L&D’s Change-agenda: Back to Future

In my last blog “L&D in 2015 & Beyond: No Crystal-gazing only C’sense”, I tried to play devil’s advocate for L&D leaders and practitioners in the fast changing world-order unleashed by the forces of VUCA. Most often than not, transformational changes can be traced back to elementary factors that were neglected for long. How often have you seen new CEOs drive organizational changes and cultural-shift because for long the predecessor/s ignored fundamentals viz. decline in R&D spend, thrust for innovation, product-development strategies and what you have. In political landscape too examples abound, disintegration of erstwhile USSR is a classic example. Problems of today have roots in the myopic quick-fixes of the past!

I ended the last blog with a question ‘“How do you create the agenda of change for L&D professionals and practices in dealing with the executives of today who are apparently higher up the VUCA learning curve?” I’d try deal with this question in this blog.

Thanks to Dave Ulrich, HRBP is a fairly established concept and practice. The fraternity has by-and-large earned the ‘Sit-on-the-Table’! Can the same be said for L&D? Did someone ever coax us to be L&D-BP? Sobriquets apart, there is an urgent need to re-position the function as not a support or an enabler but a true business driver a kind of change-agent! I have a three (3) point agenda to drive this shift. These are not entirely transformational in nature but been under-practiced for long or in some cases uninitiated thus far.

1. Next-level of Performance Consultation: I would assume that all L&D professional are doctrined with the principles and practice of performance consultation! I might be wrong, for I know that many training departments in some of the industries barely have an idea of effective consulting with business. They have been contended being ‘order-takers’- pardon for being self-critical of the fraternity (some even might find it ‘harsh’)! When I say of next-level of performance consulting, I add an element of ‘educating’ the business leaders and executives besides the 4-S of basic consulting.

This new level of performance consulting would require us to

• Get better with the understanding of business and its changing requirements in the times of VUCA. In fact, as learning leaders we must create some of the changes that would help business stay ahead on the VUCA curve. We’re uniquely placed to ‘educate’ business from a ‘dissociated’ state. Past business experience of L&D leaders might help but then we need to build the aircraft while flying!
• Educate business leaders about the traits of social leadership where he is a creator, curator and distributor of contents (not restricted to learning alone but other business dimensions too). Learning leaders can actually assuage many of the fears of leaders arising out of vulnerabilities in social leadership practice.

Source: McKinsey 2013 report on Social Leadership

  2.  Drive the culture change of ‘Leaders as Teachers’: It’s been known for long that a good leader is a great teacher. A 2010 article from Harvard Publishing quotes Noel Trichy as saying “Winning companies—those that consistently outperform competitors and reward shareholders—[have] moved beyond learning organizations to become teaching organizations,”

I have often impressed upon my senior executives to don the hat of a teacher and the results have been mixed- one has to persevere in case of change in beliefs and behaviors. The rewards are disproportionately high! Leader-led learning is the thing of the future! Learning leaders need to act as catalyst.

3.  Setting learning expectations right from the word ‘go’: Often we hear business leaders and executives’ lukewarm response to learning evaluations- some even desisting! (They’re the same folks who will ask you for the return on dollar spent!) Some of them half-heartedly suggest some behavioral metrics for measurement. Setting the right expectation from the beginning is critical- talk of Return on Expectations (RoE) in conjunction to financial RoI. Asking leaders to bring in their share of pie to the table when it comes to evaluation is utmost important to hold managers and leaders commit to the success of learning.

A rough estimate of all learning evaluations across curricula and even industries would suggest that Level-4evaluations are restricted to approximately 9-11% of all programs. As learning leaders we must relook into this state of measurement- we must focus on the right measuring tools for the right things to be measured (#metricthatmatters)

My articulation of the change agenda for learning leaders is based on the simple premise of ‘Back to Basics’. I believe integrating some of these basics with newer trends in workplace learning aka, collaborative and social learning, self-directed learning, personal learning networks (PLNs) and informal mentoring have the potential to transform a learning leader to be a successful business driver. Can we then usher in L&D-BP?

