggest there is a further consideration - that of professional identity (or personal brand).

If a colleague is to maximise their career through a portfolio of roles/companies, then this needs to be a blend of social collaboration & organisational collaboration, rather than just contained within the enterprise.

Hence, I believe there is merit in defining Enterprise 2.0 simply as:

"the organisational strategy for leveraging and managing Web 2.0 technologies"

Moreover, I'd suggest that this can be considered as the blend of:

Organisation 2.0 (leveraging & managing on-line collaboration to achieve business outcomes)

Professional 2.0 (leveraging & managing on-line collaboration to enhance organisational talent)

Social 2.0 (leverage & managing on-line collaboration to enhance colleague engagement and workplace performance)

Also, that it can be helpful to distinguish between what happens internally (ie through a private intranet), vs. externally (via the Internet).

This is illustrated in the following diagram:

I hope this provides a much richer framework for HR and others to view 'Enterprise 2.0' opportunities !

Interesting Links (June 2008)

2008-06-24T09:19:00.000-07:00

Want to Boost Productivity? Give Workers Bigger Screens

From Harvard Business - Discussion Leaders

The easiest way to increase the productivity of people working on computers is to increase the size of their monitors. I recently suggested that a firm add an additional screen for all its customer service workers and you can see below that in a month’s time, the time per call decreased from about three minutes and fifty seconds down to three minutes and twenty seconds – a 12% improvement -- with no additional training or change in the work load or work design.

...... Most people don’t know that you can add an additional screen to any laptop and, by changing the desktop settings, which takes less than a minute, create a continuous work space from one screen to the next. The mouse moves across; you can drag applications to the other screen seamlessly. (Windows can drive up to 10 screens.)

Why bother? Well, two screens lets you open two full-sized windows or applications at once, so if you are looking at your email, you can also see your calendar, or open a document. With the trivial cost of 15-to-19-inch screens, many now under $100, every knowledge worker should have at least two screens. They will pay for themselves almost immediately.

I've always resisted having a small flat screen - preferring my trusty old but large CRT. Only recently someone showed me how to use it in combination with my Laptop screen when docked. And I'd agree with this article .... spread the word !

---------------------------------------------------

Top Ten Reasons for Top Ten Lists

Here is that Top 10 list from Tom Davenport of Harvard ! enjoy

---------------------------------------------------

Team-Building with Wikis

Here is an interesting post from the Socialtext blog.

Advice includes:

Next time you have a new team member, and thus, a new team, consider these simple practices for team building:

Project shared notes in a wiki page while meeting
Start an initiative to document best practices, kicking off with a conversation about basic language and how to structure information architecture. Revisit as a group on a regular basis until it takes off on its own.
Augment your next leadership offsite with an Wiki Eventspace to: (i) flush out the agenda beforehand, (ii) have participants create profiles including answering topical questions, (iii)
organize communication, (iv) shared notes and in-session conversation, & (v) structure new initiatives on the fly
Look for major exceptions to business process to rapidly form an expert group focused not just on resolution in rapid time, but documenting learnings in the process
Look for common editing exercises, from mission statements to press releases
Encourage rich profiles, blog posts and wiki expression not just about work, but the things that help others understand the identities behind their words and work. Even if its blogging about cats. If you clamp down on tone, it wont be fun (especially compared to paintball). This is not a directed side activity, and these conversations occur in the lunchroom and by the watercooler anyway, just with less distribution and persistence.

---------------------------------------------------

What Will You Regret ?

Marshall Goldsmith reflects here on a great question to ask of leaders:

In your experience, what are the biggest regrets people have at the end of their careers? What do people wish they had learned sooner?

As Marshall states:
"This is a great question. A wise person learns from experience. A wiser person learns from someone else’s experience. The best way to answer this question is to ask the people who actually have the experience."

A key insight is that although most of us go through our careers fearing failure- "people don’t regret their failures and that most people wished they had risked more. Trying and failing is something we can deal with. The happiest people felt they had pursued their dreams and stretched themselves in their lives and careers. So we are more likely to regret having not tried for a dream than to have failed at it. This is particularly interesting because most of us think failure is about the worst thing that can happen to us but it turns out that not trying or playing it safe in our careers is what we should actually be worrying about."

---------------------------------------------------

Motivation Disconnect: How Organizations Fail to Motivate Managers

John Baldoni at Harvard reflects here on a recent study from Ashridge

"If you want to drive motivation, you know your people. Some may be motivated by an equity stake, but so often others want to do good and interesting work, and be recognized for it. The lesson of the Ashridge study, like so many others before it, is that people wanted to be treated as individuals. And that is motivational in itself."

Revisiting the "7 Habits of Highly Effective People"

2008-06-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

It had been a while since I last read the classic text by Covey on "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People". So it was good to have the opportunity recently to attend a 45 min overview of this scholarship from the FranklinCovey Organisation

[NOTE: for a great summary of the book - click here]

With so much written on the subject - I doubt that I have any new insights to offer on this work.

Equally, I was struck by a couple of things:

Firstly: the book is nearly 20 years old, with over 15 million sold. So - it is somewhat depressing to continue to see the statistics that show that this 'common sense' is still not 'common practice'.

According to FranklinCovey:

Only 31% of people say they "focus on things they can impact, rather than on things they can't"

33% of people say they "live by the principle that 'my success is your success' "

32% of people "actively seek out differing viewpoints"

Hence, I wonder to what extent these statistics are driven by (i) a lack of knowing/remembering the concepts provided by Covey; (ii) a lack of belief in the model ...i.e. that these 'habits' do correlate with effectiveness; and/or (iii) a lack of ability in workers to put the model into practice.

Does anyone have any insights on this ?

Secondly: Re - Habit 7 'Sharpen the Saw' "to maintain and increase effectiveness, we must renew ourselves in body, heart, mind and soul"

... while many L&D professionals will be familiar with posing the question of "Assuming you have a year to live, what legacy would you want to leave ?" (or something similar) to get to the heart of what is important for people. I also liked their use of the question:

"Assume your knowledge and skills will be obsolete in two years. What new learning avenues would you explore ?"

While we all hope that the 'a year to live' is a significant under-estimate - skills & knowledge being obsolete in two years feels much less of an underestimate these days !

L&D 'Transfer Climate'

2008-06-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

Training Industry Quarterly (Spring 2008) has an interesting article on L&D 'Return on Investment'.

The title is somewhat confusing 'Take your ROI to Level 6' - given that normally Kirkpatrick is cited as 4 levels. [when expressed as 5 - these are (i) reaction; (ii) knowledge; (iii) behaviour; (iv) impact; & (iv) ROI]

The new sixth Level is proposed (by author Paul Leone of American Express) to be 'Transfer Climate'

This is defined as 'Assessment of factors in the learners' work environment (climate) that will help or hinder the transfer of learning'

This seems very similar to the 'Success Case Method' promoted by Brinkerhoff (see this earlier post on this blog) !

Rather than debate this - I'm more interested in the finding presented from studies at American Express (studying over 2000 managers, attending one of their core leadership programmes).

Leone states "..we found the true impact of a training program will best be predicted by the work climate each participant returns to after the event..."

Key enablers were:

manager clearly communicates endorsement and support for the training - sets goals and expectations before learner initiates learning event
manager follows up with participant after the event to discuss what was learned and how to apply
manager recognizes and rewards improved leadership behaviour

The article highlights that blended learning makes it easier to design formal training that encourages the above - e.g. leader-led kick-off & wrap-up sessions.

What are additional best practises being used by the L&D profession to influence the managers of those attending training courses ?

Tricks of the Mind (by Derren Brown)

2008-06-11T12:55:00.000-07:00

Not obvious reading for HR/L&D Professionals - but having had it recommended to me, I recently found myself engrossed in this book.

There seems to be an increasing focus within HR on understanding how the brain works. For example: both David Rock (Quiet Leadership) and Guy Sutton (Director of Medical Biology Interactive/University of Nottingham) have spoken at HRD. [NB: For a great summary of the latter see the Epic blog.]

As stated by Rock: "If people are being paid to think, isn't it time the business world found out what the thing doing the work, the brain, is all about? "

In part, Derren Brown's book 'Tricks of the Mind', helps explore the working of the brain.

There is a wealth of information on Memory - and the tricks of the trade used in memory feats. While it may be debated in this age of 'Google', promoting a good memory of facts and figures is important (vs. developing the skills of reasoning, debate etc...) - at very least it should help trainers rapidly remember the names of delegates attending a course !

A key component of moving 'information' from short-term memory (with its very limited capacity) to long-term involves the power of images. Given that these images need to be relevant to the individual, I'm not sure this insight should have presenters using PowerPoint reaching for the Clipart. Rather let me suggest: learning interventions need to build in reflection exercises that guide participants to link key concepts to pictures they create in their own mind.

Another area that will be familiar territory to many L&D colleagues, is Thinking Traps

The class 'Monty Hall Problem' is included, together with other examples - all of which can be great ice-breakers within relevant training courses !

Clearly the relevance goes beyond fun ice-breakers since, as Brown highlights: "cognitive traps make us unwittingly prone to drastic misunderstanding of probability, which in turn can lead people to make poor decisions".

Within the section on 'Hypnosis & Suggestibility', Brown provides his assessment of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming). This is another area that often attracts the interest of trainers.

Brown discusses that: "One of the more sensible tenets of NLP is that the way you represent (anything you feel strongly about, as a) picture or film will affect the way you emotionally respond to it". He then illustrates how the mind can be directed to modify the picture, in turn modifying the associated emotional response.

I'd suspect that the style of this book will not be to everyone's taste, but it provides great insights into the psychology of magic - and as such give helpful perspectives on the working of the human brain !

Also see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derren_Brown

Unconnected Employees

2008-06-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

In the May copy of T+D (Training+Development) from ASTD, Anne Baber & Lynne Waymon provide an interesting article on 'Uncovering the Unconnected Employee'.

Unconnected Employees are defined as those who "lack the skills to build effective business relationships".

They provide a list of "8 Ways employees who don't network can hurt your business". This includes:

They get off to a slow start as new hires (which links to the theme of a recent post on this blog)
They are less successful managers (according to recent work published in the Academy of Management Journal: "Successful managers spend 70% more time networking...")
They don't know how to make their expertise known, so it can be used, and so they can advance in their careers.

A further check-list of 9 items is provided to assess "Is Your Organisation Network Friendly ?"

Particularly relevant for L&D/HR professionals are the following items:

Is networking training offered ?
Are networking activities included in employee performance plans ?
Are people rewarded for networking successes ?

What I found particularly interesting was the discussion presented on "Why employees aren't better relationship builders".

As to be expected: "Layoffs, mergers and acquisitions - these and other organisational earthquakes damage internal networks. Companies, however rarely help people rebuild them."
Less expected is the information that "Americans are becoming more shy" ... and Gen Y employees are the shyest (perhaps a better way of thinking about this is that overall they have lost some of the face-to-face interpersonal skills, because they 'balance' this with more intensive virtual collaboration than previous generations ... another driver for Enterprise 2.0 ?!)

To conclude, the authors state:

"We believe that creating networking competency is essential to support employee engagement, alignment and inclusion"

agreed !

First break all the rules ....

2008-05-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

Many L&D colleagues will recognise 'First break all the rules' as the attention grabbing title of the 'Gallup Engagement Survey' book by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman.

NB: for a great little summary of the book - click here

Carl French writing in the May/June 2008 HCM magazine, provides an interesting analogy related to this concept.

His article: 'Stay over the speed limit', he writes:

"It appears that most motorway drivers exceed the speed limit by the amount by which they think they can get away with, while at the same time doing their own assessment of the potential risks and benefits or penalties.

High flyers see to generalise this kind of thinking in the way they conduct themselves under 'house rules' ...... This maverick-like mentality can help them get ahead of the game and also outmanoeuvre those who work within the rules......."

Induction Training

2008-05-27T12:06:00.000-07:00

Human Capital Management (HCM) magazine (May/June 2008) has an interesting article on the 'onboarding' (induction) processes used by US firms. This is taken from work conducted by the Aberdeen Group.

Some of the key points are predictable:

Employees who form a negative opinion of their new work environment produce sub-standard work and may leave.
Increasing competition for talent is putting more pressure on organisations to improve retention rates of new hires.

Equally, there are some very interesting insights !

many end their induction process prematurely - best practice being to assign new employees (including new leaders) a mentor for the first six months
best-in-class organisations concentrate on the 'human' element of induction and include socialisation as a primary focus.

