Learning practitioners often approach us asking for the secret to get into their leaders\u2019 good books. Actually, there is no secret. The answer is to simply demonstrate business value for your learning efforts. But is it that simple?<\/p>\n
The reality is that until workplace learning demonstrates how it improves business performance, leaders won\u2019t be that into you. The fact that Training\u2019s 2016 Salary Survey shows declining Learning practitioner salaries further accentuates the question, \u201cWhat relevant value do you provide?\u201d<\/p>\n
Regretfully, Learning practitioners confront the same challenges over and over. So the reason your leaders are \u201cjust not that into you\u201d is either because of what you\u2019re doing (or not doing) or because your leaders refuse to accept what you\u2019re offering. For those of you screaming, \u201cIt\u2019s my leaders!\u201d keep in mind that much of the responsibility for how others perceive learning rests in our control. If you\u2019re serious about changing minds and getting hearts to follow, then you might want to try rethinking three things many Learning practitioners subconsciously do.<\/p>\n
1. Overvaluing learning\u2019s importance.<\/strong> Yes, we realize that time and again, we preach about leaders recognizing how essential learning is for business success. But it\u2019s not the only item they value. Learning is simply one of many business enablers available for them to achieve success.<\/p>\n What\u2019s an enabler? It\u2019s something that facilitates achieving goals for primary operational processes. For example, car oil is the enabler to reduce friction among engine parts. Increasingly, workplace learning plays a similar role. It reduces the knowledge \u201cfriction,\u201d or unknowns, to ensure the business functions appropriately.<\/p>\n You need to recognize that your organization has many moving parts and many enablers. When other enablers (e.g., IT, finance, HR, etc.) work well together, it becomes a rich oil blend, engaging primary activities to achieve specific business goals.<\/p>\n Learning becomes indispensable only when it works closely with other enablers and when it recognizes how to contribute value.<\/p>\n 2. Taking learning too seriously.<\/strong> Those who promote learning should be active learners themselves, always striving to improve. It\u2019s important to improve abilities while maintaining a critical approach to new thoughts and methods. But stop being \u201clearning\u201d myopic. It\u2019s equally essential to diversify what you must learn to make an organizational impact. Embrace the fact that leaders consider you part of the solution, as well as a business activity. Whether you\u2019re an instructional designer or a CLO, diversifying perspectives will increase your organizational and professional value.<\/p>\n 3. Being an event rather than part of the process.<\/strong> Often, Learning practitioners embellish how well their solutions integrate into business processes. Regretfully, learning efforts typically remain events. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but Learning must deliberately integrate into business processes if it\u2019s to build leadership credibility.<\/p>\n While practitioners focus on learning, business leaders focus on improving performance. Learning leaders who realign their perspective discover quickly that learning is something that seamlessly ingrains itself within the organization.<\/p>\n Take Toyota for example. For more than three decades, Toyota\u2019s leadership has ensured learning is not an afterthought. The company\u2019s integrative process thinking encourages continuous learning within and throughout design, production, delivery, and support, allowing developmental opportunities within the processes for more innovative, quality-driven outputs. This continuous and integrative learning process is far from event driven. Competitors wonder how Toyota maintains its high standards and market leadership position. The answer: through integrative learning.<\/p>\n Essentially, stop focusing on learning as an event and entrench it as a performance improvement process. Doing so will allow employees to actively pull learning into their activities rather traditionally pushing learning upon them and hoping something sticks.<\/p>\n Rather than convincing, or even begging, leaders to buy into your initiatives, prove how Learning integrates, collaborates with, and engages in organizational processes. Recognize that you\u2019re one cog in your organizational machine, and that sometimes, learning is not the solution to business issues. Build this type of relationship with your business leaders and maybe, just maybe, they\u2019ll be more into you and seek to build a blossoming relationship.<\/p>\n