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Creating a sustainable Learning & Development Function

Starting a Learning & Development functions can definitely be a challenging assignment, keeping in mind the amount of ambiguity it attracts. ‘Why I say ambiguity’ Well L & D function has obvious constraints to be objective and metric driven when compared to other functions in HR. Let me elaborate, take recruitment for example, its completely metric driven; the number of positions closed, the budget utilized and so on. Another area can be appraisals (which is process driven) or operations (payroll, record maintenance et al).
One of the very first and basic activity before initiating L & D should be to have in-depth clarity and understanding of the business objectives. Answering following questions can provide clarity on the same:

Who are the champions of the function? (CLO or HR-Head or Business Head or CEO/MD)
What are their expectations?
How are they willing to show their support?
What was the tipping point/pain point/trigger for the intervention?
What change management needs to be in place for total accepted throughout the organization?

Based on the inputs on the above from stakeholders one can start creating the broad roadmap for the function. . This would help to map out what the function should look like at different time points like three years or five years (in my last organization, we started with one year) and backtrack what needs to be put in place to achieve that and stages for attaining that. No matter what time frame and what is included in the stages, be sure that the mission and supporting programs are always aligned with the business goals and needs. Also, while defining the strategy 5A’s as described in the below section must be taken into consideration. It may happen that all A’s cant be a part of the strategy initially but the design should allow for the inclusion later on.

5 A’s to be considered while designing Learning strategy for your organization::

1) Alignment: Performance improvement goals and the organization's strategic goals are aligned.
2) Anticipation: Everyone shares the same high expectations for performance improvement
3) Alliance: Supervisor of learner is active in setting learning goals and helping learner learn
4) Application: Learner has opportunity to apply learning immediately
5) Accountability: Learning is measured and learner receives feedback on impact of learning and performance improvement

Now, the next step after creating a broad framework of L & D function, as described in the first section is ‘Gap Identification’. And the basic question during GI is;

Where do employees need to be now and in the future to achieve the business results?

This is the first and most important stage in the Development cycle and will set the momentum for achieving the desired L & D objective and ultimately business targets. Doing a strategic needs analysis will help identify the top level company drivers and behaviors that help your organization (departments, etc.) meet its goal. Knowing the key results and the measures that affect those key results will help one focus on the right areas for development first.

This forms the basis for your training plan The gap can identified using all or a combination of methods:

Meetings with relevant stakeholders
Organisation change initiative
Individual career development needs
Gap identified during appraisals

These might seem conventional and basic but are very effective and advisable to begin with.

Tip: It may happen that Gap Identification activity is delayed or stretches because of certain reasons. In that case, to establish credibility and be seen as responsive– identify the biggest and the burning development need of the organization, deliver on that ASAP and publish the results to the stakeholders. Sometimes it is a basic program like Telephone Skills, or New Supervisor. Do not do it at the expense of the foundation work, that is ultimately more important but it is easy for L & D people to be view as too academic if we spend too much time on assessment. The business side is usually looking for results. So solve the biggest pain point quickly. The only thing to keep in mind is to look for a need where too many resources are not required or in other words it doesn’t result in budget overruns.

The outcome of GI can be overwhelming and may involve a lot of filtering to arrive at a comprehensive development plan for a defined time period. L & D team should prepare a modular framework for the development sessions and start executing it as per the plan.

The six breakthrough Learning Disciplines may be followed for every development module/session for effectiveness.

The development plan will have a monetary impact as well. So due diligence must be done before presenting the budget to the approving authorities. In the next section we will discuss about the Return on Investment (ROI) and also, the business case for calculating ROI.

Define (D1): Link session objectives to business needs

Describe what participants will do differently

Agree on definition of success

Design (D2):

Include all four phases of learning; plan prepare promote practice

Manage the learning transfer process

Redine finish line as on-the-job results

Deliver (D3):

Make utility and relevance of content clear

Provide time for practice and feedback

Use methods that make learning memorable

Drive (D4):

Recognise transfer as critical part of the process

Treat learning objective as business objective

Put in place systems and processes to support transfer

Deploy(D5):

Engage participants managers

Provide job aids and performace support systems

Ensure availiability of feedback and coaching

Document(D6):

Measure what matters to sponsers

Use insights to drive continous improvement

Market the results to key stakeholders

While designing development programs L & D managers should utilize different types of learning techniques also known as “Blended Learning”. The managers can create programs using conventional ILT (Instructor Led Trainings ), e-learning, social media learning, virtual classrooms, pod-cast, webinars, learning conventions et al. The list of different ways one can disseminate learning is endless, since we live in a global village which is virtual enough to reach anybody, anywhere, anytime.

E-learning: The new generation will appreciate that they can learn whenever they want, "just in time" and not "just in case".

Tip: Be cognizant of the concerns of front-line managers who feel the impact a little more directly when their employees are spending time on training assignments. This can mean being flexible when scheduling training. For example, at my last company the end of the month was a productivity push, so I did not schedule training during this time.