In my view, L&D Colleagues can play a key role in implementing the above current best-practices

As the authors (Kevin Martin & Jayson Saba) state:

"Employee induction is not a nice-to-have, but rather a need-to-have. Organisations spend large amounts of time and money to fill job vacancies - and competition for human capital talent does not go away with an accepted job offer"

Leaders in London 2007 - now on YouTube

2008-05-17T06:24:00.000-07:00

Leaders in London features worldclass speakers - but finding the time & money to attend is not always easy !

Fortunately, the conference organisers are very generous with the quality and depth of information provided free !

The current 2008 brochure provides valuable insights ahead of the conference.

Perhaps more valuable are the bite-size video clips from 2007 - recently posted here on YouTube

As to be expected - Marcus Buckingham is on top form ... I've yet to watch others

Interesting Links (May 2008)

2008-05-13T05:13:00.001-07:00

Inside Innovation
If you are interested in driving Innovation in the workplace - this recent feature by Business Week should not be missed
____________________________________________
Fortune: The Best Advice I Ever Got
Fortune magazine asked 19 people for the best advice that most influenced their lives. Here are several excepts from that feature:
General David Petraeus: Commanding general, multinational force – Iraq The bottom line is that seriously bright folks thought very differently about important issues, and the debates on various topics were wonderful. All in all, in fact, the experience was invaluable. It may sound trite, but experiencing that not everyone saw the world at all remotely the same was good preparation for many of the experiences I've had since then.
Indra Nooyi: Chairman and CEO, Pepsico Whatever anybody says or does, assume positive intent. You will be amazed at how your whole approach to a person or problem becomes very different. When you assume negative intent, you're angry. If you take away that anger and assume positive intent, you will be amazed. Your emotional quotient goes up because you are no longer almost random in your response. You don't get defensive. You don't scream. You are trying to understand and listen because at your basic core you are saying, "Maybe they are saying something to me that I'm not hearing." So "assume positive intent" has been a huge piece of advice for me.
Sam Palmisano: Chairman and CEO, IBM I've noticed that some of the most effective leaders don't make themselves the center of attention. They are respectful. They listen. This is an appealing personal quality, but it's also an effective leadership attribute. Their selflessness makes the people around them comfortable. People open up, speak up, contribute. They give those leaders their very best.
[credit to Leadership Now for this synopsis]
____________________________________________
Creativity is not just for artists
Leadership Now also presents a thought provoking article on creativity & innovation
"The challenge organizations face is to not only to utilize the creative capacities of their people, but to develop them as well."
The author outlines six ways organizations are trying to develop creative capacities in their people:
Analogy and Metaphor - not only useful for visualization, but also for problem-solving: if we can resolve an analogous situation or issue, we can perhaps then solve the particular challenge we are facing.
Perception - the ability to see patterns where others are unable to do so
Simplicity - the most creative solution could be the most simple
Adversity - dealing with obstacles through innovative thinking
Technical Mastery - using the proper tools, techniques, and methods
Persistence - New ideas, new art, new discoveries and inventions that often defy traditional concepts or aesthetics and are not readily accepted. But creativity demands that the innovator persist in the face of such obstacles.
He asserts, “Creativity is the ultimate intellectual property. The time has arrived for creative people to take their places as leaders of society in professions other than the arts. The specific talent in people with a creative intelligence is the asset most needed by today’s emerging global creative economy: the expression of ideas through design and storytelling.”
____________________________________________
Magnetic Attraction - the potential of Talent & the Corporate Brand
The following summary report provides a wealth of information on Talent Management !
____________________________________________
Also related to Managing Talent - the following blog from Harvard (Tammy Erickson) provides thought provoking insights into '10 Reasons Gen Xers Are Unhappy at Work'

"I’m worried about Generation X and corporations. As far as I can tell, these two have a tentative relationship at best – and are likely headed for some rocky times ahead.

Corporations really need Gen X – folks in their 30’s to early 40’s, who should begin to serve as our primary corporate leaders over the next couple years. But I fear many current corporate executives are taking this small and therefore precious group for granted"
____________________________________________
Eight business technology trends to watch
From the McKinsey Quarterly (published April 2008)
Technology alone is rarely the key to unlocking economic value: companies create real wealth when they combine technology with new ways of doing business. Through our work and research, we have identified eight technology-enabled trends that will help shape businesses and the economy in coming years. These trends fall within three broad areas of business activity: managing relationships, managing capital and assets, and leveraging information in new ways.
Managing relationships
1. Distributing cocreation
2. Using consumers as innovators
3. Tapping into a world of talent
4. Extracting more value from interactions
Managing capital and assets
5. Expanding the frontiers of automation
6. Unbundling production from delivery
Leveraging information in new ways
7. Putting more science into management
8. Making businesses from information
____________________________________________
Also from the McKinsey Quarterly (May 2008) is this article on the 7-S framework (familiar to most MBA alumni !).
When McKinsey introduced the 7-S framework, in the late 1970s, it was a watershed in thinking about organizations. The framework maps seven interrelated factors that influence an organization's ability to change to change--shared values, skills, staff, strategy, structure, style, and systems--and shows how these forces interact. Emphasizing coordination more strongly than the traditional structural view of organizations did, 7-S suggests that they can make significant progress in any of their parts only if they progress in the others. In an interactive exhibit, longtime McKinsey director Lowell Bryan explains how its elements have evolved over the years
____________________________________________

Interesting Links (April 2008)

2008-04-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

The following article by Peter Honey (via the learning vendor Priority Management's website) provides a simple to read reminder on the need to recognise success in the workplace.

There is plenty of learning mileage in celebrating successes.

For example, people discover that:

Emphasizing the positive is a far more powerful motivator than emphasizing the negative
No news, ie if no-one says anything then it must have been all right, is not good news
You win some, you lose some, but either way it’s OK to ‘go for it’
Success is rewarded with the best reward of all; recognition
Things are successful for a combination of reasons rather than there being one single factor
Once you know the reasons for a success you can plan future successes even though the circumstances will never be identical
It isn’t healthy to be inappropriately modest and ‘hide your light under a bushel’
Celebrating someone else’s success gives vicarious pleasure from which everyone benefits

There are also helpful links to previous, related articles from the same author

__________________________________________

The Role of Training in Continuous Improvement Initiatives

The attached report has been produced by http://www.trainingindustry.com/

Here are the Key Findings

The more involved the training function is with continuous improvement initiatives, the more satisfied senior management are with the progress their companies have made...
Of the methods used for company-wide improvement programs, Lean, Six Sigma, or a combination (32%) and TQM (29%) are used most frequently...
Active 'walk the talk' leadership from senior management is critical for ensuring the ultimate success of the improvement initiative...
The more specific the continuous improvement training, the better...
Most continuous improvement training should continue to be instructor-led but should be complemented with a blended approach...

__________________________________________

This month Leadership Now highlights the book 'Why Should the Boss Listen to You?' in this article

The author, Lukaszewski describes how leaders think and operate and why this is important to the trusted advisor.

At the core of this book, he presents a seven-discipline approach to becoming a strategic trusted advisor.

Be Trustworthy: Trust is the first discipline and the foundation for a relationship between advisor and leader or boss.
Become a Verbal Visionary: The leader's greatest skill is verbal skill, and the leader’s advisor must also have powerful verbal skills.
Develop a Management Perspective: To be a management advisor is to be able to talk more about the boss’s goals and objectives than about whatever your staff function happens to be.
Think Strategically: One of the great realities of management is that the leader’s job is always about tomorrow, and almost never about yesterday.
Be a Window to Tomorrow: Understand and use the power of patterns. A sophisticated advisor is one who can forecast tomorrow with some level of accuracy.
Advise Constructively: Giving advice starts where the boss is and where he or she has to go (where the advisor is or has been).
Show the Boss How to Use Advice: If you want to see your recommendations come alive, teach the boss how to accept and use advice.

For those in internal consultancy roles, such as HR Business Partners & L&D, I'd suggest that this advice is particularly helpful !

__________________________________________

Six Drivers of Change

From the Harvard Business blog, here are the common themes surfaced from a panel discussion, titled “Innovation: Change Happens,” featured Dow Corning Chairman, CEO and President Stephanie Burns, Eastman Kodak President and COO Phil Faraci, and Procter & Gamble Chairman and CEO A.G. Lafley. It was part of the Newspaper Association of America and American Society of News Editors “Capital Conference 2008.”

The need for a crisis or some kind of “burning platform” to motivate transformational change
A clear vision and strategy … that allows room for iteration
A recognition that transformation is a multi-year journey
A need to put the customer or consumer in the center of the transformation equation
The critical importance of demonstrating to skeptics that different actions can lead to different results
The need to over-communicate to employees, customers, stakeholders, and shareholders

solid advice from those with first-hand experience !

__________________________________________

Maximizing your value to your organization

Also from the HBR Editors' Blog is an interesting article on 'Lessons from GE's Approach to Productivity'

"If it’s accepted wisdom that businesses should revisit their strategies and organizational structures and processes on a regular basis to ensure that they are still relevant, doesn’t it make sense to periodically take stock of how you’re spending your time? Given the current economic climate, there’s no better occasion than now to step back and make sure you’re maximizing your value to your organization"

In Summary:

Compare your calendar with the priorities
Be ruthless
Ask your team to do the same
Make time for your people and yourself.

__________________________________________

and finally .....Nurturing Creativity

If you can spare 20mins, take a look at this movie on nurturing creativity - amusing and inspiring, especially when you have kids and have an interest in education...

http://blog.ted.com/2006/06/sir_ken_robinso.php

E-Learning (HRD 2008)

2008-04-27T04:22:00.000-07:00

The E-Learning seminar was sub-titled '... will blogs, wikis, socials networks and virtual worlds change the future of learning ?'

This workshop was led by Clive Shepherd (e-learning consultant), Kate Day (Cisco) & Richard Jordan (Ernst & Young).

Here are a few quotes from the workshop handout that struck a chord.

'every user of the Web has the opportunity to become a contributor as well as a consumer, a writer as well as a reader, a teacher as well as a pupil' (Clive Shepherd)

'Using collaborative technologies, we can recreate learning environments that are based upon communities of practice and which provide the specific information that the individual or group requires to be successful' (Kate Day)

'Web 2.0 matter most for organisations not because of any intrinsic value in the technology. It matters simply because your employees of the future, your customers, will expect you to offer them an environment where interactivity and being connected are the norm..' (Richard Jordan)

I was struck by a few things:

Firstly - as the sub-title of the seminar demonstrates - RSS readers do not get much airtime when there are these discussions on Web 2.0 technologies (in this workshop this technology was only mentioned via the Q&A). Equally, I have yet to find someone working within large organisations who feel they get too few emails ... and thus the concept of receiving yet more info is a major barrier to seeing the advantages of Web 2.0. I'd suggest that RSS readers are the key that will unlock the door to Web 2.0 - and as such deserve a higher profile in such awareness sessions.

Secondly - HR is having to reach outside of our own profession to gain the insights provided by Web 2.0 subject-matter-experts (two of the HRD panel started with the statement 'I'm not a HR professional..'). Equally, our profession IS where significant expertise in change-management exists. Hence, while there is a lot of talk around organisations adapting to accommodate the 'digital natives' by providing them with connectivity akin to Facebook & Bebo, there is little said about the significant opportunity HR has to be the strategic driver of Web 2.0 within organisations. A key point being that for organisations to thrive they need all colleagues connected (allowing new, inexperienced staff to benefit from the mentoring of the 'wise old-hands'). As a profession I'd suggest that we need to be proactive, as I commented previously.

Finally, we need to think more about the psychological contract the 'digital natives' will expect of organisations. In other words, in an era where a-job-for-life no longer exists - how much investment will colleagues want to make in blogging & building knowledge networks unless they are transferable between roles & organisations. What will be a good balance for Web 2.0 technologies behind & outside of organisational firewalls ?

