Transforming the Training Function: Designing, Developing and Delivering Strategic Learning Solutions

1. TRANSFORMING THE TRAINING FUNCTION:
DESIGNING, DEVELOPING AND DELIVERING
STRATEGIC LEARNING SOLUTIONS
CHARLES COTTER
SOUTHERN SUN, MONTECASINO
26 FEBRUARY 2016
www.slideshare.net/CharlesCotter

2. SCOPE OF PRESENTATION
• Strategic learning and development – fundamentals,
principles and practice
• Diagnosis of current training and development practices
• Enablers and critical success factors to transforming/re-
positioning training
• Applying the A-D-D-I-E process in transitioning to strategic
learning solutions
• Applying performance-based training strategies

4. DEFINING STRATEGIC LEARNING AND
DEVELOPMENT (SL&D)
 The process of changing an organization, stakeholders outside it,
groups inside it and people employed by it through planned
learning so that they possess the knowledge and skills needed in
the future. (Rothwell & Kazanas, 1994:16)
 The creation of a learning culture, within which a range of training,
development and learning strategies both respond to corporate
strategy and also help shape and influence it. (McCracken &
Wallace, 2000:427)
 The strategic management of training, development, and of
management or professional education interventions, so as to
achieve the objectives of the organisation while at the same time
ensuring the full utilisation of the knowledge and skills of
individual employees. (Garavan, 1991:19)

6. THE 10 CHARACTERISTICS OF SL&D
#1: Integration with and shaping of (strategic)
organizational missions and goals
#2: Top management support and leadership
#3: Environmental scanning
#4: L&D strategies, plans and policies
#5: Line manager commitment and involvement
(strategic partnerships)

7. THE 10 CHARACTERISTICS OF SL&D
#6: Existence of complementary HRM activities
(strategic partnerships with HRM)
#7: Expanded trainers’ role - acting as change
consultants
#8: Recognition of and influencing of organizational
culture
#9: Emphasis on cost effectiveness evaluation
#10: Strategic value proposition of L&D

8. RESEARCH FINDINGS (COTTER, 2011)
The overall mean score for the measurement of the strategic value and
impact of L&D for the group of respondents (n=268) is 2.69
That the four highest scoring characteristics were:
Top management support (2.78)
L&D plans and policies (2.76)
Line management commitment and involvement (2.75)
Integration with organizational mission and goals (2.75)
That the three lowest scoring characteristics are:
Strategic value proposition (2.56)
Expanded trainer roles (2.58)
Emphasis on evaluation (2.58)

9. DIAGNOSIS OF CURRENT TRAINING AND
DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES
• How efficient is the training process; is the
attendance of scheduled training programmes
good and are learners satisfied post-training? –
LEVEL 1: EFFICIENT
• What is the submission rate of PoE’s and is there
a good success rate? – LEVEL 2: EDUCATIONAL
• What is the degree of transfer and application of
learning to the workplace and improved
behavioural change and performance? – LEVEL
3: EFFECTIVE

10. DIAGNOSIS OF CURRENT TRAINING AND
DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES
• What is the impact of training programmes on
organizational business results and metrics e.g.
productivity; competence; customer service etc. – LEVEL
4: VALUABLE
• What is the Return-on-Investment (ROI) of the training
programmes? Do the benefits exceed the costs? – LEVEL
5: ECONOMICAL
• To what extent do training programmes directly
contribute to the achievement of strategic objectives;
drive innovation; generate business solutions and create
sustainable competitive advantages for the organization?
– LEVEL 6: STRATEGIC

13. STRATEGIC IMPERATIVE OF LEARNING
AND DEVELOPMENT
• Deloitte (2014): The Nine Critical Talent Imperatives inter alia:
 Accelerating Time to Competency
 Driving Performance & Development
 Improving Management & Leadership
• Building a leading L&D function will likely not only drive
performance, but also improve employee engagement.
• “For far too long, training has been a passive, organizational back-
seat driver. It should come to prominence by enabling and
ultimately, driving strategy and it’s achievement.” (Cotter, 2015)
• If skills shortages are seen as a top threat to business expansion,
leadership will turn to learning managers for a response
(justification).

14. 10 CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF
TRAINING TO A STRATEGIC LEARNING SOLUTION
• #1: Top management support and ownership
• #2: Vibrant and effective Performance Management
System (PMS)
• #3: Direct and active engagement, consultation and
participation of line management in all learning
processes
• #4: Training Managers need to adopt and apply a
strategic mind-set (conceptual thinking)
• #5: Establishment of a learning organizational culture

15. CULTURE IS CRITICAL
• L&D should be a poster child of “people
investment” in your company—creating not
only great training, but also reinforcing the
culture of learning.
• Research on learning culture shows that,
among all of the different investments in
learning that can be made, creating a culture
of learning is the most important of all.

