Creating an environment for learning and change
We spend a good part of our lives at work, and much of what happens in the workplace is out of our control. And yet there are opportunities for us to contribute in meaningful ways if we can understand how our efforts relate to the success of the organizations we work for.
The week of Sept. 21 to Sept. 25 is Learn@Work Week in Canada. Organizations of all sizes will be celebrating the accomplishments of employees as well as the learning and development opportunities provided through formal training, mentoring and coaching, online learning and informal information sharing.
This annual event has grown over the past several years to include innovative local events that reflect the variety of workplaces across the country. It provides a chance for companies to showcase best practices for fostering ongoing learning.
Each year, members of the Canadian Society for Training and Development (CSTD) nominate senior business leaders from their own organizations as learning leaders. These individuals are role models for lifelong learning and provide a supportive framework to embed training and development in their companies.
This year’s recognized learning leaders are: David Heath of Ontario Power Generation; Gordon Stein of Rogers Communications; Bill Henderson of Purolator; and Glenna Carr of Atomic Energy of Canada. Although they each show leadership in a unique way, there are several common strategies they use to promote learning.
Learning leaders in action
These leaders know how to relate learning to what’s important for their organizations. This is the essence of learning that makes a difference — programs and strategies that impact the business measures that are crucial for success. But learning leaders also demonstrate a positive attitude towards learning through their personal involvement in lifelong learning. They take time to participate actively in their organization’s learning activities. They promote new initiatives and follow through to ensure their implementation.
Learning leaders know how to create safe learning environments where it’s OK to ask questions, examine assumptions and experiment with new ways of doing things. They know how to encourage employees to adapt, change and embrace uncertainty when required. They know there is more than one good way to reach a goal. They put learning first and make knowledge easy to access and share.
Making a difference
How do we know we’re learning the right things to do our jobs well and move the company forward? This is where assessment of training programs is important. If the learning is not related to what’s critical for an organization, it is of minimal value.
With this issue in mind, CSTD’s Investing in People project is researching how 12 Canadian companies are actually measuring up in terms of the training they offer. Through a case study approach, 12 training programs — each with a different context and a different business measure — are being examined to see if they are impacting company success. These studies are measuring employee capability to take on new roles or tasks, transfer of learning to enhance job performance, improvement of business results related to the training and concrete return on investment. The results of these studies are revealing the performance-support strategies that are most effective in helping employees apply their learning or improve their performance.
We can measure what matters, and we should. This is how we’ll know if our training initiatives really do make a difference.
Lynn Johnston is president of the Canadian Society for Training and Development in Toronto, host of Learn@Work Week. She can be reached at [email protected]. For more information, visit www.cstd.ca.