Leadership is above all, courageous

2008-04-23T11:44:00.000-07:00

For all those involved in training Leaders here is further 'Leadership Gold' (via Leadership Now )

Leadership is the willingness to put oneself at risk.
Leadership is the passion to make a difference with others.
Leadership is being dissatisfied with the current reality.
Leadership is taking responsibility while others are making excuses.
Leadership is seeing the possibilities in a situation while others are seeing the limitations.
Leadership is the readiness to stand out in a crowd.
Leadership is an open mind and an open heart.
Leadership is the ability to submerge your ego for the sake of what is best.
Leadership is evoking in others the capacity to dream.
Leadership is inspiring others with a vision of what they can contribute.
Leadership is the power of one harnessing the power of many.
Leadership is your heart speaking to the hearts of others.
Leadership is the integration of heart, head, and soul.
Leadership is the capacity to care, and in caring, to liberate the ideas, energy, and capacities of others.
Leadership is the dream made reality.
Leadership is above all, courageous

Also see my previous post on this book

The Value of Learning (HRD 2008)

2008-04-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

At last week's HRD conference I was invited to provide a brief case study in support of the presentation on 'The Value of Learning' given by Martyn Sloman of CIPD.

Last year CIPD, in partnership with the University of Portsmouth, undertook a focused project on 'the value of learning'. This resulted in several tools being created - most notably 'Instrument 3: Establishing the most relevant appropach for your organisation'.

The tool defined four approaches to assessing the learning value contribution:

Learning function efficiency measures
Key performance indicators & benchmark measures
Return on investment measures
Return on expectations measures

My key points - from our experiences in introducing a global 'bite-size' training curriculum (of 90 minute skill-boosters) - included:

The tool encourages a systemic, balanced-scorecard approach to evaluating (and more importantly - improving) the value of learning. This ensures consideration of both factors that are important in managing key stakeholders, and those used internally within the L&D team to promote continuous improvement.
For Learning Function Efficiency measures: we have found it helpful to critically appraise the tutor:delegate ratio of courses ... so for 'skill boosters' running classes with a 1:20 ratio (vs. longer classes with a typical 1:12 ratio). Similarly, working in a global organisation seeking to 'leverage scale' ... there is significant benefits to be negotiated via volume discounts on unit costs (where training classes are provided by an external partner).
For Key Performance Indicators: in my experience this is a difficult area to establish 'quantifiable' measures directly correlated with L&D activities - however it does drive consideration of whether the L&D approach is supportive of an appropriate psychological contract with employees. 'Bite Size' classes have proved a popular format in helping colleagues reconcile the tension between wanting to invest in class-based self-development, but also needing to stay focused on delivering on current performance goals.
For Return on Investment measures: I'd suggest that it is probably more rewarding to focus on understanding the extremes (ie why the same class will be highly impactful for some delegates, but not for other colleagues), rather than just measure the 'average' return achieved. Through understanding the enablers & barriers for achieving high business impact attributed to the training class provided, L&D can then act to help more colleagues get more from the course.
For Return on Expectations measures: As highlighted by CIPD, this is probably the most important of the four types of measures. A colleague of mine introduced me to the phrase 'cheque-book & calendar' - to reflect the tangible signs of senior management support. Hence the fact that senior managers have funded & hosted additional 'bite-size' classes within team and focus-week events (ie outside of the core L&D curriculum) can be seen as a clear sign that there is 'satisfaction' with the value of these courses.

---------------------------

From past articles on this blog on L&D metrics - also see: Reflections on ASTD 2007, part #2

---------------------------

PS - HRD was a great opportunity to network with 'old friend' and meet fellow L&D professionals. More reflections on HRD in coming weeks !

Leadership Gold

2008-04-03T12:07:00.000-07:00

Here is the Table of Contents from Leadership Gold the latest book from 'leadership guru' John C. Maxwell.

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Searching for Gold

1. If It's Lonely at the Top, You're Not Doing Something Right
2. The Toughest Person to Lead Is Always Yourself
3. Defining Moments Define Your Leadership
4. When You Get Kicked in the Rear, You Know You're out in Front
5. Never Work a Day in Your Life
6. The Best Leaders Are Listeners
7. Get in the Zone and Stay There
8. A Leader's First Responsibility Is to Define Reality
9. To See How the Leader Is Doing, Look at the People
10. Don't Send Your Ducks to Eagle School
11. Keep Your Mind on the Main Thing
12. Your Biggest Mistake Is Not Asking What Mistake You're Making
13. Don't Manage Your Time-Manage Your Life
14. Keep Learning to Keep Leading
15. Leaders Distinguish Themselves During Tough Times
16. People Quit People, Not Companies
17. Experience Is Not the Best Teacher
18. The Secret to a Good Meeting Is the Meeting Before the Meeting
19. Be a Connector, Not Just a Climber
20. The Choices You Make, Make You
21. Influence Should Be Loaned but Never Given
22. For Everything You Gain, You Give Up Something
23. Those Who Start theJourney with You Seldom Finish with You
24. Few Leaders Are Successful Unless a Lot of People Want Them to Be
25. You Only Get Answers to the Questions You Ask
26. People Will Summarize Your Life in One Sentence-Pick It Now

Conclusion
Notes

With the clarity of the titles to each chapter - and the powerful insights they convey - I wonder if there is any need to read the rest of the book !

Interesting Links (March 2008)

2008-04-01T00:16:00.000-07:00

When the Red Phone Rings: Three Questions to Ask in a Crisis

This recent article from Harvard describes the scenario:

“It’s three a.m. and the phone rings. Who do you want to answer it?”

CEOs receive these early morning calls. Sometimes it's a fire in a factory. Sometimes it's a product recall. Sometimes it's a kidnapped employee being held for ransom in a foreign land. Sometimes it's a senior executive who has gotten himself into trouble.

Be it a president or a corporate executive, the first thing that the leader should do is ask questions. These three questions are recommended:

What is happening?
What is not happening?
What can I do to influence the action or outcome?

Social Networking - CIPD to explore 'can it live up to the hype ?'

2008-03-04T13:12:00.000-08:00

In the latest issue (no. 22) of the CIPD Quarterly Update on CIPD Policy & Research (IMPACT), Martyn Sloman provides information that:

'The CIPD is about to launch a research project exploring the subject of social networking to consider its potential and practical applications in the world of work'

I believe this is a very welcome development for all of us working in HR/L&D !

As Martyn points out:
'social networking means people getting together voluntarily in a community to share information, ideas and swap contacts. There is nothing new about this, nor is there anything new about the idea that some of the resulting outputs could have implications for their work.'

'what is new is that such sharing can take place through the Internet ..... It is beyond dispute that certain activities, which can be included in social networking, have shown exponential growth.'

and

'although the term social networking has caught on, it may be a misnomer. Technological networking may be a better term'

CIPD suggest that there are (at least) four major areas of application, and two consequential implications.

These areas are:

recruitment (to enhance access to potential candidates)
learning (to enhance access to subject matter experts & mentors)
knowledge management (to enhance the sharing and combining of expertise)
colleague engagement (facilitating the 'voice of employees)

Suggested implications include:

to what extent an organisation should control or monitor internet use
protection of the 'brand' of the organisation

I'd suggest that the forthcoming research should also consider:

whether or not, with the globalisation of business, the statement of 'it is who you know, rather than what you know' is increasingly important for both individual and organisational success.
whether or not, these 'social networking' web 2.0 technologies provide skilled networkers with valued time/labour saving tools
whether or not, these 'social networking' web 2.0 technologies provide less skilled networkers with tools that build/accelerate their effectiveness in collaboration capabilities (and thus the implications for L&D !)

I'd also recommend that attention is given, not only to the implications for protecting the 'employer brand', but also to the concept of 'Employee Brand'. With the changing psychological contract (and the lack of 'a-job-for-life'), I feel the research should seek to understand the extent to which individuals want to balance their investment in both intra & inter-organisation networks. The latter being 'portable' between jobs/organisations.

Strategic Learning & Development - 2008 Conference, Amsterdam 21-22 Feb. (3)

2008-03-03T11:21:00.000-08:00

In this my final post relating to the recent Strategic Learning & Development conference, I want to highlight three models/frameworks I found particularly helpful.

Kerry Derry (Director of HR Operations - Coors Brewers) shared the following model as a simple, but very powerful & practical framework for engaging senior line leaders on their own learning.

The model consists of three overlapping circles - representing (i) Self, (ii) Context & (iii) 'Others' - i.e. employees/colleagues - with Leadership being the intersection of these three dimensions.

For me, this highlights the need for a focus on topics such as Emotional Intelligence, Business Acumen, & Interpersonal Skills ... equally: that these Leadership Competencies must be considered in relation to each other !

Nick Shackleton-Jones (Manager, Online and Informal Learning - BBC) described an Online Learning Strategy pyramid. This combines both top-down and bottom-up approaches.

At the top of the pyramid is the 'High End' driven by a top-down approach. This online e-learning is high-cost, involves extended development, and requires high interactivity.

At the bottom of the pyramid are 'Social Learning Technologies'. Wikis, blogs and social networking sites such as Facebook drive online learning from a bottom-up strategy.

In the middle of the pyramid is 'Rapid Development' (typically = Rapid E-Learning). The top-down & bottom-up strategies merge, thanks to the availability of inexpensive tools and templates for rapid content development.

In my view, this helps position the co-existence of these online learning approaches within an integrated strategy that needs to be both deliberate and emergent. It also suggests that the rapid e-learning tools may prove to be very valuable if the top-down and bottom-up strategies can be reconciled (e.g. to position SMEs to create e-learning that is more than just 'automated powerpoint presentations', and thus achieves 'top-down' quality standards)

Finally: Rainer von Leoprechting (Head of Management and Organisation Development - European Commission) provided the Commission's Emergent Learning Agenda.

Professional development of HR Functions
Organisational Development
Action Learning
Promoting 'on-the-job' Training
Learning support as an internal consulting service
Building Communities of Practice to enhance knowledge sharing

I'd suggest that this provides a great checklist for any organisation !

Also see my previous posts on this conference:

Strategic Learning & Development - 2008 Conference, Amsterdam 21-22 Feb. (1)

Strategic Learning & Development - 2008 Conference, Amsterdam 21-22 Feb. (2)

CIPD L&D Survey - Managing expectations 10 years on

2008-02-29T11:38:00.000-08:00

In a recent People Management on-line article - Daniel Wain (who will be speaking at HRD in April) previews some of the finding from the CIPD tenth annual Learning & Development survey.

The article reveals that the results of 1999 survey reads 'like a sneak preview of the latest survey results'.

In 1999:

eighty-one per cent of respondents were reporting training activities explicitly designed to support strategic business objectives
knowledge of business objectives ranked almost as high as knowledge of people management, at 95.4 and 97.8 per cent respectively
skills of organisational development, consultancy and knowledge of business objectives were seen as important for the training manager

While I agree that as a profession we do need to reflect on whether our pace of 'evolution' is sufficient ..... I also feel that the statement: “One senses little real movement over the past decade – worrying given the extraordinary developments that have happened in the wider business and economic world.” misses a key point.

L&D (in the context of HR) is primarily focused on people-management and leadership effectivness.

As expertly highlight by Gary Hamel in his current book - The Future of Management; it is actually the model of management that has had 'little real movement'. This is not just over the past decade, but the last century !

So we do need to keep the Leadership Pipeline flowing ...while (in my view) playing our part in management innovation. For most organizations I suspect that this will continue to be reflected overall as evolution rather than revolution !

PS: I love the 'sound-bite' from Jimmy Naudi, Head of L&D at Christian Aid: "We have to facilitate more, helping people to help themselves, acting as 'a guide on the side' rather than 'a sage on a stage' .."

Interesting Links (February 2008)

2008-02-28T11:46:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting article from the Fast Company on how better training, RSS readers and/or Instant Messaging are being used to turn the tide for those drowning in email.

"Remember when a new email in your inbox was as exciting as the postman dropping off a card from grandma with a $5 bill in it? Those days are over. Now email is a crushing tsunami. The average corporate email account receives 18 MB of mail and attachments each business day, according to the analyst firm Radicati Group; the figure is projected to grow to 28 MB a day by 2011. No wonder there's a fledgling movement afoot to periodically declare "email bankruptcy"--delete all your saved emails and start over. Never fear; less extreme solutions are being implemented by corporations fed up with wasted resources. The results are surprisingly good."

-------------------------------------------------

Can Internal Coaches Be As Effective as Outsiders ?

More insights from GE (via Harvard) - this time relating to their use of internal HR colleagues as executive coaches (for their high potential leaders). The article by Marshall Goldsmith is a quick, insightful read.