20. 10 CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF
TRAINING TO A STRATEGIC LEARNING SOLUTION
• #6: Holding individuals accountable for application of
learning by means of e.g. learner contracts/agreements
• #7: When utilizing outsourced training providers ensure
performance-directed, Service Level Agreements are in
place
• #8: Learning and Development must be embedded in the
business strategy
• #9: Learning strategy must precede structure
• #10: Commitment to training as an investment and not
cost item

22. BACK TO BASICS – THE BALANCED
SCORECARD

25. • Strategy maps are communication tools used to tell a story
of how value is created for the organization.
• They show a logical, step-by-step connection between
strategic objectives (shown as ovals on the map) in the
form of a cause-and-effect chain.
• Generally speaking, improving performance in the
objectives found in the Learning & Growth perspective (the
bottom row) enables the organization to improve its
Internal Process perspective Objectives (the next row up),
which in turn enables the organization to create desirable
results in the Customer and Financial perspectives (the top
two rows).
STRATEGY MAPPING

26. ILLUSTRATION: STRATEGY MAP

27. EXAMPLE: STRATEGY MAP

28. A-D-D-I-E PROCESS

29. ANALYSIS
• Required Thinking – Lab. Scientist
• Accurate sourcing of training needs by means of properly
performed and scientifically reliable and valid skills audits
• Accurate sourcing of performance gaps by means of a vibrant
performance management system/process
• “Training is not the Alpha and Omega and the cure for all
organizational ills.”
• (Vertical) Alignment with Strategic Business Plan and Strategic
Workforce Plan and horizontal integration (bundling) with other
key HRM functions/processes

30. CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR:
INTEGRATION AND ALIGNMENT

31. PURPOSE/OUTCOME OF A SKILLS
AUDIT

32. BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA: SKILLS
AUDITING
• #1: A job analysis must be used as a basis for the skills audit
• #2: Definitive performance standards must be developed, written,
and provided to all stakeholders, regardless of the type of rating
• #3: Raters are trained to use the rating instrument properly
• #4: Formal appeal mechanisms must be in place and assessment
results need to be reviewed to ensure fairness and reliability
• #5: Ratings are supported with documented examples of behaviour

33. BEST PRACTICE CRITERIA: SKILLS
AUDITING
• #6: Employees are given a chance to improve their skills
through development opportunities
• #7: Special provision must be made to accommodate illiterate staff
member
• #8: Transparency and providing feedback to all participants on the
outcome of the skills
• #9: The Principles of Skills Audits:
 Fairness
 Validity
 Reliability
 Transparency/ Openness
 Constructive feedback

34. LEARNING ACTIVITY
• Individual activity:
• Review and evaluate your organization’s
current skills audit process against the ten
(10) best practice criteria.
• Identify gaps and recommend improvement
strategies to address these process gaps.

35. PERFORMANCE-BASED TRAINING
PROGRAMMES

37. SUB-COMPONENTS OF COMPETENCE

38. COMPETENCE
• “Applied Competence is the union of practical, foundational and reflexive
competence”
• Practical Competence - the demonstrated ability to perform a set of tasks in an
authentic context. A range of actions or possibilities is considered and decisions
are made about which actions to follow and to perform the chosen action.
• Foundational Competence - the demonstrated understanding of what the learner
is doing and why. This underpins the practical competence and therefore the
actions taken.
• Reflexive Competence - the learner demonstrates the ability to integrate or
connect performance with understanding so as to show that s/he is able to adapt
to changed circumstances appropriately and responsibly, and to explain the reason
behind an action.
• Thus competence is understood as including the individual’s learning,
understanding and ability to transfer and apply learned skills and knowledge
across a wide range of work contexts.

39. MEASURING COMPETENCE

40. HIERARCHY OF SKILLS

41. DESIGN
• Required Thinking – Architect
• O-R-C-A – Outcomes; Resources; Capabilities and Activities
• Contract learning curriculum design specialists
• Ensure quality assurance of all learning materials and assessment
tools
• Transform to a technology-driven or web-based methodology e.g.
e- or m-learning, MOOC’s or gamification
• “Organizations should redesign their learning architecture”
(Deloitte, 2015)

42. PROBLEM: TOO MUCH LEARNING
CONTENT (OVERLOADING)

44. LEARNING DESIGN ALIGNMENT

45. DEVELOPMENT
• Required Thinking – Construction Manager
• Applied Competency-based methodology (SAQA definition:
foundational; practical and reflexive)
• Contract a diverse, task team of subject matter and development
experts
• Review, pilot and consult with line management to determine
relevance, compatibility and value of learning offering
• “Companies should focus on building a complete learning
experience.” (Deloitte, 2015)

46. IMPLEMENTATION
• Required Thinking – Postman, because they always
deliver
• Due diligence to verify competence of trainers
• SAPTA – Certified Professional Trainers (CPT)
www.saptaonline.org

47. EVALUATION
• Required Thinking – Engineer
• Develop policy, processes, systems and
learning analytics to measure the impact of
learning beyond levels 1-3
• Revision of formative and summative
assessment practices
• Training ROI

48. LEVELS OF LEARNING EVALUATION

49. TRAINING ROI PROCESS

50. • The 6 levels of L&D maturity
• Going back to basics
Structure of Learning (70/20/10)
Culture
Balanced Scorecard
Strategy Mapping
• The 10 critical, SL&D success factors
• Applying A-D-D-I-E process
LEARNING “TAKE-AWAYS” –
STRATEGIC LEARNING SOLUTIONS

51. CONTACT DETAILS
• Charles Cotter
• (+27) 84 562 9446
• charlescot@polka.co.za
• LinkedIn
• Twitter: Charles_Cotter
• http://www.slideshare.net/CharlesCotter