Improved Performance through People Development

A History of Waste

The Training & Development or 'Learning' function, as it is now commonly called, does not have a consistently high reputation in most organisations. This is partly because it is beset by fads and fashions and is often not targeted towards the needs of the organisation. Indeed, many businesses extol the virtue of 'learn what you want' as this creates a 'learning culture'. This follows a line of thinking similar to that which says that learning Latin and Greek at school develops the mind. Perhaps it does but there is no real supporting evidence.

For most organisations, to learn what you want is a luxury. Training & Development budgets (and the amount of time available) are under scrutiny and, as a consequence, many basic but vital training and development needs are not met. It is therefore a luxury not to target training and development to ensure maximum effectiveness. With scarce skill and knowledge shortages in business and society, targeted development is an imperative. It is therefore rather concerning to see Government initiatives supporting the rather nebulous concept of lifelong learning (as if we could do anything else) rather than addressing the critical skill shortage areas in e-commerce, telecoms and, quite frankly, 'management of people'.

Moreover, just as learning is not 'targeted', many 'learning events' in organisations ignore the fundamental principles that learning works best under certain conditions and certain things are simply not developable!

This discussion is about focus and ensuring that we apply limited resources to meeting the needs of the business. This does not mean that it is less fun or does not help individuals increase their market worth; in fact, the opposite is true.

Objective

Without reverting to navel gazing about current and future roles, we should define (with a degree of precision) the strategic needs of the organisation. In this sense, at very basic level, development should:

1. Help sell more and sell better by improving competence;
2. Help people within the organisation to work smarter by reducing costs;
3. Ensure that the business is in good shape for the future.

These are primary objectives and there may be secondary objectives which need to be in place before we achieve the primary objectives, i.e. we have to do some things which do not contribute directly, but create the conditions for selling more and reducing costs. Nevertheless, we need a clear connection and 'line of sight' between the needs of the business and the learning solution offered.

Cost Reduction

With the constant need to reduce costs, employee development can make a significant contribution towards cost reduction. These are some of the methods:

• Ensuring that the organisation develops a core competence in waste reduction using techniques such as re-engineering, TQC, project management or supply chain management. This is not about turning out the lights but is attacking big issues.
• By addressing non-productive employees and applying remedial or motivational training, or both, as a preliminary to alternative action.
• Related to the above, help managers manage performance and help individuals improve their performance on the job.
• By creating the right 'mentality' and the right climate of positive cost efficiency.
• By making sure that key employees are outstandingly good in money related activities, such as selling, negotiating, buying and doing the important before the urgent.
• As well as contributing to developing competences, HRD has to create the right example by adopting a business approach and doing more of the necessary and stopping the unnecessary.

Most people would argue that a highly skilled and developed workforce which is clear on the direction of the organisation and their role in it is likely to assist in creating a successful business and that the converse is also true.

Becoming an Expert Led Business

The development of new products and further roll out of existing successful products is essential. This depends on the development of certain core business competences. These exist to a greater or lesser extent in all businesses and include:

• A systematic process and methodology for the development of new products and innovation.
• Effective use of relevant technology.
• Selling products efficiently and profitably.
• Negotiating good deals.
• Outstanding customer care.
• Ensuring technical proficiency in areas of core business compliance.
• Improving management skills in terms of selection, motivation, retention, development and leadership.
• The ability to operate in a constantly changing, challenging and increasingly international context.

Developing these competences must be a business imperative.

So how do Adults Learn?

