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IBM…creating the future of learning

© 2004 IBM CorporationIBM Learning Solutions

Maximizing business performance through training and development:The Future-Ready Learning Professional

Dr. Dean SpitzerDr. Dean SpitzerIBMIBM AlmadenAlmaden Services ResearchServices Research

Opening Keynote: World of Learning Conference, Birmingham, England, November 17, 2004


2 IBM Learning Solutions | © 2004 IBM Corporation

The future is happening now!

� Global Competition

� New Work EnvironmentAre you ready?

� Business Uncertainty

� Customer Centricity

� Knowledge Dependence

� Technological Complexity



Readiness AssessmentReadiness Assessment



How do you view the challenges of the future of business and the future of learning?

Precarious?Burdensome?A threat?

Fortuitous?Motivating?An opportunity?



How knowledgeable are you about the challenges your organization faces today and in the future?

� Economic volatility

� Intensely competitive markets

� Increasingly demanding customers

� Shrinking profit margins

� Extensive organizational change

� Accelerating rate of change

� Globalization

� Stringent regulatory requirements



Do you understand the historical context of trainin g & development?

“What experience and history teach us is this: People and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it.” [Georg Hegel]

� Manual workers� Factory

automation– Mechanical– Electronic– Robotic

� Increase in office centered work

� Office automation

– Data– Forms &

Documents

� Information-centric staff:

– Innovators– Customer-

centric– Supplier-

centric

1800 – 1970Industrial Work

1950 - 1990Transition

1999-onwardPost-Industrial



Do you know where Training & Development fits in with your organization’s strategy?

?



Does your training organization have a mission and a vision? Is it aligned with the strategy of the lar ger organization?

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.” [Chinese proverb]

“Without a vision, the people perish.” [Biblical Proverb]



How quick and agile is your training organization?

The pace of business todayThe pace of traditional training

I S D

A D D I E



Is your organization moving in the right direction?Where is it on the following continuum?

Formal

Enabled

Embedded

Learning

Organization



How does your organization view employees?

Depreciating Resources? Appreciating Assets?



Do you know whether the most critical employees in your organization are “strategically ready”?

Strategic Readiness: The value of an intangible asset is based on its degree of readiness to support the organization’s strategy. [Kaplan & Norton, Strategy Maps]



Are you focusing on the highest priority learning opportunities?

.

# of learningopportunities

Many

Business CriticalityLow High

Few

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Aligned with enterprise objective(s)?Associated with a key business initiative?Potential for synergistic intervention?

“The most popular courses were the ones in Florida i n January!”[Ed Trolley, author of Running Training Like A Business; former T&D Manager, DuPont]



Are you truly leveraging your resources?

Resources• People• Money• Equipment • Facilities• Time

Results• Revenue• Profits• Customer

satisfaction• Innovation



Do you know your score?



If you have any concerns about your, or your training organization’s,

future-readiness…

…then, you’ll benefit greatly from what follows!



Training & DevelopmentTraining & DevelopmentCritical Success FactorsCritical Success Factors

20 things you need to know to become a more future-ready learning professional…



1. Work as a true partner with your key organizationa l stakeholders

Not as a service provider



2. Learn as much as you can about your organization

� Strategic organizational knowledge is crucial

� Develop ‘business credibility’ with key business stakeholders

� Become viewed as a key ‘business partner’

� Spend enough time networking with key organizational stakeholders

� Identify the key leverage points in your organization

� Key measure of your credibility: To what extent do executives get you involved early in any new initiative?

You need to be the #1 learner in your organization!



3. Get involved in major organizational initiatives

Key initiatives:� Revenue growth

� Cost containment

� Customer profitability management

� Productivity improvement

� Supply chain integration

� Outsourcing

� ValueNet collaboration

� Business process re-engineering

� Adoption of new technology

� Mergers & acquisitions

� Cultural transformations



Identify and prioritize the learning opportunities throughout your organization’s value chain

Stakeholder learning opportunities:

� Employee learning

� Customer learning

� Supplier learning

� Business partner learning

� Alliance learning

� Merger & acquisition learning

� Contractor learning

� Distributor learning

� Citizen learning

� Regulator learning



Align your interventions with strategic business In itiatives

Business Strategy

Strategic Business Initiatives

High Impact Learning Interventions



Every major organizational change needs a learning component

“ The natural tendency is for business managers to develop impactful ideas but fail to fully understand the execution steps (organizational structure, incentives, IT systems, software support, redesign of tasks, cultural change, training, and skills re-balancing). The result is either unexpected roadblocks or the same old organizational behaviors persisting under a new strategic label.”

