Chief Learning Officer - February 2008 - (Page 30)

clo profile often say, ‘If you want more information, visit our Web site.’ That kind of news transfer is the same experience they want when they learn. In general, this generation expects things to be at their fingertips. And even our seasoned support engineers know what’s possible, and most of them are very adaptable when it comes to using an iPod or a PDA to pick up troubleshooting information. Our challenge is to create an everevolving platform to deliver that.” To that end, Willyerd brought in Sun software developer Charles Beckham to serve as chief technologist for the Learning Services organization. He too recognizes the need to change learners’ experiences — particularly with virtual programs — and has focused on an approach similar to that of Amazon.com, which uses rating systems, allows customer comments and suggests similar offerings that might be of interest. These and other new methods are crucial for getting a new generation of learners engaged, he said. “When you look at demographic change, you can see there’s going to be this huge tipping point that will happen very quickly and suddenly. As the baby boomer generation rolls off, there will be a huge vacuum that will have to be filled by the younger generations.” For Willyerd, though, this idea of instantaneous, accessible and relevant learning goes beyond the demands of an incoming group of workers. She emphasizes a “just in time, just enough and just for me” learning strategy for its own sake, and also promotes the idea of employee development as a means for supporting and managing workforce performance. “How you learn something matters less than being able to perform to a standard,” she said. “So we have lots of testing that we can use to authenticate knowledge acquisition and certification to show levels of achievement. We also provide lots of informal learning methods. I think there’s a point where the learning profession has to give up that control of the learning experience and step into what’s actually a much richer role, which is controlling performance expectations.” This mindset has led her to proclaim, half jokingly, the “death of the LMS” within Sun. “We see the LMS as something on the back end serving as a database,” Willyerd said. “On the front end, we’re using a set of principles to design the interface for users that allows them to dish up this ‘just in time, just enough and just for me’ learning. It incorporates a Google search: If they put in, for example, the term ‘difficult employees,’ that goes across all kinds of learning objects that they can launch immediately. Things like specific chapters from books and specific e-learning modules pop up. It’s much broader than searching a catalog of things that might be sitting in an LMS. The LMS is the record keeper.” To be sure, the LMS has been valuable in this capacity. Willyerd said Sun is a metrics-driven organization, so the ability to measure various aspects of learning programs is crucial. “We’ve got a dashboard with goals and objectives for each of the sections, and we track all of those,” she said. “We’ve still got a lot of classroom training. We delivered 5 million hours of classroom training last year. There’s also a lot of e-learning happening. That’s all tracked, and it goes back to the LMS database.” Willyerd and the Learning Services team have carefully monitored one kind of learning platform in particular: the company’s new social networks. Sun recently launched an onboarding site aimed at new and prospective hires that includes competitive gaming, user profiles and tag clouds, to name a few features. “We know that most of our new hires are digital natives,” Willyerd said. “This is an environment most of them are comfortable with. Not only do we have live training and e-learning, but we also have this kind of site to make learning a process and create a social network around that.” Aside from reaching a new kind of learner and transforming development into a continuous process, the NAME: KARIE WILLYERD TITLE: Vice President and Chief Learning Officer, Learning Services COMPANY: Sun Microsystems SUCCESSES: • Created and managed an international structure of CLOs to support various audiences globally. • Embraced new technologies to reach next-generation learners. • Recognized with numerous industry awards for recent learning initiatives. LEARNING PHILOSOPHY: “It’s really all about the learner. It’s not about what’s easy for the learning function. It’s not about what we want to push out to people. It’s about understanding people and the world they’re performing in, and figuring out how to enable performance. I have a very constructivist approach to training, meaning I look at the environment people are in and allow them to pull in the information they need.” February 2008 I www.clomedia.com I Chief Learning Officer 30 http://www.clomedia.com

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Chief Learning Officer - February 2008 Editor's Letter Table of Contents Business Impact Trends Best Practices Effectiveness Guest Editorial Learning Solutions Home Depot: Building Better Associates CLO Profile Environment Realizing the Vision of “One Philips” Tactics Sun Microsystems’ Next-Generation Worker Video Game Recruiting Tool Productivity The Regence Group: Blended Measurement Human Capital NASA: A Case Study in Technical Leadership Development Case Study Business Intelligence Advertisers' Index Editorial Resources In Conclusion

Chief Learning Officer - February 2008

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