Chief Learning Officer - October 2007 - (Page 56)

SPECIAL 5th ANNIVERSARY SECTION The CLO’s T 11 Successful Practices op Tamar Elkeles, Ph.D. The CLO’s role is continuing to evolve, as are learning organizations. Business complexity, company growth and changing organizational and employee needs are driving this evolution. Many CLOs are transforming their learning functions to respond to these challenges. The key is implementing sound practices to achieve extraordinary results. and in all areas in the organization, with a focus on the learning products and services mirroring the employee population? Do employees perceive the learning and development opportunities as being useful for their jobs? What are the specific business results derived from the learning opportunity? These are some of the critical questions CLOs answer as they prepare to meet with the executive teams in their companies. Unfortunately, many learning leaders spend lots of time focusing on measurement that is not replicable year over year and is erroneous for executives. Focus measurement efforts on the targets that will affect your business and on specific metrics that your business commonly uses. Sharing data often can lead to trouble, but sharing the right data with the right people can enhance your success. Ensure All Learning and Development Initiatives are Aligned with a Larger Business Purpose It’s important for all learning leaders to link their initiatives to a key business issue, driver or challenge. Great CLOs focus their learning initiatives on high-level business drivers — what’s on the executive agenda? Determine the key business issues and use learning as a solution. For example, if employee retention was identified as a key business issue, directly tie learning and development efforts to employee retention. What are the key reasons employees stay with the organization? Companies often identify key retention drivers and use employee satisfaction data, as well as exit interview data, to examine employees’ “intent to leave.” Data often show that growth and development are essential for employee retention, which is a critical issue for many corporations. Learning can be a critical driver of employee retention. Create and Implement a Learning Strategy for Your Organization Great CLOs define the overall strategic direction for learning and development in their organizations. They work collaboratively across the organization to understand learning and business needs, as well as corporate culture. The critical partnerships that they create within all organizational functions enable them to identify critical learning priorities and outcomes. What are the learning function’s goals? What is its primary focus? How does the learning strategy link to the company strategy? The learning strategy should mirror the business strategy, and implementation should be managed similarly to other functions or businesses within the company. If your businesses do not an annual strategic plan, there is no need for you to create one for your learning organization. If they do, you better have one too — thinking and acting like a business enhances the learning organization’s credibility and effectiveness. Know the Business You’re in and Clearly Articulate Your Competitive Advantage No person — or learning organization — can be all things to all people. It’s critical to clearly state your objectives and know your boundaries. Why are you in business? What differentiates your learning organization? How do you compare with others in terms of investment, initiatives and outcomes? Networking with other companies, as well as attending industry conferences, offers excellent opportunities for learning about your organization and providing comparative benchmarks. October 2007 Sharing information about your learning organization with executives, managers and employees strengthens your credibility and provides opportunities for increased alignment. Articulate your focus. Provide comparative data. Good CLOs are exceptional at defining their learning organizations’ competitive advantage. Create a Strategic Role for Your Learning Organization Other divisions or functions have a strategic role in the company, so the learning organization should too. Create a learning model. Have a learning plan. Find the niche for the learning function. With the emergence of “learning” instead “training,” CLOs and the learning staff are expanding their roles to include talent management, organization development, succession management, organization design, performance consulting, organizational analysis and executive coaching. Facilitating organizational solutions is a comprehensive role for a learning organization. The learning function’s focus should not be deliv- I www.clomedia.com I Chief Learning Officer 56 Share the “Right” Benchmark Data with Executive Management Are learning and development costs in line with other reputable organization in similar industries? Is there widespread utilization of learning and development opportunities across the company 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

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