—Steve Milunovich, Merrill Lynch, “The Next Big Thing: Process Outsourcing”



4. Use learning to leverage the effectiveness of technology deployments

Productivity

Investment

Tool launch

Initial use

Basic training & mentoring

Advanced training & mentoring

Infrastructure investment: maintains high service l evels

Level 2 proficiencyLevel 3 proficiencyLevel 4 proficiency

ERP, CRM, BPM, SCM, etc.



Help your internal customers realize the potential of technology over time – It isn’t a quick fix!

Introduction of new technology

Stabilized, effective use of new technology

Per

form

ance

Time

Most new technology implementation are disappointin g; learning is a key success factor in almost every successful implement ation!



5. Focus on creating value for your organization

Attendance� Registrations� Completions

Learning� Test scores� Certifications

Performance� Behavior � Activity� Outputs

Results� Revenue� Profits� Customer

satisfaction/Loyalty

� Innovation

Do you know how your organization defines value and how learning contributes to it?



6. Identify the highest leverage areas in your organization for strategic interventions

The Value ChainFirmInfrastructure

Human resourcemanagement

Technologydevelopment

Procurement

Inboundlogistics

Operations Outboundlogistics

Marketingand sales

ServiceSupportactivities

Primary activities

Margin



7. Understand and use your organization’s greatest performance levers

Skills &

Knowledge

Strategic

Selection

Motivation

Information,

Feedback

& Self-Management

Tools, Resources

& Culture

Measures &

Consequences

Person Environment

Performance

Levers



8. Be systematic and holistic in your approach to organizational performance improvement

What are the Business

and Performance Issues

Bus. and Performance

Needs How do business

priorities link to

performance gaps?

Strategic AnalysisWhat performance

metrics characterize

business success?

Desired Perf. Metrics Today’s Performance Barriers

Incentives/Rewards

Data, Info, Feedback

Environmental Support

Tools and Resources

Individual Capacity

Skills and Knowledge

Org. Structure

Motives/Expectations

Performance Levers

HRD

Training and Education

Skills & ProfilesCareer DevelopmentLeadership Development

OD

Organization Design

Working Principles

Obj. Alignment/RewardsHRM

Compensation Plng

Succession PlngRecruitingOE

EPSS

Web based Support

PerformanceEvaluation

Is New Work Process

Driving Perf. DiscrepancyTo ZERO?

Work Process

ImplementationNew Work Process

initiated with Client

Where does Client

stand today against the desired metrics?

Today’s Perf. Metrics

PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS CAUSEANALYSIS

INTERVENTIONDESIGN/IMP.

PerformanceDiscrepancy

:

Performance Discrepancy

Work Systems?Work Environment?Skills & Knowledge?

What’s the Cause?

Root CausePerf.

Levers

Work SystemsTools, Processes,IT Systems

Work Env.Comp, CD,Mentoring

LearningJob Aids, Training,Websites

Performance Discrepancy

AssessmentAssessment ImplementationImplementation



9. Identify your organization’s most strategic capabilities and develop strategic readiness

Strategic Readiness

Workforce Needs

Strategic Capabilities

• Commitment to perform

• Ability to perform

• Measurement of performance

• Feedback to enhance performance

Is your organization “strategically ready” for the challenges it faces?



Identify your organization’s highest leverage skill s and focus on developing competencies that are truly str ategic

� Learning to learn

� Personal productivity

� Thinking

� Communication

� Leadership

� Using technology

� Collaboration

� Knowledge management

� Customer service

� Innovation

� Customer relationship management

� Emotional intelligence

The “soft skills” of the 20th

century are the most valuable skills of the 21st century.



Align individual capabilities with vital organizatio nal capabilities

� Shared mindset

� Speed

� Accountability

� Collaboration

� Learning

� Leadership

� Customer connectivity

� Strategic unity

� Innovation

� Efficiency

Dave Ulrich & Norm Smallwood, “Capitalizing on Capabilities,”Harvard Business Review, 2004.



