The Skillsoft Learning Growth Model

Transcription

1 WHITE PAPER The Skillsoft Growth Model A Blueprint for Integrating into the Life of the Enterprise in Five Manageable Stages Dorman Woodall, Director of April 2013 Executive Summary During times of turbulent economic and demographic changes learning professionals must tackle both what is important and what is urgent. programs should closely align with your organization s strategic goals and skills need to be quickly used in the workplace. As the demand for increased talent will intensify in the coming years you need to be ready to maintain your organization s agility. This rising sea of change will require global organizations to increasingly employ technology-based learning resources. The Skillsoft Growth Model will assist you in charting a realistic direction for your organization through these important changes. This essential five-stage model will guide you to implement the right learning resources, at the right time. The three essential phases outlined in this model will empower you to better articulate the organizational value of learning and gain the necessary support from other leaders to successfully deliver cost-effective learning programs.

2 Table of Contents Transforming training into learning 3 The Skillsoft Growth Model 3 Increasing organizational agility 4 Dealing with change requires leadership 4 Classrooms won t be enough 5 A shift in mindset is needed 6 Exploiting learning technologies 7 Moving beyond workplace skills 7 Three Growth Model Phases 8 Implementation Phase (Stages 1 and 2) 8 The Transformation Phase (Stage 3) 10 The Expansion Phase (Stages 4 and 5) 13 Stage 5 and Beyond 14 Applying the key success factors 16 Profile for Stage 1 Supplement 17 Profile for Stage 2 Targeted 18 Profile for Stage 3 Strategic 19 Profile for Stage 4 Integrated 20 Profile for Stage 5 Optimized 21 Skillsoft Strategic Planning Resources 21 2

3 Transforming training into learning Over twenty-five years ago, the shift from mainframe computers to personal computers decentralized the way in which users collected and used information. This revolution in computing power along with the democratization of the Internet forever changed the role of the user in every organization. Now global commerce has been completely transformed and younger workers are technologysavvy like no generation before them. Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come Victor Hugo French romantic writer All organizations, regardless of size or sector, have a pressing need to chart out a plan to use learning technology to develop and continuously increase the talent of their employees. Responding to this directive will require the application of a multi-stage blended learning framework to provide a wide-range of formal, informal and social learning opportunities to your organization. The fundamental question is Are you ready to use technology to transform training into learning? The Skillsoft Growth Model The Skillsoft Growth Model was developed by Skillsoft in conjunction with our customers to assist them in successfully integrating technology-based learning (elearning) into their organization. We found this model works best when both our customer and Skillsoft are in a close partnership. Now that you have had a look at a graphical view of the phases and stages, the rest of this paper is constructed to give you a closer look at how this framework can benefit your organization. This THE SKILLSOFT LEARNING GROWTH MODEL 3

4 first section covers some of the reasons which will assist you in understanding how learning can be used as the fuel to increased organizational agility. The second part walks you through an overview of the phases and how each stage moves your organization closer to becoming the type of learning organization to which you aspire. The final segment defines and examines the key success factors and how these factors evolve from one stage to the next. We find when customers use this framework they are much better prepared to utilize our content, service and expertise to quickly ramp up to Stage 3. If you have a solid foothold in Stage 3, the implementation of the remaining two stages becomes more apparent and is easily endorsed by your leadership. Increasing organizational agility In order to deal with the onslaught of never-ending economic and social changes, an organization must remain agile. The degree to which an organization can adapt to rapid changes in demographics, along with emerging technologies, shifting market conditions and abrupt competitor appearances is a measure of their capability to deal with changing priorities. Since 2008, the economy has created uncertainty and risk and this volatility has caused organizations to become less agile. 1 This shrinkage in competence can seriously hamper the agility and future success of your organization. While most organizations can quickly grasp the apparent value of adopting technology for their economic advantage, it is ironic how many are slow to understand that this approach can significantly increase the value of their human capital. 2 The advent of the Internet combined with the changing demographics of the learner has added a whole new dimension to learning design, development and delivery, just waiting to be more fully exploited by alert, business-savvy leadership. It has always been a good idea to link strategic business goals and the learning function. Recent research studies from ASTD, Bersin and McBassi 3 show a direct correlation between investments in learning and a subsequent improvement in market performance, profitability and employee retention. This alignment of learning to performance has made the value for business alignment crystal clear. It s very simple to understand, but somewhat harder to achieve. When this alignment is made, organizations reap both short and long-term benefits in increased cost-savings, productivity, performance, leadership, and competitive advantage. Dealing with change requires leadership Major changes are currently at work that includes the retirement of the baby-boomer workforce and the demands of the growing talent crisis to replace the exodus of workers who are now occupying key roles. 1 Sources: Economist Intelligence Unit, Organisational Agility: How business can survive and thrive in turbulent times, sponsored by EMC, 2009 and PMI Pulse of the Profession In-Depth Report: Organizational Agility, Service Masters, W. Scott Gould, Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Training and Development magazine, November 2012, ASTD 3 Sources: ASTD State of Industry Report 2012, Bersin & Associates The High-Impact Organization Maturity Model 2012, The New Economics of People & Profits McBassi & Company 2010 & Measuring For Success: How Executives View Metrics, by Patti and Jack Phillips of the ROI Institute, Inc., Chief Officer Magazine, December

