Here, we will discuss an analogy about learning and development to illustrate the critical role L&D plays in your organisation.

The vehicle for the journey

Just imagine for a moment that you have a rather tired old car. It can get you to the shops and back, and for now, that’s all you need. Then something unexpected happens. As a result, you need to take your old car to a town over 300 miles away. Hmm, that’s a bit further than the supermarket.

Like any sensible person, you take your car for a check to see if it is suitable for the journey. The mechanic has good news and bad news.

The good news: Your tired old car can make the 300-mile journey.

The bad news is that it will need repairs before attempting the journey.

A question of trust

You trust the mechanic. He knows what he is doing. He gives you a list of what must be fixed, including the cost and time it will take to complete the work.

You sign off on the work and leave him to get on with it while you go and pack your bag. You believe him when he says the chances of you getting to your destination without fixing the problems are slim. At best, without repairs, you would end up on the side of the road wondering when the tow truck would arrive. At worst, you will have an accident, which would be catastrophic for you and your tired old car.

You collect your car from the workshop and begin your journey when the work is done. And you have the mechanic on speed dial if your vehicle has any mechanical niggles along the way.

Transformation

Here is your second story, which is much like the first…

Imagine you are the CEO of a company. It is trading OK, but then you have an unexpected idea, a vision of what could be possible if the company transitioned from what it is now into doing things differently.

It’s a significant transformation, at least as much of a change as travelling to a town over 300 miles away.

Like any sensible CEO, you visit your Learning and Development people to check if the people in your company are ready to undertake such a journey. People in learning and development have good news and bad news.

The good news: The people can journey to achieve your new vision.

The bad news: As the company attempts the journey, it must learn and do a few things differently.

You trust your L&D people. They know what they are doing. They give you a list of what must be fixed, what it will cost and how long it will take to get the work done.

Fixing the shortcomings

You believe them when they tell you that the chances of leaving the company to your vision without fixing the shortcomings are slim. At best, you would be no worse off than you are now without developing your people. At worst, you will put so much stress on the company that it will go out of business, which would be catastrophic for you and all the employees.

After some initial Learning and Development input, you begin the journey. You have L&D on speed dial to help deal with any behavioural niggles along the way.

As you reflect on those two scenarios, think about how Learning and Development can develop and be worthy of the trust placed on them by the CEO. How does a mechanic create to be worthy of your trust?

A vision of the future

When a company has a vision of the future that is different from today’s, the vehicle for the journey to that future is the company itself. One must always ask how fit the company is to make the journey. Some of this fitness may be contextual or financial. Most of it will be the quality of the people in the company. Do they have what it takes to do what needs to be done to accomplish the journey? Will the trip succeed, or will it need a tow truck?

Hopefully, this little story helps you think about how Learning and Development have a critical role in helping people in a company upgrade their ways of doing things to successfully execute the organisational strategy and achieve the desired vision.

L&D’s role is to help people upgrade their behaviour to fulfil the vision collectively.

Indeed, if you’re not doing that, what value are you adding?

Of course, there are a few prerequisites here. One is a vision that sets up a gap between where the company is now and where it wants to be. This defines the journey. Another is a strategy for tackling that journey. When broken down, this becomes a set of plans that must be executed. When those plans are broken down further, they become lists of tasks that need to be done by people or teams.

The role of your L&D team

This is where Learning and Development come in. The tasks are the ‘what’, and L&D is concerned with the ‘how’. How do people need to behave to consistently accomplish those tasks on time, on budget, and to the desired quality? Given the list of tasks, what is the desired set of behaviours?

The question for L&D becomes, “How can I embed the desired behaviours in the organisation where they are needed so the tasks get done successfully, the plans get enacted, the strategy gets executed, and the vision is achieved?”

Image courtesy of Depositphotos.com

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Paul Matthews is the founder of People Alchemy and expert in workplace learning, especially informal learning, learning transfer, performance consultancy, and how Learning & Development can help achieve business targets. He is the author of the Learning at Work Trilogy: “Learning Transfer at Work: How to Ensure Training >> Performance”, “Informal Learning at Work: How to Boost Performance in Tough Times” and “Capability at Work: How to Solve the Performance Puzzle”.