A reasonable amount is known about how adults learn. Most of us are familiar with double-loop learning, Kolb's Learning Cycle and Kirkpatrick's (rather limited) evaluation methodology. But what does it mean in practice? In a nutshell:

• We need time in order to learn new things and to reflect on what we have learned and how to apply them.
• We need an opportunity to practice and the old adage 'if you don't use it, you lose it' has some relevance.
• We need feedback to assist our learning and a good coach tells us what we're doing well and what we need to do to improve (not just once but repeatedly).
• Seeing a good one is often helpful as an example of how to do it (seeing a bad one can be positive in learning what not to do, and unfortunately in some organisations there are sometimes too many negative role models).
• Motivation is a critical component and whilst inner motivation is important, external motivation by the boss can be equally significant.
• For most of us relevance is a key component and this applies both to the business context in which learning takes place and to our own situation in relation to it. The learning should be relevant to the business and relevant to the individual. Sheep dipping can work but it is too slow for some and too fast for others.
• The right conditions in a physical sense are important, especially when learning requires intense periods of concentration. In this sense a quiet room is much better than a busy desk top with lots of phones and people! (Desk top learning sometimes forgets this.) Moreover, the right conditions within the organisation need to exist and if the climate is wrong, individuals become preoccupied with survival rather than development. Perhaps getting the conditions right is what's meant by the learning organisation but I would hate to apply this label!
• Under certain circumstances repetition is important in as much as once you have done something for the third or fourth time, you are normally better at it than the first time around.
• Having a chance to apply something gives you a chance to practice, see how it works in context and is connected to the relevance point made above. Learning something that you never use seems somehow unfulfilling! (What price are company sponsored 'general MBA programmes'?)
• For practical purposes as well as learning styles, many individuals prefer to learn in short, sharp bursts rather than sitting in a classroom for a week at a time. You have a chance to think about your learning, reflect, and you are less likely to suffer from the sandwich effect of remembering what came first and last but forgetting the middle.

Individuals learn in different ways as illustrated by Kolb.

At the same time, the learning method has to be appropriate in that you cannot learn to drive a car by reading about it. Equally, knowing you have a weakness does not mean you can correct it. What is the logic for 360-degree feedback or the 'gap filling' of competency frameworks? Isn't it better to build on strengths and is there only one way to do a job?

Unfortunately there are certain things that cannot be developed and trying to make certain reticent individuals effective coaches, motivators or leaders is not likely to be productive.

The use of technology in learning is popular at the moment but it is not a panacea and can it really offer all the above? Don't most of us want a chance to debate and discuss and get instant feedback rather than sit in front of a PC? Learning through technology can be very effective for certain technical skills but are we more interested in the idea than the output?

The best managers need Training and Development of outstanding quality. High standards and stretching goals are important if we are to make the good even better.

How Should we Apply the Above Criteria to our Development Initiatives?

In planning any development initiative, we should clearly take account of the above factors. Moreover, each development initiative should be subjected to rigorous analysis to ensure we know exactly what we are doing and why. It is not enough to say that 360-degree feedback helps culture change. How does it do it and why?

• In a business focused organisation, every learning initiative should have a clear customer, sponsor, programme owner, stated list of beneficiaries, a project plan and a set of pre-determined expected outcomes.
• Each development initiative should address a clear primary business need such as cost, quality, innovation and the link should be tangibly made.
• If the training initiative does not support the primary business need, the secondary need must be very clear and convincing and link with the primary need, ie. 'creating a good climate in order to help our employees' motivation' is not sufficiently specific.
• Each development programme should contain clear objectives with predetermined outcomes, i.e. what do we want to see as a consequence of our activities? (The current fad of 'coaching' is interesting. Most people enjoy talking to someone about themselves and most HRD people enjoy playing the coach, but does it change anything? How do we know?)
• We should evaluate and validate whatever we undertake -  consider how you evaluate at present.
• We should produce a financial commentary including costs of development, costs of running programmes and lost opportunity cost of those who get involved. Consider what is your current spend on people development? Do you know?
• We need to ensure that what we are doing is a priority. Developing a hierarchy of development needs is an interesting concept.
• More often we need to develop the organisation before we develop the people. Growing orchids in a desert does not work.

Having considered the above (which hopefully has stirred some views), use it as a prompt to debate some real development issues in the organisation. Challenge everything, not necessarily to replace, but to improve.

Adrian Furnham is Professor of Psychology at University College London and author or Personality and Intelligence at Work pubished by Psychology Press (2008)