Chief Learning Officer - January/February 2020

January/February 2020 | ChiefLearningOfficer.com

PerkinElmer’s

Jennifer Sullivan

Learning Experiences That Don’t Suck - Building a Learning Enterprise - The Evolution of the CLO Keeping Up With Digital Badges - Air France-KLM’s Language Learning Program

EDITOR’S LETTER

Time for Some T

I

f you’re looking for your company’s next breakthrough leader, take a look in the mirror. That person just might be you.

I’m not kidding. Think about it for a minute. It’s not a lack of growth opportunities holding companies back. The global economy continues to expand. It’s not a shortage of resources. Many companies are flush with cash. It’s not a shortage of people. Moderate wage growth hasn’t made it too expensive for those looking to hire.

What is putting the brakes on growth is something a bit trickier: the ability to learn. Changing markets, ambiguous information, a deluge of data, crafty emerging competitors, technology innovation — all point to learning as the killer app for sustained success.

Success is built on collecting and synthesizing information from a range of sources, turning that into strategy and action, analyzing what happens as a result and then adjusting. In short, it’s learning.

CLOs are perfectly positioned to drive innovation and growth in the modern economy.

with the single vertical line representing deep expertise in a single field. What’s needed now are people shaped like a T, with vertical skill in a particular area but also a horizontal breadth of experience across multiple fields.

Learning executives are exactly the T-shaped people organizations need for uncertain, rapidly changing and ambiguous times. They have deep domain expertise but also unique purview into nearly every part of the organization, from the C-suite to the factory floor, spanning accounting to operations, sales and marketing.

The ability to collect and connect across the breadth of the organization is the key to tackling challenging problems head on and applying new and divergent thinking to solving them.

It’s no secret that many managers fail as they move from being a functional expert to being a leader. They possess the skills, abilities and drive to propel them forward. But they stumble when they take that step outside of their defined functional domain into a more ambiguous leadership role where success doesn’t rely on their knowledge but rather their ability to inspire and motivate others. They’re good at their job but not good at leading, and being good at leading means being good at learning.

So who better than you to lead the way?

But taking that step starts with changing how learning leaders talk about their work. It’s time to stop talking about “the business” as something separate from learning. Hat tip to my friend Dan Pontefract, award-­winning author and former CLO at Telus, who first made the point to me a couple of years back.

Here’s a news flash: In the modern economy, learning is the business. Organizations that are learning engines come up with more and better products and ideas, they bring them to market faster and pivot on a dime when the time calls for it.

If you’re at all serious about thriving and not just surviving, learning is the business. Leaders who don’t get that won’t be in business for very long. And that’s the T, sis. CLO

The problem is that leadership is often determined by expertise. Many leaders ascend the ranks because they achieve success as subject matter experts, collecting deep experience and insight in a particular field over time.

Think of the software engineer churning out code for a new application or a surgeon honing their skills over years of study and practice. Or a business analyst making the move to finance chief and then CEO. The expertise model of leadership worked for many for a good long time.

That time is long gone. Experts aren’t always the best learners. In fact, expertise can be a hindrance.

Deep knowledge is useful when you’re tackling a clear, well-defined problem. When the bottom line is awash in a sea of red, you want an accountant to wade in.

But what happens when the problem is ambiguous? What happens when the solution is uncertain?

When you’re unsure how best to grow the top line, you want someone with versatility. You want people with breadth as well as depth. In short, you want leaders who are learners. It’s time for some T. Mike Prokopeak To borrow an often-used analogy, think of the classic Editor in Chief subject matter expert as someone shaped like the letter I, mikep@ChiefLearningOfficer.com 4 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 | VOLUME 19, ISSUE 1 PRESIDENT Kevin A. Simpson

RESEARCH MANAGER Tim Harnett

VICE PRESIDENT, GROUP PUBLISHER Clifford Capone

DATA SCIENTIST Grey Litaker MEDIA & PRODUCTION MANAGER Ashley Flora

VICE PRESIDENT, EDITOR IN CHIEF Mike Prokopeak

VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT FOR EVENTS Kevin Fields

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Rick Bell MANAGING EDITOR Ashley St. John ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR Christopher Magnus ASSOCIATE EDITORS Andie Burjek Elizabeth Loutfi

EVENTS MANAGER Malaz Elsheikh WEBCAST MANAGER Alec O’Dell EVENTS GRAPHIC DESIGNER Latonya Hampton

EDITORIAL ART DIRECTOR Theresa Stoodley

BUSINESS MANAGER Vince Czarnowski

VIDEO AND MULTIMEDIA PRODUCER Andrew Kennedy Lewis

VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING, NORTH AMERICA Greg Miller

EDITORIAL ASSOCIATE Yasmeen Qahwash

MARKETING SPECIALIST Kristen Britt

VICE PRESIDENT, RESEARCH & ADVISORY SERVICES Sarah Kimmel

SALES DIRECTORS Ana Dirksen Daniella Weinberg

TECHNICAL OPERATIONS MANAGER Skyler Gold DIGITAL & AUDIENCE INSIGHTS DIRECTOR Lauren Wilbur DIGITAL COORDINATOR Steven Diemand AUDIENCE INSIGHTS COORDINATOR Micaela Martinez BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION MANAGER Melanie Lee LIST MANAGER Mike Rovello hcmlistrentals@infogroup.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ken Blanchard Agatha Bordonaro JD Dillon Sarah Fister Gale Indranil Ghosh Elliott Masie Patricia A. McLagan Scott Miller Bob Mosher Rosian L. Racioppi Celeste R. Smith

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7

CONTENTS J

anuary /February

2020 10 Your Career Lisa Toenniges shares her career journey; Celeste R. Smith says every organization needs to play a role in providing continuous learning for employees; and people share what they’re reading.

30 Profile A Learner and Teacher at Heart

Agatha Bordonaro Jennifer Sullivan brings a lifetime of education experience, digital expertise and a willingness to experiment to PerkinElmer.

48 Case Study Parlez-vous Learning?

Sarah Fister Gale An optional language learning program is helping Air France support global customers while driving employee engagement.

50 Business Inteligence 20/20 Vision: Focusing on the Human Element

Ashley St. John Organizations are devoting more resources to diversity programs, but measurement efforts are a work in progress.

ON THE COVER: PHOTO BY FRED LEVY

8 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

January /February 2020

CONTENTS

20 44 Features

20 36

Creating Learning Experiences That Don’t Suck Scott Miller The majority of experiences that have a lasting impact are those we truly feel a part of. Why should learning be any different?

The Evolution of the CLO

40 44

36

40

Experts 14 GROWING DIVERSE TALENT

Rosina L. Racioppi 4 Practices for Advancing Female Talent

15 IMPERATIVES

Elliott Masie Your Job Is Being Updated

JD Dillon The world of workplace learning has experienced seismic change over the past three decades. How has the CLO kept pace?

16 SELLING UP, SELLING DOWN

Building a Learning Enterprise

18 LEADERSHIP

Patricia A. McLagan Today’s successful organization requires learning to be an enterprise-wide capability.

Keeping Up With the Digital Badges Elizabeth Loutfi Digital badges and credentials need to be verified through an industry standard.

Connect with us.

Bob Mosher It All Starts With Workflow

Ken Blanchard Commit Yourself to Learning

54 IN CONCLUSION

Indranil Ghosh Getting Serious About Lifelong Learning

Resources 4 Editor’s Letter

Time for Some T

53 Advertisers’ Index

Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com 9

YOUR CAREER

Career Advice From

Lisa Toenniges OWNER AND CEO, INNOVATIVE LEARNING GROUP

Lisa Toenniges, owner and CEO of Innovative Learning Group, answers our questions about her career and the time she’s spent in L&D.

than 2,300 projects completed. I’m very proud to say that ILG celebrated its 15-year anniversary in March.

What lessons throughout your career helped you get to where you are now?

What attracted you to learning and development?

Helping people and organizations. People often need new skills and knowledge to help them do their jobs better and progress in their careers. If people can thrive in their careers and better provide for themselves and their families, they can improve the quality of their lives. This is pretty cool and our “why” at Innovative Learning Group.

Tell us about creating Innovative Learning Group in 2004.

I started ILG when my previous company closed. It was either look for a new job or start a company. With minimal overhead and no debt, I was confident that opening a company was the smart move. In 48 hours, I was welcoming employees to my basement. It was me, five employees, six clients and multiple projects in process. Today, ILG has a corporate headquarters with 19 on-staff employees, more than 170 clients, and more

Ross Roy 1993-1994: Instructional designer 1994 1993

10 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

I attribute my success to hard work and taking a practical, hands-on approach to running ILG. I’m very clear about what I’m good at and what I’m not so good at, and I make it a point to surround myself with talented people. It’s very natural for me to set a goal, determine the steps I need to get there and then work the plan every day. When I was growing up, I played instruments and sports. I learned you can’t start the recital piece the day before the concert or get in shape the day before the big game. You have to show up and practice daily with intense focus on the task at hand.

What’s your favorite piece of career advice?

Get out of the office and get engaged with a professional association. It’s not enough to just be a member.

You have to get on committees and join the board.

That’s how you build lasting relationships and learn new skills.

What factors are important in improving performance within an organization?

First, the organization must have a culture around expecting and supporting performance and results.

Triad Performance Technologies 1994-2004: Director

Innovative Learning Group 2004-present: CEO and owner

2004 2020

With that as a backdrop, an organization shouldn’t just have a training department. The “training” department must have a broader scope. Not every corporate problem is solved with employees taking an e-learning course.

The department must take a more overarching look at all the factors that impact performance, many of which are environmental.

What’s the most important thing an innovative leader of a company can regularly do to remain effective in their organization?

Great question, but it’s really hard to pick just one thing. I’d have to say that first you need to take care of yourself, both physically and mentally: Get enough sleep, eat well, exercise and use an executive coach. Second, you have to live your company’s values. And third, you really have to get out and visit clients, and get an understanding of the challenges and issues they’re facing.

How do you view failure as it relates to innovation within your organization?

To me, failure is such a harsh word. I don’t see things as being a failure and don’t feel like we’ve had one in 15 years. I prefer to look at things as an experiment, and ask: What worked? What didn’t? It’s about trying new things, evaluating the results, and adjusting accordingly.

What are some of your favorite practices for gathering feedback from employees?

I just did this, in fact. As part of ILG’s annual business planning processes, I asked employees to email me their input for our SWOT — strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats — exercise. The insightful responses blew me away. Then, I followed up with oneon-one conversations to peel back the onion and gain an understanding of the comments at a deeper level.

Looking ahead: What’s in store for learning and development at ILG this year?

Partnering with learning leaders at our clients. I’ve consulted with many corporations, and let’s face it, the job of a learning leader is not easy. Part of ILG’s mantra this year is to help our client organizations focus on the five things I believe learning departments must look at: learning strategy, learning experiences, learning technology, learning execution and, finally, the internal marketing to get the word out about all the great things learning departments do. CLO Know someone with an incredible career journey?

We want to hear from you. Send your nomination to Elizabeth Loutfi at eloutfi@ChiefLearningOfficer.com.

SM

S E T I B ALL

ns. questio e r fi id p s our ra answer s e ig n n Lisa Toe

The most important part of learning is: Practice, practice, practice. Learners need to practice in a safe and comfortable environment, doing what they’ll actually do on the job. As they practice, they need to receive feedback on what they’re doing well and what needs to be improved.

The most overrated trend in L&D is: Without a doubt, it’s microlearning with too much of a focus on video.

Learning is essential to an organization because: The world changes, technology changes, products change and services change … so the skills needed in an organization have to keep pace and align with the future vision.

The biggest industry misconception is: Learning styles and generational differences as a way to dictate learning delivery. The data clearly show it’s better to follow sound performance improvement and instructional design principles.

I got into the L&D space because: I’ve always felt I have a knack for explaining things simply and easily — it must be the teacher in me. I never want people to be in a frustrating situation where they can’t do something when all they may need is a little simple instruction.

Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com 11

YOUR CAREER

What Are You Reading?

The Remix: How to Lead and Succeed in the Multigenerational Workplace

By Lindsey Pollak The book offers some great insight for managers around how to blend the old (the way things have always worked) with the new (innovation and creativity), and Pollak explains why a culture of continuous learning is key to striking this balance.

— Natalia Garcia, vice president, communications, Whiteboard Advisors

Great Leaders Have No Rules: Contrarian Leadership Principles to Transform Your Team and Business

By Kevin Kruse A shared read with my direct reports. A good mix of things I completely agree with (turn off your phone, show you care about your direct reports), things I completely disagree with (crowd your calendar, run a tight meeting), and a few reminders of management basics (have regular one-onones — WHY do we have to keep saying that!). I can’t put it down because it’s starting some great conversations with other leaders in the organization.

