Training Industry Magazine - November/December 2016 - 54

CASEBOOK

NESTLÉ'S JOURNEY TOWARD

LEARNING EFFECTIVENESS
By Vanessa Blewitt

What is the value of training? This simple
question heralded the start of Nestlé's learning
effectiveness journey.
That's not to say there had not been considerable
efforts to demonstrate the value of training and
learning before 2014, when this question was
asked. Indeed, training and learning had always
diligently reported Kirkpatrick Level 1 (reaction)
with some Level 2 (learning) measures. While
there is no doubt that such measures were
valuable in delivering engaging learning
experiences, this learner-centric, event-focused
view no longer satisfied the business.
STARTING WITH A HIGH-VALUE PILOT

REPOSITION
LEARNING AS
A BUSINESS
ENABLER, NOT
A TRAINING
TICK BOX
OR WAY TO
REWARD
AND RETAIN
PEOPLE.

Overlooking Lake Geneva is Rive Reine, Nestlé's
International Learning & Development Centre.
Being a participant in a Rive Reine program
is a high-profile, high-value, sought-after
opportunity. Learners are exposed to executive
board members and make connections
and establish networks that span the entire
organization and their careers.
For these reasons, Nestlé selected a Rive Reine
program for the learning effectiveness pilot
early in 2015. The pilot was comprised of a
dashboard of effectiveness-focused training
and learning measures:
* Competency Gaps
* Relevance
* Engagement
* Net Promoter Score
This dashboard and supplementary report
were well received by senior leaders. However,
reporting was still essentially focused on
events. The next challenge was to provide
insights beyond this level. Was learning applied
on the job or did it become scrap learning? To

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what extent were competency gaps closed?
FINDING COMMON GROUND WITH
A COMMON DEFINITION
Nestlé was starting to talk about learning
effectiveness. But did this term mean the same
thing to everyone? It needed to mean more
than learner reactions and assessing events ...
but what?
Learning effectiveness came to be known
as learning that delivers tangible business
value. This definition repositions learning as a
business enabler, not a training tick box or way
to reward and retain people.
TANGIBLE BUSINESS VALUE NEEDS
MORE THAN A DASHBOARD
The learning effectiveness initiative was now
anchored and driven by a clear "why." A workshop
of business and training and learning stakeholders
explored the what, how, when and who.
Key workshop outcomes included:
* A definition of the learning effectiveness
framework
* A definition of a 100-day learning journey
based on the framework
* Tools
* Roles and responsibilities
* Measures
* "What" measures: gaps, gap closure and
learning application on the job
* "Why" measures: opportunities, obstacles to
applying learning and action plan status
* "Aha!" Moments:
* Learning effectiveness requires the right
business context and conditions.
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - November/December 2016