-------------------------------------------------

Focusing on sharing Scientific information - the following link is an interesting concept:

SciVee

SciVee is an online science community where scientists can make their research known to their fellow peers as well as the general public. Scientists can create "pubcasts" which are online presentations that allow a scientist to combine their publication with media such as video, audio, images, and text to allow visitors to quickly grasp the key concepts of their publications, as well as an increased chance for citation. Scientists can also form communities around their research/projects/interests and can start discussions or plan events with

Strategic Learning & Development - 2008 Conference, Amsterdam 21-22 Feb. (2)

2008-02-26T11:29:00.000-08:00

Here are a few memorable quotes from this event.

"The difference between learning and not learning is emotion" Nick Shackleton-Jones (BBC)

"Coaching = helping people find their own answers" Karen Daleboudt (ABN AMRO)

"People have to learn to make time to learn" Peter Caeldries (Fujitsu Siemens)

"Be your own chief learning officer" Peter Caeldries (Fujitsu Siemens)

"Engage, Educate, Encourage, and Embed" Kathy Morris (Hays)

also see my earlier post on this conference

"Training", "Learning & Development", "Leadership & Talent" ......or ????

2008-02-25T12:16:00.000-08:00

At the recent Strategic Learning & Development Conference I found myself reflecting on the various titles we use to describe our profession.

While it is widely recognised that most workplace learning occurs outside of formal training - and hence to maximize our impact we need to think broader than 'Training' ... I'm struck by the lack of precision in the phrase 'Learning & Development' ....how does 'Development' differ from 'Learning' ?

It could be argued that we 'develop' the skills, knowledge, & behaviours of others - while learning is undertaken by the individual. Equally, the phrase 'personal development' is widely used.

No doubt, this is also a reason that other terms such as 'Leadership & Talent' are also used

My suggestion is to consider 'Performance & Development'

In my view, this would capture the essence of the outcomes we seek to deliver, namely:

Performance Improvement (learning solutions to address current needs - based on understanding the skill gaps for delivering current business goals)
Development of Talent (learning solutions to position key individuals to be skilled to meet predicted future business needs, and to enhance the adaptive capabilities of the organization)

Maybe one day we will be refered to as P&D Professionals ?!

NOTE: This topic is something that has it's foundations in an earlier post relating to the Ulrich model of HR [interestingly, this has proved to be the most read post on this blog to-date this year]

Strategic Learning & Development - 2008 Conference, Amsterdam 21-22 Feb. (1)

2008-02-24T12:12:00.000-08:00

Having just returned from the above conference - speaking on 'The Role of the Line Manager in Facilitating Workplace Learning' - I'm encouraged and inspired by the various conversations and presentations from fellow L&D professionals.

Firstly - a big thank you to all those with whom I had the pleasure to swap ideas and share stories ! (and share the odd beer or glass of wine).

Here are a few initial reflections:

There are significant similiarities in the challenges we face in L&D across all sectors & countries !
Equally, the business acumen of L&D professionals is impressive ... not only is it a 'given' that L&D services need to be fully aligned with the business strategy of the organization, but there is also clear expertise of applying people-orientated change-management strategies appropriate to the contextual factors of the company.
Current 'Hot topics' include: Outsourcing of L&D services, and collaborative learning via Web 2.0 technologies and understanding the impact of learning.

Successful L&D strategies tend to have the following common features:

Active sponsorship from the senior leadership of the organisation - (to drive organizational change).
Understanding of the need to connect with the emotions of the learners - (since people are choosing to 'reference' vs. retain knowledge as the shelf-life of knowledge dramatically decreases)
Deployment of web-based L&D technologies - (where global solutions are required)
Recognise that you can only outsource the systems that facilitate learning - (not learning itself !)

I'll be returning to the insights from this conference in the coming days/weeks - meanwhile I continue to reflect on the question posed by Nick Shackleton-Jones of the BBC:

"What would a perfect learning environment look like ?"

Learning from Visualization of the Competition

2008-02-19T13:02:00.000-08:00

I expect that 'The Future of Management' by Gary Hamel will be a text that I will continue to refer to on several occasions over the next few months.

I was particularly interested to read how:

In one company, a few enterprising activists built a "hospital" in the corporate training center. In each of ten or so beds, they placed an effigy of a once healthy competitor who was currently struggling for survival. From the end of each gurney hung a "medical" chart outlining the patient's declining financial health and the strategic mis-steps that had landed it in the ICU.

Apparently more than 3000 employees toured the ward, including the company's board of directors ...helping them start a 'conversation' to spur organizational change.

While the identity of the company is not clear, they should be acknowledged for this creative approach to L&D !

The Goal of Learning ?!

2008-02-11T11:10:00.000-08:00

Jay Cross, writing in CLO Magazine writes:

"adapting to one’s surroundings is still the goal of learning"

or to add more context:

"Traditional learning is bursting at the seams because there is always more to learn and unlearn. The amount of knowledge in the world doubles every three years. New discoveries invalidate former truths.

What is learning when knowledge is liquid and any curriculum dies in infancy? We used to learn in order to get along in the environments we take part in. Familiarity with how things worked enabled us to adapt, and adapting to one’s surroundings is still the goal of learning"

thought-provoking stuff (as usual !)

The End of Decision-Making - The Start of Judgment ?

2008-02-10T04:14:00.000-08:00

Anyone involved with Leadership & Management training will probably view 'Decision-making' as a key cabability/competency to be developed.

Consequently, I'd like to suggest that the latest scholarship from Noel Tichy & Warren Bennis should be essential reading for L&D Consultants (and our HR colleagues).

Judgement - How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls provides a wealth of ideas & information.

"With good judgment, little else matters. Without it, nothing else matters"

So how do they define Judgment ?

"It is a contextually informed decision-making process encompassing three domains: people, strategy and crisis. Within each domain, leadership judgments follow a three-phased process: preparation, the call, and execution. Good leadership judgment is supported by contextual knowledge of one's self, social network, organisation and stakeholders."

This succinctly captures the rich framework provided by the book.

The framework is brought to life by reference to stories from the authors work with world-class leaders and organization. As to be expected from Tichy, GE provides many of these insights.

A bonus is provided in the form of a 'Handbook for Leadership Judgment' (co-written by Chris DeRose & Noel Tichy). This provides a comprehensive diagnostic & self-help guide for leaders willing to take the next step in their personal learning of this subject.

If working through this self-directed learning proves too much of a challenge for the reader - I hope readers don't miss the table on page 292 that compares 'Decision-Making' (a single-moment, analytic, top down process) with 'Judgment' (a dynamic unfolding process, balancing rational & emotional influences, where execution influences how judgments are reshaped).

... and maybe in a few years time the lasting legacy of this work will be the replacing of 'Decision-Making' with 'Judgment' in lists of Leadership Capabilities !

[NB: to see further reviews of this book, you may find it helpful go to the US Amazon site]

Implementation 2.0

2008-02-04T12:47:00.000-08:00

Here is a great article from Jay Cross, writing in Learning Circuits on the the human side of implementing and sustaining collaborative networks.

In parallel, there are currently various articles being published by Gary Hamel in support of his latest book 'The Future of Management'.

Together, I'd suggest they provide solid foundations of guidance for L&D Professionals seeking to impact the application of Enterprise 2.0 in their organisations.

There is currently a significant gap between the early adopters of Web 2.0 collaboration technologies in the workplace - and the majority of the workforce. The fact that the typical worker is drowing under a sea of email communications, but still not grabbing RSS, IM, Wikis, TAGs etc from the hands of IT, illustrates how difficult it is to effect widespread change management.
[Those less familiar with these challenges may want to read the excellent 'Change or Die' article from The Fast Company].

I'd suggest that through our expert understanding of the levers of change-management, HR/L&D/OD professionals have a real opportunity to accelerate the bridging of this gap in their organisations ...... but only if we as a profession buy into, and share the vision of Enterprise 2.0 held by the early adopters !

Equally, we need to revisit the traditional mix of management training and development championed by HR/L&D/OD.

Hamel makes the case that companies need to innovate management practices to better cope with and thrive in a business landscape market by fundamental technology change and globalization. Hence, traditional management models will not enable businesses to adequately respond to future competitive forces.

A key point that Hamel makes is the need for practical 'experimentation' to find new, innovative management models. Management training on 'Collaboration' and 'Innovation' should probably be high up on the agenda to support this ?!

Thoughts ?

Interesting Links (January 2008)

2008-01-30T09:43:00.000-08:00

As attention focused on annual SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant & Time-based) goal setting - Jon Ingham suggests an alternative framework (particularly for knowledge workers) - MUSIC

Motivational: focused on what would truly inspire the individual to go beyond simply doing his or her job.

Unusual: good performance management systems already stress that performance management objectives should not focus on part of the day jobs, but should reflect new or increased responsibilities or requirements. In performance leadership, we may need to extend this further to ensure that each individual is set objectives that are different to other peoples' or what they have done before.

Sensory: one of the reasons that SMART objectives have been quite useful is that they extend the pyschological priming effect that simply having a clear set of goals provides (just having goals can sometimes be all that is needed to make them happen as the brain starts to unconsciously guide action towards their achievement). But this is even more effective when the goals are supported by thinking about the sensory evidence that would come with their achievement (NLP practitioners will know what I'm talking about here).

Individual: I've already said that goals should be unusual, and it is their focus on each individual, their own particulaly skills, motivations and interests, that provides this.

Congruent: This isn't about people going AWOL, goals still need to relate to the business plan, but they come from the individual and the individual's insight into how they might play the greatest role in delivering the business strategy, than from a piece of paper produced by people at the top of the organisation who don't know the details about what people lower down the organisation do

...could be helpful to re-energise those who have been hearing about SMART for the past decade ?!

===========================================

Here is a website focused on Talent Management that was recently brought to my attention - from a quick scan there are some interesting articles for HR/L&D colleagues posted here !

===========================================

Harvard Business School - Working Knowledge start 2008 with an interesting article on 'Does Judgment Trump Experience' providing an executive summary of the current scholarship from Warren Bennis and Noel Tichy.

..... the authors have undertaken the formidable task of describing judgment and how good judgments are formed and carried out, based on observations of successful and unsuccessful leaders. They assert that "making judgment calls (especially about people, strategy, and crises) is the essential job of a leader" and go on to say that "with good judgment, little else matters; without good judgment, nothing else matters."

===========================================

Many folk provide predictions on the direction of L&D in 2008 - here is one such thought-prokoving article:

"We believe the bigger business issues relating to boomers leaving the workforce is how we will continue to get access to talent and how we will manage that talent. The transformation to a global workforce is already under way. Companies are solving the talent access problem by going global and getting skilled labor wherever it is available. Collaboration and telecommunications technologies allow us to have employees anywhere in the world. So, how do we recruit and train employees in a global workforce? This is the challenge facing the training industry."

===========================================

For L&D colleagues - the following link provides a helpful glossary of terms relating to e-learning

Innovation Health Check: Assessing Your Organization’s Capacity for Breakthrough Thinking (White Paper)

2008-01-23T12:01:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting white-paper from the KT (Kepner-Tregoe) Review
Subscribe to the KT Review

Innovation Health Check: Assessing Your Organization’s Capacity for Breakthrough Thinking by Alan P. Brache, Executive Director, Business Solutions Kepner-Tregoe, Inc.

Diagnose your organization’s innovation environment. By looking at nine key factors, you can diagnose how your organization supports or hinders innovation. Your organization’s capacity for breakthrough thinking is influenced by your strategy, business processes, structure and other variables. By examining these and other key areas, you have the equivalent of a comprehensive physical exam that focuses on your innovation health. Read this article

...one of the other variables is 'Human Capabilities': 'A clear strategy, well-wired workflows, and on-target measures will not compensate for an absence of innovation's raw material: talent'.

The author then expands on the importance of both hiring & development to build this 'raw material' !

For me this article does a good job at identifying a set of key questions relating to assessing Organizational Capability for Innovation - clearly positioning the need to focus on Human Capabilities within this broader context.

People Styles at Work (book review)

2008-01-18T08:41:00.000-08:00

I recently read People Styles at Work by Robert & Dorothy Bolton.

This is not a new publication - rather it is the text that supports our basic Interpersonal Skills training in the US.

[this model seems to have attracted more interest in the US than the UK ... and while not particularly robust evidence - it is interesting to see that the US Amazon.com site carries customer reviews of the book, while in the UK they await the first review to be added !]

People Styles (also referred to as The Social Styles Model') was developed ca. 40 years ago by Dr. David Merrill (an industrial psychologist).