5 The Silver Tsunami The impending repercussions from a large aging workforce entering retirement are called The Silver Tsunami or Boomsday. This phenomenon can have a profound effect on many areas of life and potentially change society as a whole. A wave of retirements means babyboomers will leave work in droves. Most organizations are remarkably unprepared to handle the consequences of this debilitating loss of talent and leadership. 4 The Talent Crisis Having the right talent is priceless. Attracting, developing and retaining talent requires active engagement on the part of the organization. Methods which suited the baby-boomers won t work as well for younger workers. Classrooms are not as easily scalable as online learning. As baby-boomers retire over the next few years, the need to supply online learning resources to a younger workforce increases dramatically. Generations X, Y and Z, mostly comprised of learners under 40 years old, lack patience for the traditional approach to learning. This new workforce was raised expecting to have quick access to technology, anywhere and anytime. 5 Classrooms won t be enough Faced with this huge change in workforce demographics, classrooms alone won t be able to deliver sufficient training to accommodate all of an organization s growing demands. The Transfer Problem Ask yourself What happens once a class is over? Will all of the learners quickly transfer their new knowledge and skills in the workplace within the next 4 to 6 weeks? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Old habits kick in and the learning fades over time if learning is not reinforced before and after the training event. If this happens, the classroom event can incur a scrap learning rate of between 55% and 80%, meaning that as little as In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists. Eric Hoffer philosopher I am always ready to learn, but I do not always like being taught. Winston Churchill British Prime Minister 45% of the cost of an event actually pays off. Research shows that when learning is reinforced, the positive effects are greater and last longer. For transfer of learning into the workplace, the application of knowledge and skills must continue on the job. 6 The Model In 1998, the US Department of Labor Statistics reported that people learned about 70% of what they know about their jobs informally and only 30% formally such as in classrooms. 7 Subsequently, the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) developed their model which estimates: 4 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. (1996). The 1995 Survey of Employer-Provided Training. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor. 5 The Silver Tsunami, The Economist, February Generations at Work: Managing the Clash of Veterans, Boomers, Xers, and Nexters in Your Workplace. Zemke, Ron, Claire Raines, and Bob Filipczak. AMACOM Manager Engagement: Reducing Scrap by John R. Mattox, II, Ph.D., Training Industry Quarterly, Fall 2010, & The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough : How to Turn Training and Development into Business Results, Second Edition. Pfeiffer. Wick, Calhoun, and Roy Pollock. 2010, Manager Engagement: Reducing Scrap by John R. Mattox, II, Ph.D. Training Industry Quarterly, Fall

6 70% of learning is provided through assignments and on-the-job experiences (informal). 20% of learning is developed through relationships, networks, and feedback (social). 10% of the learning is delivered via formal training processes (formal). 8 This model shows the great majority (90%) of learning is non-formal and only a small amount (10%) is formal. While both are important to building a strong learning culture, the problem is that most funding and attention is paid to the smaller formal component leaving little or no funding for the remaining 90%. In a real sense, this is a classic example of the Pareto Principle and proves that the value actually received is in reverse proportion to the investment made. Blended Using the CCL as a model will require pre-work (before) being followed by the learning event (during) and followed up with subsequent support (after). The best form of blending is the productive mixing of formal, informal and social learning along with a mix of modalities. One study 9 shows once again the value and funding are still reversed in many cases. Here is a summary of the value of a blended leadership program versus the typical investment in these three components as follows: Typical Value: Pre-work = 26%, Formal learning event = 24% and Follow-up = 50%, meaning over 75% of the value was derived from the non-formal methods, not the formal event. Typical Investment: Pre-work = 10%, event = 85% and Follow-up = 5%, showing actual training dollars are spent on the event while very little goes toward pre-work and follow-up. A shift in mindset is needed Research continues to show us why classroom and online learning shouldn t be thought of as competitive rivals. Instead we should think of them as alternative forms of delivery. What we know is each domain performs well when they work together proving that using well-designed blend of delivery methods, the sum of the parts is much greater than the whole. The advantage of blending is having the right resources at the right time and in the right mix. The actual problem is really in how we think of learning. Most of our thinking is based on our academic/ cultural background which engendered the belief unless you went away from work, you couldn t become educated. And in some cases, going away for training was a reward for good performance. Baby-boomers generally think classroom because of their previous academic experience and young workers think technology because using technology is just as natural to them as using their TV or toaster. We need to re-program our thinking. When executives ask for a classroom, this question gives us an opportunity to re-think and instead ask ourselves What blended learning design will work best for this business problem? We need both formal training and non-formal learning. Together these are the yin and yang of learning. Formal training provides what you must learn (albeit it provides very little wiggle room) while non-formal provides the freedom of choice I will prepare for some day my chance will come. Abraham Lincoln US President 8 The Rule, Center of Creative Leadership, Leading Effectively e-newsletter, November The Promise of Phase 3 by Jack Zenger, Joe Folkman and Robert Sherwin, T+D Magazine, January

