Learn and Lead

• Cost: Almost all training managers are pressurized to show some cost savings. Mostly this is resulting in passing on pressure to reduce costs on their training vendors. Cost seems to be their single biggest challenge these days.
• Uncertain Business Environment: There’s a constant challenge in planning the training for the year. The business environment has a great deal of uncertainty. The hiring is unpredictable making it harder to plan even the induction batches. There pressure of get trained resources on projects, putting pressure on training managers to schedule training with practically no notice.
• Training Effectiveness: Many training managers spoke about showing training effectiveness. This seems to be the biggest “ask” from training partners. How can they show effectiveness of training to their senior management?

• Elearning, Blended Learning: Perhaps I was talking to “Training Managers”, perhaps most companies I spoke with were large and already have elearning libraries, I am not sure why but I didn’t find elearning as a strategic initiative while speaking with training managers. Most want it, or have it, but it was not clear to me how it was being used as a key initiative to drive down costs in the overall learning strategy. In most cases there was no linkage between elearning available and the training plans and goals in the company, or how to blend it with classroom training.
• Social Learning: Still too early for this. It didn’t get a mention even as a buzz word in our conversations. I am fortunate to be working on a project for a government department involving social learning where we are experimenting with using Facebook for social learning. Unfortunately this is not something I found being used in corporate customers, inspite of the LMSs and Corporate Virtual Universities.
• Mobile Learning: It’s still at the stage of “management fad”. Most training managers don’t really care about this much, though still want to see some “proof of concept”. My guess is “mobile learning” and “social learning” are likely to take off together whenever they do.

This year I completed 20 years in the learning and development industry. As I reflect back, some things just remain the same, especially in elearning. Even today when I tell someone that I develop elearning, I get the “Oh that’s an upcoming industry”. Even after 20 years, elearning is still an upcoming industry!!!

We mostly hear how hard it is to give negative feedback and fire people. I have been wondering about this. Yes giving negative feedback is hard and firing people is harder. However come to think of it, actually this is a easiest thing. We are all critical of others and so giving negative feedback comes naturally. We more often than not, find it easier to find mistakes rather than appreciate what's going on well. And if a subordinate isn't working out, firing is an easy way out. The work pressures are high and we can't afford a non-performer on the team, right. Actually, that is the easy way out. What's really hard is to make the non-performers succeed. That is the true challenge of leadership.

Over past few years I have written about Innovation on this blog. Recently I came across this TEDx video where Nirmalya Kumar talks about invisible innovation happening in India. Not quite the interesting innovation that we expect but innovation nevertheless.





Nirmalya Kumar is a professor of Marketing at the London Business School and a passionate voice for new entrepreneurs in India.

Many times we get frustrated with things around us, things that are not working or not working the way we want. That’s when we are full of ideas on how to make things right, make it more productive, more effective, and more… well, just more right. So what’s our language when we share ideas? “We should…” do this or that, “We shouldn’t…” do this or that. And these ideas are all in good faith, because we feel for the situation and want to improve it.

1. Technology: This in my view is relatively the easiest component to set up. While it is the easiest, care must be taken to ensure that the technology solution chosen is easy to use and flexible enough to change with the times. It also helps if there is one common platform across the different departments of the organization.
2. Framework: By this I mean a process framework that makes it easier to share and learn. These could include defined project wash-up meetings, periodic forums that invite people to share what’s happening in their area of work, or defined networking groups that allow exchange of ideas.
3. Culture: The most critical element of a learning organization and perhaps the hardest to build. The culture of sharing is where people share without fear, where the greatest reward for sharing is more sharing by others.

• What’s changed in the learning and development industry? I will be completing 20 years in the industry and yet I feel the more things change, the more they remain the same.
• How are the CxOs and Business Heads really viewing talent development? While most CxOs say that talent development is a key driver to the growth of their organizations, what are they really doing about it?
• What’s keeping the training managers awake? What are the training managers’ performance drivers, their goals and the challenges they are facing.
• What are the expectations from Social Learning? While social learning is being talked about in the learning blogger circles, are the on-ground managers in synch with it? What is their understanding and expectations from it?
• What are the learner’s expectations from talent development interventions? While the focus is on seeking the managers’ views, what about the people who are actual recipients of the talent development interventions? What do they look for?
• What’s the new ROI/ROE mantra? With tightening budgets, everyone wants to know the “ROI” of their training spend. ROI has been the holy grail of training, everyone is seeking it, but there are no clear cut answers to this.