'A person's style is his or her pattern of assertive and responsive behavior. The pattern is useful in predicting how the person prefers to work with others.'

While most models of 'psychological types' can be traced back to the foundational work of Carl Jung, the differentiating factor claimed for Social Styles is that it focuses on differences between people's outer behaviours rather than differences in their inner states.

As the quote above highlights - the model (as used by Bolton & Bolton) suggests that this can be focused down to just two dimensions of ASSERTIVENESS and RESPONSIVENESS. Consequently, the Behavioral Inventory (Questionnaire) is a very simple self assessment comprising of 9 questions on each dimension. From this the reader can identify their style as either:

ANALYTICAL (less assertive, less responsive)
DRIVER (more assertive, less responsive )
AMIABLE (less assertive, more responsive)
EXPRESSIVE (more assertive, more responsive)

As with other tools such as MBTI there is no 'best' style. Each style has characteristic strengths and weaknesses not shared by the other styles.

As the authors state:

'Whether at work or at home, success and happiness involve relating to others across a chasm of significant behavioural differences. Clearly, if you could figure out how to bridge the gap between yourself and others, you could make your own life - and theirs - much easier, happier, and more productive. That in a nutshell is what this book is about.'

In my view, the authors do a good job in clearly communicating the model, and helping the reader understand some key concepts, such as:

how the specific 'Strengths' for each style become specific 'Weaknesses' when overused
the different 'Back-up Styles' that tend to emerge in response to excessive stress (typically these behaviours becoming more extreme and inflexible)

The first part of the book focuses on promoting understand of the model and these core concepts. The second part of the book provides clear, step-by-step advice on how to flex your style ('as the key to productive relationships').

In summary, a book of this nature will naturally draw critique of both the author's structuring of information and the model itself. Bolton & Bolton have created a practical and accessible handbook for the Social Styles (People Styles) Model. The value for the reader will however depend on the level of prior exposure to psychological types and related work used in the workplace (be it MBTI, DISC, FIRO, Transactional Analysis, etc). The simplicity of Social Styles provides a helpful starting point to help colleagues understand that not everyone sees the world from the same frame-of-reference as they do ! (ie to build so-called Emotional Intelligence)

As the authors quote:

'The ability to relate well to people has become a critical factor for success in nearly every position in the modern organization'

Speed Lead (Book Review)

2008-01-12T07:41:00.000-08:00

I recently received a copy of the book Speed Lead by Kevan Hall (http://www.speedleading.com/).

This is cited as ‘The practical antidote to corporate complexity’. Hall is the founder & CEO of Global Integration Ltd (http://www.global-integration.com/) . Hence this book incorporates the experience of ‘consulting and training more than 35,000 people in over 200 of the world’s leading companies in 40+ countries.’

The book explores four areas where simpler ways of working can speed up results:
Ø Cooperation
Ø Communication
Ø Control
Ø Community

The over-riding message in each of these areas is one of needing to ‘unlearn traditional management skills’. This includes:

Ø ‘deciding when not to be a team’
Ø ‘helping people communicate less’
Ø manager success linked to giving up control, and
Ø avoiding ‘too much investment in the wrong types of community’

‘We came to realise that the traditional line management skills that had made us successful early in our careers were holding us back in a more complex world. We learnt new skills ourselves and by working with hundreds of real teams, we evolved different ways of working to reduce and cope with complexity’

The book is indeed a collection of practical ‘common-sense’ (but often not ‘common practice’) advice, and the author highlights that ‘all of the value is in the implementation – it’s not what you know that counts in management, it’s what you do’.

Memorable descriptors and metaphors bring the concepts to life. In the chapter on Coordination, Hall talks about ‘spaghetti teams’ to illustrate the complexity of co-ordinating interconnected work involving eight or more colleagues. This complexity slows down co-ordination, vs. organising work using ‘star groups’ (in situations where interconnectivity of issues can be minimised).

For those seeking ideas relating to promoting increased empowerment within their organisation, the chapters on Control will be interesting reading. A powerful metaphor is offered for ‘breaking the chains of command’.

‘We use the metaphor of a waterline in working with teams to get them to diagnose the balance of control and autonomy that is right for them.’

On ships the waterline represents a clear point at which risk increases. This is variable depending on the conditions, for example: if the cargo is particularly heavy, or the weather becomes much rougher. Hence the point is made that ‘it is even more important to lower the waterline when you can than to raise it when you must.’

The section on Community covers several themes, particularly the balance of ‘loyalty to the centre’ vs. ‘loyalty to the local’; and also the impact of working with a mix of cultural values. Hall emphasizes that ‘understanding that community is different in complex companies can help you stop investing in unnecessary community and focus your time and effort on where it really adds value’.

My main criticism of the text is the narrow focus of the ideas explored in the section on Communication. In my view Hall rightly emphasizes communication as a ‘major time stealer’. As he states:

‘Communication technology has massively amplified our ability to miscommunicate and given us the ability to confuse far larger groups of people in more varied locations. Its immediacy also makes it too easy to fall into the trap of micro-management.’

Unfortunately the book focuses almost exclusively on achieving an appropriate balance between e-mail, phone and face-to-face communications. No mention is made of Web 2.0 technologies – and the speed advantages of appropriately using blogs, wikis, RSS readers etc. in workplace communications.

Given the breadth of advice being provided, I anticipate that all managers will find new ideas to implement within their organisations. The topic of ‘Speed’ is highly relevant in today’s workplace and the concepts presented are highly practical. The book describes the learning journey of the Global Integration Ltd consultants in their unlearning of (over-emphasising) traditional management skills to better cope with the complexity of modern multi-site companies. Consequently, this book will be particularly helpful for challenging the assumptions of leaders who have also relied on a mix of command and team-working in the past.

The Role of the Line Manager in Facilitating Workplace Learning - Part 4 (of 4)

2008-01-07T01:14:00.000-08:00

This post concludes my thoughts I'm pulling together ahead of a forthcoming presentation later in the year.

The Role of the Line Manager in Facilitating Workplace Learning - Part 1

The Role of the Line Manager in Facilitating Workplace Learning - Part 2

The Role of the Line Manager in Facilitating Workplace Learning - Part 3

In this section I consider the implications of a learner-centric focus for managers.

CIPD (and others) cite a move from 'training' (an instructor-led content based intervention, leading to desired changes in behaviour) to 'learning' (a self-directed, work-based process leading to increased adaptive capacity).

In the CIPD model (see A Worthwhile Read ) they cite that the implications include:

For the Employer - 'expresses clear commitment to learning as a business driver and ensures that sufficient resources are available'

For the Line Manager - 'Initiates opportunities for individuals to develop and apply their learning at work. Provides on-the-job coaching'

In my view this is a desirable direction for L&D - but needs to be explained further (to these stakeholders) in order to gain the required commitment.

Keeping things simple - I see two main areas driving this change from 'training' to 'learning'

Firstly - the changing psychological contract (or put simply without HR-speak ... the fact that organisations no longer can realistically offer 'a job-for-life').

Secondly - the proliferation of collaboration tools (typically described as Enterprise 2.0 ... Web 2.0 tools in the workplace)

The Changing Psychological Contract:
While organisations can no longer offer a job-for-life, in my view they should strive to keep employees 'employable' ..be it for future roles inside or external to the organisation. This may be viewed as promoting 'a career for life' rather than 'a job for life'.

Organisations can take a lead here - through line manager coaching and the strategic focus of L&D - providing employees with better insights of how they learn (e.g. learning styles), and why they should learn (eg Schein's career anchors). They can also illustrate best practices through sharing inspirational stories of colleagues (or external folk) who have actively managed their own careers.

The Proliferation of Collaboration Tools
Jay Cross provides some great sound-bites on this topic, including:

'In a knowledge era, work & learning become synonymous - and knowledge workers are becoming self-service learners.

....conversation is the most potent educational technology known to man, and Web 2.0 amplifies our conversations'

Hence to thrive on Web 2.0 an employee must be able to:

navigate the web to find people and information
collaborate
express him/herself
connect with other people
be a productive contributor to groups

There are many consequences for the line manager - not least to build up sufficient personal knowledge of this area to be an enabler rather than barrier to help coach their reports to fully utilise these tools within the workplace.

Thoughts ?!

Finally:

'In times of change the learner shall inherit the earth, while the learned will be equiped for a world that no longer exists' (James Thurber - humorist)

The Role of the Line Manager in Facilitating Workplace Learning - Part 3

2008-01-03T12:26:00.000-08:00

This post follows on from:

The Role of the Line Manager in Facilitating Workplace Learning - Part 1

The Role of the Line Manager in Facilitating Workplace Learning - Part 2

I have been asked to give a presentation on the above title at an international L&D Conference later in the year.

Consequently, I've started to pull together my initial thoughts on this topic. I plan to use this blog as a mechanism to help pull these ideas together, and (hopefully) to get some feedback from others reading this emergent 'presentation'.

In this part I examine the opportunities for L&D professionals to help to develop the coaching ability of managers

... on the basis that this is a core skill that can be developed through training, and can help managers be more effective at employee development (leading to significantly higher performance).

Using the PDCA cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act) - this can be helpful to illustrate the integration of training into a broader learning 'loop' of improvement.

PLAN: I believe there is value in championing common coaching frameworks - to be taught systematically to all new people managers. This is actually more important than searching for the 'ultimate' coaching model. Through creating a common language there is greater opportunity for both peer-to-peer, and manager-to-report support (especially in global organisations with ever shifting reporting relationships)

DO: As well as training, consider the opportunities for skills-practice that extend beyond any brief opportunities obtained through role-play in-the-classroom. Company supported mentoring schemes can be a great vehicle for this !

CHECK: Regular monitoring & feedback to managers is critical to maintain a focus (recognise & reward success) on achieving the desired outcomes from applying the coaching skills. Consider the use of regular colleague engagement surveys - that typically explore the extent to which colleagues feel their managers have supported their development in recent months.

ACT: Provide options to go beyond the initial intervention & reinforcement ...so that individuals/departments can act on the data from monitoring. This may take the form of a second 'tier' of training opportunities ...where it may be appropriate to help delegates better understand 'when not to use a coaching style' rather than 'more of the same'.

the final part will consider the implications for managers of an increased self-directed learner-centric focus - created due to shifts in the psychological contract (no longer the expectation of 'a job-for-life'), and enabled by new 'Knowledge Management' technologies.

Predictions for 2008

2008-01-01T08:22:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year !

Given that it is traditional at this time to make predictions for the forthcoming 12 months - here are mine relating to the L&D Profession.

Firstly - I see 2008 as the year when Web 2.0 tools will start to be integrated into mainstream L&D. Currently I see a massive gap between the knowledge of the early adopters of Web 2.0 technologies and the vast majority of L&D/HR colleagues (and other colleagues in our organisations). For example: just do a quick straw poll on how many colleagues know what an RSS reader is, and how it can improve workplace productivity. In 2007, we started to see the occasional article in CIPD, ASTD and similiar L&D publications ...in 2008 I hope the discussion will increase.

From increased awareness, I anticipate we (as the L&D profession) will start to identify the most beneficial tools for enhanced 'blended' learning (blended - both in the sense of (i) instructor led & 'e-learning'; and also (ii) L&D influenced & manager-influenced workplace learning).

Secondly - given the anticipated ecomonic 'slowdown', I anticipate that 2008 will further differentiate between organisations that see L&D as an investment to navigate the difficult operating climate, and those who dont make this a strategic priority (and hence impose significant financial cuts to L&D activities).

Many L&D professionals are already well skilled in driving value-for-money - through solid management of training services procurement (e.g. leverage of volume discounts with third party vendors), attendance (e.g. ensuring classes run full) and metrics (e.g. demonstrating to line managers their role in securing lasting behavioural change)

I'd anticipate these skills will be ever more important (as well as those more traditionally associated with our profession - e.g. instructional design, learning needs analysis, facilitation).

Thirdly - I see 2008 as a year of increased merging of roles & responsibilities in our HR profession. In 2007 there seemed to be an increasing number of articles highlighting the limitations of the Ulrich model - and the dangers of L&D being a silo (or even separate profession).

The need for the L&D profession to look beyond 'training' to ensure effective workplace learning, and the need for HR business partners to engage (ever more impactfully) with business leaders on both performance management & talent management/development, should help bring HR more closely together.

Hence, for L&D professionals, we need to expertly understand 'Performance Management' and 'Talent Management' strategies, tools & current best practices.

