Company strategy as the driver of learning and development

Amid much talk about the increased emphasis on training in the new South African Broad- Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) scorecard, there is a danger of overlooking the fact that Learning & Development (L&D) is key to successful corporate strategy implementation.

This article explores ways of restoring the strategic focus of L&D.

Corporate survival strategies

For many of us, the characteristic approach to training is that it is “a good thing” and to be supported as long as it doesn’t cost too much or divert focus and energy from the business imperatives at hand. In this climate of survivalism it is also one of the first things to be sacrificed on the altar of cost savings.

At the same time as the current environment is not very optimistic, it is also one characterised by rapid change. In the 2015 Barloworld supplychainforesight survey, 89% of participants identified “Identifying and managing change” as a strategic business objectives over the next 5-10 years. What is very interesting is that nobody identified the development of the human capital required to take advantage of the opportunities and minimise the threats posed by these changes as one of their strategic priorities. Elsewhere in the report however, 75% of respondents identified a lack of relevant skills/talent as a key strategic business constraints over the same period.

So this is where we sit: whilst being fully aware that the way in which we manage change will be key to the well-being of our businesses into the future, we have recognised that we do not have the talent to achieve this, whilst at the same time training is seen as an expense which needs to be minimised. There seems to be a disconnect somewhere.

That disconnect is heightened when we take into account the amount of SETA money available for training.

Culture of learning- attainable vision or cloud cuckoo land?

A speaker at the recent SAPICS Conference put forward the opinion that the administrative burden imposed on companies in complying with SETA and B-BBEE scorecard requirements related to training had reduced this function to an operational one which has little or no relation to the overall company strategy. In other words, corporates are training to comply rather than to meet strategic needs.

If this is the case it is clear that urgent change is needed.

A corporate culture of learning will only succeed with the direct involvement and ownership of top management. This is more a matter of winning hearts and minds than presenting a logical case. Once the executive team have experienced a portion of the program by being asked to introduce it, to contribute some of its content or to preside in leaner presentations and graduations, they will be more likely to play a key role in this function.

Creating a culture of line manager involvement in training is key, and, as in the case of top management, there is no substitute for getting them directly involved in taster events, program launches, as stakeholders in simulations or dialogue partners.

Companies who link executive compensation to their support for and personal involvement in talent development are also more likely to succeed in creating this culture.

Conclusion

In a tough economic climate with unrelenting pressure on training budgets, learning and development professionals are constantly challenged to demonstrate the value, ROI and business impact of training initiatives. The way to increase the value and return of training is to design it in a way that is clearly aligned with corporate strategy – i.e. to increase the relevance of training to the business need.

Are you experiencing a shortage of relevant skills in your organisation? How are you strategising to meet the training targets of the new B-BBEE scorecard?  Can you reposition your organisation through training?

We have to stop pretending…

When it comes to the training of our young people we have to stop pretending that what we’re doing isn’t boring, that learners find meaning in what we’re covering in class or that having our learners sit still for hours can consistently result in a meaningful learning experiences.

Where does all this take us? This article explores some exciting possibilities

70: 20 10 insight as a strategic development weapon

The belief that anyone can actually do anything practical after sitting and listening to another for a 40 minute stretch (or longer) is too much to expect from any trainer or learner. How can we move away from the concept of the trainer as a font of knowledge and information? How can we find better ways to utilise those with experience and expertise as custodians of technology and quality who can act as workplace education, training and development practitioners?

Handing everything over to an external provider delivering off the shelf courses and then expecting those emerging from such training to hit the ground running on their return to the office is, at best, wistful thinking.

There is a 70:20:10 model which shows that most learning occurs as part of the workflow and not in away-from-work training situations. This model suggests that "development will be about 70% from on-the-job experiences, working on tasks and problems; about 20% from feedback and working around good and bad examples of the need, and 10% from courses and reading.” *

So how can we use this type of model to make the "working on tasks and problems" and the “feedback and working around good and bad examples of the need” an integral element of our training strategies?

Flipping the workplace into the classroom

Information surrounds us at every turn: Google is a part of life. If this is the case,  then what role does formal training have and how can experience be harnessed in such an environment?

The solution lies in facilitating a process in which the individual builds his own store of knowledge in a way that he or she can best apply it.

