The document discusses aligning an organization's learning and development (L&D) strategies with its overall business strategy. It identifies four key areas that must be addressed: 1) the business strategy, 2) processes and tasks supporting the strategy, 3) a people development agenda to enable employees, and 4) technology to integrate these. It argues an L&D provider must understand an organization's context across these areas to advise on solutions. A learning portal can help by acting as a central repository, supporting individual and group learning aligned with the business goals and people development plans. Addressing the four areas and challenges within can help unravel a "learning muddle" within an organization.

1. rganisations are faced with a
plethora of technology-based
solutions, some of which they
already have and some they
perhaps think they would like. But does all
this just end up in an organisational and
people development muddle? It may seem
a strange question to ask but who in your
organisation is responsible for setting the
strategic direction of the organisation? Put
another way, who decides on the focus and
the main goals for the next 12- or 24-
months?
You probably know the answer to this
question but it might be fair to say you're
not entirely sure that there is real
alignment between that agenda or strategic
plan and the great work that you're trying
to do in the HR or L&D function. Most
agree that it is necessary to at least try and
align the strategic desire with the tactical
day-to-day stuff but achieving this is not
easy and understanding how to achieve it is
not always readily apparent.
Think about the functional groups in your
organisation: operations, marketing and of
course HR – do they play any part in the
process? And if there is a strategic direction
clearly defined, how is it communicated to
everyone in the organisation? Is it even
communicated? What forum is given to
those on the front line to share their views
on the proposed strategy (in reality they
are the ones that will determine the
success of plan) and how are their opinions
weaved back into a revised proposal? Can
members of the team explain in their own
words the “job to be done” and does this
match the company’s own definition?
In any organisation it is worth taking the
helicopter view for a moment and asking
the question: How are the operational tasks
and processes fitting in or leading the
stated aim of the main strategy? Are they
being carried out well and are they the
right ones to achieve the strategic intent?
Alongside this it's always worth having a
November 2014 Inside Learning Technologies & Skills 67
Peter Gray and Daniel Mills unravel the ultimate learning and development solution.
TURN A
LEARNING
MUDDLE
INTO A
LEARNING
PORTAL
O

2. look at whether the internal policies of the
organisation serve to enable achievement
or hinder achievement of the stated
organisational strategy – and from here
deciding what needs to change. Granted,
there are lots of questions here, but we
pose them to establish whether or not your
organisation has real alignment between
strategic intent and tactical initiatives. Or
could it be that (in truth) you find yourself
in the proverbial 'muddle'? And if it is the
muddle that you settle on, what can you
do that will make a real difference in the
context of developing your people?
Unravelling the muddle isn't easy. Patience
is needed while the sorting out takes place.
Key to the puzzle is dividing it into four key
areas: the strategy for the business, the
processes or tasks in place to support the
strategy, the people development agenda
which enables the team to deliver on the
processes or tasks and finally the
technology you use to knit all of this
together into a coherent plan.
For any provider into the learning
development space to credibly advise
others on how their particular solution will
fit or be made to fit into an organisation,
they must surely have a detailed insight
into the four key areas mentioned.
Alternatively they should be very good at
asking the ‘right’ questions to help unlock
the answers to the scenarios that naturally
arise in these areas.
Experience tells us that the process will
take time and that it will need to be
reviewed against key milestones as it
unfolds. But for sure what is needed, almost
written in tablets of stone before anything
else is thought about, is total clarity around
the strategy for the organisation. No
strategy equals no point!
Think of the strategy
as the quayside in a
harbour. Without a
steadfast quay the
ships of the
organisation (business
functions, people and
technology) have
nowhere to moor.
With nowhere to
moor they lack
direction and they
lack being tied to the
quay (pun intended)
strategy.
Let's now assume
that the strategy is in place. Next we've got
to be sure that the processes and job tasks
are aligned with the strategy. Everyone
must have real 'sight' of the strategy and,
of course, individuals must be made
accountable and have measures in place
which will tell them what success looks like.
From senior leaders to functional
management teams, everybody is
responsible for providing on-the-job
observation, coaching and feedback to
ensure a high level of consistency within
the processes or tasks performed. Similarly,
people need to know if they are winning or
losing and how their contribution is making
a difference to the key measurable
deliverables of the business (be that sales,
profit, customer satisfaction etc).
As we're establishing a fulcrum around
people and how the interplay as individuals
and functional groups impact the wider
organisational success, we should now start
to look seriously at the People Strategy.
From a holistic viewpoint, any employee
value proposition should be predicated on
the following four areas: attract, train,
develop and, most crucially, retain.
However, the organisation needs to
think about the needs of the
individuals at the various stages of
the journey. For example, during
attraction and training the
organisation must help an individual
to feel part of the wider
organisation’s community and culture
and ensure that the reality of the
working environment matches with
the recruitment and selection
message which they were first
brought in with.
This helps the individual to form a
positive psychological contract from
the beginning and makes them
receptive and positive towards
absorbing the knowledge and skills to
help them demonstrate the ‘what’
and the behavioural ‘how’. This is the
foundation for the remaining areas
of develop and retain. Here the
organisation should focus on how its
development frameworks and content
support the movement and promotion of
teams as well as nurturing and supporting
individuals to look inwardly at their own
strengths and weaknesses, so that
development objectives and initiatives
documented become truly personal and
individually owned (all aligned remember
to the wider “job to be done”/
organisational strategy).
And this is where the technology of the
organisation can be the hidden jewel in the
crown. Acting in its simplest form as a
repository for information (which heralds in
itself many benefits for removing the
muddle within the organisation) it can
expand and develop to take on many
different forms such as an L&D portal to
act as the catalyst for the individual and
group activity supporting the people
development agenda.
This is further strengthened if the
environment for learning or interacting
with technology is built on the principle of
pull (having content or information that is
of use and engaging to an individual) rather
than push (information streamed from the
top down) and the connection is made to
how individual contribution is aiding the
achievement of the wider strategy
mentioned earlier: sales or profit growth,
increase in customer satisfaction etc.
Each stage in the muddle has a proposed
solution; it just starts with an
understanding of the issues presented and
a determination and resilience to change
the situation. Never be afraid to ask the
questions or to challenge appropriately –
this starting point and mentality can unlock
the most obvious of answers!
TURN A LEARNING MUDDLE INTO A LEARNING PORTAL
68 Inside Learning Technologies & Skills November 2014
Peter Gray is Marketing Director and Daniel
Mills is Senior LearningTechnology
Consultant atTheWorking Manager (TWM)
http://theworkingmanager.com/
Twitter:@workingmanager
ALL BASES ARE COVERED IN THIS IDEAL EMPLOYEE
VALUE PROPOSITION
THE FOUR KEY AREAS