....only the next 12 months will tell !

The Role of the Line Manager in Facilitating Workplace Learning - Part 2

2007-12-21T11:35:00.000-08:00

What are the additional skills your department needs to deliver the business goals ?

For me this links to 'Talent Management' - and the opportunity to add value by ask some searching questions during the diagnosis of Learning Needs. I'd suggest that it is important to consider a 'portfolio' of outcomes aligned to both the short & long-term business strategy; based on:

Performance Improvement (knowledge/skill/behaviour improvements required to address current needs)
Structured Development (to meet predicted future needs - eg the concept of a leadership pipeline 'flow' of people from induction to retirement)
Adaptive Development (to enhance the adaptive capabilities of the organisation to help 'buffer' against the unpredictable aspects of the future - eg learning through skunk works, MBAs etc, and training in innovation processes/tools)

What actions will help to ensure colleagues understand their individual development needs ?

I'd suggest that this links to 'Performance Management'. This starts with Line Managers being knowledgeable in the business strategy & the talent gaps ...and being able to translate this from an overall business line view to actions required from groups of individuals.

Hence - I'd recommend that L&D (with HR colleagues) consider the depth and breadth of competency line managers demonstrate in operating the organisation's performance management process (eg setting/managing of SMART individual performance goals) ...and if necessary L&D should work with senior leaders to introduce required training/support on this topic for line managers

What can you do to help colleagues appropriately blend training with outher development activities ?

This links to the very essence of the theme of this blog ... and whether the profession is viewed as 'training providers' or 'learning consultants'. Two key actions are:

Education of key stakeholders on the extra 'value-add' that the function can provide in such an extended role (arguably this starts with HR colleagues !). I'd suggest it is an easy sell that 'workplace learning' is much wider than taking training course (eg based on the distribution of time between on-the-job and off-the-job activities) ...what is a harder sell is that it should be the L&D profession taking the lead in this space.
Education has to be supported by the L&D profession investing in our own development to extend our understanding of these associated areas - eg executive coaching, secondment best-practices, initiating action-learning sets (as well as leverage of Web 2.0 collaboration tools :) )

What will you do to ensure colleagues appreciate the importance of building the required skills ?

This links to the above comments on Performance Management. Beyond the translation of strategy into individual goals, it is necessary for colleagues need to understand (from their line manager) how by investing time/energy in addressing these needs it will be to their advantage (ie - 'What's in it for me ?').

In my experience, managers can sometimes seek to avoid the required 'courageous conversations' when things are not hitting the mark. Hence it may be necessary that 'Performance Management' training of Line Managers also focused on skills practice to ensure the 'reward & recognition' processes of the organisation are applied fairly to encourage the right investment of time/energy (and implement the negative consequences to be expected from inappropriate performance).

There is also the opportunity for enhancing the coaching skills of managers to support this (and the previous) objective ...this is something I will expand on specifically in Part 3 (a future post)

What opportunities can you provide to ensure colleagues put the newly acquired skills into practice ?

Most training works for some, but not all delegates. Hence, rather than simply assess the 'average' impact - there can be significant merit in L&D seeking to understand the factors that make the difference between the same training class being considered 'highly effective' by some, and of 'limited impact' by others. Brinkerhoff has written some interesting articles on this methodology. For more info on this see: Reflections on ASTD 2007, part #2.

Where the evidence supports it, this data from L&D can be used to emphasise the need for line managers to focus on this area (eg by always having follow-up conversations when their direct reports return from training)

Interestingly in a recent study I conducted of a curriculum of open-enrolment 'bite-sized' instructor-led learning - it was actually those who found the training effective that cited 'Lack of follow up discussion and coaching from my manager' as the main barrier (those who found it had limited impact ...albeit they had good retention of the key concepts taught...cited 'Lack of alignment between the course description and the actual experience' as the main barrier ?!)

What learning can be identified from the actions taken & how will these be implemented in your department ?

Does the organisatioon have a culture of continuous improvement ? ...knowledge of 6-sigma etc.. If not, I'd suggest there is an opportunity for L&D (or Organisational Development - OD - Professionals) to influence building a culture of continuous improvement (eg with regular after-action reviews) ..and in doing so ensuring this impacts how the line uses learning strategically.

feedback welcome !

In Part 3 I plan to focus on 'Developing the coaching ability of managers' and then ending with Part 4 - focused on 'Implications of a learner-centric focus for managers'

Leaders in London

2007-12-12T13:19:00.000-08:00

I recently received a summary of 'sound-bites' from some of the high-profile presenters at this year's Leaders in London conference

These are the ones that particularly caught my attention:

RENÉ CARAYOL: Management vs Leadership

"If management is what we do, leadership is how we feel."

"Managers talk strategy. Leaders tell stories."

EDWARD DE BONO: On which comes first, ideas or data?

"I was in the desert and our guide was explaining the spikes on the local cacti. 'It's so they don't get eaten,' he said. 'No, it's not,' I said. 'The spikes help keep the air around the plant still, to minimise evaporation.' Everyone thinks it's to stop animals eating them. They looked at the data and came up with the idea. And that became the received wisdom. In fact, it's the wrong idea. Many organizations believe that if they collect enough data in their computers that will set their strategy for them. In fact, unless you see the data in different ways, you will be stuck with the same old notions."

MARCUS BUCKINGHAM: There's no such thing as corporate culture

"There is no great company culture, so stop looking for it. The best you can say about a great company is that it is the accumulation of lots of great teams. Culture varies enormously within large organizations."

Individual Performance ....

2007-12-12T13:15:00.000-08:00

Individual Performance is a combination of:

Ability
Motivation
Opportunity

from a model by Appelbaum et al

The Role of the Line Manager in Facilitating Workplace Learning - Part 1

2007-12-12T12:44:00.000-08:00

I have been asked to give a presentation on the above title at an international L&D Conference in the new year.

Consequently, I've started to pull together my initial thoughts on this topic. I plan to use this blog as a mechanism to help pull these ideas together, and (hopefully) to get some feedback from others reading this emergent 'presentation'.

So - Why focus on the role of the Line Manager ?

Firstly: the Corporate Executive Board has some powerful data on 'What a difference a (great) manager makes'. In summary: they illustrate that 'employees whose managers are the most effective at employee development perform up to 25% higher'.

The 25% is cites as a combination of both the directly attributable impact (16%) and the effects of enhanced engagement (9%).

Secondly: the 70:20:10 ratio is widely held as a good illustration of the relative % influence of 'on-the-job':'coaching':'training courses' in workplace learning. Hence, 90% (if not more) of the opportunites to directly influence learning rests not with the L&D professional, but with those managing the colleague.

So as discussed by Martyn Sloman of CIPD and others - the opportunity for L&D professionals is to influence the day-to-day action of managers.

So - What L&D related actions do we require of Line Managers ?

In considering what are the actions we (L&D) want to see line managers embrace - I'd suggest this can be put bluntly as 'developing colleagues is not just about sending them to appropriate training courses'

More constructively - I offer the following SIX questions as a framework for Line Manager action.

What are the additional skills your department needs to deliver the business goals ?
What actions will help to ensure colleagues understand their individual development needs ?
What can you do to help colleagues appropriately blend training with outher development activities ?
What will you do to ensure colleagues appreciate the importance of building the required skills ?
What opportunities can you provide to ensure colleagues put the newly acquired skills into practice ?
What learning can be identified from the actions taken & how will these be implemented in your department ?

Please let me know your thoughts on the above framework

The Three Signs of a Miserable Job - another management fable

2007-11-15T04:29:00.000-08:00

I've recently read the latest fable from Patrick Lencioni called 'The Three Signs of a Miserable Job'

For anyone looking for a simple, action-orientated & highly focused alternative to the Gallup Q12 scholarship on Colleague Engagement - I'd recommend reading this book.

The model is very simple - Lencioni advocates that:

Anonymity
Irrelevance
Immeasurement

are the three fundamental factors that drive job dissatisfaction (whether you are a CEO or cleaner).

For more details see: www.miserablejob.com

Clearly, the story-telling style of fables don't resonate with all leaders (especially when the core message is very simplistic) - but anyone considering training interventions relating to building colleague engagement may want to, at very least, add this to the recommended pre/post training reading list.

Use of Actors in Learning Events

2007-10-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

The following HR Zone Article provides a good summary of the role Actors & Forum Theatre can play in delivering engaging training & learning events.

In my experience, this approach is more widely understood and deployed in the UK than the US.

As the article highlights - the costs of using actors for 1:1 role-play are high (and can often be replaced adequately by other participants on the training course, playing the 'other' role).

I'm a fan of the (most cost effective) forum theatre approach - where scenarios can be played out based on the suggested words offered by the training class delegates (e.g. what are the actual words you would us if, as the manager, you are faced with this situation ....). Not only can this approach demonstrate different reactions you can get to the same approach (for those managers who don't vary their style depending on both the situation and person involved !), but also the scenarios can be 're-played' allowing the delegates to learn rapidly by trial and error.

Another 'First 90 Days' Text

2007-10-21T12:23:00.000-07:00

Peter Fischer has recently written a book called The New Boss

Why is this of interest ? - well many L&D Curriculum focus on providing support at 'transition' points (building from the framework of The Leadership Pipeline by Charan et al).

For me (and others) the key text for building further on the work of Charan is The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins. Hence, it is interesting to reflect on whether this new book offers further insights (for future inclusion into Leadership training courses).

According to Fischer, there are seven building blocks to creating a successful leadership change:

Managing Expectations Proactively
Developing Key Relationships
Constructively Analysing the Initial Situation
Establishing a Set of Motivating Goals
Fostering a Positive Climate for Change
Initiating Changes Effectively, &
Using Symbols & Rituals

Clearly there are significant overlaps with the ideas of Watkins - a rough (and simplistic) mapping could be:

Managing Expectations Proactively = Negotiate Success
Developing Key Relationships = Create Coalitions
Constructively Analysing the Initial Situation = Match Strategy to Situation
Establishing a Set of Motivating Goals = Build Your Team
Fostering a Positive Climate for Change = Secure Early Wins
Initiating Changes Effectively, = Expedite Everyone
Using Symbols & Rituals = Achieve Alignment

Hence, at least in these simplistics terms of comparision - Watkins apears to place more emphasis on self - with advice such as 'promote yourself', 'accelerate your learning' & 'keep your balance'.

Equally, Fischer helpfully provides a richer focus on communications - specifically highlighting the 'use of symbols and rituals'.

Symbolic management is the skillful and consistent combination of symbols and rituals into a convincing message. This is why it is important to ensure that what you say is consistent with how you behave. It is a symbolic expression of a different management style

..... an area worthy of further discussion within a 'new leader' training class ?!

'Excellence in HR 2007'

2007-10-01T13:10:00.000-07:00

The following link: http://www.business100.tv/ provides some interesting links to videoclips exploring the subject of Excellence in HR

I've yet to view them all - but Peter Cook of Hyman Dynamics does a great job in showcasing themes from his recent book 'Sex, Leadership & Rock'n'Roll'

Peter draws on the metaphors of:

Sex = focus on relationships [e.g. Collaboration Skills, Communication Skills]
Drugs = motivation [e.g. Colleague Engagement Skills, Change Management]
Rock'n'Roll = performance & delivery [e.g. Performance Management Skills, Innovation]

not a bad starting point for a robust leadership training curriculum !

NB: if you get time to explore other clips - please add comments here on their key take-home messages

Web 2.0 vs. Enterprise 2.0

2007-09-21T09:12:00.000-07:00

Up to now I have been using these terms interchangeably - however a posting on our intranet has helped me realise that the differences are significant (and extend beyond the obvious - namely that Enterprise 2.0 is use of Web 2.0 tools in the workplace).

"Both Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 use the same tools, but the environments they are used in are very different.

In Web 2.0 there are millions of users based in a flat organisational structure where a culture of sharing predominates. In Enterprise 2.0 we have hundreds/thousands of users in a hierarchical structure where a culture of hording predominates. " [Gardner]

Consequently, while a lot can be achieved at a 'grass roots' level, moving blogging etc to the mainstream of internal workplace communications (and learning !) is unlikely to occur without significant top-down support.

So what are the implications for Learning & Development ?

I'm struck by the similiarity with the need for Senior Leader sponsorship to embed learning (as we know - even the best designed training will fail to change behaviours of the majority of delegates without it !)

