Carmel Kostos and Martyn Sloman are facilitating the workshop “Helping people learn” at the CIPD’s HRD learning and development event, being held alongside the 12th WFPMA World HR Congress on 14-17 April at London’s ExCeL. www.cipd.co.uk/hrd

Martyn Sloman, in his book The Changing World of the Trainer, asserts that effective individual learning is critical if employees are to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to support organisational business objectives and delivery targets.

However, CIPD research that was conducted in June 2007, Exploring the international dimension, which explored the role of learning, training and development (LTD) in a global context, reported that only 48 per cent of respondents felt that people in their organisations were good at taking ownership of their own learning and development.

The shift from trainer-centred to more learner-led methods might give the impression that the learner must take all of the responsibility for his or her learning. But Sloman argues that LTD practitioners need to go beyond this viewpoint, to identifying a wide range of interventions based on the paradigm of learner-focus and create a climate that supports effective learning.

In the analysis of current and emerging trends in learning, training and development practice, CIPD’s 2007 Learning and Development survey (www.cipd.co.uk/surveys) brings to light a number of such strategies.

1 Support Your Line Managers
Line managers are taking on more responsibility for decisions relating to LTD activities for their people, but there is concern that they are not as effective in supporting learning as they could be. Line managers are in a great position to ensure that the results of learning can give their companies a real competitive advantage. So they need assistance and development to support learning activities effectively and to understand their value and impact.

2 Build a Coaching Capability

Coaching has been recognised as an individual development strategy for some time, and most coaching activity in organisations is now being carried out by either internal coaches or line managers. However, only a minority of line managers are being trained to coach and there is a need for organisations to recognise and reward those involved in coaching activities internally.

3 Use Competencies Effectively

More and more organisations are using competency frameworks to underpin individual and organisational effectiveness. With the use of technology, these frameworks are often made available electronically, providing both employees and their line managers with common understanding of the essential skills and learning required to enable their organisations to be successful.

4 Encourage Workplace Learning

There has been an ongoing shift towards a greater use of work-based methods that encourage and support people to learn, with the more traditional forms of learning, such as on-the-job training, being seen as the most effective. The issue of protected time away from the job for development is seen as a barrier for learning. This needs to be addressed. Employees want to understand that their organisation takes learning and development seriously.

5 Create a Learning Culture

The development of a learning and development culture that underpins the shift from training to learning is a highly ranked consideration for LTD practitioners. To support this shift, some organisations have introduced new programmes to develop the role of line managers and there is a prediction that the use of action learning sets, job rotation, secondments and knowledge-sharing events will increase. Through such methods, a climate that supports effective learning and encourages people to take responsibility for their own learning can be established.

6 Link Learning Strategy to Business Strategy

Learning strategy is increasingly being driven by organisational objectives. Organisations where this is occurring are more likely to have a structured process in place for reviewing the delivery of learning and development. As a result, LTD practitioners are more likely to feel involved in the strategic development process with their organisations. They must continue to seek out ways to improve their standing and influence in the organisation and to be seen as a significant stakeholder in delivering value for their organisation.

7 Empower Committed Employees

Committed staff with the requisite skills create a powerful competitive advantage for organisations. Therefore, HR and LTD professionals need to create the conditions under which these committed individuals, who understand their organisation’s objectives, have the opportunity to acquire and maintain the skills required for their organisation’s success. Learning is a discretionary activity, firmly in the domain of the individual – but those responsible for LTD can create the environment and structures to empower committed learners to flourish.

Key points

• Ensure that line managers learn the value of learning.

• Those involved in coaching individuals need to be trained in coaching skills.

• Internal coaches, such as line managers, need to be recognised for their coaching effort, perhaps by having this responsibility included in their role description.

• Establish a competencies framework so employees and managers can be effective.

• Create HR policies that enable protected time for individuals to undertake learning.

• Seek out ways to build a culture in which committed learners will flourish.

• Identify opportunities to improve your influence within the organisation.

The expert

Carmel Kostos is a consultant and leadership coach with Zest for Learning, based in Melbourne, Australia • www.zestforlearning.com.au