Tone at the Top Key to Successful Learning Organization
Who will be first to the finish line?
The answer might depend on what your company is doing to remain competitive in the knowledge economy.
More than ever before, companies are spending millions of dollars to acquire and transfer knowledge among employees in an effort to adeptly respond to market pressures. Of the 677,000 human-resource related jobs in the U.S. last year, nearly one-third were held by individuals responsible for training and development, according to the federal Bureau of Labor and Statistics. That’s more than the share represented by other HR jobs, including HR managers, recruiters and benefits managers.
Boeing Co. in Seattle spent nearly $73 million in 2004 to provide advanced education and career development to employees at all levels. The payoff: Boeing’s workforce earned more than 1,400 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees.
The giant airline manufacturer isn’t alone.
U.S. companies spend an average of one to three percent of their total payroll on employee development. Each year, about $700 is spent per employee – a figure that doubles to more than $1,400 in leading edge companies, according to a 2002 survey of 375 major corporations by the American Society of Training & Development.
Company leaders agree that training is providing a positive return on investment (ROI).
Platt Electric Supply in Portland has expanded from 30 locations two decades ago to 85 locations throughout the Northwest today, in part because of its emphasis on training. Nearly all of the company’s 850 employees participate in training and development, says Gary Ewer, Platt’s director of education.
Instead of hiring people with specific technical skills, Platt looks for employees who possess personal integrity, leadership, respect, flexibility, and enthusiasm. When the organization finds individuals with these core competencies, it provides them with opportunities to develop their skills.
Platt offers more than 50 courses through Platt University, including product and sales training. And more than half of the company’s training is delivered online through Platt’s online learning management system, Mr. Ewer said.
While learning and behavior change is difficult to measure, Mr. Ewer has found guidance in training expert Donald Kirkpatrick’s model for success.
Dr. Kirkpatrick maintains that there are four ways to measure the quality or effectiveness of a training course
Level 1 evaluates participants’ reactions to a course.
Level 2 measures the learning that occurred through pre and post testing.
Level 3 assesses behavior change on the job through surveys and observation.
Level 4 calculates ROI through productivity, quality, and turnover.
Mr. Ewer is able to do what many trainers find difficult: reach level 4 and show a reduction in expenses and an increase in sales. As a result, Mr. Ewer’s budget has increased each year for the last 7 years.
The key is to clearly link programs and initiatives to overarching business objectives, and effective tools must be in place to measure success.
The learning organization is not a new concept.
Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline, defines a learning organization as one that continually expands its capacity to create its future. It is skilled at creating, acquiring and transferring knowledge, and changing its actions in response to the new knowledge. In the world of global business, the ability of an organization to learn faster than the competition is its recipe for competitive advantage.
“We (still) need to focus on mission, values and goals,” said Glen Fahs, the director of training and organization development at Cascade Employers Association, a trade group of more than 500 Oregon and southwest Washington businesses. He also emphasized the essentials of building trust, giving recognition, making critical feedback constructive, handling emotions under pressure, listening actively, coaching, moving from conflict to collaboration, and navigating change.
What should managers be doing to foster a learning organization?
- Make learning part of the job and link it to the organization’s strategic goals. The CEO and president at Platt wove learning into the company’s culture by providing opportunities to employees, customers and vendors.
- Model learning behaviors. Supervisors can be coaches and facilitators who promote, encourage and reinforce learning.
- Mentor employees. Help define and set goals, and provide feedback that indicates progress towards goals. Feedback should be descriptive, rather than evaluative, clear and specific referring to concrete behavior and situations. It should be un-finalized, leaving room for interpretations and decisions about actions.
- Recognize and praise learners. Platt awards “$BlueBucks” for training through a program that provides vendor-sponsored training and allows employees to earn cash.
- Encourage innovation, continuous improvement, and team learning.
What can employees do?
- Assess interests, skills, and values. Determine what values are important and what skills and abilities are needed for future career goals.
- Take responsibility for learning by seeking out career development opportunities.
- Share knowledge. Ewer has observed that “when a person begins to share knowledge, they begin to promote learning,” which reinforces the culture of “empowerment through education.”
So, how do you know if you work in a learning organization? Look for the next edition of AMT for a report on well-tested criteria.