... helping early adopters build such sponsorship is something that could be in our own interests (assuming we believe blogs etc drive reflection & informal learning)

...time to start building stakeholder maps, engagement strategies etc !?

Organizational Circulatory Systems

2007-09-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

I recently read an interesting article from the related field of Organisational Development (so hopefully this is relevant to L&D Professionals - looking beyond training to influence learning processes).

Art Kleiner writing in the OD Practioner (Vol 39, No 3 2007) [paper copy - so sorry no link here] present a paper on 'Organizational Circulatory Systems.

While I cannot do justice to the whole article in a short blog posting - the comparison made between current management science and previous state of natural science understanding is thought-provoking.

This work citing Elliot Jaques state "Management is in the same state today that the natural sciences were in before the discovery of the circulation of the blood". In brief the argument is that OD practioners base interventions primarily on practical experience from trial & error - rather than there being suffient depth of theory to underpin action [OD practioners please don't shoot the messenger here !]

As we know from human physiology - the human body relies on a set of complementary communication channels (both electrical - via nerves, and chemical - via the bloodstream) to coordinate cells across large distances.

So the argument made, is that we should focus further on characterizing the communication channels of organizations. Then in OD interventions, we should use this knowledge to influence interventions (akin to how modern medicine influences the body's electrical & chemical pathways).

FOUR 'Organizational Circulatory Systems' are suggested:

Hierarchy (flow of authority)
Network (flow of knowledge)
Market (flow of work)
Clan (flow of allegiance)

Given the power of Web 2.0 tools in influencing all forms of communication flows (e.g. leader blogs [Hierarchy], project team wikis [Network], social bookmarking [Clan]) - maybe this points to the impact OD (& L&D) practioners can contribute if our profession invests the time to understand these tools.

Thinking of Banning Facebook - Time to Focus on Performance Management Training ?

2007-09-13T13:18:00.000-07:00

The following link provides a great summary of the case against trying to ban Facebook (or any other tool that can be used to waste time at work)

interesting site (strong language) - http://flipchartfairytales.wordpress.com/2007/09/05/facebook-and-crap-managers/

For corporate L&D Professionals - maybe our take-away from this should be to reflect on how robust are the 'performance management' training and support tools provided to the workforce !

So what differentiates L&D Consultants ?!

2007-09-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

The increasing focus on 'Learning' rather than 'Training', by definition blurs the boundaries of what is the role of the L&D Professional, vs. other HR roles such as:

Organisational Effectiveness Consultants
Business Partners ('Client Consultants)
Diversity & Inclusion Consultants
Talent Management Consultants
Change Management Consultants

This raise the question, as to what is at the core of a L&D Consultancy Role (and hence what differentiates L&D from these other associated roles).

In recent discussions I have participated in, it was suggested that:

L&D Consultants need to be able to translate organisational performance & development needs into skills, knowledge and behaviours to be learnt by the individuals involved.

does this work for you ?

"Blogs are no fad ..."

2007-09-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

I recently read 'The Corporate Blogging Book' by Debbie Weil http://www.thecorporatebloggingbook.com

I found this to be a solid text - if somewhat focused too much on the role of blogging for external communications for my own interests.

Personally, it would have been good to hear more about the use of blogging 'behind the corporate firewall' . Also from the L&D frame-of-reference - it would be good to hear more about how powerful blogging becomes as a tool for reflection and learning at the CxO level.

However, one memorable quote in the book is:

"Blogs are no fad. they are cheap and easy to do. And blogs fulfil that deepest of human needs as defined by psychologist Abraham Maslow: self-actualization. People write blogs because they want to know themselves and want to be known by others and because they want their lives to count. "

Rich Karlgaard, Forbes, Dec 26, 2005 (cited on page 148 of Debbie Weil's book)

It would be interesting to know if this is a widely held aim of those blogging - and how successful this approach is at contributing to a feeling of self-actualization (is the evidence out there ?)

Simulations, Games & Case Studies - Clarifying Learning Outcomes

2007-09-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

Simulations, Case Studies & 'Games' provide interactive approaches to achieve workplace learning. However, I'd suggest that it is easy to lose focus on the learning objectives being sought - as the design team get drawn into the game play and scenario writing.

With this in mind, I'd offer the potential value of drawing comparisons with training in professional team sports, such as football (ie soccer for those reading this in the US).

[ albeit in the workplace, most learning is on-the-job, and off-the-job training is a small % of overall time - professional team sports is mostly off-the-job training and (possibly) 90 minutes on-the-job on a saturday afternoon ! ]

So is the Simulation, Case Study or Game designed to:

build individual skill & knowledge - e.g. improve decision-making skills by facing a number of simulated business decisions and comparing the answers given to model 'expert' answers (or actual actions taken in historical case studies)
build fitness & stamina - e.g. improving decision-making productivity by learning to cope with data overload (the 'old in-tray' exercise)
rehearse set-plays (free kicks, penalties etc..) - e.g. improving stakeholder buy-in of decision-making by repeated testing of playing out the likely reactions to a range of options
act as a pre-season friendly - e.g. improving co-ordination of decision-making via generating practical understanding of how different individuals/departments need to combine together to collectively identify and process the data required.

Typically these build together - until it is all put together in the 'pre-season friendly'

However, in the workplace ...I'd suggest there can be a temptation to go straight to the full practice simulation !

Thoughts ?

Web 2.0 - What are the broader implications for HR ?

2007-09-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

Further to my recent reflection on 'the first 90 days' of blogging, I have also been considering what the wider implications of these technologies may have for the HR profession.

While this may not be directly relevant for those in Learning & Development - indeed much of the discussion on Facebook, LinkedIn etc. within the members forums of the UK CIPD websites are listed under 'Employee Relations' - it may emerge that L&D professional with their awareness of Knowledge Management, blogs, alumni networks etc.. are indeed well placed to partner with others in HR on this topic.

I can see three areas that drive the rationale for HR to 'get involved' in the Web 2.0 in the Workplace debate:

The emerging value of the Web 2.0 tools in the workplace - especially in industries where collaboration is essential between the different job roles, and/or between locations. Given the need for HR to align with & support the business strategy, as Web 2.0 becomes part of that business strategy, it is important that the HR profession keep up with these changes.
The 'psychological contract' will be influenced by the policies and guidelines organisations deploy in enabling/resticting social networking etc in the workplace. We see this currently in the UK media re access allowed/restricted to Facebook. While this is no different in principle to allowing personal calls on the telephone, it provides new challenges in enforcing any restrictions put in place.
The impact Web 2.0 technologies may have on employees health & well-being. Already it is common place to hear Blackberrys called 'Crackberrys' - as as stress remains the second most common cause of absence from work (after back problems), it will be important that additional technologies don't contribute further to any such issues. [hopefully some can actually reduce email traffic etc.]

At present the discussion threads seem to agree that HR & IT need to partner in this area - but given the complexity and rapid evolution of this topic, current best practices are hard to identify.

The First 90 Days - Reflection on the learning value of a blog

2007-08-28T12:21:00.000-07:00

It is now about 90 days since my first blog posting - also immediately after a 2 week vacation.

Given earlier comments on the power of reflection [reflection is to learning what editing is to professional writing] I feel it is time to record a few thoughts on the learning value of a blog.

Firstly, I'd suggest that there are at least three types of blog:

The subject matter driven discussion - helping build professional knowledge through (i) reflection and (ii) dialogue between peers.
The personal journey driven discussion - a diary of thoughts and feelings, helping (i) consolidate experiences (workplace learnings and beyond) and (ii) provide a form of coaching through the reactions of those who give feedback/reactions.
The leadership communication channel - helping engaging colleagues by (i) communicating directly to staff and (ii) being accessible to hear feedback/reactions

As with any classification - I'd suspect there can (i) be significant overlap between the categories and (ii) no doubt there is at least a 4th type that can be proposed !

I'd suggest that the potential value of a classification, is to think about the outcome being sought from the act of blogging. So for me - it is becoming increasingly clear that this blog is primarily helping me consolidate my knowledge of the topic of 'Learning & Development'.

If the blogging tools had existed ca. 7 years ago, when I was starting to transition between a scientific & HR career, then a blog tracking the journey (especially if I could attract a cadre of 'coaches' to post comments) may have helped accelerate the change.

---------------------------------------------------

The second main feature I've found from blogging is that it encourages 'regular posting', and thus encourages taking a 'bite-size' approach to learning & reflection. It is very apparent if there are large gaps between posts (as there is this month in this blog :) )

---------------------------------------------------

... so at this stage, my impression is that there can be significant value in promoting blogs as part of the portfolio of approaches to learner-centred workplace learning & professional development.

Clearly there will be a range of 'barriers' to blogging - especially for those who are not early adopters. Hence a challenge of the Learning professional will be to understand the resistance and help minimise the concerns of colleagues.

A Learning Organisation ? - Questions to assess the dominating internal culture

2007-08-04T02:34:00.000-07:00

From: http://http://leveragingknowledge.blogspot.com/2007/05/asking-right-questions-to-assess.html

Wally Bock, a leadership consultant http://www.threestarleadership.com posted a comment on:
What are the questions to ask employees of an organization to get a feel of the dominating internal culture ?

Wally suggests the following 3 questions:

* What kind of people gets promoted around here? The behavior and performance you reward is what you'll get more of.
* What "bad" behaviors are tolerated here? This is good for patterns of behavior.
* What kinds of stories do people tell each other? Stories are the carriers of culture. Beware if all they tell are "dumb boss" stories. Understand that service is a value if what you hear are "heroic service" stories.

Food for Thought ... especially if considering how close your organisation is to being a 'Learning Organisation'

Ulrich Model of HR

2007-07-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

L&D Professional working within HR departments will be very familiar with the 'Ulrich' model of HR - a three-legged stool separating out:

* Business Partners (also known as generalists or client consultants)
* Service Centres (focused on the 'back-office' transactions)
* Centre of Excellence (the specialist functions such as Recruitment, Compensation & L&D)

I know several colleagues have observed that Ulrich's model lead to a focus of 'who does what' - pulling apart these area of the HR profession. While all three areas are essential, the focus on splitting foundational vs. strategic roles can devalue the former. Similarly, while 'Business Partners' and 'Centres of Excellence' have strategic roles, clarity of how they blend together to support the strategy of the business 'client' is a source of potential confusion.

I'd suggest that the HR profession may be better served from starting with the frame of reference of a different three-legged stool:

* focus on enhancing current business performance achieved by colleagues/managers & leaders
* focus on enhancing planned business growth (building the talent required to accelerate the pace of planned sustainable development of the business)
* focus on building organisational adaptability (to help survive/thrive when unpredictable changes take place in the business environment)

This may result in more variety in how HR structures itself - but, I'd suggest, this would help build collaboration & common purpose across the different disciplines that the include L&D professional.

Discussing L&D interventions in terms of which of the three bullets (perform, grow, adapt) is being targeted could also help maintain a clarity of strategic focus

The Leadership Pipeline - Further reflections

2007-07-30T10:43:00.000-07:00

The Leadership Pipeline (Charan, Drotter & Noel) describes a very linear process of a 'straight' pipe from 'Managing Self' to 'Enterprise Manager'

So can this book help guide L&D professional supporting:

* Player Coaches
* Managers who both 'Manage Manager' and are 'Functional Manager'
* Manager who are 'Functional Managers' but through large spans of control are not 'Managers of Managers'

I think the short answer to this is Yes, however it misses an opportunity to explore the implications in any depth.

So for example - if someone is promoted to a 'Functional Manager' role, what is specific to this role is a significant jump in requiring to demonstrate 'Business Acumen' and expertise in 'Executing Business Strategy'

This promotion may also be associated with introducing at least two layers of management betwwen the post holder and 'individual contributors' .. or if a very flat organisation, there may only be one layer.

Hence: I believe there could be merit in separating out any training and coaching on new 'Communication' skills that are key for 'Managers of Managers' - this part of the menu being added only if the two transitions coincide.

Put simply - I feel there could be merit in mapping transitions based on business role (individual, manager, leader, executive etc); and overlaying a parallel pipeline based on layers of the organisation (individual, manager, manager of managers, leaders of managers-of-managers etc).

Each transition will be a blend of the two pathways - but without the assumptions that every organisation fits (GEs) 7 layers.

The Leadership Pipeline - Reflections on a classic text

2007-07-30T10:29:00.000-07:00

I recently re-read The Leadership Pipeline (from Charan, Drotter & Noel)

In my view this is still a classic roadmap for L&D professionals designing a curriculum. Each transition point represents an opportunity to target training towards accelerating performance in the new & different role.

