Chief Learning Officer - October 2007 - (Page 18)

best practices The New Chief Learning Officer Josh Bersin The value of traditional learning is diminishing, and employees are depending more and more on learning acquired through informal networks, online performance support tools, online references and communities of interest. Although the position is becoming widely accepted and adopted, the role of the CLO continues to change and expand. The era of talentdriven learning requires a “new CLO” with the traits and responsibilities described below. 1. Business Manager of Learning: First and foremost, the new CLO must understand the business’ key strategies and challenges and ensure the learning resources and programs to meet them. The CLO should never hesitate to outsource low-value learning functions to focus on high-value initiatives such as leadership development, competency management, the integration of performance management processes with learning, coaching and the implementation of career development programs. As the business leader for learning, the CLO also spearheads major capital investments in learning such as a new learning management system, a corporate video production facility, an upgrade to instore training kiosks and other capital investments. The best CLOs are businesspeople first and learning experts second. 2. Chief Demographic Officer: New CLOs must have a clear understanding of the workforce’s changing demographics and know how to tailor learning offerings accordingly. They must ensure the corporate learning strategy addresses current and future business challenges resulting from demographic shifts and supports different audiences’ learning needs and styles. For example, at Countrywide Financial, the senior vice president of HR has spearheaded the development of a companywide video podcast program, which features the CEO and other business leaders. She clearly understands that the newest workers in the company have iPods and expect YouTube-style videos for their corporate learning. 3. Chief Performance Officer: For years, I have wondered whether the title “CLO” should be changed to “CPO,” for chief performance officer. One aspect of the new CLO’s role will be to focus relentlessly on employee perform- ance. The value of traditional learning is diminishing, and employees are depending more and more on learning acquired through informal networks, online performance support tools, online references and communities of interest. The new CLO must connect business performance with employee performance and push the development and delivery of performance tools — not just learning programs. For instance, one of our research clients has created a team of portfolio managers that identifies, manages and publishes a wide variety of content for employees in different job roles. This kind of innovative thinking is indicative of a performancedriven learning organization. 4. Global Learning Leader: Today, even the smallest corporations have global customers, partners and operations. One of today’s biggest learning challenges is the globalization of corporate learning, including programs, learning technologies, performance consulting processes, e-learning and other elements. Because learning styles and approaches differ by culture, globalization requires a federated approach — one that distributes and localizes programs and delivery yet centralizes highly specialized services such as content development and technology. The new CLO must be willing to invest his or her time in understanding and “morphing” the learning organization to meet global demands. 5. Chief Development Officer: Most organizations are realizing the importance of a cohesive talent strategy with integrated processes for recruiting, performance management, leadership development, succession planning and compensation. Further, every talent-related process has a development component. Recruiting requires clear job competencies and onboarding programs. Effective performance management requires career development plans and performance-driven learning options. Defined leadership competencies, coaching and assessment programs are part of successful leadership development initiatives. October 2007 I www.clomedia.com I Chief Learning Officer 18 Josh Bersin is the principal and founder of Bersin & Associates, and he has more than 25 years of experience in corporate solutions, training and e-learning. He can be reached at editor@clomedia.com. http://www.clomedia.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Chief Learning Officer - October 2007

Editor's Letter Table of Contents Letters to the Editor Taking the Lead Trends Best Practices Effectiveness Guest Editorial Elements of Social Media Arrive on the Learning Scene Trend Micro: Making Learning More Modular CLO Profile Learning’s Role in Talent Management INTTRA: Using Global Learning to Better Enable Talent Management Operationalizing Communities of Practice U.S. Army: Sharing Lessons from the Field Looking Back, Moving Forward Leveraging Business Data to Develop Strategic Learning Solutions Chrysler LLC: Metrics, Score Cards and Automobiles Advertisers' Index Editorial Resources Connecting the Dots: Recognizing Talent Development Differences at Nonprofits Nonprofits in Health Care: Learning at ENH Case Study Business Intelligence Case Study In Conclusion

Chief Learning Officer - October 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.