7 when employees can t wait for someone else to solve a problem. With vision, strength of conviction, and leadership, this freedom to have employees pull learning into the workplace can change any organization for the better. Exploiting learning technologies Over the last decade, the use of learning technologies has become much more commonplace and this trend is transforming learning as we know it. According to the recent ASTD State of the Industry report, 10 investments in online content have tripled while instructor-led classrooms have been reduced by a third. The use of online and self-paced tools has increased significantly, along with virtual classes, mobile delivery and social networking. Elearning is no longer an emerging technology. It is generating results. Leaders always have more to learn. Technology integration is among the more difficult issues facing organizations. L&D managers, once centered on coordinating and delivering classroom content, must now manage more complex technology issues and learn how to design better blends of formal/non-formal learning. Both tasks demand increased expertise and vision. To address the interface of business and technical requirements, L&D needs supportive leadership to guide their acquisition of learning resources. Moving beyond workplace skills Basic skills-focused training is essential for any organization. In fact, most learning initiatives center on building repeatable workplace skills, such as customer service, technical skills such as IT-related or desktop, management and supervisory, various industry certifications, communication, teamwork, and many other basic skills. This strategy places an emphasis on obtaining efficiency and lowest cost not necessarily on increasing learning across the organization. Implementing a good skills-based program using elearning does provide significant cost savings versus traditional classroom-only delivery. However, efforts focused solely on building tactical workplace skills may have limited impact on any desired strategic initiatives. Well-defined competencies and job roles are required in order for employees to make significant performance gains and drive bottom-line business results. Enlightened organizations also provide business-focused learning to address a wider range of key job skills which best align to their strategic business goals. These business skills can include improved customer contacts, services and sales, enhanced quality processes along with sound metrics. At this point, there is a pressing need to measure learning results and place more emphasis on providing greater business value. 10 ASTD Research State of the Industry, 2012: ASTD s Annual Review of Workplace and Development Data 7

8 At the highest level, enlightened organizations actively seek to include individual performers into the ongoing strategic thought and performance. The concept of performer-focused learning requires the leadership to change the push of learning into a pull by empowering the individual performer. This approach is quite common among leading management consulting firms. To achieve the ultimate business impact all learning organizations must focus on learners and the organizational skills, motivation, competencies and knowledge they will need to meet their business goals. Three Growth Model Phases Each of the five LGM stages are grouped into three important phases; Implementation, Transformation and Expansion. Your immediate goal should be to reach to the Transformation Phase (Stage 3) as quickly as possible. Doing so will better position you to begin harvesting both the cost benefits and an increased return in value from your investment. The following two stages are your pathway to arriving there. Implementation Phase (Stages 1 and 2) The first two stages (Supplement and Targeted) focus on building overall access, awareness, functionality, responsiveness and cost effectiveness of elearning. The L&D group, along with key executive support, provides the leadership to move through these important first, tactical steps. The key to success for this period is the implementation of sufficient libraries of learning content to address a backlog of training demands not previously supported by more traditional methods (classroom). During this implementation period traditional and new methods begin to merge. This period provides the fundamental deployment of elearning and allows each learner enough time to adapt to using new learning methods. Concurrently, the L&D group learns how to market, manage and measure the use of the alternative learning content. Local management begins observing the immediate application of skills within the workplace. 8

9 During the first stage, it is common to see significant cost savings result from the introduction of elearning as it boosts an employee s career and provides more formal training to the organization. In the second stage, further cost benefits can be achieved by replacing redundant instructor-led topics with equivalent elearning content. Doing so gives blended learning an excellent start. This period proves the value of elearning to executive leadership so they continue to fund and support the movement forward to the next stage. To encourage elearning adoption, L&D professionals must provide adequate targeting and promotion. Connect with the business A learning strategy must align with your organization s strategy. Brush up on your business acumen and proactively seek to understand the business issues learning initiatives should support. Build relationships on the front line of your organization so you are perceived as a credible business partner. Evangelize how learning can impact business results when properly aligned and supported. Buy more and build less It isn t necessary to build everything; you can source most of the content you need then customize it. Use your funding for learning content which is specific to your organization. According to an industry rule-of-thumb, at least half of the learning topics are the same across any organization. Independent of industry, every organization has an ongoing need for learning content for a wide range of topics, such as; desktop, IT, communications, management, leadership, customer services and so forth. Seek out Software as a Service (SaaS) partners, cloud services and off-the-shelf content providers. Leverage technology that automates existing programs and procedures so you can increase learning s reach and frequency. For example, identify which classroom courses could be delivered as effectively via virtual classroom technologies. Identify classroom offerings that can blend with elearning components to reduce time in the classroom, provide reinforcement and make informal resources more readily available. Establish consistent business-like evaluation methods Measures of learning efficiency and effectiveness are much more important to business managers than learner feedback and test scores. The traditional measures of learning success (such as Kirkpatrick) should be expanded to focus on the observation and evaluation of business impact. Here are some suggestions: Stop using smile sheets as your only measure of success. Focus less on Kirkpatrick s Level 1 (reaction) and Level 2 (learning) reporting, and report more on Level 3 (behavior) and Level 4 (results). These metrics should focus on the actual impact of the learning--not how much the students liked the instructor. 9

