rganisations are faced with aplethora of technology-basedsolutions, some of which theyalready have and some they

perhaps think they would like. But does allthis just end up in an organisational andpeople development muddle? It may seema strange question to ask but who in yourorganisation is responsible for setting thestrategic direction of the organisation? Putanother way, who decides on the focus andthe main goals for the next 12- or 24-months?

You probably know the answer to thisquestion but it might be fair to say you'renot entirely sure that there is real

alignment between that agenda or strategicplan and the great work that you're tryingto do in the HR or L&D function. Mostagree that it is necessary to at least try andalign the strategic desire with the tacticalday-to-day stuff but achieving this is noteasy and understanding how to achieve it isnot always readily apparent.

Think about the functional groups in yourorganisation: operations, marketing and ofcourse HR – do they play any part in theprocess? And if there is a strategic directionclearly defined, how is it communicated toeveryone in the organisation? Is it evencommunicated? What forum is given tothose on the front line to share their views

on the proposed strategy (in reality theyare the ones that will determine thesuccess of plan) and how are their opinionsweaved back into a revised proposal? Canmembers of the team explain in their ownwords the “job to be done” and does thismatch the company’s own definition?

In any organisation it is worth taking thehelicopter view for a moment and askingthe question: How are the operational tasksand processes fitting in or leading thestated aim of the main strategy? Are theybeing carried out well and are they theright ones to achieve the strategic intent?

Alongside this it's always worth having a

November 2014 Inside Learning Technologies & Skills 67

Peter Gray and Daniel Mills unravel the ultimate learning and development solution.

TURN ALEARNINGMUDDLEINTO ALEARNINGPORTAL

O

look at whether the internal policies of theorganisation serve to enable achievementor hinder achievement of the statedorganisational strategy – and from heredeciding what needs to change. Granted,there are lots of questions here, but wepose them to establish whether or not yourorganisation has real alignment betweenstrategic intent and tactical initiatives. Orcould it be that (in truth) you find yourselfin the proverbial 'muddle'? And if it is themuddle that you settle on, what can youdo that will make a real difference in thecontext of developing your people?

Unravelling the muddle isn't easy. Patienceis needed while the sorting out takes place.Key to the puzzle is dividing it into four keyareas: the strategy for the business, theprocesses or tasks in place to support thestrategy, the people development agendawhich enables the team to deliver on theprocesses or tasks and finally thetechnology you use to knit all of thistogether into a coherent plan.

For any provider into the learningdevelopment space to credibly adviseothers on how their particular solution willfit or be made to fit into an organisation,they must surely have a detailed insightinto the four key areas mentioned.Alternatively they should be very good atasking the ‘right’ questions to help unlockthe answers to the scenarios that naturallyarise in these areas.

Experience tells us that the process willtake time and that it will need to bereviewed against key milestones as itunfolds. But for sure what is needed, almostwritten in tablets of stone before anythingelse is thought about, is total clarity aroundthe strategy for the organisation. Nostrategy equals no point!

Think of the strategyas the quayside in aharbour. Without asteadfast quay theships of theorganisation (businessfunctions, people andtechnology) havenowhere to moor.With nowhere tomoor they lackdirection and theylack being tied to thequay (pun intended)strategy.

Let's now assumethat the strategy is in place. Next we've gotto be sure that the processes and job tasksare aligned with the strategy. Everyonemust have real 'sight' of the strategy and,of course, individuals must be madeaccountable and have measures in placewhich will tell them what success looks like.From senior leaders to functionalmanagement teams, everybody isresponsible for providing on-the-jobobservation, coaching and feedback toensure a high level of consistency withinthe processes or tasks performed. Similarly,people need to know if they are winning orlosing and how their contribution is makinga difference to the key measurabledeliverables of the business (be that sales,profit, customer satisfaction etc).

As we're establishing a fulcrum aroundpeople and how the interplay as individualsand functional groups impact the widerorganisational success, we should now startto look seriously at the People Strategy.From a holistic viewpoint, any employeevalue proposition should be predicated onthe following four areas: attract, train,develop and, most crucially, retain.

However, the organisation needs tothink about the needs of theindividuals at the various stages ofthe journey. For example, duringattraction and training theorganisation must help an individualto feel part of the widerorganisation’s community and cultureand ensure that the reality of theworking environment matches withthe recruitment and selectionmessage which they were firstbrought in with.

This helps the individual to form apositive psychological contract fromthe beginning and makes themreceptive and positive towardsabsorbing the knowledge and skills tohelp them demonstrate the ‘what’and the behavioural ‘how’. This is thefoundation for the remaining areasof develop and retain. Here the

organisation should focus on how itsdevelopment frameworks and contentsupport the movement and promotion ofteams as well as nurturing and supportingindividuals to look inwardly at their ownstrengths and weaknesses, so thatdevelopment objectives and initiativesdocumented become truly personal andindividually owned (all aligned rememberto the wider “job to be done”/organisational strategy).

And this is where the technology of theorganisation can be the hidden jewel in thecrown. Acting in its simplest form as arepository for information (which heralds initself many benefits for removing themuddle within the organisation) it canexpand and develop to take on manydifferent forms such as an L&D portal toact as the catalyst for the individual andgroup activity supporting the peopledevelopment agenda.

This is further strengthened if theenvironment for learning or interactingwith technology is built on the principle ofpull (having content or information that isof use and engaging to an individual) ratherthan push (information streamed from thetop down) and the connection is made tohow individual contribution is aiding theachievement of the wider strategymentioned earlier: sales or profit growth,increase in customer satisfaction etc.

Each stage in the muddle has a proposedsolution; it just starts with anunderstanding of the issues presented anda determination and resilience to changethe situation. Never be afraid to ask thequestions or to challenge appropriately –this starting point and mentality can unlockthe most obvious of answers!

TURN A LEARNING MUDDLE INTO A LEARNING PORTAL

68 Inside Learning Technologies & Skills November 2014

Peter Gray is Marketing Director and DanielMills is Senior Learning TechnologyConsultant at The Working Manager (TWM)http://theworkingmanager.com/ Twitter: @workingmanager

ALL BASES ARE COVERED IN THIS IDEAL EMPLOYEEVALUE PROPOSITION

THE FOUR KEY AREAS