Show Me the Money
It’s a noisy, noisy world
There are two things that I always notice, or look for, in a person: Clarity and energy. We live in a noisy world, clarity helps us fight through it.
But we also happen to live in a superficial world, so authentic energy is rare.
Some people are born with that sort of force that you just don’t find in others. Their presence is bold but never overwhelming, their thinking crisp but never paralysing.
A person with both clarity, the ability to stay still and see through things, yet bring so much power to the room is simply…. magical. Some people are just so damn amazing.
Where am I going with this?
Honestly, no where, but we’ll get back to my sentimental anecdote in a minute. Working with the Big Dawgs is both fun and stressful. I am, however, anxious and stressed out most of the time. The fun bit goes a little bit like this: “I’ll treat the next one as a repeat order, no biddings.”
Fun stuff.
I am mostly anxious from the fact that learning is a universal aspect of organisations yet the knowledge around it is very… niche. Who the f**k is actually passionate about Learning and Development?
(…Me?)
But I digress.
The most stressful question, and probably the top expectation coming from the Big Dawgs, is…
“How the f**king f**k does learning bring impact to business? Show. Me. The. Goddamn. Money.”
In reality, learning to business impact is more of an art than it is a science. For the longest time that connection was a black box, and a lot of guys and gals have tried deciphering it… with little success.
Je suis… avant-garde.
Très radical
So yes, I do engage with experimental, radical, and unorthodox things. How could I possibly not? I get asked to measure shit like whether the Data Science for Non-Data Scientist class that you took two months ago will make you a better HR Manager.
(Chances are it won’t.)
My money is on the other program on LinkedIn Learning, Big Data in the Age of AI. Now that… is sexy. You will definitely transform into an agile, data-driven manager, ready to tackle Industry 4.0 challenges.
Again, I am joking (I didn’t want to explain but I calculated the risk).
Remember my last post? Assume you don’t have talent density and your top talent game is weak. I would, then, argue that your organisational learning should be engineered (again, only to a certain extent). There are only a handful of things that must be specifically tailored, and they aren’t impossible to do. This way, you can truly show the Big Dawgs the money.
When business met learning…
To understand how learning has really evolved, we need to take a trip down memory lane. A place where L&D detectives were merely HR supports, pre-avant-garde…
In the 1960s, training was merely a benefit (and at the time it was simply called training, nothing more). Something you got if the company saw you were a bright one. It became apparent, however, that training served a much larger function than just a way to reward and recognise employees (SomeBigDawgAtAConference, 2018 — or was it 19?).
Training became a little bit more strategic, regarded as a vehicle that enabled top management to inject their culture and values into the organisation. For the longest time, training was modules, modules, and more modules. And the most important metric? Learning hours, or man-days.
But as training became more popular, and spending skyrocketed, of course the Big Dawgs naturally questioned the importance of it. The question of importance, however, was not a tough one to answer. The surveys always came back positive. Employees liked it, they were eager to do more, and most importantly, it easily fulfilled their training KPIs.
The best trainers weren’t rated based on their teaching methodology or content relevance; they were simply graded based on their likability. A few decades later, training still had the same identity — fun, somewhat functional, but it just got more expensive.
But then we all saw how the world changed so much in the last decade. Skills got more complex, mainly due to the rise of technology. Training could no longer afford being just fun. The need for upskilling and reskilling has gotten so intense that ridiculous amounts of money are poured yearly into training programs. Oh and by the way, the global Learning and Development market is expected to grow to a worth of US$446.1 billion until 2020 (Beroe Inc., 2019 — a proper citation for you APA geeks).
Did you say ridiculous amounts of $$$? Great, you just summoned the Big Dawgs.
So this is where things get interesting. Training (Actually, let’s call it Learning, the T word brings too many bad memz, it’s 2020); OK, learning is important, learning matters because it helps your employees upgrade themselves, but… can you measure the actual business and monetary impact?
The avant-garde of learning measurement, Jack and Patricia Phillips, experienced many nights where they felt like Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and The City. Countless hours spent in front of the computer, wondering, how can the other avant-garde(s?) prove to the Big Dawgs that learning is… worth it.
The learning value chain
Learning to business impact starts with learning with business alignment. This is going to get technical, but stick with me. The number one issue with corporate learning, in my opinion, is their inability to conduct diagnosis. Learning needs diagnosis, to be exact. Remember when I said that training is no panacea? Identifying the right needs is the first step to getting the value chain right; or in this case, the remedies right.
Think of it like going to the hospital, without saying a word, the doctor prescribes some generic drug, charges you 5000 bucks, and wishes you “Get well soon!” as you leave the room. That’s what it feels like receiving learning that was not built on the basis of your diagnosis, let alone business objectives.
Designing impactful learning begins with business needs in mind.
The learning program is only as good as its learning objectives (which is the first step of the learning value chain). Crafting learning objectives is a skill on its own. What are the things you want this learner to do or perform after this program? What are the promises of this learning methodology? How can you make sure she is equipped with the right leadership skills? What are the ways to validate the existence of this specific knowledge?
Once the learning objectives are set, and aligned with business, then you can move on to acquiring the learning solutions (step two), deliver it (step three), and measure (step four). We’ll deep the rest of the three steps in the upcoming articles.
Now the measurement does not only happen after the learning program is conducted. Measurement is defined at the beginning, and calculated along the way and at the end. You define what you want to measure early on so you can engineer the content and methodology.
The learning value chain is a powerful L&D operating model. It gives L&D the responsibility and accountability of a business unit, not a supporting unit. Each step of the way is governed by business and constructed with adult learning methodologies and tools.
To show the Big Dawgs the money, the L&D department must show that they are great detectives, that they know what is wrong with the organisation, what to fix, what to improve on — and show that their learning is engineered based on performance diagnosis.
Now, measuring the actual ROI is another story, and we’ll cover this after we have fully understood and covered the learning value chain. And I’ll give you a spoiler: ROI is not that sexy.
I’d argue that the learning value chain is a far more important thing to master than the measurement itself. Another spoiler: not all learning should or has to be measured. But learning should be designed and engineered accordingly.
What’s somebody like you doing in a place like this?
Let’s go back to my little anecdote in the beginning. I never thought much of learning until I met a Big Dawg who completely changed my whole perspective on it. He possessed those two things: clarity and energy — which are rare in this unsexy, boring field.
Over the last few years, L&D has attempted to majorly transform and revamp itself, but often times, the existing members have lost faith in their relevance, resorting to resistance and complacency.
But he brought focus and power to the room, he made his team feel like they were doing something worthy of their time. It almost felt like he was a hero, an avant-garde, a figure ahead of our time, who knew that learning speaks the same language as business. We just needed to fix the formula.
So, yes, learning does bring impact to business, which starts with getting the learning value chain right. Most people, even long time L&D practitioners, easily fall into the “ROI trap”. It’s understandable. Slapping the term ROI on your programs does give some sort of validation. I get it. But… that is not the whole picture.
Here to provide you with clarity and energy. Talk soon.
Take it easie
Heidi
PS. If you have any questions or just want to brainstorm learning-related ideas with me, book a 30 min chat with me on calendly.com/heidinadhira :)