10 Additional business measures (efficiency) are required to show how much time and money is saved by using technology versus expenses for travel along with time away from the workplace to attend a classroom event. Look at how the learning is actually transferred into the workplace (effectiveness). Getting reports or anecdotal stories from the workplace is easy. The learner and their supervisors will let you know if your training efforts are beneficial or not. Some are actually eager to share their results. Expand new team roles A blended learning program will deliver on expectations if it is well-designed and delivered. Since rolling out a new program is only the beginning, here are some suggestions that can be used to increase the overall skills of the L&D team. Identify the learning professionals who will have ongoing responsibility for each aspect of program management strategy, alignment, marketing, evaluation, results reporting, deployment and other important components. Conduct some training for each role and encourage the application of new skills wherever and whenever needed. Follow up with acknowledgements, awards, bonuses or other intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Introduce leadership resources to your executives early Every working adult learns by doing. If you introduce your executive team to leadership resources via elearning, this decision-making group will become better informed of the value of this approach. Involving them will allow them to support you as you move forward through these stages. Having your leadership participate in the change will increase their understanding of the value of this approach as you move closer to Stage 3 where you will need their ongoing support. Blend elearning resources (portals, videos, articles, assessment, etc.) with any existing leadership efforts. The Transformation Phase (Stage 3) The third stage (Strategic) seeks to obtain overall organizational acceptance for using learning as a strategic resource and move forward to complete the transformation begun in the two earlier stages. This middle stage takes the proof of concept created in the earlier stages and focuses on key business competencies that are critical to the organization s transformation from training to learning. This provides the organization with the foundation for a more business-oriented return on investment. Led by executive and training leadership teams, this period establishes and completes the breakthrough point for the organization. The key objective is to shift from training-only objectives in order to realize the full potential of business-focused learning. In this stage executive leadership moves from the more familiar training paradigm to a new one focused on building strategic learning paths centered on key 10

11 job competencies for those in critical roles. This stage requires a great deal of leadership, talent, resources and increased communications backed by a clearly stated and motivating vision. Increase your stakeholder relationships and alignment efforts Use the early efforts of business partnerships to cast a wider net for impact. With the experience and credibility gained during the first two stages, communicate successes to new stakeholders and expand into additional areas of the business. The business value of your success will provide a required proof of concept to those who need to see practical business outcomes. By this stage, you should be able to expand the leadership programs you started in the earlier stages. Continue to provide more management and leadership topics to this audience. Encourage more participation and feedback. Show your executives the value of expanding learning within the overall organization at all levels of employees. With their support, the organization will see quicker gains in overall job performance, more engagement, decreases in turnover, increases in revenue, budget reductions and increased customer satisfaction. Since this stage requires creative transformational thought and effort, the likelihood of your efforts being thwarted will be much greater. Your vision for change will create natural, predictable barriers. Having strong stakeholder support to assist you in overcoming these obstacles is essential. Focus on competency and start small With a solid understanding of the performance needs required to achieve business aims, you can initiate learning efforts with a specific job family or roles such as sales, customer service or leadership. While some organizations do elect to apply certain software to support this process, it is certainly not an absolute requirement. Competency management practices include: Defining the competencies, identifying the required levels of proficiency, Measuring the existence of those competencies within the target populations, Implementing steps to close skill gaps. Manager s role in creating competency The basic principle for management is to ensure the organization has the right people at the right time for accomplishing business objectives. The manager s ultimate goal is to ensure their employees are competent, productive and can safely, effectively and efficiently perform their jobs. The manager must ensure: Employees are taught skills to deal with day-today demands. Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning. Benjamin Franklin US Statesman The learning environment is supportive and positive. 11