— Lisa Bage, chief operating officer, MutualAid eXchange

Thinking, Fast and Slow

By Daniel Kahneman The research on how individuals receive and process information has such implications on our roles and responsibilities within learning and development.

— Charity Hudson, learning and development manager, PG Technologies LLC Chief Learning Officer wants to hear from you: What’s at the top of your reading list?

Send submissions to Elizabeth Loutfi at eloutfi@ChiefLearningOfficer.com.

12 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

Digital You: Real Personal Branding in the Virtual Age

By William Arruda What to do to remain relevant in today’s world through digital brand development. Packed with tips on how to stand out as your unique, authentic self.

Jacqueline — Burandt, president, Award-Winning Results

The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness

By Todd Rose This is a seminal book that every L&D [leader], educator and business leader must read. It’s become a desk reference for me.

Ahmad Mansur, — founder, FuturePoint: Leadership + Education

Top of Mind Skills, Roles and the Future of Workforce Development By Celeste R. Smith Celeste R. Smith, director of education at the American Association of Law Libraries, says every organization will need to play a role in providing continuous learning opportunities for employees.

O

rganizations that know the value of continuous learning are taking a more strategic approach to the learning needs of employees and providing opportunities for skills development.

The challenge is approaching skills development methodically with a focus on learning and development opportunities that prepare employees for the future of work (which is now). In order to stay competitive and attract and retain talent, organizations will need to continue to rethink how employees learn and identify and build new capability maps that make room for the unknowns, or face obsolescence.

On average, skill sets have a shelf life of less than five years. This makes continuous learning and ongoing development non-negotiable. In fact, our brains are wired for ongoing and new learning. New modalities make learning accessible and change expectations about what’s possible. High on the priority list for employees are opportunities that provide continuous and applicable learning and career development pathways that offer growth and fulfillment in a new world of work.

Reskilling and Upskilling: Keep Pace With Change Inclusive growth calls for building trust, instilling ownership and mutual accountability across the organization, as well as partnering with employees in efforts to reskill and upskill to keep up with the pace of change. Workforce preparedness in the “new work order” is a strategic imperative for both organizations and employees, and potential internal and external talent. According to a 2018 research report by the Association of Talent Development, “Upskilling and Reskilling: Turning Disruption and Change Into New Capabilities,” 44 percent of organizations do not provide any type of learning opportunities to upskill or reskill. This is coupled with the World Economic Forum prediction that employees will need an average of 101 days of reskilling and upskilling in the period leading up to 2022. Emerging skill

According to

Celeste

The biggest lesson learned from 2019?

gaps and skill mismatches will continue to be a threat to short- and long-term organizational growth, especially as automation and AI continue full-speed ahead.

The fastest growing economies around the world have figured out that commitment to workforce learning and skill development is important to growth. They are also heavily investing in human capital development of their future workforce, outpacing countries not focused on systematic change. It is not just learning in general, but agile, active learning that is key.

The Future of Work Includes ‘Human’ Skills Equipping employees/learners in organizations with agile capabilities is crucial to our workforce preparedness and competitive advantage and is a business concern across the globe. Organizations are also being challenged to define purpose and societal impact outside of profits, shifting the focus to human capital and “human” skills such as critical thinking, creativity, flexibility, problem-solving and emotional intelligence.

While employees within organizations desire learning at the point of need, they are increasingly distracted with little time to commit to learning and ongoing self-assessment, particularly if it’s not woven into the fabric of the organization.

Existing tools, performance indicators, assessments and so on will need to be redesigned to assess the degree to which current structures and systems meet emerging and future needs. New models and tools are being developed to assist organizations.

According to the July 2019 McKinsey & Co. report on the future of work in America, every organization will need to play a role in providing training and continuous learning opportunities for employees. This includes the government, nonprofits and other education providers and industry associations. L&D professionals within all sectors are poised to lead the way. CLO

Celeste R. Smith American Association of Law Libraries

Chief Learning Officer wants to hear from you: What are you thinking about? Send your thoughts to Elizabeth Loutfi at eloutfi@ChiefLearningOfficer.com.

Learning changes everything. Creative solutions to the most pressing issues rely on the ability to let go of what we know to embrace the possibilities of what we don’t.

Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com 13

GROWING DIVERSE TALENT

4 Practices for Advancing Female Talent Managers’ roles in promoting women in the workplace • BY ROSINA L. RACIOPPI

M

Rosina L. Racioppi is president and CEO of WOMEN Unlimited Inc.

any pieces must fall into place for the successful advancement of female talent. High on the list is the importance of managers at all levels. As companies increase their focus on retaining and advancing talented women, the role of managers becomes continually more significant. However, managers often are at a loss about exactly what they need to do.

Managers who are successful at helping women get ahead understand that the “male model” of leadership can be a barrier to the success of female talent. They acknowledge the value of diversity in fostering organizational success; they realize that men and women view the organization differently and see these differences as an asset, not a liability.

In working with thousands of managers of talented women, I have found four practices that are common to successfully advancing female talent. These strategies are not restricted to male managers. They are equally important for women managers.

First, provide critical, meaningful feedback. Studies show that both the quality and frequency of feedback given to women varies significantly from feedback given to their male counterparts. Feedback to women tends to focus on performance and how they did on a particular project or met a specific goal. Feedback to men provides insight and guidance to prepare them for advancement.

Managers with a solid track record of advancing their female talent do not restrict feedback to annual reviews.

They regularly listen to women’s goals and ambitions.

They help women see the areas of opportunity within the organization and guide them in interpreting the “rules of the game” so they understand how to play to win.

Second, give stretch assignments. Managers committed to helping women advance help them move out of their comfort zones and away from the misconceived notion that hard work alone is enough. They tap them to speak at conferences and seminars. They provide opportunities to interact with others outside the team and to showcase critical skills to senior management.

They ensure that talented women take leadership roles on key initiatives.

Third, help increase visibility. Women are often reluctant to stand up and speak out. Managers with an eye for advancing the talented women on their teams combat this reluctance by encouraging them to be front and center at presentations with senior management. They provide strategies and feedback to help them be more

14 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

vocal at formal and informal meetings. They encourage their female talent to present their ideas to senior management in a way that is in keeping with organizational goals and growth. For example, a woman who participated in my independent research indicated her interest in a senior management role to her manager. While he thought her capable, he acknowledged he couldn’t put her name forward because she was unknown outside of their area. Together, they created a strategy that allowed other leaders to get to know her and her competencies.

The “male model” of leadership can be a barrier to the success of female talent.

Finally, foster development of career-advancing relationships. Women, especially entry-level women, are less likely to understand the power of relationships.

Unlike their male colleagues, they tend to keep their noses to the grindstone and not reach out to those, internally and externally, who can help them mold their behaviors and strategies to better ensure advancement.

Managers are pivotal in helping women reach out and foster relationships that matter. They can offer on-site and off-site development opportunities on the right way to develop mentors, lay the groundwork for attracting sponsors, and provide advice and counsel on the unique dynamics of relationships within the organization.

Women represent more than 50 percent of the workforce. With baby boomers retiring and the talent pipeline diminishing, female talent cannot be ignored or overlooked. Research shows that diversity and inclusiveness are pivotal for ongoing success at all levels — success that goes well beyond the women themselves. Teams become more motivated. Retention of talent improves. Fresh ideas, needed to stay ahead in an ever-changing marketplace, flow more freely. Organizations enjoy a higher return on investment and improved shareholder returns.

Bottom line: Being a catalyst for the advancement of female talent must now be a critical component of every manager’s job description. CLO

IMPERATIVES

Your Job Is Being Updated Click here to activate • BY ELLIOTT MASIE

P

icture this: An employee logs in for work in the morning and sees a box on their screen that reads, “Your job is being updated — click here to activate.”

In the old days we would talk about changing jobs, systems or skills as complex and difficult processes, often requiring training and coaching over relatively long periods of time in order to overcome resistance.

But in these days of rapidly changing business realities, shifting customer requirements, data analytics and more, we should prepare for a workplace and workforce geared toward regular updates.

Back in 1994, Bill Gates asked me to host a ninemonth TV show called “Microsoft TV — Preparing for Windows ’95.” Each month, we had hundreds of thousands of IT professionals receiving this satellite broadcast about the upcoming changes as the new system was rolled out in August 1995. Millions of end users were sent to an Upgrading to Windows ’95 seminar that often lasted two days.

Now our Apple and Microsoft Systems offer fairly regular updates that are downloaded and deployed with workflow support built into the applications and screens.

What once took weeks of preparation and training is now almost seamless and integrated into our work.

My Tesla electric car has really changed my view about job updates. Every few weeks, the screen on my Tesla displays this message: “Update ready to be downloaded.”

It does not say what the new features or changes will be.

I am always surprised and curious, so I click the activate button to be greeted an hour later with the new things that my Tesla can do. Very often, the changes are evident in a changed dashboard, controls and even basic features of the car (e.g., accident avoidance alerts and alarms based on input from a dozen sensors and cameras). With just a click, the car, and even I, the driver, are now updated.

Prepare for job, system, role and skill updates to be integrated and sometimes automated throughout your enterprise. Here are a few trends we are forecasting about these updates.

System updates will be continuous and personalized.

Corporate sales, customer service, manufacturing and HR systems will shift from “big bang” updates once or twice a year to continuous feature updates that leverage a personalized notification system based on each user’s current and future needs.

New information will be needed each week. An employee’s agenda for the coming week will be scanned

by an AI-based curation system that provides updated information on the people, accounts, meetings and realities the employee might face.

Imagine a retail store that will begin selling a new line of cell phones that will use 5G technology. The skills needed by the sales force will be framed up in a skills mind map that highlights what each employee can do to articulate 5G. The skills will be color coded red, yellow or green, based on each employee’s readiness.

Several weeks before the rollout of the new cell phones, learning resources will be targeted toward employees after assessment of their yellow and red items.

As we evolve roles and processes, updates may be more focused on deleting rather than adding elements.

When my Tesla loses a function, I need to understand why it has been deleted. Updating will require sensitivity around removing favorite functions in the workplace.

Data analytics will drive updates. The goal of shifting to updates in the workplace is to become more agile and target how specific changes in systems, skills, roles and tasks can lead to better outcomes. We need to use data analytics to predict and target updates.

Elliott Masie is CEO of The Masie Center, an international think tank focused on learning and workplace productivity, and chairman and CLO of The Masie Center’s Learning Consortium.

We should prepare for a workplace and workforce geared toward regular updates.

Failure will be key in the change process. As we update skills and roles, there will be a natural and even critical role for the employee to occasionally fail or forget a change. Our systems might provide warnings and increased prompting for tasks that are new, even allowing the user to simulate a new action and fail safely. Embedded simulations will provide a healthier role for failure.

Managing and optimizing the update process is a new and exciting role for learning and development leaders. We will need to leverage and combine our expertise in skill development, workflow support, organizational change, learning data analytics and user experience. Let’s update our readiness to lead the charge in workplace updates. CLO Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com 15

SELLING UP, SELLING DOWN

It All Starts With Workflow Workflow analysis provides powerful benefits • BY BOB MOSHER

A Bob Mosher is a senior partner and chief learning evangelist for APPLY Synergies, a strategic consulting firm.

police officer drives by a corner late at night and sees a person crawling around on their hands and knees. The officer stops and asks, “Can I help you?” The person responds, “Oh please, officer! I’ve lost my car keys and have been searching for them for over an hour.” The officer immediately gets down on all fours and starts to help. After about 10 minutes of no success, the officer asks, “Where exactly did you last see them?” The person replies, “Over there by my parked car.” The officer stops and asks in frustration, “Well then why aren’t we looking over there?” The person quickly replies, “Well, the light is just so much better over here.”

OK, sorry, old joke. But it relates to the way we often design our learning solutions to support our learners, and in that regard, it’s no laughing matter.

For years, we’ve been developing learning programs where the light is better — in the classroom, through an LMS and, more recently, even virtually. While the learner’s work is “parked” down the street in the workflow, we take them to the corner where all the information that’s important for them to know is stored. I know I’m playing up the metaphor a bit here, but this is a critical pivot for our industry if we’re going to have a measurable impact on those we serve. It starts with better understanding the workflow, the criticality of the tasks performed, the supporting knowledge that helps it all make sense, and the current learning and support assets our learners use every day.

Workflow analysis is a systematic design approach that starts by making the workflow itself visible based on the performance objectives trying to be achieved.

Since I’ve been involved in this business it has never ceased to amaze me how, for years, I had little to no idea about the world my learners returned to after my training event, be it in the classroom or via another training modality. Workflow design has shown me that I was literally building training solutions in the dark. I knew what the subject matter experts wanted me to build, but that was typically a content ask, and not one based on the everyday context the learner lived in.

There are three powerful results coming out of this new approach. The first is a more measurable deliverable.