10. Know what you want to achieve and measure it

� Attendance

� Learning

� Behavior

� Performance

� Results

� Human Capital Appreciation “What you measure is what you get!”

Do you have credible means for measuring all of the above?



In the new era of T&D, measurement will be at the center of everything we do

Phase 6: EVALUATION/ REVISION

Phase 5: DELIVERY

Phase 4: DEVELOPMENT

Phase 1: TARGETING BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

Phase 2: REQUIREMENTS

Phase 3: DESIGN

MEASUREMENT



11. Consider all your learning options, and understand their strengths and limitations



Training is only a small part of learning

Training versus Informal Learning In Organizations

15%

85%

Formal Learning

Informal Learning

Source: ASTD, 2002

Training versus Informal Learning In Organizations

15%

85%

Formal Learning

Informal Learning

Source: ASTD, 2002

Research has shown that learning is most effective when performed in the context of actual work . In addition, many organizations report that 85-90% of a person’s job knowledge is learned on the j ob and only 10-15% is learned in formal training events .

Research has shown that learning is most effective when performed in the context of actual work . In addition, many organizations report that 85-90% of a person’s job knowledge is learned on the j ob and only 10-15% is learned in formal training events .



Employees are constantly learning

“Learning is what most adults will be doing for a living in the 21st century.” [Sidney Perelman, economist]

“Learning is the single greatest contributor in all enterprises to superior operating performance and robust value creation.” [CapitalWorks, www.capworks.com]

“In a time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.”[Eric Hoffer, philosopher]



Knowledge management is the greatest challenge of the “learning organization”

� “The most important contribution management needs to make to the 21st century is to increase the productivity of knowledge work and knowledge workers.” [Peter Drucker, California Management Review]

� “Knowledge is at the basis of wealth. Being invisible, it is not always recognized as an asset at all, but business success depends on its good management." [Industrial and Commercial Training]



Identify and use your organization’s best performers

� There are “star performers” in every organization

� Do you know who they are?

� Do you analyze the ‘critical few’differences between them and average performers?

� Do you systematically document what they know?

� Do you use them as subject matter experts?

� Do you use them as mentors and coaches?

� Do you keep tracking the best performers?

Your organization’s most neglected resource



Training must be powerful enough to change behavior …

“The ultimate competitive advantage lies in an organization’s ability to learn rapidly and transform that learning into action .” [Jack Welsh, former CEO, GE]

“Every good executive education and development program is an organizational change initiative in disguise.” [Anjan V. Thakor, business value expert]

The power of simulations:

“The research we have been doing for the past several years indicates that people alter their thinking and behavior the most in response to detailed information on the consequences of their decisions and actions…” [Workplace Technologies Research, Inc.]

“Simulation is the most dominant characteristic of second-generation learning content.” [Sam Adkins, Workflow Institute]



But training alone is rarely power enough

Copyright © 2004 Paradigm Training, Inc.

� “A study of 1,000 coached salespeople showed revenue increases of 17 percent compared with the uncoached control groups.”

� “Training alone without substantial reinforcement through coaching has a disappointingly small impact.”[Neil Rackham, author of SPIN Selling, Rethinking the Sales Force & Managing Major Sales]



12. Be proactive about addressing the major barriers to strategic learning

� Failure to gain participation in learning

� Failure to engage learners

� Failure to develop skill

� Failure to drive learning into application

� Failure to drive application into performance

� Failure to manage performance into results

There are lots of barriers to performance improvement



13. Training and performance improvement processes should be cross-functional

A B C A B C

Processes Bounded by Functions

AccessProcesses Extend Beyond Functions

IntegrationProcesses Able to

Respond in Real-time

on demand

Identify/Analyze Business Needs

Design/Develop Learning/PI Interventions

Deploy/Evaluate Interventions

A B C

Most improvement in organizations is cross-function al; don’t reinforce functional boundaries



14. Performance improvement must be managed throughout the project lifecycle to realize value

� Potential value is often identified, but rarely is this value realized

� Performance improvement requires more than just designing and developing programs