12 Employees are active participants in the learning process. New employees must be encouraged to use their newly acquired skills right away. Activities include learner participation in order to increase retention and build new skills. Focus the on the-job-training (OJT) efforts so these can be successfully completed as a normal part of day-to-day operations. Barriers or conflicts to learning activities are either removed or minimized. Create well-designed blended learning programs During stage 2, you began building basic blends using a core and spoke model (e.g. elearning prior to or elearning within a classroom event). Now it is time to design more complex blended learning programs. Using The Blended Book by Josh Bersin and Skillsoft s Eight Phases of Workplace for guidance, here are suggestions: Provide a design principle that keeps moving the learning into the workplace. Have the learner participate as a team member and hold them accountable. Include more learner interaction, feedback and assessments. Increase the use of multiple assets that elicit learner interaction The breakthrough point in this stage is marked by an increase in the application and complexity of blended learning approaches. This will demand more talent within your team to design and deliver the best programs possible. Advance the evaluation strategy With a well-established foundation of efficiency and effectiveness, metrics should already be in place. Here are some suggestions for furthering your evaluation strategy: Institute regular evaluations at Level 3 (application of skills and knowledge to the job). Report upward on how the learning programs are influencing and improving job performance. Communicate testimonials within the organization to encourage interest and awareness among populations you have yet to reach. Without the application of the learning in the workplace the desired business results can t occur. Once you have evidence of business impact, it is time to provide more proof in the form of a formal ROI (Return on Investment) report. Report results such as performance gains, decreases in turnover, increases in revenue, budget reductions, customer satisfaction and other meaningful measures. Establish a formal governance group Shared leadership within an organization makes everything about this transformation work more smoothly. Begin a three-tiered governance group (e.g. Council). Successful IT departments have used this approach quite often over the last few years. It will pay off for you in increased budget funding and larger spotlight on your contributions. 12

13 The first tier is L&D because this is a working group that creates and manages learning. This includes roles such as learning infrastructure, vendor selections, management of programs and learning functions. The second tier is a learning council that reviews strategy, budget development, and program prioritization along with business impact measurement. The third tier is composed of executives who review program requests and provide the necessary funding. Later on, the L&D group and the Council will work together to create Communities of Practice, which may include instructional design and learning measurement committees or best practices. The Expansion Phase (Stages 4 and 5) The stages four and five (Integrated and Optimized) are more complex in both structure and design. Success depends heavily on executive sponsorship of programs that address strategic business demands. Organizations that achieve this level are considered best in class and referred to as having a strong learning culture. The fourth stage leverages the key practices applied within stage three more consistently and systematically. It focuses on smoothing the balance between formal and informal learning; stage four introduces a broader set of sophisticated learning tools, resource types, and practices as well. Also, the L&D group addresses a wider range of business objectives. in stage four is liberated from the learning management system (LMS). resources are still maintained and tracked through the LMS, but the LMS becomes a back office system to the organization s intranet and portals. Organizations at this level embed learning directly into the traffic patterns of their target audiences, alleviating the need to go to the front door of the LMS. Instead, deep linking directly to relevant resources is common practice. Organizations that propagate this approach see much higher levels of elearning adoption. Finally, the fifth stage is when every employee has faster and more personalized access to learning resources whenever and wherever they are required. Some refer to this stage as the point of learning ubiquity. Here, the line between work and learning blurs because learning is such a natural part of accomplishing work tasks. Like stage four, learning is also accessible from the learning management system, embedded into intranet portals and retrievable via mobile devices. is also considered a key lever to organizational advantage. Integrate learning into human capital management functions Organizations at these advanced stages have often integrated learning with functions such as performance management, on-boarding, succession planning, compensation and talent management. In stage 4, L&D will pay particular attention to how this group can play a key role in this integration. 13

14 Leverage enabling technologies Organizations should take advantage of a wide variety of tools to communicate back to the business in relevant terms. These tools often expand the reach of learning programs and make the integration with human capital functions easier. Authoring environments, analytics tools, Web 2.0 capabilities, virtual mediums, advanced blended learning structures, learning management systems, content management systems, customization, social collaboration and personalization tools are frequently a part of the learning infrastructure. While the number of tools may increase dramatically, avoid introducing tools for their own sake, incorporate only those that are woven into the business process and contribute to results. Expand your reach to partners and customers Continue to look within your organization to address the needs of new learners. Also consider developing learning services for your supplier partners and customers. Frequently, organizations implement the internal learning practices with the extended enterprise to further accelerate business outcomes. Stage 5 and Beyond What does Stage 5 really look like? With one of the largest customer bases in the global learning industry, Skillsoft is well positioned to observe how the most advanced organizations use learning to achieve their business goals. Several of our customers are regularly awarded industry accolades, such as ASTD s BEST award. A majority of Skillsoft s customers also attend the annual Perspectives user event. Slow and steady wins the race. Aesop Ancient Fabulist Since Skillsoft was founded, we have actively sought out the opinions of our customers; they have proven a bellwether of the overall learning market and its trends. Here are some of the learning moments we have taken away from some of the highperforming organizations with which we partner as they continue their Stage 5 journey to maintain organizational advantage. benefits continue to accrue All of our Stage 5 customers experienced the positive impact that learning provided within their organizations. The quantitative (hard) savings occurred during Stage 1 and continued throughout their learning maturity efforts. In many ways, these savings more than offset the initial costs involved in bringing elearning into their business units. The qualitative (soft) results provide an increased focus on process and customers and overall productivity. Finally the difficult to measure (fuzzy) benefits from meeting expectations are either well-known or assumed. As a general rule of thumb, most organizations desire proof of hard savings first and foremost. Once these benefits begin to accumulate, then the softer measures begin to signal the arrival of the envisioned business impact. 14