For years, we’ve been trying to effectively and confidently measure the impact our work has on business outcomes and performance. Designing for the workflow allows us to better understand the impact of the business tasks performed, the outcome of those tasks when performed

16 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

well, and to embed learning tools that directly measure those outcomes based on their use. These deliverables live in the workflow, so the correlation between their use and the impact on a learner’s ability to perform provides us with measurement data we’ve been missing.

I was literally building training solutions in the dark.

The second benefit of having a direct view into the workflow is that it allows us to balance our blended solution in ways we’ve not done before. In the past, much of our blend was based on an economic model, not a performance one. We’d take five days of training, reduce the classroom time to two days and cover the rest by designing e-learning and maybe a bit of coaching.

That’s a defendable way to reduce class time, but it’s not supporting the workflow in the way it needs to be.

When the workflow becomes visible, along with the assets used there, it broadens our blend by adding more workflow-enabled tools such as electronic performance support systems, adaptive learning platforms, and the emerging work being done with artificial intelligence and machine learning. When these deliverables are integrated with our current tool set, based on the context of the workflow, true blended learning solutions appear.

Finally, and probably most important, when we do workflow analysis we start to provide our organizations with a service we’ve hardly offered in the past: a structured look at what and how things are getting done every day by each role in the enterprise. I once heard an SVP of sales say, “If you did nothing else, if you didn’t build us any learning content, this exercise alone was worth the investment. It was the first time my department has agreed on, and clearly seen, all that happens in the field when we’re making sales.” The fact is many managers, at all levels, don’t truly understand what their workers do to perform each day, the knowledge needed to support that performance, and the tools they need and use to continue to perform effectively.

Moving out of the light and into the workflow is a key role for today’s learning professionals. It’s up to us to make the instructional, technological and cultural decision to lead our organizations into a new era of L&D. CLO

Get Real.

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CorporateLearning.com • 877-824-5516 A non-profit university, Bellevue University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission (hlcommission.org), a regional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

LEADERSHIP

Commit Yourself to Learning Learning goals in the new year • BY KEN BLANCHARD

A

Ken Blanchard is chief spiritual officer of The Ken Blanchard Cos. and co-author of “Servant Leadership in Action.”

ll my life, I’ve had the good fortune of being surrounded by leaders who are lifelong learners: my parents, my wife Margie, old college friends, business colleagues and so on. These people taught me the only way to grow as a leader is to keep learning — and if you aren’t learning and growing, you’re just wasting away. One of them, my friend, mentor and co-author Norman Vincent Peale, famously said, “If you stop learning, you may as well just lie down and let them throw dirt on you — because you’re already dead.”

As a leader who is always open to learning, you have the opportunity to grow and improve yourself every day. What’s more, in the spirit of the well-known phrase “when one teaches, two learn,” teaching another person something you’ve learned not only benefits that person, it also reinforces your new learning. Here’s an example.

For more than 20 years, every weekday morning I’ve sent a voice or email message to everyone in our company where I share something I recently learned. To some, a daily communiqué may seem like a daunting task, but I still love doing it. Why? First, to help sustain our warm and friendly company culture, I know it’s important for me to make that frequent connection with each person. Second, knowing I’m going to send a message every day keeps me in the present, thinking about what’s going on around me and what I might learn. Finally, sharing the things I’ve learned reinforces those learnings in my mind — so I get as much out of the experience as anyone.

colleagues are multilingual. Perhaps you want to know more about coaching or plan to take a course on making the best use of your social media platforms. Of course, your learning goal doesn’t have to be about work — maybe you’re interested in taking a master class online from a famous photographer or improving your cooking skills. Whatever it is, if you make a commitment to yourself to focus on learning something new every year, it’s more likely to actually happen.

The skills of an organization are no greater than the skills of its people. Great leaders know that supporting their people’s learning produces individual growth, experience and knowledge. It’s not only a competitive advantage but also the right thing to do.

Formal training, mentoring and constant support all help to develop people’s skills and competencies.

What’s the best way to combine these three methods for the maximum benefit to each person? One-onone meetings.

Many years ago, our company implemented a one-on-one process that has proven enormously successful. Each manager holds a 15- to 30-minute meeting a minimum of once every two weeks with each of their direct reports. The manager is responsible for scheduling the meeting, but the unique quality of our process is that the direct report sets the agenda. They can use this time to talk to their managers about anything — work-related or not — because it’s their time. They can share their professional goals and the training they need to reach those goals; they may use the opportunity to explain a difficult situation going on at home or a problem with a co-worker; or they may ask their manager to be their mentor. They also may both simply agree to use the time to relax, laugh and get to know each other as human beings.

In the past, the typical warning in business circles was, “Don’t get close to your direct reports. You Great leaders are always interested in ways to can’t make hard decisions if you have an emotional enhance their knowledge and skills. Some read, some attachment to your people.” But knowing and caring listen to podcasts, some learn from mentors. I like about your people actually can be a competitive edge the idea of setting at least one learning goal every if a rival organization comes after them. The learnyear. What new thing would you like to know or ing that happens on both sides during one-on-one be able to do a year from now? For example, maybe meetings fosters genuine relationships as it increases you want to learn a new language because you’ve job satisfaction — a positive result for individuals, noticed that more and more of your customers and leaders and the organization. CLO

If you aren’t learning and growing, you’re just wasting away.

18 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

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20 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

The majority of experiences that have a lasting impact on us as humans are those we truly feel a part of. Why should learning be any different?

BY SCOT T MILLER

“H

ey, that didn’t suck!” says the executive vigorously shaking my hand at the end of a learning engagement. I look him in the eyes, laugh and point out that this is not the first time someone has made that comment.

Reflecting on this reaction made me want to share what I have learned about creating powerful learning engagements. After more than 25 years in the learning profession, from new-hire orientation programs to senior team development at Fortune 100 companies, I have captured a lot from observing so many learning programs and initiatives.

Common sense may not be a common practice. Think about it: As humans, we look out at the world as we travel through it and learn from it. We are challenged and changed by the things we are exposed to and

interact with. The majority of those experiences that truly impact us as humans are those we feel a part of, not simply like passengers tagging along. When you listen to stories from leaders, their deepest learning experiences have come from being a part of hard-won struggles in which they had to fight to succeed or learned from failure.

Why should executive learning engagement efforts be any different? Developing smart people is a craft, an art form that involves a combination and balance of the right content to meet the right context for the learner. That learner then must be given the opportunity to get in the driver’s seat to truly leverage the content and context they have been exposed to. How we as humans naturally learn in life should be applied to executive development and creating highly engaging learning environments.

Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com 21

Like the long-seeded practices of traditional higher education, executive education is stuck in some of the same mud. Overcoming old models and navigating traditions requires taking risks and pushing beyond the status quo. To build great, engaging learning experiences, consider the following four essentials.

and have a lot to cover. Worse, I have even seen their smooth deliveries stumble as they get out of sync by trying to customize content. Organizations pay a lot to have their brilliant content and insights. For your delivery, you want that content to roll smoothly with all the entertaining presentation points the professor has rehearsed and scripted.

Commit to the ‘True Few’ Whatever the delivery method, investing in a highly Learning Objectives skilled learning orchestrator who constantly puts conThe famous saying, “I didn’t have the time to write nection points at the center of the learning experience is a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead,” often invaluable if you are to see the benefits of the intellectual comes to mind when sitting down with design teams. horsepower you paid for. The orchestrator is the “red Prioritizing and honing the learning objectives up thread” that connects the content over and over again. front is key to the end game of delivering an impactful Connect, connect, connect, and then it is not enough learning experience. to leave it for the learner in the room to connect it on Start this process by asking stakeholders questions their own. Instead, you need to put the learner in the that involve them in the identification of the highest-​ spotlight to drive them to share their personal connecimpact learning objectives for the specific population. tion. This will keep the learner from feeling like just a Then have stakeholders come together, prioritize and butt in a chair and imprint a personal understanding cut the list off at what you have time to deliver. Don’t of what they need to do. give in to bolting on more. If you wanted to learn a new language, you wouldn’t try to learn Spanish, German Use ‘Next Practice’ Learning Methods and Mandarin all at once.

So, you have narrowed the objectives, you have excellent speakers who have created space for the audience to think and share ideas, and you have a highly skilled orchestrator who can seamlessly connect the brilliant insights from the speakers to key learning objectives, but something is still missing.

I learned the following approach from Larry Rosenstock while taking a tour of his innovative and award-winning High Tech High in San Diego.

Take a moment and ask yourself, what are the two Instead, prioritize learning objectives and be will- most memorable classroom learning experiences from ing to do less in the name of excellence. When you your high school years? Write those down. Write next get pushback from business unit leaders, be bold and to each one the key characteristics that defined that point them to the data. The learner needs to exit the experience. What made it so memorable? learning engagement with a memorable experience that Rosenstock has done this exercise with thousands reminds them of resources, strongly imprints a personal of educators and communities in large groups. I have understanding of what they need to do differently and done it in design meetings with tough, risk-averse orgaleaves an indelible memory of what can happen if they nizations. The list generated is always the same. People do or don’t follow up. overwhelmingly remember learning experiences that involved one or a combination of these six elements: Connect the Learning • A project.

Through Orchestration • Community.

Connect intellectual horsepower and content to • Fear of failure. the real world for learners. Every speaker — regardless • Recognition of success. of topic, expertise or origin — must relate the content • A mentor. to what it means for the specific audience. This ties • A public display of work. back to committing to the true few learning objectives.

Humans learn — truly learn — when they are at Let’s just say it — we all have tried to work with the center of a memorable learning experience. The speakers in advance of the delivery to really push for majority of the development designs and learning customization, and typically it is difficult. Getting those engagements out there don’t start with any of these six amazing professors from prestigious universities to cus- elements. Designing in these elements is not hard and tomize content to your industry or specific challenges there are plenty of tried and tested experiences available. is next to impossible. They are just moving too fast Each organization strategically needs to look closely at

Prioritize learning objectives and be willing to do less in the name of excellence.

22 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

TALENT DEVELOPMENT - SKILLS GAP TRAINING - TALENT ACQUISITION

YOU’VE GOT TALENT Bring out the best in it.

Meet Monica Guillory, Director HR and Workplace Inclusion for RRD. She leads Diversity & Inclusion across the organization and the Human Resources function for its Logistics platform.

“At RRD, we place a lot of emphasis on practicing our core values, which include leadership, teamwork and respect. We care about company growth, but we want to support personal and professional growth as well. Growth begins with leadership—we need leadership from every seat.

Monica with awards related to RRD’s Boost the Troops Diversity & Inclusion initiative, including IL Employer of the Year in 2018 for hiring veterans, and a U.S. flag that flew over Iraq during a mission.

One area we are working on is activating our talent to increase individual commitment to results. We partnered with DeVry to implement learning modules, like “Project Management for Non-Project Managers,” designed to upskill our employees so we can better meet established goals.

Our mission is to be a place where every employee feels empowered to make an impact. Many of the business solutions we need can be found within our workforce if we create ways to effectively connect and include. An old proverb says it well: To go fast, go alone. To go far, go with people.”

We’re proud that our partnership helps Monica’s team connect employees with prescribed learning, so their skills can contribute to the company’s future.

THANK YOU, MONICA. RRD HAS TALENT, AND YOU SHOW US HOW TO HELP IT GO FAR!

In New York, DeVry University operates as DeVry College of New York. DeVry University is

accredited by The Higher Learning Commission (HLC), www.hlcommission.org. Keller Graduate School of Management is included in this accreditation. DeVry is certified to operate by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Arlington Campus: 2450 Crystal Dr., Arlington, VA 22202. DeVry University is authorized for operation as a postsecondary educational institution by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, www.tn.gov/thec. Nashville Campus: 3343 Perimeter Hill Dr., Nashville, TN 37211. Unresolved complaints may be reported to the Illinois Board of Higher Education through the online complaint system http://complaints.ibhe.org/ or by mail to 1 N. Old State Capitol Plaza, Ste. 333, Springfield, IL 62701-1377. Program, course and extended classroom availability vary by location. In site-based programs, students will be required to take a substantial amount of coursework online to complete their program. ©2019 DeVry Educational Development Corp. All rights reserved. 11/19

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The business partnership team of

devryworks.com • 866.606.8349

how these can be leveraged into the design to meet their learning objectives.

I narrowed Rosenstock’s six elements into three categories most commonly used in corporate development.

It is important to note that more than one of the six elements may be present in any of the following three next practice learning methods.

Immersive learning experiences allow participants to be immersed in something very different and much bigger than themselves. These engagements can create an emotional connection to heady, hard-to-comprehend messages and bring to life the content you are trying to highlight. For example, if inspiring a culture of innovation is one of your learning objectives, you need your participants to experience and see first-hand what that looks, feels and smells like. By immersing participants in that setting, they can’t help but better understand it, see the gaps and make mental notes on what they need to do to make innovation a reality in their own world. Crafting and discussing predetermined “lens questions” prior to your visit will keep learners focused on key aspects and takeaways.