� Performance improvement is hard work

� The real power of an intervention is in the deployment, measurement, and ongoing management

� The value of performance improvement interventions are realized gradually through the effective management of value realization



15. Make sure that technology will support your visi on

��

��

��

��

��

��

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Enablement for ongoing

collaboration

Learning anywhere at anytime

Learning Portal



Ensure that all the ‘strands’ can be fully integrate d, scalable, and flexible

Content (Articles, Manuals, …)

e-mail

Collaboration

e-Learning

Document/Content Management

People Finding

Self-service HR

Financial / Performance

e-Mobility

Application Access

The Goal: An integrated and configurable on demand workplace™available anywhere anytime

Complication: Most companies have 100s or 1000s of disconnected intranets



16. Make investments in learning and performance improvement as if the future of your business depended on it

� It is about investment, not spending

� All investments are not created equal

� Identify the most strategic investments

� Keep actively managing your ‘learning portfolio’

� Diversify your portfolio (e.g., short-term, long-term)

� Divest where investments are not paying off

� Invest more where investment is most promising

Actively manage your learning & performance improvement

portfolio



Be strategic in your buying decisions

� It is so easy to get ‘wowed’ by the latest technological marvel, delivery system, learning management system, etc.

� Everything is called a “solution”these days!

� Caveat Emptor

� Consider the long-term, strategic value of whatever you are considering

� Consider the options and the risks

� Align purchases with your vision, mission, and goals

� Remember: No tool will solve a problem unless it is the right tool and it is used correctly as part of a holistic strategy!



17. The most successful organizations of the 21 st

century maintain a variable cost structure

Ideas for reducing fixed costs:

� Reduce costs associated with separate learning facilities

� Create a core/non-core staffing model

� Maintain essential services in-house (e.g., analysis, design, and measurement)

� Outsource, or contract for, generic activities (e.g., selected development and delivery)

� “Most organizations are over-invested in instructor-led training programs…Self-study contributes as much to job proficiency as instructor-led training programs.”[CapitalWorks, www.capworks.com]



18. Invest your time in the highest leverage activit ies

High

LowBusinessLinkage

Development Delivery Sourcing Administration Measurement

Learning Activities

DesignLeve

l of A

ppro

pria

te E

ffort Senior Executives’

Desired Level ofEffort by TrainingPersonnel

Training PersonnelActual Allocationof Time

Forum Corporation Study

“Only 6% of studies reported a needs assessment was done; only 7% report business impact.”

[W. Arthur et al (2003), “Effectiveness of Training in Organizations,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 88 (2)]



19. Develop strategic and operational plans

� Base your plans on a future vision

� Clarify your mission

� Make the plans comprehensive

� Make sure your plans are aligned with the plans of the larger organization

� Involve key stakeholders

� Incorporate these critical success factors

� Use the plans as your blueprint

� Regularly update your plans



20.Continually track and enhance your impact on the entire value chain

It’s about knowing your score and about learning and improvement, not about ROI (“Return on Insecurity”)!

Inputs Process Outputs Outcomes



The Future-Ready Learning Professional Role

1. Partners with key organizational stakeholders

2. Voraciously learns about the organization

3. Gets involved in major organizational initiatives

4. Leverages learning to enable technology deployments

5. Focuses on creating value

6. Understands key organizational leverage points

7. Understands and uses the most strategic performance levers

8. Is systematic and holistic

9. Identifies strategic capabilities and readiness

10. Uses measurement to drive impact



The Future-Ready Learning Professional Role (continued)

11. Considers all learning options

12. Proactively addresses barriers to learning effectiveness

13. Uses cross-functional approaches to performance improvement

14. Actively manages interventions to realize maximum value

15. Maintains objectivity about technology selection and design

16. Makes strategic investment decisions

17. Aims for a variable cost structure

18. Allocates time to the highest leverage activities

19. Develops strategic and operational plans

20. Tracks and enhances value on an ongoing basis



The race is won by those who are prepared

The Critical Success Factors and Role Description we have covered will help you to become a winner in your organization, and your organization to become become a winner in the marketplace!!

Are you ready?



This is not THE END…

It is THE BEGINNING…



IBM Learning Solutions: www.ibm.com/learning

[email protected]

[email protected]