Chief Learning Officer - August 2007 - (Page 31)

environment Global learning organizations are being asked to become more agile. They are focusing on creating programs and processes to identify, onboard and prepare specialized talent faster and more effectively. They are more flexible and adaptable in how they provide technical and competency-based learning to their global workforces. Beyond supporting a heightened need for better communication, performance interventions and virtual collaboration, today’s global CLO understands the need to move beyond traditional technical and skills-based training to a more-blended menu of development. development model around the globe, we communicate our commitment to the development of our people to the marketplace. This commitment is recognized by potential recruits and our people alike, improving our ability to attract and keep the best professionals.” Empowering Business Continuity The alignment of business strategy, business processes, and learning and performance drivers across all corporate functions can be a powerful organizational tool and a differentiator as global companies address the challenges of recruiting, developing and retaining high performers. These comprehensive learning and development frameworks help corporations execute against mission-critical business goals, as well as keep the talent and senior management pipelines full. Brenda Wisniewski, chief learning officer for CoreNet Global, a professional association that provides education and training to corporate real estate professionals and departments, said creating innovative learning environments is critical to drive corporate sustainability and financial performance for today’s global and highly dispersed organizations. Wisniewski said the topics that have been leading the most recent discussion among chief learning officers in CoreNet’s online learning forums are the lack of qualified specialized talent and the whole area of sustainability. Additionally, she said much of the sustainability movement is being driven by the European Union and by companies in countries across Asia, such as Singapore, where sustainability is at the top of the list. “China lacks corporate real estate expertise, which adds a new dimension to the challenge of facilitating and extending today’s corporate learning environments,” Wisniewski said. “Companies have to grow and build that talent, and they have to do it quickly. For now, they’re meeting the need through expatriates and organizations like CoreNet who are delivering learning programs locally across Asia.” CoreNet’s global learning environment in Asia takes the form of customized classroom learning modules and courses that have been integrated into Asian universities’ business curricula. Beyond sustainability, the shortage of specialized talent also is creating a real workforce-development challenge for many of CoreNet’s member firms. “Companies are taking talent from other parts of the business such as finance and HR, where they have individuals who understand the business and strategy, and moving them over to corporate real estate,” Wisniewski said. “CoreNet is fast-tracking what they need to learn for corporate real estate, and most of that training happens on the job.” Global Learning: The Key to Preserving At-Risk Assets Achieving these lofty goals in a global arena is much trickier than it might seem. Many global learning organizations adopt highly sophisticated development models that tightly link performance to formal learning. Others rely on sophisticated technology platforms to deliver, track and manage courses and learners. But despite the variances, the real goal is to retain, capture and manage their organization’s collective human capital expertise and functional knowledge that is at risk as their workforce demographics continue to evolve. A new model (indeed, a new corporate university) is emerging to meet this challenge. It is multilingual, 24x7 and often integrates elements of formal and informal learning, development, performance management and performance support. This new model is practical and adaptable to many individual learning styles, and it must be agile enough to meet the demands of diverse audiences quickly and efficiently as critical business issues dictate. This new global model increasingly must address divergent corporate practices and mandates at the regional and local levels, enabling team building and knowledge sharing through the use of virtual learning, collaboration, feedback and mentoring tools. As these challenges intensify, every global CLO will need to continue to innovate, remain agile and extend capacity to address the collective demand for a highly skilled and committed workforce. Driving Consistent Quality and Client Service For many organizations, the design and implementation of a common competency framework — or learning- and performancebased career paths integrally linked to business goals — are critical to support the needs of a broad and diverse global workforce. Ernst & Young, for example, aims to help its employees make the most of their careers by providing them with a range of formal learning and information development opportunities such as stimulating work experiences, coaching and feedback. This approach is a holistic one, based on the philosophy that business success on the global stage can be achieved only by building leadership ability in every person at an organization, not just a small select group. By drawing out and leveraging all its people’s strengths, Ernst & Young maximizes individual performance and potential. “Our goal is to build a new generation of Ernst & Young professionals — more flexible, well-rounded, with both world-class technical and commercial/leadership skills,” said Michael Liley, director of people solutions. “By formalizing our learning and Creating an Environmental Approach to Drive Performance Hans ten Berge, chief learning officer for Holland-based Océ, an international provider of digital document-management technology and services, said his company has worked diligently to create a total-learning-management approach to transition its global workforce from an outmoded corporate university model. At any time, Océ has about 7,000 people out of a total global workforce of 25,000 actively engaged in its corporate learning environment. “We had to be able to surface and drive the issues globally,” ten 31 August 2007 I www.clomedia.com I Chief Learning Officer http://www.clomedia.com

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