What struck me most was a phrase (page 18) relating to the first transition from 'Managing Self' to Managing Others' which states:

'The most difficult change for managers to make at Passage One, however, involves values. Specifically, they need to learn to value managerial work, rather than just tolerate it. They must believe that making time for others, planning, coaching and the like are necessary tasks and are their responsibility'

Hence:

I wonder if we do enough to test values - either to help tailor training, or to assess changes in behaviours.

Maybe pre-work for delegates for a people-manager training course should test whether the individual already values the future role of being a supervisor ...since training of tools & coaching on conversations are likely to be ineffective if the passion for getting results from others has not been generated.

Reflection - a vital part of learning ?!

2007-07-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

A comment I posted on another blog recently generated a reaction to the passing mention of Kolb (which I was using to illustrate my view that blogging supports reflection, which in turn is a critical part of consolidating learning).
link to blog

[as an aside - I really like the concept that was generated in the comments of Blogging as 'Knowledge Fusion' ]

Hence .... from the book 'Informal Learning' by Jay Cross - I found this analogy relevant to the positioning of reflection in the learning process (or cycle):

'Reflection is a vital part of learning. Its like editing is to professional writing. If your writing is going to be the best that it can be, you must revisit your work to tighten up, squeeze out the awkward parts, fix the grammar, and otherwise polish it. If you want to retain and use what you learn, you must revisit it. .....'

page 106-107

Three Segments of Learners (explored via a powerful metaphor)

2007-07-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

Jay Cross in his book 'Informal Learning' provides (in my opinion) a very powerful metaphor for exploring three segments of learners.

He describes the categories as:

NOVICE WORKER - directed
MATURE WORKER - self-directed
SENIOR WORKER - helping other

which I equate with:

NOVICE - for whom formal training is well suited to drive learning
COMPETENT - for whom coaching is well suited to drive learning
EXPERT - for which peer-to-peer dialogue (including blogs ?!) is well suited to drive learning

see my first posting - http://learningconsultant.blogspot.com/2007/06/start-of-blog-start-of-new-learning.html

Acording to Jay Cross:

Formal Learning is like: 'riding on a bus'
Informal Learning is like: 'driving a car' (for self directed, mature workers) & 'riding a bicycle' (for senior workers)

He states 'Training departments are adept at creating bus routes: often they have little to do assisting drivers and bikers'.

What struck me about the metaphor is that the learner who is 'Competent' is self-directed (ie has, or needs, increased freedom to take a journey - compared with the 'Novice' bus passenger).

Equally, compared to the 'Expert' cyclist they need some form of engine/propulsion to help them get to their destination. The cyclist, on the other hand has both the freedom to explore non-conventional or unchartered routes, AND is self-reliant on propelling their progress.

.....so how do we as Learning Professionals assist the drivers & bikers ?

maybe:

maps - illustrating options (quickest routes vs. scenic routes to a known destination)

training in how to drive/ride (focus on building competency in handling the 'tools' for transportation)

providing motivation & encouragement (especially to self-powered cyclists)

....and I'm sure there are a lot more ideas this metaphor can stimulate (given time/reflection)

Reflections on ASTD 2007, part #2

2007-07-03T11:38:00.000-07:00

A further theme I focused on at ASTD was the perennial challenge of metrics and measures of Learning.

While I wasn't able to attend the Kirkpatrick session, a colleague provided the following insights (thanks Marianne):

Don't skip any levels - hence don't overlook the importance of 'smile' sheets
You cannot do meaningful Level 4 evaluations on Leadership programs or team-building (as there are too many other variables affecting the results/ROI). Level 4 is best suited for Sales Training.
For Level 3 (Behaviour): Survey &/or interview one or more of the following: boss; subordinate; peer; others. Measure before/after if practical.
It is 'nice' to have a control group, but this is not always practical.
Get as much reaction as you can in the least amount of time ! - so use a 5 point scale & use a scale with comments as optional.

Robert Brinkerhoff also presented on 'Training Impact Evaluation That Senior Managers Believe and Use: The Success Case Method', based on his recently published book 'Telling Training's Story' (Berrett Koehler 2006).

The main argument here is that a training intervention is likely to have a predictable Impact Distribution.

Those who did not try the new skills/knowledge at all
Those who tried the new skills/knowledge but reverted back to old ways resulting in little/no benefit
Those who tried the new skills/knowledge and achieve positive worthwhile results

So rather than look for the average outcome, seek to understand & communicate what separates out those in category (3).

In doing this it becomes possible to demonstrate that:

The training intervention CAN work
The training intervention DOES work when the following factors are in place.

...the latter often being outside the 'control' of the L&D team (eg the actions of the delegate's own manager)

Moreover, if the % that fall into category (c) are determined, and the value of the outcomes they achieved quantified it is easy to illustrate not only the overall ROI, but also to full potential of the training (and all points in-between).

In my view this approach of stepping away from average data, will be very powerful in helping position L&D professionals as consultants: ensuring we have the data to illustrate the responsibilities of leaders, managers and the delegates to achieve the full potential ROI from learning services.

Reflections from the HR Directors Strategy Meeting 2007 (London, IBDG) Part 2

2007-06-28T12:33:00.000-07:00

Also from this meeting, Charles Jennings of Reuters share a model of linking skills and behaviours to performance that I found very powerful.

Performance is the result of a combination of Skills & Behaviours

Typically the influence of Skills is 30%,
Behaviours being responsible for 70%

------------------------------------------

Data drives Info that drives Knowledge that builds Skills

The Environment influences Attitudes that influences Behaviours

------------------------------------------

So why is this a powerful model ?

People managers (supervisors) have a major influence on Environment - so however much we support the learning of new skills, the business results of their application will be highly dependant on the role of the line manager.

Hence, people managers need to understand this link.
Also, any evaluation of the business impact of learning/training needs to reflect this co-dependency (ie success or failure of training is not attributable solely to the L&D team).

Reflections from the HR Directors Strategy Meeting 2007 (London, IBDG) Part 1

2007-06-28T11:41:00.000-07:00

I hosted a couple of Roundtable Discussion sessions at the HR Directors Strategy Meeting in London on June 27 (organised by IBDG). The theme of these sessions was 'The Changing Role of the Trainer - From Classroom Instructor to Learning Consultant ?'

A couple of key themes emerged for me from these discussions:

Firstly - while it feels that HR L&D leaders are in violent agreement that we should be focued on supporting a learner dominated environment, not all the 'learners' we support are on the same page. Many are comfortable with companies continuing to be very paternal in directing their learning, or are too busy to see the world changing around them !

Secondly - many L&D leaders may have the vision of a learner dominated environment, but manage L&D teams still structured and skilled as a training function.

So what was the collective thoughts about how to 'wake up' learners (other than the 'early adopters' - a segment already controlling their own learning) to the need for them to partner effectively with their organisation in supporting their own learning.

Start at the top - senior management sponsorship is key (and others will follow their example if they are visibly managing their own development)
As with any change-management process, there can be merit in looking at how the reward systems are constructed to support the required new behaviours around learning (the proverbial 'carrot' & 'stick'). The carrot should be BIG right from the start, the stick starting SMALL (in recognition that change is difficult) but increasing over time in a deliberate and prescribed manner. For example: if evidence of a proactive approach to learning is evident what feedback does the employee get (and what about the same scenario in 12 months time) ?
L&D professionals need to build a different form of credibility - rather than a list of acreditations (to get them through the door of the training room) they need to have good business acumen (to get through the office door) e.g. to help coach managers on making links between lifelong learning and business impact.
L&D needs to be better at marketing & celebrating successes - also increasing the ease of the transition to self-service (eg can it be made attractive for learners to self-register on the LMS vs. expecting someone else to manage their list of training ?)

Expanding the second theme - L&D Leaders need to deliberately manage the transition of their teams from being a training department.

Do current staff want to be 'consultants' - or do they get their motivation from the immediacy of the classroom ? (if the latter, it may be time for them to be supported in 'moving-on')
Consider now the L&D team can aquire 'business acumen' - possibly via secondments in/out of the business departments.
Be prepared to 'throw away' the training catalogue !

Reflections on ASTD 2007 Part #1

2007-06-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

At ASTD 2007 I attended a couple of sessions focused on e-learning: 'Beyond E-Learning' by Marc Rosenberg and 'eLearning 2.0' by Tony Karrer.

These presentations were in many ways the catalyst for starting this blog - [ Thank you Marc & Tony ! ]

The main points I took from the presentation by Marc Rosenberg were:

knowledge management (linking 'information repositories', 'communities & networks' and 'access to experts') should be viewed as being at the heart of building a 'learning and performance architecture'.
e-learning is the next layer of the metaphorical onion: providing both 'on-line training' and 'performance support' ('in the moment guidance' eg drop down menu options)
Classroom training & coaching are the outer layer

Why is this important ?

Firstly, as we know ... in an organisational context, the proportion of time spent within the job role rather than away from the job is vastly greater.

Secondly, if we accept the need for a learner centred approach (for all the reasons already cited, and yet to be explored on this blog) ... then technology now provides the tools the learner requires to be an empowered knowledge seeker.

This is particularly relevant for learners who are at least competent, or have some mastery of their subject - where the need has moved from 'show me how' & 'help me do better' to 'help me find what I need' and 'I'll create my own learning'

The main points I took from Tony Karrer's presentation were:

Key new tools for e-learning are: wikis; social bookmarking; blogging; and RSS readers. Together they for the core of what can be described as e-learning 2.0
e-learning 2.0 should not be seen as replacing 'traditional' e-learning (1.0) or 'rapid' e-learning (so-called '1.3'). Rather they are complementary
e-learning 1.0 is characterised as LMS based, top-down content with long development times, created by instructional designers and typically 60 mins or more in duration
e-learning 1.3 is characterised as intranet based, top-down content with rapid development times, created by subject matter experts and typically 15 mins in duration
e-learning 2.0 is characterised as search / RSS feed accessed content, learner driven with no development lead time, created by users and of very short content size (eg 1 minute).

Why is this important ?

These technologies are emerging alternative learning solutions, that the learning consultant will need to understand to (i) enhance their influence on workplace learning ('glass half full' perspective) and/or (ii) avoid the training profession becomings increasingly marginalised as formal training (on-line or instructor-led) becomes an even smaller percentage time commitment by empowered learners ('glass half empty' perspective).

As cited by Marc from 'The World is Flat' by Tomas Friedman: 'being adaptable in a flat worl, knowing how to 'learn how to learn' will be one of the most important assets any worker can have, because job churn will come faster, because innovation will happen faster.'

A Worthwhile Read

2007-06-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

Anyone following this blog, is likely to find value from reading the following book:

'The Changing World of the Trainer - Emerging Good Practice' by Martyn Sloman of CIPD

(published by Elsevier - Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, UK; 2007; ISBN-13 978-0-7506-8053-0)

The central premise of this text is that:

'A shift is taking place from training, an instructor-led content-based intervention, to learning, which is a self directed work-based process, leading to increased adaptive capacity.'

I would agree with this, and have found that the following quote (that I often refer to in my conference presentations) makes the case for why increased adaptive capacity is so critical.

'At times of change the learner will inherit the earth, while the learned will be equipped for a world that no longer exists' (James Thurber, humorist)

Start of a blog, start of a new learning journey

2007-06-24T07:50:00.000-07:00

At the recent ASTD conference in Atlanta (June 2007) I spent time re-focusing on the developments in the discipline of Knowledge Management, and specifically eLearning 2.0.

I'm excited by the possibilities that Web 2.0 will create for influencing learning in the workplace.

Training (be it instructor-led or e-learning) continues to be highly valuable for building competence in new skills and knowledge. Similiarly, coaching (peer, manager or externally facilitated) is a powerful strategy to encourage the practising of new skills that help transform competent individuals into 'experts'. But how do experts continue to learn and adapt to an ever changing environment ?

.... Learning professionals know the value of promoting professional networking, action-learning sets/problem based learning & communities of practice for helping experts continue to their development.

AND I see blogging as an extension of this. Moreover, the discipline of 'writing it all down' should itself be very powerful for embedding learning.

SO ...in the spirit of learning here is the start of my own blog !

I also hope this will be of direct value to Learning and Development professionals and indirectly help us speak directly from experience when consulting on the integration of Web 2.0 into workplace learning.