Talk of sobriquets!

L&D in 2015 & Beyond: No Crystal-gazing but Common Sense!

Through various social media posts, blogs, tweets (and many more avenues that I might not know of) I have been observing a tendency to portend major trends in L&D during 2015. I hold the highest regards for many of these sources and people behind. They’ve achieved significant milestones in their respective areas.

The disillusionment starts happening then- being in such positions of a thought-leader, industry go-to-person or resource, they have the power and influence  to shape future course of action and not continue with the trends of past many years that have barely evolved or changed marginally. Yes, I’m alluding to some of the trends in L&D space over past 7-8 years and more specifically to one area- Delivery of learning.

I’ve included two such State of Industry Reports (SOIR; ASTD press) from 2009 and 2014.

You can barely point out which precedes the other due to almost identical content in letter and spirit. It brings forth two vital issues for the L&D community and its though-leaders to be ruthless about and to do a soul-search. Are we doing enough? These issues are,

1. Even after six (6) years the industry practice and preferences of learning delivery methods have barely transformed. We often hear and talk of VUCA world and its implications for L&D community. I believe, 6 years is a great deal of time in context of VUCA environment. Still two-thirds of learning delivery happening through instructor-led programs. Don’t take me for a second, that I am averse to ILTs; indeed they are critical to many curricula and context. I’m not redefining 70:20:10 but there too, the pie is just the first number of two digits! Why then the practice and trend (if you’d call it!) still stack up disproportionately? It gets more acute when millennial influx the workplace at a scorching speed- US workforce is already 36% millennial, ready to soar to 75% by 2025!^[1] India already has a demographic dividend -50% of its population is millennial ^[2] Their workplace and learning preferences are distinct and different from the generations gone by. Two of the most cited areas for this generation are
   • Self-directed learning
   • Informal mentoring

In this backdrop, I have reservations in studying the various industry reports be it from American Society of Training & Development (rechristened as ATD) or Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). Being a credentialed learning professional myself, I expect these bodies to be more assertive and actually act as torch-bearers of workplace trends when it comes to learning & development. How do these organizations and their thought-leaders interact with the executives from the industry to make case for what is desired by the changing workforce. For example, Flipped class-room is a novel way to engage the students and the working professionals. Time is ripe when we can experiment and evolve together- learners as well as the facilitators (not the ‘teachers’ and ‘trainers’ of the world!)

2. The second issue that flows almost as a corollary to the above is- ‘How ground-breaking and trend-setting are these annual surveys and reports where many thousand professionals participate? These all to chart out what can be aspired for as guidelines, consensus-report and industry-practice changing recommendations. But sorry to say, I could see little novelty and agility in approach while coming up with predicts and guidelines that would meet the challenges of VUCA world coupled with the changing demographics at workplace.

This brings up the question that should be directed to the thought-leaders, professional-body and professionals like me “How do you create the agenda of change for L&D professionals and practices in dealing with the executives of today who are apparently higher up the VUCA learning curve?”

I will attempt answering to some of the aspects of this question in my next blog. Watch out for this space and of course, please drop in your thoughts, critical comments to this post and the question raised. It’s important as L&D practitioners that we work-out-loud (WoL) , debate, disagree (agreeably) and design the future of L&D and not just set trends for 2015 but much beyond into the future.

References:

1. http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/235444
2. http://www.pwc.com/en_M1/m1/services/consulting/documents/millennials-at-work.pdf

Creating a brand called ‘You’

‘Personal branding’ is a hotly debated topic these days. When I was speaking about it with the fellow executive committee member and the country director, I immediately stuck a cord with him to run a program on it for our employees.