Experiential methodologies provide powerful, quick-hit opportunities to catch yourself or your organization in the act of being yourself. These methodologies need to be challenging, population-appropriate, problem-solving activities that involve a clear goal and outlined constraints, which engages the learner’s instinct to succeed. Often these experiential tools are used as a practice field for specific subjects such as collaborating effectively, creating an environment of innovation, establishing trust, and using persuasion and influence.

Experiential methodologies also are excellent at catching leadership styles and behaviors in action. When there is fear of failure and there is recognition of success with mentors and peers in the room, the impact of learning is heightened.

With the use of mentors and executive coaches, in the moment, real-time peer feedback or behavioral observations provide executives with undeniable causeand-effect of their actions. It is hard to teach smart people something new, but when it comes to recognizing their own behavioral missteps in action, people learn.

Project-based learning/action learning projects are all about delivering a result in which peers or superiors are evaluating what you deliver (a public display of your work). Knowing your performance is being observed by peers or superiors drives performance and behavior. Project-based learning involves real tasks of novel challenge for participants to solve.

Action learning projects that address a real company issue have been popular in development for years. These are typically complex, “heady, not sweaty” projects in which an individual or a group of diverse learners work to present a solution.

24 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

Team-based projects allow participants to work deeply within team and leadership dynamics. Individual projects can be focused on an individual’s business unit challenges. Whether individual- or team-based, with careful selection projects can drive participants to wrestle with specific issues that mirror solutions and thinking needed in their specific business or industry.

When multiple projects are launched at once, the interaction between these projects drives performance.

You can’t underestimate the power of teams or individuals self-evaluating their performance compared with others.

The orchestrator is the “red thread” that connects the content over and over again.

Find the Magic Ratio Programs must strike a fine balance between two key design components: classroom-driven intellectual horsepower and the use of next practice learning methods to create a memorable learning experience that brings the content to life. All too often, the learner-centered approach is off balance by front-loading three days of intellectual classroom content and pairing it with one hour of experience. By repeatedly connecting the learning to the doing, you power up the learning experience, create a memory stamp and access less-saturated learning space for everyone in the room. Part of the design and delivery craft is creating an ebb and flow to this ratio so the brain is repeatedly treated to a cycle of intellectual stimulation followed by a next practice method.

In the end, the delivery must engage the learner intellectually and emotionally to change them behaviorally and make a lasting learning impact. Putting the learner at the center of the learning experience as an owner and operator in the driver seat is a must. Prioritize and limit the objectives, get the impact of content by creating oxygen for the learner, connect the content to the learner-specific context through skilled orchestration and design in a next practice learning methodology to help drive sustainability in the learning.

I don’t mean it to sound like a paint-by-numbers exercise; there certainly is an art to the craft of development. We know how learning works in real life. But by incorporating these elements, I’m confident you will get the satisfaction of having someone look you in the eyes, shake your hand and say, “That didn’t suck!” CLO Scott Miller is a senior partner and principal at Action Learning Associates, an international consulting firm.

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Which Soft Skills Should You Be Training?

Do a Google search on “soft skills for business” and you’ll get more than 500,000 articles to investigate.

Among those:

• WHAT ARE THE TOP 10 SOFT SKILLS? ESSENTIAL SOFT SKILLS FOR BUSINESS • 20SUCCESS • 120 SOFT SKILLS EMPLOYERS WANT

If you are among the learning leaders who understand that soft skills training is critical to company performance today, you’re ahead of many. However, it’s a very popular topic and there does not appear to be uniformity on which soft skills are important.

Simply throwing out skills like critical thinking, adaptability, trustworthiness, empathy, phone etiquette, humor, listening, helpfulness — the list goes on — does not give learning leaders the information they need to initiate serious learning programs.

To approach the soft skills training imperative without the rigor of researching which skills align with business results renders the entire activity as too “soft.”

How we got to SEVEN Power Skills™ Bellevue University started studying the impact of soft skills on workforce agility more than eight years ago. The investigation grew out of the University’s historic mission of preparing adult learners for success. It was encouraged by our Business Advisory Councils — leaders of corporations in a wide range of industries and government across the United States.

Beyond the University’s historic mission of Real Learning for Real Life, we had another head start. Our Human Capital Lab had long ago codified elements of human capital that relate to solid business impact, and had conducted numerous studies relating learning interventions to ROI. ROI in workforce productivity comes from improved knowledge, skills, and behavior — our definition of human capital.

Start with the Goal of an Adaptable, Productive Workforce We started with the knowledge, skills, and behaviors we are trying to impact. Specifically, what skills enable people to adapt to change, producing positive results for themselves and their companies?

After exhaustive research of credible academic articles, review of pedagogical models that relate subject matter and learning styles to transformation, and our own primary research of learning leaders and C-suite executives, we articulated these abilities as critical: • There is a shortage of motivated, talented workers

— especially in occupations like retail sales, food service, IT, health care and data analytics.

Companies seeking these workers are looking for compelling benefits that will attract and keep the people they need.

• Talented, motivated workers expect education

benefits. Millennials rate development as the most important non-cash benefit. Importantly for corporations, people who crave development are those who are motivated to move up.

The next step was to assign skills to these desired learning outcomes to assure we are covering them all and not neglecting important components.

Our investigation followed lines of thinking like this: “When we talk about communication skills that effectively build collaboration, promote teamwork, and forge relationships, we know it has to include speaking effectiveness; making presentations with clear evidence and a logical, organized pattern; ability to listen and discern responses; writing coherently and persuasively, treating team members respectfully; and many others.”

An exhaustive examination and review of each of the outcomes we were seeking followed. As we examined some commonly desired skills like critical thinking, we knew it was a higher-level skill composed of well-formed skills such as judgment, problem-solving, and decision-making.

Through this process, which included a lot of debate, testing, and measurement, we arrived at seven skills that are so important to workforce productivity and

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agility that we renamed them Power Skills™.

They strongly complement and reinforce each other and are meant to be taken as a whole.

Here’s how they break down:

• COMMUNICATION • COLLABORATION • JUDGMENT • PROBLEM-SOLVING • DECISION-MAKING • SELF-MANAGEMENT • VALUES CLARIFICATION

Communication and Collaboration work together to produce strong team members and leaders.

Judgment, Problem-Solving, and Decision-Making work together to produce critical thinking. Self-Management and Values Clarification work together to support emotional intelligence and frame a strong foundation for leaders. Individuals with these Power Skills have been found to be responsible and engaged citizens and inspire this in others.

The seven Power Skills are designed to work together.

When our organizations are well-balanced, employees with these skills produce a productive and agile workforce — truly POWERFUL.

Teaching Power Skills™ The next step was to create curricula and activities around the Power Skills to bring about the knowledge transfer and behavior transformation intended. The introduction, practice, and mastery of these seven Power Skills are available in Power Skills Boot Camps.

These Boot Camps were built from known applied learning curricula, assignments, and materials that moved graduates of our customized corporate programs into advanced positions and yielded a real return to their organizations.

Assessing Power Skills™ Competencies After we introduced the seven Power Skills to our corporate partners, they asked us to create an assessment of current competencies for these important skills. The PowerSkills PRO™ was designed to determine individuals’ current skill levels. It has also become a popular instrument for team leaders to initiate Power Skills™ training programs.

The Power Skills™ at Work These seven skills were selected and sequenced to make an impact on organizations and their workforces. While there are obviously many other skills one could term soft skills, our focus is on workforce productivity and agility. Our study, testing, and measurement leads us to feel confident that these skills have that impact. One measure is the number of students who have participated in Power Skills™ learning and seen direct and fast impact at work, including promotions, increased confidence, and influence.

Last year, we sponsored a research report of over 600 L&D leaders to learn their priorities for learning programs. More than 63% told us they have substantial knowledge gaps in Power Skills.

Download the research report for free at http:// corporatelearning.com/power-skills/.

You can also learn more about the Power Skills™ Boot Camps there, as well as the PowerSkills PRO™.

Real Learning for Real Life • CorporateLearning.com • 877-824-5516 The Corporate Learning Solutions division of Bellevue University works with corporations and other enterprises to support the productivity and competitiveness of their companies by increasing skills, knowledge, and talents of workforces. Corporate Learning Solutions has been working with corporations for more than 25 years and has pioneered a wide range of innovative solutions to human capital development.

These include the Human Capital Lab™, the nation’s first think tank to measure the impact of learning on Key Performance Indicators, custom learning programs that address specific skills and knowledge gaps, and Skill Accelerator™ boot camps.

A non-profit university, Bellevue University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (hlcommisssion.org), a regional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

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Practical Wisdom in Work and Leadership

The Role of Morality in Hiring Decisions and Organizational Policies/Practices

By Adina Sapp The modern workforce is putting increasing emphasis on the importance of ethical leadership. Employers can protect their organizations from unethical behaviors by making good hiring and leadership decisions and implementing good policies and practices. Moral character is more than the decisions one makes in big, dramatic moments. Character manifests itself every day in a million little ways.

To explore the role of moral character in the workplace, we interviewed Erik Helzer, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the research track at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. His research focuses on moral character, ethical behavior, and self and social assessment.

Assessing Moral Character During Interviews

In many cases, selecting candidates with common values can be important. “If you only think of the resume skills, you may be missing out on or not approaching the hiring process in a way that’s going to reveal these personality-based attributes that more and more employers are looking for,” Helzer said.

But while assessing moral character traits during the interview process may be essential to selecting individuals who will contribute to long-term organizational well-being, is this being done? Many interviews seem more focused on discovering a candidate’s work ethic, rather than personal ethics.1 The right questions can reveal traits predictive of both positive and negative work behavior, such as work ethic or counterproductive behavior. They will also reveal character deficiencies

that we should have no tolerance for, such as abusive behavior or moral disengagement (i.e., the tendency to rationalize bad decisions or to excuse oneself from ethical standards).

No matter what characteristics organizations are looking for, it’s essential to follow a predefined interview structure: ask each candidate the same questions and evaluate answers with the same standards.2 “Structure is the way to go,” Helzer said. “If we’re free form, we end up hiring people who are like us – sometimes only superficially so. Going free form from the beginning can be detrimental to women and minority candidates and allows people’s idiosyncratic whims to have way more influence than they should.” According to Forbes, there’s been a shift toward structured interviews over the past few years.3

Some character deficiencies we should have no tolerance for, such as moral disengagement and abusive behavior.

The Importance of Moral Character in Leaders

Any job requiring successful engagement and cooperation with other people needs good moral character and personality. “Many successful managers have certain character attributes that can’t be reduced to simple skills or knowledge,” Helzer said. "Often, managers are technical experts who have been promoted to positions of leading people, but that doesn't mean they're equipped to lead," Helzer said.

1 Ryan, L. (2016). “12 Qualities Employers Look For When They’re Hiring.” Forbes.

2 Screening and Evaluating Candidates. SHRM 3 Millet, J. (2017). “Should Your Company Invest In Structured Interviews?” Forbes.

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"Many successful managers have character strengths that can't be reduced to simple skills or task knowledge."

Organizations can negatively impact employee morality through: • Policies • Practices • Pressure The moral character of an organization’s leadership has a significant impact on employees.4 “You can’t necessarily teach good character, but you can model it,” Helzer noted. "There's evidence that ethical leaders have a positive effect on the people they supervise and work with, but this kind of passive transmission is hard to do as a matter of organizational process.”

“Within the business ethics industry, we talk about how people develop blind spots,” Helzer said. “People recognize unethical behavior in one context but not in another. Unintentionally, ethical awareness can fade from people's understanding of everyday choices and can result in chronic disengagement with moral thinking."

Helzer said that most organizations don’t think enough about moral character. He called out three important traits that can have huge workplace implications:

The degree to which • HONESTY-HUMILITY: people act in a sincere, fair, greed-avoidant, modest manner.6

A predisposition to experi• GUILT-PRONENESS: ence negative feelings about personal wrongdoing, even when the wrongdoing is private.7

IDENTITY: The extent to which people • MORAL care about embodying moral characteristics.

8

Leaders should be mindful of how organizational policies, practices, and pressure may undermine their staff’s existing ethics and over time cause ethical fading (when businesses’ ethical standards become eroded as employees become used to unethical behavior).

The modern organization requires a frank, open approach to workplace morality and ethics. By assessing moral character during interviews, HR leaders can ensure that prospective employees share the company’s values. Structured interviews reduce hiring biases and reveal common work approaches.

There have been many studies on what causes good people to cross ethical boundaries.5 Organizations should be mindful when developing policies and regularly assess how their practices and culture may be impacting their staff. “People can be reasonably stable in their behavior, but they can also act out of character,” Helzer said.

Organizations can actively protect the moral character of their own culture by selecting leaders who model wisdom and implementing processes that support employees. The combination of moral leaders and workers will produce an ethical organization poised for success.

