Professional skills now need more of on-the-job boost
These will deliver real-time use than any training course employees are put through
The new corporate L&D (learning and development) landscape requires a deeper introspection, especially in context to mounting challenges businesses are facing. The need is to move away from training regimes to holistic learning.
And yet, there is a significant disconnect between the actual needs of executive learning and the way conventional L&D processes are working. We have got to overcome the traditional fixation with its assessment methodologies.
New-age human resources development systems are still not capturing actual needs. Most training programmes are awarded as trophies - part of a reward and recognition method or as an employee motivation tool than actual professional development based on embedded assessment criteria.
Change assessments
For the success of an L&D programme, the organization needs to embed professional skills development as a critical pillar. It then has to build the systems to identify and assess employees through updated performance management systems that clearly outline L&D outcomes.
These must capture an employee’s performance across personal, professional and functional capabilities. The performance management system must differentiate between skills and progression capabilities so that the right assessment is done.
Robust tech platforms are required to aid HR and operation managers with assessments and then work with the external L&D provider to identify actual needs. Based on these, the company’s L&D departments have to develop course curriculums.
On-the-job counts
The traditional instruction-based class learning is no more delivering results. A significant portion of executive learning must come from on-the-job exposure. To achieve maximum impact of on-the-job learning, the role of field mentors becomes a must.
They have got to provide apt guidance for such training. Also, online learning processes will need to be an integral part of the curriculum, and without which the full impact will remain unrealised. L&D programmes can come with a blended approach of 20:50:30, where 20 per cent is instructional, 50 per cent is on-the-job and 30 per cent done via self- or online learning.
To deliver such an approach and shift in an organization’s policy, this has to be a shared goal, not a CEO’s wishlist. Building HR development systems also has to invest in a dedicated L&D department within the organization. Such setups will also need education management systems that can administer these programmes.
- Tariq Chauhan is Group CEO of EFS Facilities Services Group.