Interestingly I stumbled up the story of the twin Iranian sisters , Ladan and Laleh Bijani who were conjoined at the head. At the age of 29, they decided to separate from each other and lead individual lives much to the resistance of the family and even the spiritual leaders and clerics. Unfortunately, after being operated at a Singapore hospital, both the sisters died of severe blood loss. Later sources narrated that the sisters were partly driven by their strong desire to follow their preferred career paths- while Ladan wanted to pursue law, Laleh’s interests lied in journalism. This eventful story had strong message about how individuals want to pursue their aspirations feverishly to carve a niche for themselves even if they are conjoined. This poses the question ‘What is your brand?’

Marketing consultant and a thought leader on ‘Personal Branding’, Dorie Clark defines it as ‘something you stand for’. She writes in her latest book ‘Reinventing You’ about how can you imagine your future and create a strong narrative establishing the brand ‘You’. When you’ve left the room, what do others speak about you? What values do you bring to the table? What kind of imagery does your name evoke in others mind? All these and more will create the brand ‘You’. Often I am asked why does personal branding matter all the more these days? People are increasingly becoming virtual friends first and then after many months (even years) they probably meet in the real world- face-to-face. You want to project a certain image of yourself but there are chances that the world outside perceives you in a different light which is something that you wouldn’t like to create. Unless you take charge of your brand and the impression that it creates, it will always be at the mercy of others’ interpretation.

Roll back to product marketing space, a brand represents a promise. A promise of a certain authentic experience that the consumer would have from the product. It conveys a degree of predictability and persona. Similarly, a personal brand stands for the attributes which you as a professional symbolize. This represents a strong purpose of your being self and what values do you embody. It makes you a ‘go-to-person’ in a given domain. For example, I, as a learning professional, symbolize the resources to bring the very best of other individuals and someone who believe in ‘Life-wide’ learning and growth for himself.

I am not an expert on personal branding but during my preparation for the program I could synthesize a very interesting framework for Personal Branding much as a parallel to 5-Ps of marketing (some claim 8-Ps!). I call it ‘5-C’s of Personal Branding. When crafted diligently, these elements will effectively go a long way in establishing you and your personal brand.

1. Character: It’s the equivalent of Product in marketing parlance. This gives a distinct personality that you come to represent as a professional. One needs to craft this very meticulously over a period in time. I might wish to portray myself as a people developer who genuinely invests time in others but if my acts and words are casual and insincere, even though inadvertently, they will ruin my prospects. Authenticity is the name of the game.
2. Community: As a personal brand, you have an audience who look up to you. You are the ‘go-to-person’ for them. You are considered a thought-leader by them. This is analogous to People of product marketing. You add value to them through your interface and interaction. Think of the community that looks up to you as a resource center. Build your assets there and declare periodic dividends for the community. Being genuine to your community is the hallmark.
3. Channel: In today’s networked economy, choose the right medium to express yourself. It has synergies with your own attribute. Place-equivalent in personal branding this medium will augment your narrative. Don’t be a carpet bomber, be a sharp shooter in your approach. A plethora of social media are available to express and build your repertoire- be choosy in your approach. If you are a fun loving social animal, Facebook would be your fit medium but for an avid wild-life photographer Instagram might be better option. Again, express yourself authentically.
4. Creation and Curation: As a brand you are viewed as a resource center and you can ill afford to belie their expectations. A while paper from McKinsey in 2013, outlined six skills of a social leader- content creation featured as one among these. As a strong personal brand, what is your expertise and contribution to the community? You mean a lot to your fellow community members. Express your creativity and creation through the appropriate media that you have chosen for yourself. It could be a blog or LinkedIn post or simply a regular contributor to your Enterprise Social Network (ESN). Internet is buzzing all the time with big data- there’s a literal cacophony out there. As a curator, you develop a method in the madness and convert this cacophony into symphony. Curate the relevant resources for the community- they will be indebted to you. These are equivalent of Promotion in product marketing. Sincerity and genuineness is the key.
5. Commitment: The community that a strong personal brand caters to put in serious commitment of time and attention. You can think of this as the counterpart of price for a brand that we choose. A genuine and authentic engagement of a successful personal brand with its community begets the fitting commitment of its audience. Guy Kawasaki, Brian Solis and Oprah Winfrey all command commitments from respective community they serve. Authenticity will go a long way in ensuring that kind of a commitment.