Learn more at https://carey.jhu.edu/programs/ executive-education

4 Moore, C. et al. (2018). “Leaders Matter Morally: The Role of Ethical Leadership in Shaping Employee Moral Cognition and Misconduct.” Journal of Applied Psychology.

5 Sezer, O. et al. (2015). “Ethical blind spots: explaining unintentional unethical behavior.” Science Direct.

6 Honesty-humility factor of the HEXACO model of personality. Wikipedia.

7 Cohen, T. et al. (2012). “Guilt Proneness and Moral Character.” Sage Journals.

8 Aquino, K. (2012). Moral Identity and the Self-Regulation of Unethical Workplace Behavior. University of Delaware.

PROFILE

A Learner and Teacher at Heart Jennifer Sullivan brings a lifetime of education experience, digital expertise and a willingness to experiment to PerkinElmer.

BY AGATHA BORDONARO

L

earning is in Jennifer Sullivan’s blood. The daughter of two longtime educators, she grew up on a boarding school campus in Massachusetts, where her father taught at the high school and her mother at the elementary school. It was perhaps not surprising when she eventually announced that she intended to pursue a career as an elementary education teacher, earning a bachelor’s degree in child development from Vanderbilt University.

“Education was always part of my life — in its entirety,” Sullivan said.

But by the end of her four years at Vanderbilt, she had become more interested in the corporate world and wondered what a career in business might look like for her. A “very astute” professor of hers suggested she audit a few courses in organizational development and leadership to see if the field appealed. Right away she was hooked.

“I felt like I found my calling,” she said.

She was immediately accepted into Vanderbilt’s master’s program in organizational development and leadership, and the rest is history.

“I am a learner and a teacher at heart, but I wanted to do it differently from my parents,” explained Sullivan, who now serves as the chief talent officer for PerkinElmer, a global, $2.8 billion life-sciences firm.

Organizational L&D “was this beautiful blend of my interests. From day one of my career, I knew that this was what I wanted to do.”

A Consultative Approach As head of talent and L&D at PerkinElmer, Sullivan is in charge of ensuring the company’s 12,000 employees are properly trained, engaged, supported and coached, as well as making sure the company recruits and retains the best and brightest individuals. It’s no small job for Sullivan and her team of 10, who are dispersed across the Americas, Asia, Europe and India.

30 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

“Jen is a person of vision and she has a very clear, crisp communication style,” said John Luck, vice president for PerkinElmer America’s sales and service division, who served as the executive sponsor of a sales coaching program Sullivan and her team rolled out.

Her vision and communication skills, which contribute to her success in managing such a global team, were likely honed during her past experience as an L&D consultant, Luck said. Sullivan spent about five years consulting for companies like Booz Allen and Vantage Partners before moving internally into leadership development at Raytheon in 2009.

“Jen is a person of vision and she has a very clear, crisp communication style.”

— John Luck, vice president, sales and service division, PerkinElmer Americas Sullivan credits former colleague and mentor Greg Till, now the executive vice president and chief people officer for Providence St. Joseph Health, with helping her see how she could leverage her prior consulting experience to enhance her learning approach. “He said, ‘You don’t need to know everything. You need to know how to ask powerful, insightful questions and engage the room in answering them.’ And I knew how to do that because I’d been a consultant for years,” Sullivan said. “That became a game changer for me. If you know how to engage people in dialogue and actually make them a part of the solution and honor their expertise, it’s going to be a more impactful learning experience.

It will be a better solution.”

Perhaps because learning was infused into every aspect of her life from a young age, Sullivan takes a holistic approach to L&D — it’s tied strategically to the organization’s business goals and seamlessly embedded throughout the employee life cycle.

PHOTOS BY FRED LEVY

Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com 31

PROFILE

“Jennifer … comes in and talks to you about the health of your business, and about how learning and development can be a growth engine for the organization,” Luck said. “When you work with Jen, [L&D becomes] this untapped resource that you’ve had the whole time.”

“What makes an exceptional learning organization is recognizing that learning is just a part of the solution, and that you have to look at how learning fits in the entire organizational system to get the results and the outcomes you need,” Sullivan said. “That is what energizes me now: understanding how those pieces work together.”

“An underlying tenet I’ve given my team is the expectation to try new things, to prototype and to know it’s safe to fail.”

Innovation Required

— Jennifer Sullivan, chief talent officer, PerkinElmer

her ability to communicate what her vision is and how she approaches it, are probably her top attributes.”

Butters knew she’d found her CLO. In fact, she was so certain that she waited four months for Sullivan to relocate to Waltham, Massachusetts, where PerkinElmer is headquartered.

“I was looking for the right person, and I was willing to wait,” Butters said.

Sullivan joined PerkinElmer in June 2017 and, two years later, was promoted to her current role as chief talent officer, where she now has the added responsibility of overseeing global talent acquisition.

Current Priorities In the two and a half years that she’s been at PerkinElmer, Sullivan has managed to transform the firm’s L&D into a world-class, technology-forward organization. Again, since most of PerkinElmer’s learning and coaching had been done in classrooms previously, Sullivan knew she couldn’t simply transition employees to a blended platform right away. “I set a big vision for myself and my team to transform the traditional classroom experience into something that’s virtual-scalable, and that has the same kind of features and core characteristics of a classroom environment,” she said.

What did that look like? First, the digital tools had to be accessible anywhere, anytime, and the design had to be flexible. The content also had to be “highly interactive and engaging,” with multiple different ways for users to practice skills, Sullivan said. “Watching a video and reflecting on it wasn’t going to cut it. We had to figure out how they would practice, how they would role-play, how they would wrestle with these ideas,” she said.

When she was looking to hire a new chief learning officer in 2017, Deborah Butters, senior vice president and chief human resources officer for PerkinElmer, knew she needed someone innovative and tech savvy. At the time, at least 90 percent of PerkinElmer’s L&D programs were classroom-based.

This meant that the number of employees who could deepen their knowledge and skills and advance in their field was restricted to those who could take time off work and travel to specific locations at specified times; less than 20 percent of the firm’s global population was participating in formal L&D programs. It also meant that creating and rolling out any digital initiatives had to be done mostly from scratch — not to mention thoughtfully, deliberately and with the full support of relevant stakeholders.

“It’s a big change-­management effort to go from a largely classroom-​ based strategy to a largely virtual, tech-​enabled strategy,” Sullivan said.

“You have to bring the organization along with you, and you also have to look at learner readiness.”

In initial screening interviews, which happened over Skype as Sullivan was based in Seattle at the time, Butters was immediately impressed.

“She’s obviously very familiar with research and current thinking around adult learning, but she’s also got a clear view on how technology enables that,” Butters said. “She was able to eloquently talk about what the employee experience is and what we, as a company, were trying to drive Chief Talent Officer Jennifer Sullivan brings her lifelong relationship with learning to toward. Her innovation and passion, global life-sciences firm PerkinElmer, taking on a strategy beginning with managers.

32 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

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PROFILE

The learning also had to fit with the company’s unique culture, so generic or off-the-shelf content probably wouldn’t work. And since the digital nature of the training meant that employees wouldn’t be networking in person, it was also important that the content “facilitate strong community and strong relationship building,” Sullivan said.

employees, which she is developing in partnership with relevant business segments, and the Sales Coaching for Performance Program, which Luck sponsored. The program couples sales metrics with coaching content to transform stats from basic yardsticks or even points of contention into catalysts for engagement and problem solving. Sullivan’s ability to see how all the different business areas work together and to gain buy-in was crucial to the success of that program, Luck noted.

“Her ability to communicate and work with all those other functions is really exemplary,” he said.

For her work, Sullivan won a 2014 Gold Award for Best Learning Program Supporting a Change Transformation and a 2019 Silver Award for Excellence in Learning from the Brandon Hall Group.

What Lies Ahead

Sullivan’s goals include stitching together an end-to-end employee experience.

To build content that fit these criteria would require thinking outside the box and, perhaps most important, a willingness to try new things. Luckily, Butters said, Sullivan was just the person to do it.

“She’s not afraid to experiment,” Butters said. “That has enabled us to really test out ideas and figure out what works best for our employees.”

“I think an underlying tenet that I’ve given my team is the expectation to try new things, to prototype and to know that it’s safe to fail, frankly,” Sullivan said. “Right now it’s more important for us to try to push the boundaries of how we do learning [and] what technology can do … to drive high-impact learning around this organization. So, we have become very agile in our approach.”

One example of a “highly innovative, scalable, learning-technology-enabled approach” that Sullivan rolled out is MyPath, an entirely virtual L&D pilot program for manager-​level employees. Described as a “virtual learning journey with other managers from around the globe,” the pilot, which debuted in 2018, aimed to build managers’ skills in four areas: change management and leadership, coaching and feedback, communication, and data-driven decision-making.

The pilot was an overwhelming success: 87 percent of employees approved of the learning content, with 84 percent saying they would apply what they learned to their jobs.

Other initiatives that Sullivan has successfully rolled out at PerkinElmer include product education for all 34 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

As Sullivan settles into her new role as head of talent, she is looking at how she can build more intentional bridges between PerkinElmer’s talent acquisition, retention and development goals. “I’m really excited about partnering with the organization to stitch together this end-to-end employee experience,” she said. “[I’d like to] bring together a buy, build and retain strategy against the workforce needs that are out on the horizon.”

Till said Sullivan is uniquely qualified to undertake this challenge. “She is equally skilled in organizational development and design, systems thinking, issue-based conflict resolution, talent management and consulting,” he said. “She also excels at relationship and stakeholder management, ensuring buy-in and support along the way. She is a true business partner.”

Always the educator at heart, Sullivan said the highlight of her days is still witnessing “the light bulb go off” in her team and in the PerkinElmer community. “I’m rarely ever happier than when, on the rare occasion, I get to be back in the classroom and be in front of the room facilitating,” she said. “When you’re teaching a group and you see it happen — I just love being a part of that process.”

Sullivan also plans to continue pushing her team — and organization at large — to innovate new solutions for ever-changing global business challenges.

“I believe it’s our imperative as a learning industry to radically change how we engage with our learners,” she said. “We’ve got to flip learning on its head, where what has been is we take the learner out of their work and bring them to the learning. We have to bring the learning to the learner and integrate it into their day, into their way of working. I fear that if we don’t do that, we’ll be obsolete. We’re at the beginning of a really exciting transformation.” CLO Agatha Bordonaro is a writer based in New York.

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Evolution of the CLO The

The world of workplace learning has experienced seismic change over the past three decades. How has the CLO role kept pace with the evolving needs of the workplace?

36 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

BY JD DILLON

I

t’s been almost a quarter century since the formalization of the position of chief learning officer: In 1994, Jack Welch made Steve Kerr the CLO of General Electric. Of course, senior managers, often within human resources, had been responsible for workplace training for decades prior to the creation of the CLO role. This was more of an emblematic recognition of the importance of learning within a successful business. A dedicated executive was necessary to make sure the organization could continue to find the best ways to develop employee knowledge and skills.

The world of workplace learning has experienced seismic change over the past 25-plus years. Technology has evolved. New principles have been introduced. Even the way people do their work has fundamentally changed.

But what has happened to the CLO during this period? Has the role kept pace with the evolving needs of the workplace?

How have the skills required to be an effective CLO changed? And perhaps the most important question of all: Does a modern business even need a CLO to enable the future of work?

Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com 37

More Than a Title

2. The Digital CLO

Before exploring the evolution of the CLO role, it’s important to acknowledge that not every organization has a formal CLO. The majority of companies, from small and medium-sized businesses to global enterprises, employ a role that oversees a significant component, if not all, of the formalized workplace learning function.

They may be part of the HR team or embedded within the operation. They may be referred to as training director, head of learning, vice president of learning, chief talent officer or a variety of other titles. Regardless, their focus is making sure people have the knowledge and skills needed to do their jobs effectively and contribute to the overall success of the organization.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the internet happened. L&D rapidly introduced digital training as a cost-effective and scalable alternative to the classroom.

The corporate university shifted its focus to culture and leadership training but was no longer the center of the workplace learning system. The CLO adjusted their budget to reduce travel and logistics expenses and add essential learning technologies, including a learning management system and basic authoring tools. Trainer roles were reduced, and digital content developers were added.

While the tactics shifted considerably, the measurement focus on utilization stayed the same.

While tools and tactics will change, a modern learning mindset is guided by a set of foundational, evergreen principles.

Every organization is different. The strategies and tactics used to support workplace learning can vary considerably. Therefore, while they have the same role in concept, the day-to-day of every CLO will vary. So, rather than examine the details of the job to determine how it has changed over the years, it is simpler to look at how their function — the organization’s overall approach to learning — has evolved. And since 1994, there have been four distinct phases of workplace learning that have shaped the CLO role.