15 Governance on key learning decisions The transformation of training into learning defined during Stage 3 will require leadership at all levels, executives, management, L&D and a critical mass of engaged learners. There is no question about it. Using learning to integrate into talent management and improve business performance and support overall business goals requires forward-thinking leadership. Determining direction and providing top-down support is crucial on the journey to obtaining the full Stage 5 results. Usually some form of focused hierarchy meets this need. An executive steering committee must answer questions along the lines of; How much should we spend on formal, informal and social learning programs? It takes executive leadership to define the strategic role learning will play in the organization, then determine funding needed to achieve that objective. The consequences of not deciding means the organization fails to develop an overall learning structure that furthers its strategy, despite increased spending for human capital. Another question could be, Which business groups should receive the most learning dollars? Making a clear decision about which learning initiatives will and will not be funded based upon strategic advantage is essential. A lack of focus here overwhelms L&D, which tries to deliver many projects that may have little organization-wide impact or can t be implemented well simultaneously. A general model is for L&D to bring together key stakeholders and form a Council which defines and evaluates learning efforts. Following closely is the executive leadership s need to steer both groups, provide funding and seek accountability for results. A well-organized structure will lead to better practices and increased learning and performance results. A stronger market position and stock value are natural outcomes of good leadership working together. Common strategies for all organizations Abundance of content - All organizations represented at this level provide learning across the spectrum from formal classroom training to informal performance support tools and from available learning content to custom-developed content. These learning resources are well-aligned with specific business initiatives and organizational needs. These Stage 5 organizations have an abundance of content types at their fingertips and well-developed delivery systems. In most cases learning systems are integrated with competency management capabilities, human resources and other human capital management software. Balanced blend of formal, informal and social learning L&D leaders are challenged to create the most effective mix of learning delivery possible. Having these options allows them to maximize business impact in the shortest time and at the lowest cost for large populations of diverse learners. A typical learning mix may include about 10% classroom training, 30% technology-based training (online courses, books, videos, podcasts, etc.) and 60% of training delivered as on-the-job performance support via social media. This approach reduces the time it takes to train employees in key job skills by tuning the mix of learning types to match the skill and the need. portals Well-designed portals deliver a rich set of learning resources tailored to the needs of specific audiences. Several of Skillsoft s clients have implemented portals focused on key strategic topics which provide links to formal and informal assets, learning paths, collaboration and social networking, interactive learning tools and more. As the director of global learning for a consulting organization stated, The value isn t in the pieces; it s putting them into a meaningful business context. 15

16 Applying the key success factors There are eight key success factors which must be addressed in order to bring strategic learning into your organization. Apply these factors consistently across all five stages as follows. Stage Goal Business Case Culture s Role Blended Design Marketing & Promotion Learner Adoption Each stage has an overarching objective for each stage (milestone) as it relates to the construction of a learning organization. These goals include efforts to initiate, manage, align, and integrate and then to expand enterprise-wide learning. Developing a business case helps to create a wider framework that is essential for the desired benefits to actually materialize. These benefits include; better market performance, competitive advantage, and employee retention. The business case focuses primarily on cost benefits/offsets during the first two stages to ensure ongoing savings are secure as work moves forward into stage 3 where outcomes are measured using return on investment. A learning culture seeks to build increased engagement and job satisfaction. This effort results in greater motivation to transfer learning and reduced turnover. It s an essential task in order to become an innovative, agile organization that builds and sustains a performer-focused learning environment. Adaptation to rapid change isn t a one-time event for an organization, it s a continuous process. It is the role of L&D to create a continuous environment for learning and show how this culture links to overall organizational success. This task includes working with management, learning and other groups to exploit the value of this infrastructure. The role is to balance ongoing demands for running a business with the agility to quickly shift emphasis with changes. Blended design is more than combining classroom with elearning. Well-designed learning blends are the fuel that powers the transformation; beginning with simple blends and moving forward to complex learning design in order to accommodate and ensure a great transfer of learning into the workplace. The old adage Build it and they will come. doesn t work. Consistent and trustworthy communication about the value of learning will continuously motivate the individual, their manager and the organization. Communicating the value on a regular basis empowers the entire organization. Individuals model the behavior of their leaders and their peers. You can t create a transformation solely by pushing content out to employees. It only works when the individual is led to begin pulling learning to them. As adoption grows beyond critical mass, this pull will empower the entire organization. Evaluation Without metrics, you simply don t know if you are making progress or the magnitude of intended change. In a word, you become lost. The adoption rate proves the magnitude of efficiency and how effective the transfer of learning can be. We will examine the profile of each of the five stages within the Skillsoft Growth Model in the following pages. 16