In a nutshell, personal branding is increasingly getting important and critical determinant of success in professional (and personal) sphere. Create a strong narrative that distills your brand promise to your audience and hold dear your authenticity. Consistency of approach coupled with genuineness will foster the brand that you’ve always cherished for.

You can access my further take on Personal Branding by scanning the QR code below,

Likeability: Your Passport to Professional Success

Modern social networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and their clans have redefined the meaning of many of the words in English vocabulary. One prominent such word is ‘Likes’. This has changed the dynamics of social interaction on an individual level. More often than not people on these social sites return to them checking their ‘Like’ and ‘Follower’ status. Many decades back when Dale Carnegie wrote the iconic book ‘How to Win Friends & Influence People’ he wouldn’t have the faintest of the idea what transformation these words would undergo in less than a century!

Enter the workplace of today. Likeability is a trait of an employee that makes him or her likeable to others. It’s about being pleasing to others. According to Labour Bureau statistics, employees spend 36% of a day’s time at workplace. This has serious repercussions for not only professional relationships but personal as well as. Likeability is an important interpersonal skill for professionals across hierarchies. We get along well with like-minded people and pleasing personalities. However, many in the corporate world manipulate this trait to play favorites and cut short others.  We’ll cover this in the next blog, the second in the two-part series.

In this blog, I will discuss how to work on and improve your likeability at workplace. While most of the guiding principles of Carnegie’s book still hold true, there are a couple of new avatars given the nature of networked society and economy.

• Take genuine interest in others: This might include their work, social lives, interests etc. A sincere appreciation of what the other person is doing will help strike rapport at the earliest. Any interaction that has requests such as ‘Tell me some more on that…’ will immediate get you an eyeball as well as mind-share but it goes a long way to get dividend of ‘heart-share’. One caveat here, though, is the genuineness of your effort.
• Be present in the moment: Human interactions are way too complex. ‘Presenteism’ cost dearly which means an interaction where you’re physically present and not mentally. ‘Here and Now’ is a time-tested method of human interaction yet so often we find our mind wandering far and wide while speaking to others. No wonder the other person sniffs at it quickly and rapport withers.
• Show respect to others: No brainer here- yet often we see our work relationships strained thanks to irresponsible and casual remarks and acts. Showing respect to the person and profession is a virtue that never went out of fashion.
• Greet people with genuine warmth: A ‘Good Morning’ uttered authentically to co-workers goes some way to beat the Monday blues. While doing so, be present in the moment; bear a smile and court a comforting eye-contact. Take their names- this is the finest word to the ears of a person.
• Disagree; Agreeably: While confronting someone for facts, doing it the right way makes all the difference between an assertive and a bully. While you stand by your conviction and principle, you let the other person save his face. Showing down never helps. Praise in public and reprimand in private is a good practice.
• Be available for your co-workers: When others are burning mid-night oil, it will go a long way for you if they know that they have your shoulder even if it doesn’t fall under your direct deliverables. Reaching out with moral and physical support is a rapport-multiplier.
• Be mindful: Prof Ellen Langer, a psychologist from Harvard coined the terms- Mindfulness and Mindlessness. As you would have guessed them, they are simple yet elusive traits of human being. Observing something for details and newness is what mindfulness is all about. While interacting with people, can we watch out for two or three new things about them? It takes effort to begin; however, this can strike deep trust and rapport with them. Practices in likeability have given interesting trends in sociology and economics. See them in graphics here,

  With the ever changing social and workplace mores, likeability has emerged as the new currency of interpersonal skill and a yardstick of our success at workplace or lack of it. Likeable people are promoted over those having higher caliber but lacking in this sphere. It’s an emerging critical success factor in professional domain. Finishing schools and corporates will do well in sensitizing their people on this trait whose importance has grown immensely than ever before.