1. The Academic CLO The original CLO played a role very similar to the dean of an academic institution. Workplace learning was extremely structured and relied almost exclusively on a combination of classroom and on-the-job training into the late 1990s. Learning and development included large teams of classroom facilitators and peer trainers along with instructional designers and project managers.

The corporate university was the center of the workplace learning strategy. Employees were commonly required to take time away from their day-to-day work to focus on planned skill and career development activities. Training delivery was very expensive, but this was how corporate education was always done. The CLO was measured primarily on volume of training delivery, availability of development offerings and responsiveness to business requests.

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3. The Ecosystemic CLO The 2010s brought the realization that the CLO never actually owned workplace learning in the first place. This was made clear as other teams, including sales, marketing, communications and operations, began to rapidly adopt their own tools and strategies for employee enablement. Technology had triggered fundamental changes in employee workflows and expectations, so every team started looking for ways to address their growing skills gaps. They may not have referred to their tactics as “learning,” but it was all in service of the same goal: an informed, capable, productive employee.

To address the accelerating speed of business change along with the decentralized reality of employee enablement, the CLO began to recognize their organization’s learning culture as a multifaceted ecosystem. This represented a near 180-degree pivot from the centralized, university-driven approach. Now, the CLO looked for ways to work across functions to support L&D. They challenged their teams to find meaningful integrations and connect technology, data and content tools to provide a holistic employee experience. The historic focus on push training began to give way to more pull concepts, such as mobile, social and self-directed learning, to balance scale and personal needs.

The measurement story also started to change. The CLO was under increasing pressure to validate the impact their function was having (or not having) on business results, an expectation that had been experienced by their executive counterparts for years. This meant that utilization stats were no longer enough. So, the CLO turned to their data partner within their organization to help their team begin to improve their measurement capabilities and expand the scope of “learning data.”

Challenges in the New World of Work There are still plenty of CLOs who lead L&D teams that leverage a centralized, academic model for training delivery. At the same time, many CLOs have made the clear transition to a holistic, ecosystemic approach so their teams can leverage a wider range of tools and tactics

to enable employee performance. Every organization is unique. Supporting a medium-sized business with a core set of roles is very different than supporting a global enterprise with an extensive number of functions and job requirements. An effective CLO must adopt strategies that best fit the needs of their business. There is no such thing as a “best way” to foster knowledge and skill development that fits perfectly for everyone.

Regardless of their business size or industry, many CLOs are now facing the same fundamental challenge.

According to PwC’s “Talent Trends 2019” report, “79 percent of CEOs worldwide are concerned that a lack of essential skills in their workforce is threatening the future growth of their organization.” This is up from 63 percent in 2014. At the same time, research shows that, due to the current state of the global economy, companies are starting to prefer reskilling over external recruitment as a primary means to address their talent gaps.

Automation is rapidly changing the roles people play in how work gets done. Ninety percent of organizations are already in the process of designing jobs, according to the “2019 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends” report. In a world of near constant business disruption, organizations must foster an unprecedented level of agility to remain competitive long-term. As things stand right now, more than half of all employees will require significant reskilling in the next three years. But it’s foolish to think reskilling is a short-term challenge.

Rather, CLOs must reimagine their function in order to provide the continuous development and support employees need to keep pace with their ever-changing job expectations.

4. The Modern CLO The CLO must again evolve to help employees thrive within the modern workplace. However, this phase should not be focused on specific tools or tactics.

Rather, providing clear value through L&D in today’s workplace requires a continued shift in mindset. Organizations with mature learning cultures may already be moving down this path based on what they learned during previous phases. The modern CLO must influence the entire organization — executives, stakeholders, employees — to think differently about the role of L&D. They must help people adopt a modern learning mindset and transition completely away from the idea that workplace learning should look and feel anything like traditional schooling.

By definition, “modern” is a moving target. Similarly, the CLO must constantly reassess how they provide value within their organization. While tools and tactics will change, a modern learning mindset is guided by a set of foundational, evergreen principles.

Agility. Continuous learning is a requirement in the modern workplace. The CLO must foster organizational

agility by shifting their team’s focus from programs and content to systems and channels. L&D will only be able to help people keep pace with the changing needs of the business by connecting them to knowledge and skill development rather than requiring that they always build and deliver it themselves.

By adopting modern learning principles, the CLO can reduce their team’s reliance on onesize-fits-none training.

Impact. Like any other business leader, the CLO must be able to determine whether their efforts are having the intended impact. They must challenge their team to improve their measurement practices and tap into related expertise within the organization. The modern CLO must be willing to acknowledge moments when their efforts do not yield the intended impact and proactively improve their strategies as a result.

Data. L&D cannot move forward unless it improves its data capabilities. Artificial intelligence, adaptive learning, augmented reality — many emerging L&D practices require quality data to implement. Therefore, the CLO must prioritize this effort and integrate learning data with the broader picture provided by business data.

They must partner across the organization to leverage data practices and expertise. The modern CLO must ask questions and make decisions using data in addition to their past experience and outside input.

Ecosystem. The CLO must continue their shift toward a holistic approach to L&D. Rather than seeking centralized ownership of reskilling practices, the modern CLO leverages a wide array of tools, channels and tactics in partnership with internal and external experts to help employees balance the push and pull of continuous workplace learning.

Workflow. The corporate university is not dead, but it cannot be the centerpiece of a modern learning strategy. Rather, the modern CLO pushes their team to provide learning and support opportunities when and where an employee needs them. Complex skill development may have a structured, academic feel when needed, but a modern learning strategy begins with a focus on the true moments of need that can make a difference in people’s day-to-day execution.

Personal. The future of learning should not be based on a specific type of content or technology. Rather, as EVOLUTION continued on page 53 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com 39

Building a Learning Enterprise

40 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

Today’s successful organization requires learning to be an enterprisewide capability embedded in roles, processes, systems and culture.

BY PATRICIA A . M c L AGAN

O

rganizations are at the dawn of a major breakthrough. Many forces, including technology and digitization, global competition, communication, social media innovations and expectations of new workforce members, are causing incremental changes. Yet top-down power relationships, decision-making and attitudes toward failure still exude “traditional enterprise.”

Amid the traditional, something new is trying to emerge — an enterprise that is more fluid and agile, ecological, innovative and quick to recognize and mine insights from problems. Enterprises are trying to become learning organizations — alive and with inbuilt capacity to continually adapt and shapeshift.

Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com 41

So what role do the learning leaders play? They hold the key to full transformation.

Not Just an Add-On Functioning as a learning enterprise can be hugely beneficial. Learning is fundamental to agility, innovation and responsiveness. Skill and attitude requirements are changing fast: The World Economic Forum projects that by 2022, 54 percent of all employees will require significant reskilling and upskilling. Learning opportunities attract and retain talented people. This is true for all generations at work, but especially Gen Y and Z, who are more likely to leave if they don’t feel they have support for their learning and development. And learning and increased productivity go hand in hand. However, according to “Wearied Science,” a 2017 article in The Economist, productivity gains are not rising as fast as investments in automation and technology, indicating that people aren’t keeping up.

In response to all this, companies are increasing their investments in formal learning but without consistent measures of returns on their investments. There is a lot of money going into upgrading companies’ learning infrastructures, for example.

Companies are moving from local learning management systems to the cloud, investing in both internal and external learning programs, building mobile and online learning technology and apps.

Talent development staffs are increasingly strategic and capable. These investments signal that companies are trying to react to the challenge.

But learning is not primarily a formal training and development problem. In fact, formal training makes a tiny contribution — about 2.5 percent, according to the 2018 Training “Industry Report” — to any person’s development once he or she is in the workforce. Many other less formal forces have much higher payoff potential if they are used together and in a systemic way. Becoming a learning enterprise is a culture-change journey. And there are many levers.

Think about learning as a deep and pervasive process capability of the business that is evident in employee and management adaptability, problem solving and creativity — and in how people work together. Company and personal strategies and values guide it. Business processes and systems support it. And people are skilled to both learn and teach in ways that create a safe, challenging and productive haven for experimentation, risk, and quick recognition and recovery from failure.

In this view, learning is not an add-on. It is not courses and formal programs, or something that the company and L&D team simply provide to employees (though these are part of the solution).

42 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

It is a pervasive capability and attitude of the business. More fundamentally, it is a capability that is essentially personal and individual. For it is individuals who learn, by paying attention to information, focusing on it long enough to know what it is about, accepting it as information to act on, and then turning it into behaviors and results.

If individuals do not learn, the organization does not learn.

Of course, there are many ways that individuals, the people around them and the organization positively or negatively influence what is essentially an individual process and responsibility. And these are key to unleashing the learning enterprise.

Power relationships, decision-making and attitudes toward failure still exude “traditional enterprise.”

Ready, Set, Unleash Carol Dweck popularized the concept of fixed and growth mindsets. The fixed mindset is based on a belief that many capabilities of people can’t change. The growth mindset is based on a belief that humans are built to change and adapt. This contrast between change resistance and change enablement represents a dynamic that has been present for decades. Organizations are struggling to become more change-friendly. Of course, there needs to be stability and cohesion in an enterprise.

But as things speed up and become more complex, continual skill refreshment and renewal become vital for both business success and individual job and career versatility. The traditional hierarchical enterprise has a difficult time making this shift to a more agile way of operating.

The solution is not to just “train people better.”

There is much more to creating an enterprise that is built to learn. Like any complex change management process, you need to focus on several tracks simultaneously.

Track 1: The Learners Dependency thinking about learning (“the company is responsible for my learning”) is fast going the way of the rotary phone. Ultimately, an organization’s learning capacity depends on every person’s ability to manage his or her own development. In other words, the organization’s learning will only

be as good as the learning and self-change skills of its people.

There is one absolute truth about learning that makes the learner the most important focus of all: Whether it is conscious or unconscious, all learning is under the control of the learner. If learners don’t attend to information, there will be nothing to process in their brains. If they don’t focus on information long enough to create neuron changes in short-term memory, there will be nothing to store in memory. If they don’t take steps to store information in long-term memory or turn it into viable skills, any possibility for change disappears.

And if learners don’t transfer learning into their work and life, what they have learned remains only a potentiality.

There can be no high-value learning and therefore no learning enterprise without conscious, competent learners.

Track 2: Managers and Formal Leaders The act of learning is a personal process, but social and performance context matters. In fact, it matters a lot. Every day, people in formal leadership roles and those with special expertise or influence have many opportunities to help others learn. They may help others solve problems, see alternatives, find resources and information, or feel safe to stretch and take risks. But the helping role has several layers.

The best helpers go beyond just helping others “catch fish” in the moment. They help them learn how to fish, coaching and sponsoring them to become more competent and confident self-managers and to develop advanced learning skills. The best helpers know that in order to play this more comprehensive role, they need to understand human development.

They draw on the sciences of learning and helping and have specific frameworks and tools to guide them in their support roles.

Managers, colleagues and other third-party helpers influence 20 percent or more of all learning.

But their support is often hesitant, unintentional and may not be skilled. Well-meaning helpers often talk when they should listen and solve the problems when they should assist the other person in thinking through solutions. And they miss opportunities to provide that little bit of encouragement and appreciation that could help others stick to a learning track.

Track 3: Teams Teams are a key organizing principle in today’s workplace, and it’s common for individuals to work on two, three or more at a time. Teams are increasingly important building blocks of the learning

enterprise. So, it’s important to examine whether teams are a positive, neutral or negative learning force. Do teams’ emphasis on performance make it difficult to notice or admit problems as they arise?

Do team members share knowledge and expertise freely or hoard it? Do they help each other learn — or even know what others’ learning agendas are? Are members in a win-lose or competitive game with each other?

If individuals do not learn, the organization does not learn.

Many companies have well-defined processes for setting team performance goals, tracking progress and rewarding success. But a learning enterprise does more. Members value and use processes for shared learning, and team members use advanced learning and helping capabilities. They create visions of what the team will learn together. They recognize and work to mitigate any negative carry-overs from previous team experiences where learning was not supported. They openly communicate their own personal learning agendas and commit to helping each other achieve them. They raise problems quickly, seeing them as learning opportunities. They are vulnerable with each other, whether it’s through asking for help or feedback or sharing creative ideas.

For successful teams in a high-capacity learning enterprise, it’s about performance and learning.

Track 4: Systems and Processes In a learning enterprise, learning is embedded in the business’ systems and processes. For example, people know what knowledge and skills they need in order to use any new process or system — and they are supported to develop these capabilities. They also continually monitor the effectiveness of the processes and systems they use. People keep processes and systems alive, not allowing them to turn into sclerotic bureaucracy that adds work without value. Like everything else in a learning enterprise, all processes and systems are subject to review, improvement and even replacement.

Most critically, people become smarter and more awake, not dumber or robotic because they are using a system or following a process. Think of how cellphone use has made people addicted to adrenaline surges of receiving new messages. Or how performance management in many companies has BUILDING continued on page 52 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com 43

44 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

Keeping Up With Digital

Badges

Digital badges and credentials have blown up.