This means that we first need to closely defined what behaviour must be produced or modified as a result of any learning intervention. In coming to this decision we will inevitably identify problems which the individual will need to solve by following learnt procedures, applying learnt knowledge or techniques or a combination of all of these. These problems will be workbased. Once we know this, it is then a question of designing a workbased programme in which individuals are given problems relevant to the competence required. It is then up to each individual within that group to identify any skills or knowledge gaps they which need to be addressed before they can solve the problem at hand.

The tools which each learner will require will be different and will probably involve acquiring information, gaining practical know how in the workplace from an experienced person and then repeated practice in applying what has been learnt in an environment where mistakes are not expensive.

This is where the blend of e-learning, social learning and practical, on the job training comes into its own.

In such a programme there may well be a need for face to face interaction between learner and facilitator but these interactions must have the form of exploring what the learner has acquired through his or own efforts and how this can be used to solve the given problem. “But where,” you ask, “does the learner acquire the theoretical background needed to solve many problems? Development of many supply chain solutions, for example, requires a strong background in statistical theory”. The answer lies setting problems in which the learner will need to acquire that theory as part of the problem solving process and not in an academic vacuum. This is not to say that some outsourced, off the shelf training may not be useful but its context needs to be clearly understood if it is to be effective.

E-learning is of itself not a means to this end and neither is on the job training. If they are carefully coordinated however, a very powerful multiplier effect is created.

Do you see a need for coordination between outsourced learning and on the job training?

Do you have strategies to ensure that experienced gained over many years is retained in your business?

Are you staying abreast of developments in e-learning, social learning and blended learning?

*Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/70/20/10_Model

Change management - strategic weapon for competitiveness

Gap between intent and implementation

2014 supplychainforesight respondents ranked lack of relevant skills and talent as the number one strategic business constraint. Whilst skills development of employees ranked as a top area for investment for long term gain in supplychainforesight 2015, this is seen as an area of clear intent but lack of implementation.

This article outlines the necessity for bridging this gap.

Arming for Change

Why is there a hesitation on the part of organisations to invest in skills if possessing relevant skills is identified as having the biggest positive impact on achieving a sustainable future?

Since “Identifying and managing change” is the top strategic objective in this year’s supplychainforesight survey, what strategic constraints were identified as preventing this from happening? The top 3 were: - (lack of) willingness to change/breaking old habits/relationships, supply chain information and intelligence and reactive vs. proactive approach.

These constraints can be addressed by training, provided it is understood that training is a process which will lead to changes in behaviour, performance or both. Of these constraints, the second (supply chain information and intelligence)  is a technical competency which will require some theory and a great deal of practice to impart. Such a need responds well to formal training.

The first and last constraints (willingness to change/breaking old habits/relationships and reactive vs. proactive approach) provide the biggest opportunity for business sustainability because they are attitudinal. They inevitably require substantial behavioural and cultural changes which in turn indicate a more holistic approach aimed at both the organisation and the individuals in it.

Change initiatives are time consuming and costly, significantly impacting the organisation’s drive toward success. Since we are living in a climate of rapid and radical change, supply chain organisations need to resolve how to successfully adapt and sustain change.

The first step requires the whole company to participate in workshops whose purpose is to identify why there is a need to change. Unless each person within the organisation can see for him or herself what is happening out there to necessitate changes in the way the company does its business, very little will happen. Such recognition can only be achieved through participation at all levels in workshops where senior management identifies strategic threats and opportunities whilst those at the coalface recommend the changes needed to deal with them.

By incorporating these recommendations into the company’s future strategy, top management will win the hearts and minds of those who must behave differently if the initiatives are to deliver and sustain their strategic benefits.

Whilst this consultative approach to developing organisational strategy will identify the need to change, it must also identify the measurable indicators which will show that the organisation has achieved its change goals and the target dates by which they need to be achieved.

At the heart of this method lies the identification of the key skills which will transform the organisation. An adaption of an old saying is very apt, “To change into what we’ve never been before, we need to do what we’ve never done before”.   To do what we’ve never done before means acquiring the relevant skills to do those things and this is where the winners emerge from the pack. Companies that will thrive in this climate of radical change are those which are aggressively upskilling each team member so that they are equipped and confident to thrive in a changed environment. This means not only the acquisition of new, “hard” technical skills but also the “soft” skills needed to adapt to change.