The most crucial and challenging phase in a training cycle is getting the Management’s nod on the plan. This can be strenuous since the Top guys are looking for numbers and not interested in the L & D jargons and outside trends. The management will approve of any investment if they can see the returns and over the years I have also realized that any development program without return, which can be measured, has in built flaws. As L & D professionals it is our prime responsibility to eradicate those flaws and work out a mechanism to quantify the gain from our programs. Below mentioned principles can help calculate ROI for almost every program. The principles are followed by a Business Case from one of my previous organizations. I hope this would prove beneficial to the readers..

Get your head straight:: ROI is more than a calculation; it’s a way of thinking. Learning professionals often focus on the quality of their training rather than the impact of the learning. Quality is certainly important, but it doesn’t go nearly far enough in bridging that leap-of-faith. After all, the assumption is that quality leads to learning and learning leads to impact, but that is not necessarily true. If you are going to prove your value, then you are going to have to shift your thinking from a quality mindset to an impact and results mindset.

Calculate Early and Often:: Although it is possible to calculate ROI after the intervention, it is certainly not advisable. First, you would be missing out on one of the core benefits of ROI—the opportunity to make adjustments to your training program along the way. By calculating ROI continuously you always know how much benefit your program is generating and, just as importantly, how it is trending. If the number is in the red or heading in that direction, you have the ability to identify the root cause and take action.

Build a case:: Getting to ROI is like building a court case. You make arguments and then present facts to support them. Ultimately, these arguments and facts result in an obvious conclusion—that your training program generates more value than it costs. The first step in proving ROI is to provide a layer of evidence that supports the idea that value is being created. We tend to think of business value as measured in dollars, and for ROI, it is. However, you can’t credibly jump straight from training to dollars; you must first show where value is being created in the business. In other words, you need to prove:

Your training program improves the employee’s ability to do the job;
That improvement has a positive impact on the business;
That impact results in a financial benefit to the company; and
That benefit is more than the cost of the training.
It stands to reason that if you can’t show job impact, and the business results of that impact, then you can’t credibly prove ROI.

Validate your findings:: The more data points you have, the better. The people who matter when it comes to making your case are typically analytical—COO and CFO types—and they are likely going to want an explanation as to how you reached your conclusions.

Tell the story:: Don’t let the narrative get lost in the data. Ultimately, this is not about the numbers, it is about the story of your program—where it has been and where it needs to go. Your story needs to be compelling and interesting. Clearly state the goals of your program as you first envisioned it, the challenges you faced and how you overcame them to make a difference for the business. If at all possible, include testimonials from stakeholders to help tell the story.

For evaluation, there can’t be better and more effective way than Kirkpatrick’s four level of Training evaluation model.

Link to evaluation framework http://www.businessballs.com/kirkpatricklearningevaluationmodel.htm

I had accused L & D function of being ambiguous and I still feel that to a certain extent it is. But we can lower the levels of ambiguity by making it metric oriented.

Training hours employee/department/level/grade wise
Budget allocation employee/department/level/grade wise
Training content and Internal Trainers count

These reports can be derived if we follow the 6th discipline of learning religiously. All the reports may or may not be published to top management at the frequency mentioned I the table but they should be maintained for timely analysis. Conclusion:: The first habit of “7 Habits of highly effective people” states that before we begin anything we should have an end in mind.

A clear purpose and confidence of the stakeholders would help achieve the end objective. Though there will be challenges at every stage but what moves L & D professionals is the possibility of creating a difference in people’s professional life. The concepts described in the document would help L & D team reach second level of People Capability Maturity Level. From there the role of L & D becomes much strategic and consultative.

I hope the document will help the readers develop some perspective of Leaning and Development. Please share your feedback and suggestions at the below mentioned contact details

References::

A large pat of the document is from the understanding I got from LinkedIn discussions. Following are some of the groups I am active on LI::

LDG (Learning and Development Group)

Organization Development & Training Forum

Organization Development, Learning and Training

Learning & Development

http://www.businessballs.com/kirkpatricklearningevaluationmodel.htm

http://astdny.org/Introduction%20to%20The%206Ds%202.0.pdf

About Me:: I am a Management graduate in HR from UBS, CHANDIGARH (2005-07), with over 6 years of Post qualification experience (IT , Manufacturing and Consumer Durables) in Training & development, Change management, Talent Acquisition & Management and Organization Development in varied industries across sectors.

Connect with me on ::

LinkedIn ::http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=27311295&trk=tab_pro

Facebook :: deepakubs@gmail.com

Skype :: deeecee2

Tweet :: @oshod

For complete article with tables/figures please follow link::

https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Creating%20a%20Sustainable%20Learning%20%26%20DevelopmentFunction.pdf?w=AABd7CPAGqI8TjKMx1ky2Y_apnju2HVx4RQfdo2vEPXxew

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