17 Profile for Stage 1 Supplement Business case for elearning culture role Blended design Elearning promotion Learner adoption evaluation Elearning is introduced to address scalability challenges and reduce costs; adoption is ad-hoc - The Supplement stage begins the process of moving from the traditional trainer-centered paradigm to a learner-centered one. Introducing new elearning resources will quickly address a backlog of pent-up demand for skillsfocused learning. This includes scalable learning assets that could not be delivered via traditional methods due to high costs. Reduced travel costs (for both instructors and participants), design and development costs, instructor time, and learners time away from work create significant cost-saving benefits for the organization. These savings are routinely greater than the initial investment. is operationally focused - The successful initiation of the new elearning assets and a smooth transition into the organization is imperative in this stage. Key players, which include IT, managers for the targeted population, stakeholders, instructors, and L&D, focus on driving adoption of elearning resources. Key executives are asked to give their support and become engaged in this initiative. Learners quickly see the nascent value of these new resources and, after completing their desired learning, will share their experiences with co-workers. Their word of mouth promotion shapes and supports an ongoing awareness campaign. Contractor At this stage, the L&D group is generally considered a contractor or a facilitator within the organization. The primary focus is to simply provide learning content to fulfill specific skill gaps or backlogged requests. The introduction of elearning allows L&D to increase their skill levels to ensure the success of the subsequent stages for both L&D and for the learners. Key support for this stage usually consists of establishing program goals, marketing and promotion, demonstrating the design and navigation of learning assets to learners, adding new users to a LMS, managing administrative tasks and tracking learner progress. Very little blending, mostly formal This stage is characterized by little blended design other than existing functions present within elearning resources: most instructor-led classrooms continue as before with no link to the new elearning assets. New assets include libraries of elearning content that deliver formal training in a wide range of technical and business skills along with elearning assets to support instant learning needs. A learning management system (LMS) is used to deliver and track the instructor led and elearning content but those resources are rarely merged into blends. Traditional awareness marketing Since elearning is being introduced to some learners for the first time, elearning promotion focuses on showing learners how to access, view, select, and use these new elearning assets. Regular promotional communications via websites, open houses and other communications are common methods for creating learner awareness and the active use of elearning content. 20%+ mostly push - Expect 20% or more of the learner usage within the targeted population. Uptake is driven by the effectiveness of the push marketing and its focus is on creating learner awareness and describing the benefits. Ensuring learners have an easy experience accessing the resource is essential to make a good first impression. Managers or L&D staff may assign specific resources to help learners gain a comfort level with the elearning resources. Efficiency of elearning Measuring typically focuses on utilization, completions, and overall counting at this stage. content evaluations generally focus on learner reaction (Kirkpatrick level one) or on skills gained as measured through test scores (level two). Managers may request the inclusion of specific learning assets into a few professional development plans. 17

18 Profile for Stage 2 Targeted Business case for elearning culture role Blended design Elearning promotion Learner adoption Evaluation Targeted learning begins to support specific initiatives and job roles to enhance savings & remove redundancy -The Targeted stage seeks to fully exploit the assets in place and continue the expansion of elearning in other workplace areas. As more needs are identified, more elearning content for specific initiatives or job roles will be required. The next task is to maximize the investment in elearning resources and enhance savings from the continued delivery of skills-focused learning. As elearning resources replace redundant classroom, the organization will realize more savings. This stage expands earlier results and provides more resources to more learners for less cost. The cost-savings and renewed focus on specific initiatives and job roles reaffirms the original decision for choosing elearning. Executive support increases & learning strategies emerge - The organization begins to transform and realizes that future maturity can be only achieved with visible executive leadership and more coordination across the organization. An initial Council is often formed to identify enterprise opportunities for learning and to leverage elearning s benefits more fully. Development of formal learning strategies begins. Managers request more content to address specific requirements and other members of HR (i.e. the HR business partners) begin to identify more opportunities to align elearning to internal customer needs. The learner population will begin expanding as marketing and management efforts continue to bear fruit. Consultant - As partnership with the management team increases, L&D becomes more consultative, advising how to leverage elearning to build talent. Support for setting up a blended learning program, measuring marketing results tracking learner uptake, and conducting regular program reviews increase. These changes require some adjustments in the roles, responsibilities, staffing and talent within L&D. Simple blends, social & mobile use begin- Simple blended learning programs begin during this stage. These may include elearning content as a pre-requisite, during or after a classroom event, use of social media to discuss elearning content and access of assets via mobile devices and virtual meeting tools. There is an increased use of informal learning - job aids, videos, simulations, mentoring, online books and other elearning assets. In this stage, the organization also begins to blend elearning resources into management and leadership programs. Highlights & success stories - Marketing and promotional programs continue to build learner awareness, as in Stage 1, while beginning to highlight learner success stories and elearning s positive results. The organization begins promoting elearning features that were not fully exploited during the first stage, such as mentoring, social learning, mobile access and the new blends. 30%+ pull Increases - Expect 30% or more usage from the targeted population. As long as management and L&D actively support the expanded use of elearning features, social media and blended programs, usage will continue to increase. More learners will begin to access content (pull) on their own volition as well as recommend content to their peers. Effectiveness of elearning While the primary focus continues to be measuring adoption, evaluation efforts center more on increasing effectiveness. The routine study of skill improvement and greater application in the workplace (Kirkpatrick levels two and three) takes place. Completions are only a concern for specific (e.g., compliance) related programs because informal learning behaviors are beginning to take root and grow. 18