Now we need to verify them through an industry standard that makes sense to stakeholders.

BY ELIZ ABETH LOUTFI

I

n the material world, people have been wearing badges for hundreds of years to signify personal achievements, acquired competencies and accomplishments. During the early 2000s, badges expanded into the digital world. In 2005, Microsoft created the Xbox 360 Gamerscore system.

Foursquare, the social networking service, launched in 2009, and used badging as a marketing tactic to drive user engagement.

In 2011, badges were given more recognition following the publication of Peer 2 Peer University and The Mozilla Foundation’s white paper, “An Open Badge

Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com 45

System Framework.” According to the report, badges were being formally and successfully used to represent achievements and motivate learning. Foursquare, the Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of America were highlighted as examples.

In recent years, the number of digital badging programs available in the workplace have grown.

Keeping up with them — understanding what they are, what they mean and where they come from — is an emerging challenge for chief learning officers and learning leaders.

Also in 2011, then-​U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recognized digital badges as an important new education investment in his remarks at the fourth annual launch of the MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Lifelong Learning Competition.

In his address, Duncan emphasized how all types of learners can benefit from digital badging programs, including teachers.

“Badges offer an important way to recognize nontraditional ways of learning,” he said in his remarks.

“They’re a way to give credence — and ultimately, credit — for the skills learners and teachers acquire in a broader set of learning environments, and a wider range of content. Badges also empower students and teachers to play an even stronger role in their own learning and development — to seek out the right tools among many resources available, and in their fields of interest — and build a record of what they have mastered.”

However, the Mozilla Foundation’s research pointed to context being more important than design. Not long after publication, the foundation developed its own standard for digital badges, called Open Badges, in 2011. The system collects, issues and displays digital badges across many websites and nonprofits, including information such as what the badge represents, how and when it’s earned and where it was issued, according to its website. Now, roughly 3,000 organizations issue Open Badges as part of their learning and development.

But so far, most of the discussion surrounding digital badges and their use in L&D has been on the supply side, not the demand side, said Daniel Szpiro, dean at Marist College.

In hiring, it’s tricky for employers to trust a digital badge if they have never included them as part of their hiring equation before.

For career advancement, the types of credentials managers are interested in are the ones that are associated with job requirements, which tend to be

degree- or license-based – not digital badges.

“Very few employers have historically attached credentials to career advancement, and I can tell you that having spent 25 years in the executive MBA space,” Szpiro said.

As a result, some learning leaders may not know enough about digital badges to begin with, while others are left skeptical of what skills those badges actually represent, he added.

“Whatever format it takes, whether it’s digital or somebody is writing it with a feather on a sheepskin, what does a credential represent?” Szpiro said. “Why would an employer put weight on any credential?

It has to do with the validity process and the issuing organization.”

Research points to context being more important than design.

46 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

Rapid Growth

At the end of 2019, there were more than 190,000 digital badges and badging programs — roughly 29 percent of all U.S. credentialing programs, according to a Credential Engine report released in September.

Not all of them follow the same standards, however.

Like any credential, a digital badge represents the completion of a course or the acquisition of a skill. But they vary in content, intended quality, duration and rigor, said Scott Cheney, Credential Engine’s executive director.

While some digital badging programs are becoming household names, such as digital badging giant Credly’s Acclaim and IBM’s Digital Badge Program, many others still give employers pause. “How much effort are employers going to put in to vet 27 different kinds of digital badges?” Szpiro said.

He said the ones he trusts personally are those that have been around the longest — from universities, business schools and established organizations. In January 2019, the School of Professional Programs at Marist launched a digital badge program, in which each badge is earned after completing a series of three courses. The program is designed for users to go through it as a standalone or when working toward an undergraduate degree at Marist. The program is also compatible with employee tuition reimbursement benefit policies at many organizations.

Cheney said he and his team found the number of digital badge programs in the U.S. to be surprising.

They had not expected the number to be that large prior to conducting the research.

“This is absolutely going to influence employers,” he said. “What we need to have happen, for the marketplace to be really efficient, is for those employers — whether those badges are being used internally for the employees or externally for the market — to make

sure the information about those badges is shared publicly so that the next employer isn’t wondering.”

Sharing this information would advance the flow of marketplace talent, he added.

Historically, with alternative credentials there would be little or nothing to show when a user completed something, with the exception of a paper certificate or PDF. In many cases, individuals were being left to self-report these skills. Prior to launching Credly in 2013, this was a point of inquiry for founder and CEO Jonathan Finkelstein.

In the late 90s and early 2000s, Finkelstein and his colleagues were working with large companies and academic institutions to scale workforce development using technology, which gave them pause: “It was like: Wait a minute, if we’re bringing in technology in such an incredible way, and at-scale for learning, why aren’t we doing the same for the outcome?” Finkelstein said.

The digital aspect would make it easier for employers to discover the meaning behind the badge.

With Credly, Finkelstein said, the idea was that a learner’s achievement doesn’t get locked up in one place. Instead, the credential should be portable.

“Once you earn a credential, you should be able to use it anywhere, and that ties into the next piece, which is that it needs to be verified,” Finkelstein said.

credentials registered with it so far. Cheney said he hopes to get as many programs registered as possible.

The goal is to be the one place anybody can go to search an individual credential, where companies can pull them into applications they’re developing, where a high school junior can discover a new pathway tool or where somebody who’s been laid off can decide how to jumpstart their next career path, Cheney said.

Additionally, Cheney said Credential Engine wants to continue to publish an annual report on the number of alternative credentials in the U.S. Ultimately, what the first report revealed was significant, but Cheney said their evidence is indicative of all the other questions they have to answer about credentialing.

“I think we’ve accomplished being able to share a richer picture of the basic contours of the marketplace,” he said. “What we still need to do is have much richer information about each of those credentials that we’ve identified as being out there, and we need to make sure that we can put that information into the hands of everyone who needs it.”

For digital badges to work, there needs to be a way to standardize and verify them for employers.

Keeping Track Credential Engine’s report estimates there are roughly 738,428 unique credentials in the U.S.: 370,020 issued by postsecondary education institutions, 7,132 credentials from MOOC providers, 315,067 credentials from nonacademic institutions (including digital badges) and 46,209 credentials from public and private secondary institutions.

At the end of the day, experts in digital badges and alternative credentialing agree that for these programs to work, there needs to be some way to standardize and ultimately verify them for employers.

A digital infrastructure to easily store, share and display credentials where students and badge owners can store their data would help as they apply for jobs, register for job training programs and upgrade their skills, according to Washington D.C. based public policy think tank, Third Way’s report, “Hurdles to Connected Credentials.”

Last year, Credential Engine also designed an online credential catalogue; they’ve had approximately 9,000

Taking Action By 2030, as many as 375 million workers throughout the world may need to reskill or switch occupations in response to technological disruption, according to a 2018 McKinsey Global Institute Report. And by 2023, the digital badging market, which includes vendors like Credly, Accredible, Badgelist and others, is expected to reach a net worth of $205.6 million, according to a 2019 market research report, “Digital Badges Market

by Offering, End User and Region — Global Forecast to 2023.”

We know that digital badges and other forms of credentialing are likely here to stay, and experts believe they can be useful in identifying and hiring talent, as well as helpful tools in workplace training and development.

The trick, however, is keeping up with them, and keeping them verified through an industry standard that makes sense to stakeholders.

Szpiro said more coverage that talks about employers and alternative credentials in general — or even digital badges specifically — would make a legitimate impact in how they are recognized and understood. CLO Elizabeth Loutfi is a Chief Learning Officer associate editor.

Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com 47

CASE STUDY

Parlez-vous Learning?

BY SARAH FISTER GALE

A

ir France-KLM has long been held up as an icon of French elegance. The nearly 90-year-old $29 billion global airline is known for its thoughtfully curated French food, uniforms designed by Dior and glamorous airport lounges. But a recent shake-up in corporate structure, coupled with the desire to better support the needs of all of its 101 million annual passengers, had the airline’s learning and development team looking for new ways to expand its employees’ skills.

That led them to Voxy, a web-based language training company that offers customized English language training to users in 20 countries. The platform provides training and content based on individual trainees’ interests, skill level and language learning goals as a way to keep them interested and focused on the difficult task of learning a new language.

“Not surprisingly, the most requested language from our workforce is English,” said Christine Armand, head of learning and development.

“As Air France has more than 50 percent international customers, it is important for all our staff to maintain or improve their English level.”

Armand’s team wanted to meet their needs with a program that would be easy to access, engaging and adaptive for all users. “It was very important for us to have a solution that could provide an innovative, modern experience that’s available on all devices,” Armand said. Employees can use the platform from their computers or phones, making it accessible at work, at home and in transit. “We chose Voxy because its unique content and proficiency tests let employees track their progress and practice English anywhere, anytime.”

An Optional Endeavor Air France rolled out Voxy in April 2018 to managers as a pilot effort, then expanded the offering to all of its roughly 41,000 employees two months later. Armand’s team supported the rollout with a companywide communication campaign that included emails, newsletters and organized events for different departments. “Our goal was to 48 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

SNAPSHOT An optional language learning program is helping Air France-KLM support global customers while driving employee engagement across the airline.

make employees aware of Voxy, boost popularity and encourage people to want to learn English,” she said.

The platform offers a variety of task-based content types targeting professional language scenarios.

Courses cover a range of topics including general business English, customer service terms, written emails and conversational English. It also lets learners choose how they want to learn and whether they prefer reading, listening or watching.

The program is completely optional, Armand said. Even when employees choose to use it, there is no obligation to complete a certain level or number of hours of training. It is designed to be a benefit that employees can use to improve their skills for personal or professional reasons. The only requirement is that “every learner is willing to maintain or to improve their language,” she added.

Making it optional was an intentional learning strategy, according to Katie Nielson, chief education officer for Voxy. “One thing we know about adult learning is that if you aren’t interested, you won’t pay attention,” she said. “If you don’t force people to use the platform, those who are interested in learning will use it and they will be more engaged.”

Ana Bedel is a good example. The human resources manager has been working at Air France for five years and started using the training to help boost her career skills after learning about the training during one of the department events. “In the near future I will start a new position at Air France which requires a lot of English,” she said. She uses the platform every day on her commute to and from work to prepare for that promotion.

Custom Content Boosts Engagement When first-time users enter the platform, they are prompted to complete a needs analysis that captures details about their language proficiency and language learning goals, as well as their content interests and how they like to learn. “Based on that analysis we direct them to the best content,” Nielson said.

The platform then creates a custom learning plan with content selected based on their needs and interests. For example, learners who report low levels of English proficiency and an interest in politics may receive basic articles or news videos with captions. Others might receive pop culture articles, business materials, or videos of job interviews or business meetings. “The platform gives them content they will enjoy paying attention to and that they are familiar with,” Nielson said.

She noted that when learners are already familiar with the subject matter, it is easier for them to comprehend what they are reading, which makes the experience more successful. In the future, the platform may also offer Air France case studies and content to help employees work on specific job scenarios.

As the learner progresses, the difficulty level of their content will increase, adapting with their skill development. Users also have the option to test their skills every 90 days to monitor their improvement.

The platform rates proficiency using the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which is an international standard for describing language ability that ranges from A1 (beginner) to C2 (proficient).

Bedel, who mostly uses business writing and interview preparation videos, has seen her proficiency climb from B2 (upper intermediate) to C1 (advanced). She feels like it is helping her prepare for the future. “I feel more confident in my English since I have started this training and I … feel better when communicating with clients, colleagues and friends,” she said. “Learning another language has opened my mind and I am now more curious about other cultures and I would be willing to start a position in another country.”

Tracking Tools Show Impact While the program is optional, Armand does monitor user rates through the platform’s command center, where she can check the number of engaged learners, the time they spend on the

platform, the number of tests taken and whether employees’ English skills are improving. Having the command center lets her know whether the platform is adding value.

To date, the numbers show a positive impact.

Roughly 5 percent of employees are using the program about 30 minutes per week, and it is the toprated course on the company’s learning management system, according to data from Nielson. This suggests learners like the training and are engaged in the learning process, she said.

“One thing we know about adult learning is that if you aren’t interested, you won’t pay attention.”

— Katie Nielson, chief education officer, Voxy It’s also having a business impact. One survey found 31 percent of users say they save one to two hours per week due to their improved English language ability, which was a business goal tied to the training.

“Setting goals is the most important first step in learning a new language,” Nielson said. Establishing what you want to learn, in what time frame and for what purpose helps learners stay focused and gauge their progress, and it helps companies track the value of their learning investment. “It should be included in every language learning program.”

For companies considering offering their own language learning program to employees, Armand advised them to take into account access, aim, content and price. “Access to the platform has to be very easy and needs to be available on any device, and the content has to be accurate, personalized and available for all levels from beginner to proficient,” she said. “The learning platform should also give users the possibility to test their skills on a regular basis. This helps learners and internal training administrators track their progress.”