One of the most exciting things about managing change is that the job is never done: no sooner have we transformed the organisation to meet one set of changes than there will be a new set of changes facing us.

In conclusion, the important factor that makes organisations effective at change is having a culture that embraces continual change. After all, delivering strategic change is only half of the story. The other half is all about sustaining the change.

Is your organisation proactive or reactive when it comes to change?

What steps are you taking to bring about a culture of change in your organisations?

What skills do you see as being key to a sustainable future in the supply chain management field?

Exciting times - harvesting our youthful demographic dividend

Completely dormant South African assets

Legislation and other Government interventions may assist in transforming our society into one in which the limitations on each individual’s success are only self-imposed. 

A more important element to a nation’s success is however that those who have gained experience and expertise take proactive steps in using those assets to invest in society’s future – our young people. 

This article gives an in depth view of the opportunities which this represents.

Provocative thoughts and questions

Senior South African economist, Cees Bruggemans poses provocative thoughts and questions in his recent article “SA Radical Prospects: Limitations & Opportunities”:

“It can be said, in all earnestness, that the modern South African economy has never been given a fair chance to show what it is truly capable of, in both the productive and the distributive sense. Could we make it our first priority to use the proceeds of resource windfalls to beneficiate our human capital stock? Should we in the future make our own luck through foreign trade by participating more aggressively in global value chains? Can we break our previous development ‘mould’ (relying mainly on resource windfalls as development push factors) by making our human capital stock the centrepiece of our development efforts? Should we in the future be focusing mainly on ‘beneficiating’ our human capital and through it seek richer and more widespread human development? The central theme of South Africa’s development would then become the harvesting of our youthful demographic dividend, so far left completely dormant.”

Sticks, carrots and international recognition

The answers to these questions bring exciting opportunities to business. Since South Africa’s logistics costs hover at around 12 - 13% of its GDP, these issues are of significant importance to any logistics and transport organisation. Add to this the fact that, of the of the 21 million young people (under 35 years) in South Africa, 18.3 million of them are without jobs*.

Both the sticks and the carrots exist to reduce the high proportion of logistics costs and youth unemployment, given that these result from the same cause – lack of skills.

As of 1 May 2015, companies need to DOUBLE their spend on training from 3 to 6% of payroll in order to meet the required 8 out of 118 points on the revised B-BBEE scorecard. This can be most cost effectively achieved by uplifting the skills of those same unemployed youth and, by spending the same Rands on the right people in the right programmes, 25 B-BBEE scorecard points can be achieved.

There have never been more learnerships in the field of logistics and transport than those which have been registered to date: it is the sponsorship of young AICs (Africans, Indians and Coloureds - especially women and handicapped individuals) on learnerships which earn the highest B-BBBEE scorecard points.

It is also learnerships which attract the highest levels of both SETA funding and tax incentives. In effect they are cost neutral, thus releasing funding to upskill existing staff who may not necessarily be AICs.

A further key development is that the international Procurement and Transport and Logistics professional bodies, the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) and the  Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), are aligning their programmes to learnerships registered within a degree qualification. These means that graduating leaners receive a local degree and may also qualify for international professional status.

Business sustainability

 “It’s all very well implementing learnerships by bringing in unemployed youth” you say, “but how does this benefit my business?”

From the 2014 Barloworld Logistics supplychainforesight report, “Respondents ranked the lack of relevant skills and talent as their number one strategic business constraint.” This is emphasised throughout this and similar reports. Other studies have proved that 85% of learnerships graduates are retained in the businesses. Conclusion? Learnerships provide businesses with the scarce and critical skills needed for sustainability.

Are you gearing up your training and development programmes to make your company more competitive?

What effect does your B-BBEE Scorecard rating have on your ability to attract and retain clients?

How will South Africa’s youth unemployment rate affect your business? Business as usual? Seek opportunities elsewhere? Capitalise on the opportunity?

Exciting times ahead!

* “Youth in a state of emergency” Andile Lungisa, former ANC Youth League deputy president, Sunday Independent June 15 2014