TECHLEARN INSIDER

For Chief Learning Officers, Alignment is Key

By Jennifer Stanford, PMP

 

Chief learning officers and training program leaders play an important role in the results culture emerging in organizations. This evolution has inspired the latest wave of learning programs — programs that lead directly to performance results.

The key to results is alignment: alignment of intellectual capital and advancement of knowledge to strategic goals. Training leaders who can show executives how the alignment of education programs and learning events develops intellectual capital toward the achievement of strategic, performance, and operational goals have earned their place at the C-level table.

Here is an all-too-familiar scenario of what happens when CLOs don’t have a place at the table. Company A has a strategic plan with an objective to “enter new market B.” Unfortunately training is often thought of as the last piece of the puzzle. Plans are laid, business is sought and sold, resources are assigned, and then the requests come to the training group as an order fulfillment organization.

What role should the training organization play and how can it help the company reach its objective to enter new markets? It is important that training leaders today realize that every training dollar spent should yield a return on investment toward an organizational goal.

Let’s revise the scenario to one where the CLO’s functions are optimized instead of treated as an afterthought. If the CLO reads the corporate strategic plan (or better yet helps with its development) and identifies the key goals as requirements for skills development of employees, the alignment process is well underway. If the plan targets new market B, the training executive can work with the operations and business sides of the company to develop a learning plan that develops the skills necessary to capture the business—not just execute after the business in won.

If business is won by those taught the right skills, it is fair to say that the training organization helped the company achieve that goal. This success reinforces training leaders as C-level executives who help lead the organization to its strategic goals through education. A once-unorthodox idea that is becoming more common is for organizations to assign a percentage of credit to the education department for business won. If in our scenario the organization believed that the upfront skills of the team were key in securing the business, it may allot 2% of the win to the training department. That money can be used to provide other skills throughout the company.

Another key way to link education to the achievement of strategic objectives is to manage training programs as part of the portfolio of projects managed at the executive level. Portfolio management is a strategic and dynamic decision-making process that assesses value, prioritizes projects, and allocates resources to meet key enterprise objectives. The result is a holistic management approach that aligns capital investment with the organization’s mission and strategic goals.

Each portfolio project managed by the company should have a training component in it. Linking education and human capital development to major initiatives will ensure that education is thought of at the highest levels as a critical success factor.

In addition to sales and revenue contributions, education can make a few other transformational measures:

• Employee retention
• Recruiting
• Lower overhead rates (especially if e-learning is used and training is tied to corporate projects)
• Competitive advantage

Employee retention rates are often part of a company’s scorecard and of significant concern to executives. Surveys show that educational benefits and career growth are keys to employee satisfaction. Providing strong educational programs that support career advancement are essential to achieving employee satisfaction and therefore, retention.

Those same strong educational and skills development programs attract new employees to the organizations offering them. Prospective employees are looking for companies that demonstrate their commitment to employee growth.

We all have fought our battles to retain budget support for educational programs when they are considered an overhead expense. Remember the 2% credit given to the education group for contribution to business won? That 2% funds other education. The reinvestment in education and professional development starts a great cycle that reaps rewards for the entire company.

Many organizations have some level of e-learning and have been able to lower training budgets each year while continuing to provide high-quality programs for employees. This approach has the advantage of supplying good education while lowering overhead rates—a winning combination that will appeal to most senior executives.

Considering that the strongest assets of most organizations are their people, a solid investment in education results in increased intellectual capital. CLOs help organizations maintain a competitive advantage while arming the workforce with skills and knowledge to meet operational objectives.

To get the most of out learning programs and initiatives, the key is alignment: alignment of intellectual capital and advancement of knowledge to strategic goals. The role the CLO or education leader must play is a one proving that education is an integral part of the organization’s mission and strategy.

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Jennifer Stanford is Robbins-Gioia’s director of professional development.