19 Profile for Stage 3 Strategic Business case for elearning culture role Blended design Elearning promotion Learner adoption Evaluation is aligned to strategic business objectives and begins to connect to talent management to increase the value and impact of learning While previous stages emphasized cost reduction and targeted needs, this pivotal stage is characterized by learning s alignment to the strategic agenda. The job roles or functions that need strategic attention often include leadership and customer-facing functions (e.g. sales and customer service). is also aligned to support enterprise imperatives such as fostering an innovation culture or implementing Six Sigma. The business case centers on increasing learning s business impact while finding more opportunities to expand cost savings and productivity. Success in this stage leads to a breakthrough for the organization, its leadership, L&D and the overall learner population. Governance & talent management begins - Along with the Council started in the previous stage, an Executive Steering Committee is established to ensure that learning is strongly aligned to the strategic goals. In this stage, it is common for organizations to consolidate funding across disparate parts of the organization and form shared services. Communities of practice also emerge to hone L&D expertise. Talent management processes become more integrated and consistent across the organization. content becomes a key component of talent management s success. Key player - This stage is a major point of change into a new learning paradigm: L&D is a key player in making this breakthrough stage a reality. Common learning services include performance consulting, competency model design, custom content creation, business cases, and measuring business outcomes. During this stage, L&D becomes an integral part of organizational success, elevating the function s status. The need for leadership, budgeting, roles, responsibilities, staffing and talent within L&D continues to increase. Blending scales to balance multiple modalities Blended programs become more prevalent in this stage. Since resources become more plentiful, more attention is paid to providing a broader mix of learning modalities. With the inherent growth and complexity in learning s scope, organizations often selectively outsource areas such as custom development, program design and aspects of program management. Portal deep linking begins - Marketing showcases the strategic outcomes achieved from learning. It also continues to highlight success stories that recognize individual learner testimonials and career progression. Visibility begins to take place by deeplinking specific resources into targeted portals so that access is not solely available through the LMS front door. An example of this would be directly linking project management references into an internal project management portal or webpage. 50%+ Pull = Push - Use of elearning exceeds 50% since technology-enabled learning is generally accepted. Greater leadership advocacy, deep-linking and more habitual use of elearning for performance support reinforce this. Most functions have prescriptive learning programs aligned to their job roles. Adoption is balanced between push and pull. Business impact of elearning - With the executive focus on strategic goals, learning evaluation emphasizes more business impact measurements (Kirkpatrick s level 4). scorecards or dashboards may be drafted to communicate learning s contributions to business results. Interest conducting formal ROI studies also emerges, so the organization typically starts building learning measurement expertise. 19

20 Profile for Stage 4 Integrated Business case for elearning culture role Blended design Elearning promotion Learner adoption evaluation Increasing talent and accelerating organizational agility - At this stage, the organization recognizes the correlation between nimble talent and business agility. is well-rooted within the architecture of talent systems, supporting multiple aspects of the talent lifecycle. The overall goal is to establish an ecosystem that supports a performer-focused enterprise. The business case now centers on increasing the value of talent within the organization. The organization will experience a closer connection to learning within the normal work flow of the organization, all of which is focused on accelerating business results, deepening the talent pool, and creating an agile, empowering, productive and creative organization. Recognized as a Organization - is now woven into the fabric of the organization. The line between learning and work blurs because learning is fully integrated into workflows. Governance by the Council and Executive Steering Committee has matured while they continue to encourage and reward communities of practice. Organizations at this stage often receive awards industry leadership. The vision of a performer-focused environment is now up and working. Architect Comprehensive learning business plans illustrate how learning is a critical fulcrum for achieving the strategic agenda. L&D is given increased enterprise responsibilities for workforce planning and has a regular seat at the table. Business process outsourcing of some operations is also typical at this stage. Once again, we see a similar but significant increase in L&D infrastructure. Balanced blends become routine - The organization continues to expand and refine blended learning models. At this stage, many existing programs have been redesigned to blends and most new programs begin as blended models. The organization also has established guidelines for blending that it provides to its program developers. Learner program completions and the transfer of skills increase along with daily interaction with informal, self-directed access to elearning. Active manager level evangelism begins - The unique characteristic of this stage is that the managers become marketers. Managers regularly encourage ongoing progression of development plans, expect to see new skills demonstrated on the job, and recognize results achieved through learning. Managers are often profiled as good role models for continual development. 80%+ increased pull - Utilization is very high because the late adopters of technology are effectively engaged. At least 80% of the target population uses the learning resources. More and more of the adoption represent learner pull. Because access to relevant learning is woven into workflows, adoption is constantly growing as learners take advantage of the learning available at their fingertips. Targeted ROI studies - Formal ROI (return on investment) evaluations are conducted for the most strategic programs. These studies quantify the business results and validate those programs which produce strong returns. scorecards and executive dashboards evolve and mature. Organizations at this stage are readily profiled in case studies and other firms refer to them for benchmarking. 20