Bedel added that offering language learning training sends an important message to employees that the leadership team is committed to their ongoing professional and personal development. “By improving their skills they boost their employability and can keep them working in the company for a long time,” she said. That’s a value proposition that is easy to get behind. CLO Sarah Fister Gale is a writer based in Chicago.

Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com 49

20/20 Vision: Focusing on the Human Element Organizations are devoting more resources than ever to diversity programs, but figuring out how to measure those efforts is a moving target.

BY ASHLEY ST. JOHN

A

nother decade has passed, and we find ourselves entering the 2020s. To be sure, it’s a different world than it was just five or 10 years ago. With the pace of change accelerating all the time, big shifts have occurred in a relatively short amount of time.

One of those shifts has been an increase in organizations focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion.

According to the “2019 Diversity Value Index Benchmarking Report,” compiled by Human Capital Media’s Research and Advisory Group, organizations are devoting more resources than ever to diversity programs, whether through increased budget or staff numbers.

The “2019 Diversity Value Index Benchmarking Report” combines the results of the 2019 “Diversity State of the Industry” survey with demographics insights from our Talent Tracker data service.

According to the report, roughly 70 percent of surveyed organizations have a diversity function, whether centralized (33 percent), cross-functional (22 percent), ad hoc or informal (11 percent), or decentralized (5 percent). Seventeen percent have no diversity function and no plans to develop one, while the remaining 13 percent don’t have one currently but are either developing or planning to develop one in the next 12 to 18 months (Figure 1).

Although the DVI has appeared since 2012, the questions in previous surveys were asked differently enough that trends in this area are hard to compare.

But in Deloitte Insights’ “2017 Global Human Capital Trends” report, 69 percent of executives rated D&I an important issue, up from 59 percent in 2014.

Additionally, the proportion of executives who cited inclusion as a top priority rose by 32 percent compared with the 2014 survey. And in the more recent 2018 and 2019 “Global Human Capital Trends” 50 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

reports, Deloitte has focused on the rise of the social enterprise. In fact, when CEOs were asked to rate their most important measures of success in 2019, the top issue they cited was “impact on society, including income inequality, diversity and the environment” (Figure 2).

Currently, most organizations recognize their work is cut out for them. They are still figuring out how to assess the impact of their D&I programs and establish what success looks like. A 2019 white paper published

by HCM’s Research and Advisory Group, “Moving the Needle on Strategic Diversity,” shared that half of all organizations say they’ve made progress but have more to do (Figure 3). One reason that may be, according to the white paper, is that D&I work is never truly finished — “practicing diversity” is an ongoing process that doesn’t stop at worker parity.

Research has shown that having diversity at all levels of an organization is financially beneficial to business and can improve innovation and performance. This information is not new. And the 2019 DVI report makes a powerful argument for D&I as a solid contributor to business performance. But based on Deloitte’s research, it seems that focusing on improving D&I efforts and having a dedicated diversity function would also be a part of a bigger picture effort by organizations to enhance their societal impact and connection.

The next decade will no doubt bring countless unforeseen changes. But one thing seems clear: As we move ahead, we can likely look forward to more focus on the human element. CLO Ashley St. John is Chief Learning Officer’s managing editor.

Figures’ sources: Human Capital Media’s “2019 Diversity Value Index Benchmarking Report,” N=273; “2019 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends,” N= 10,000; HCM’s “Moving the Needle on Strategic Diversity,” N=506. All percentages rounded.

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

FIGURE 1: ORGANIZATION OF THE DIVERSITY FUNCTION, 2019 33%

22% 17% 11%

9%

5%

Centralized

4%

Decentralized

Mixed (cross-functional)

Ad hoc or informal

No diversity function, no plans to develop one

No diversity function, plan to begin development in 12-18 months

No diversity function, currently developing one

FIGURE 2: TOP FACTORS TO MEASURE SUCCESS WHEN EVALUATING ANNUAL PERFORMANCE Ranked first

Ranked second

Ranked third

Ranked fourth

Ranked fifth

Societal impact (e.g., diversity, inequality, environment)

34%

16%

16%

16%

18%

Customer satisfaction

18%

21%

21%

20%

18%

Employee satisfaction/retention

17%

21%

21%

21%

20%

Financial performance (e.g., revenue, profit)

17%

22%

22%

19%

20%

Regulatory adherence

14%

20%

21%

23%

22%

FIGURE 3: STAGE OF ORGANIZATIONAL MEASUREMENT OF D&I IMPACT 52%

29%

8%

We don’t know what to measure or why

We measure everything, but don’t know what actions we should be taking

7%

We are making some progress, but have more to do

We are ahead of the curve on strategic D&I measurement

4% We are making a solid business case for D&I investment

Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com 51

BUILDING continued from page 43 become a form-filling exercise devoid of real personal or business impact. Any process, system or technology will remove vitality from an organization unless the human learning and change implications are identified and well-supported. Advances in artificial intelligence will intensify this challenge, because AI will begin to do more of what we used to think was uniquely human work. It will be important to continually articulate the changing human role and help people prepare for it.

Systems and processes ensure stability and consistency and free people to be more innovative, strategic and focused on value. They also reduce the amount of dangerous, routine, computational, analytical work that people do while creating more time for people to do what they do best: notice challenges and opportunities and use their creativity to continuously improve, innovate and set values and direction. AI systems will continue to do more of what humans do, but this only means that people have to evolve with technology and continue to enhance themselves and their unique capabilities. This is the realm of smarter learning — the realm of real competitive advantage.

Track 5: Executives Leaders set the tone in any enterprise. Their attitudes toward learning and failure, how they react to bad and good news, and the time they spend debriefing and learning all set examples and seed the culture. Leaders’ words, actions and intentions have outsized impact on whether the people they lead will be agile, goal-focused and creative at work, or protective, risk-averse and likely to wait to be told.

So, what do leaders do to create a smart learning enterprise? For one, they are curious and questioning, and they listen to alternatives. When problems occur, they encourage people to reflect on what happened, what they learned, and how to apply that learning next time. Leaders in learning organizations are also visible learners: They share their own learning agendas and talk about what their successes and failures have taught them. They provide the personal leadership and financial resources for developing the learning and helping capabilities of the enterprise.

And, of course, they are skilled learners, mentors, sponsors and coaches.

Track 6: Learning Professionals Many businesses are trying to become learning organizations. But it is a cultural challenge and one that requires mindset and role changes, as well as rethinking systems and processes. Enter learning professionals as change agents to guide and support these shifts. It’s their role to ensure that everyone has the mindset, knowledge and skills for success in 52 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

the new distributed learning enterprise. It’s not an easy transition from a culture where people equate learning with “school,” where they see learning as the company’s responsibility, where employees often take a dependent stance, and where teams prioritize performance over learning. It’s up to talent professionals to facilitate the cultural and capability changes this requires.

Learning professionals can also review an organization’s systems and processes to eliminate assumptions of dependency. Where there is language that “the manager must do X,” add: “… and, it is the employee’s responsibility to do Y.” This review and reengineering applies to all processes and systems, but it can start with HR and work outward to finance, operations and more.

It’s also up to talent professionals to create, publicize and develop strategies to implement a high-powered vision of the learning enterprise that shows how all six of these tracks work together for success. They can coach and support executive leadership to make the personal, strategic and financial investments that will set the enterprise on a new learning and performance trajectory.

Of course, learning professionals continue in their more traditional roles, providing education, training and learning support in the form of a variety of old and new technologies. These include tools for planning and executing individual development plans as well as services that scan for and curate learning resources and help people work through the fog of information and resource overload. They create and provide access to learning resources of all kinds. And they help people find coaches and advisers and ensure that all the HR systems support a learning culture.

Built to Learn Learning is a defining quality of any living system.

It is the process that helps the system mature to fully use its capabilities, enables it to adapt to changing conditions and supports the exploration of trial and error.

Learning leads to discovering new and more efficient ways of being. In humans, it fuels creative thinking and innovation. It is fundamental to personal and organizational breakthroughs.

Without learning there can be no corporate agility, problem solving or innovation — and no competitiveness.

Today’s successful organization requires learning to be an enterprisewide capability embedded in roles, processes, systems and culture. In other words, the learning enterprise must be “built to learn.” This is the organization design challenge of our times. CLO Patricia A. McLagan is CEO of McLagan International Inc., and a consultant, speaker and researcher.

EVOLUTION continued from page 39 jobs become more complex and skill development needs become more nuanced, the future of workplace learning will become personal.

The modern CLO must adopt tools and tactics that can balance the needs of individual employees with the scale of their organization.

By adopting modern learning principles such as data, ecosystem and workflow, the CLO can reduce their team’s reliance on one-size-fitsnone training and adopt new practices, such as AI-enabled personalization and coaching.

In today’s workplace, mindset trumps talent. After all, an effective CLO must leverage the talents within their team and across the organization to bring their vision to life. They don’t have to be an expert in topics such as data, AI and experience design. Rather, they must understand the potential for such concepts and influence the culture shift needed before they can be successfully implemented. After all, if people continue to think learning at work should look and feel like school, the CLO’s impact potential will be extremely limited.

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While not every organization has a true CLO, maintaining a formal role that works across the organization to help people do their best work every day is essential in today’s business environment. In this way, span of influence is infinitely more important than title. After all, the CLO does not own workplace learning. But, by applying a modern mindset, they can show people that learning is perhaps the most important part of work. CLO

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Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com 53

IN CONCLUSION

Getting Serious About Lifelong Learning From rhetoric to reality • BY INDRANIL GHOSH

T

Indranil Ghosh is the CEO and founder of London-based Tiger Hill Capital.

he prospect of “intelligent machines” destroying jobs and displacing millions of workers has become a topic of great public concern in recent years. PwC estimates that up to 30 percent of today’s jobs in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries could be automated by the mid2030s, and many other consultancies and government studies confirm a similar outlook. The sheer pace at which this technological disruption is transforming labor markets means that workers will change jobs (or even careers) several times during their life. But what’s less clear is what new jobs will spring up in the future, and if there will be enough to replace the ones that are lost.

Faced with these uncertainties, we can no longer rely on the current model of loading up on knowledge and skills at schools and universities and expecting them to last a lifetime. Instead, it’s imperative that we embrace lifelong learning in order to retool ourselves for new employment opportunities as previous jobs grow obsolete.

But even though the clamor for lifelong learning is growing, there’s been little in the way of a meaningful policy response. In most countries, the problem is that investment in adult education is heavily concentrated on 18- to 24-year-olds attending universities and technical colleges. For example, in the United States, annual government spending on students in non-college adult education represents 0.7 percent of spending on students studying at university. And according to the independent “Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong Learning,” in the United Kingdom, 86 percent of the annual £55 billion investment in adult education by government, employers and individuals is focused on the 18 to 24 age cohort.

The U.K. government funds £26 billion of the total adult education investment, but only £1.5 billion of it is spent on workers 25 years of age and above.

Taking lifelong learning from rhetoric to reality will require significant investment. So far, a few initiatives have been launched in various countries. For example, the SkillsFuture Credit pilot program in Singapore offers direct subsidies of $500 to citizens over the age of 25 to take a program from a preapproved list of 18,000 courses.

In 2016, the program was used by more than 126,000 residents of Singapore and the government is considering expanding investment in the program. In France, personal training accounts enable workers age 16 or over to acquire rights to up to 24 hours of training per year in an account that remains valid throughout their career.

54 Chief Learning Officer • January/February 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com

Although Singapore and France have taken steps in the right direction, a much more radical reallocation of resources seems warranted. A proposal that may come closer to matching the scale of the challenge has recently been put forward by the U.K.’s Liberal Democratic Party.

Under their plan, every U.K. citizen over 18 would gain access to a personal education and skills account. The government would make three contributions of £3,000 each to PESAs at ages 25, 40 and 55, which amounts to a six-fold increase in its current £1.5 billion spending on training for those over 25. Workers and their employers would also be able to make tax-free contributions, with the government adding 20 percent on top. The funds could be used to pay for education and training courses delivered through accredited providers, and workers would also receive career guidance sessions to help meet a career goal.

The clamor for lifelong learning is growing, but there’s been little in the way of meaningful policy response.

And where might could the funds for substantive lifelong learning programs come from? In countries like the U.S. and the U.K., there seems to be an obvious opportunity to reallocate spending from traditional university programs whose costs have skyrocketed. In the U.S., annual tuition fees at public universities rose from an average of $3,190 in 1987 to $9,970 in 2017 (indexed to 2017 prices), saddling students with excessive debt and placing a large toll on the public purse. If we are to get serious about lifelong learning, universities and technical colleges will need to reinvent themselves.

A combination of schemes like PESAs and reforms to adult learning programs would catapult students into the workforce with much less debt and provide a flexible means to finance the many career transitions that lie ahead. CLO

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