The Performance Improvement Blog

New e-Book for Getting Business Results from Training

Getting business results from training, or any learning intervention (for example, coaching) for that matter, often has more to do with organizational issues than it does with design and delivery of the learning event. Learning professionals have become very good at creating powerful learning experiences for participants. Yet, the number of participants who apply this learning to achieving important business results for their organizations is still quite small. Some researchers put that number in the 10% to 20% range. 

Sean Murray, CEO of RealTime Performance, and I want to increase that number. We have identified five factors that contribute to the impact of learning interventions. We believe that when learners and managers of learners attend to these factors, it is much more likely that training will contribute to business success. These factors are: 

1. Alignment: Align learning with strategic goals.
2. Anticipation: Anticipate success.
3. Alliance: Create a learning alliance between learner and boss.
4. Application: Apply learning immediately.
5. Accountability: Hold learner and organization accountable for business results.

These factors make up what we call the "5As Framework". You can read more about this framework in our new e-book, Getting More From Your Investment in Training: The 5As Framework. The e-book also has valuable tips and tools you can use to get more impact from your training programs. You can download the first two chapters free or you can purchase the whole e-book at the RealTime Performance Web site. Let us know what you think.

Downturn Opportunities for Performance Improvement

The current downturn in the economy and the much-anticipated-but-slow-in-coming upturn, presents companies with a unique opportunity for performance improvement. John Baldoni writes in his blog post titled, Use the Downturn to Your Advantage,  that this is the time for organizations “…to get rid of anything and everything that does not add value to the bottom line”,  look to employees, customers, and vendors for ways to improve operations, and model for all employees how to overcome obstacles during tough times.

All great advice; but I wouldn’t do any of this without data. Collect and analyze data that describes your processes from both a statistical and human point of view. For example, changing the work schedule to more hours over fewer days might look more efficient on paper, but if it takes an emotional toll on workers, it might not be worth altering. Survey employees, customers, and vendors and use that data as the basis for a conversation with them about improving operations. Ask them what measures would indicate effective operations. Use those measures to assess the change and to make decisions about improvement.

This is the time for radical change…as long as it is supported by evidence. Change simply for the sake of change will cause you to lose the trust of employees, customers, and vendors. Change that is indicated by the facts will gain you the respect of these stakeholders, even if they disagree with your conclusions.

Learning About Learning From Nonprofit Organizations

All organizations in this day and age, whether business, government, or nonprofit need to be constantly learning or they will not be sustainable. From the manufacturing behemoth GM to the local homeless shelter, changes in the economy, technology, generational issues, and expectations of stakeholders are driving these organizations to be more effective, more efficient, and more honest. To do this, they must be constantly learning and learning how to learn.

In conjunction with the publication of my new book, Developing a Learning Culture in Nonprofit Organizations, I had the honor of being interviewed by John Baldoni for a blog he writes for HarvardBusiness.org. He asked me three, thought-provoking questions:

1. Organizations are cutting resources and headcount. Why is it important for an organization to create a learning culture?

2. What can the for-profit world learn from the nonprofit world about establishing a learning culture?

3. What is a key take away from your book that has relevance to a manager seeking to navigate hard times?

Read my answers in his blog post, What Nonprofits Teach Us About Learning.

Baldoni concludes his article by saying:

Next generation organizations will continue to evolve in response to the dynamic nature of bringing people together to work. Central to future success will depend on how well the organization can adapt and innovate. Those competencies will depend on creating a learning culture.

I think that's exactly right. Any organization that wants to be successful, by any reasonable measure, must continually seek feedback, reflect on the meaning of that feedback, and use that information for performance improvement. And this learning process must be integral to the way the enterprise operates, not the exclusive purview of HR, or the CLO, or a few senior managers.

Reinventing GM

It’s about a week post-bankruptcy and billions of dollars more in tax-payer bailout, and I still don’t have any confidence that GM management can lead the company towards long-term success. GM’s “re:invention” Web site is downright scary. The CEO’s message is, “We’re going to get the job done.” Mark LaNeve says, “We’re going to build cars and take care of our customers like we always have.”  Neither of these messages talks about real change. I don’t want GM to continue doing more of the same, albeit smaller and leaner.

The company must change its culture and how it does business if it truly wants to be successful for customers and employees over the long-term. John Kay’s column in the Financial Times points out the fundamental challenges facing GM:

The factors that had once been the company’s strengths were now weaknesses. Mass production and piece-rate incentives created a workforce with little pride in the quality of the product. The cadre of professional managers became a complacent, inward-looking bureaucracy. The diversified corporation became a collection of competing baronies.

The Saturn story is a good example of how GM’s culture gets in the way of its success.  A comment to Dan Muhern’s blog post, GM and You, includes a reader's description of the problem from a customer’s point of view:

GM gave up a good thing, and decided to waive the white flag a decade ago. GM had decent fuel economy with the GEO metro and Saturn SL series. Now 15 years later GM can’t break the 34 mpg barrier with out going hybrid. What happened to R&D? I drive a 00’ Saturn SL. It has been a wonderful car. For the 1st 100,000 miles I was achieving 38-46mpg. The 2nd 100,000 miles achieved 37-41mpg. I’m still working on the 3rd 100,000 miles but I’m still getting 35-40mpg. It is plastic so it will never rust and is lighter than standard metal cars. The car is 95% made in USA. We can make good cars domestically. I would buy another new 00’ Saturn SL in a heart beat today, but after 9yrs of R&D GM doesn’t offer a car with equivalent gas mileage.

Now GM is selling what was once one of the best-managed, most successful divisions in the company. Saturn was known for customer service, high quality, and a satisfied workforce, in part due to great training for employees and autonomy from the mothership. I’m pleased to hear that Penske is buying the division, but it is very sad that the GM culture couldn’t allow the company to learn from Saturn. I remember back in 1990, at the time Saturn was created, the word on the street was that GM would never let it succeed over the long term...and here we are.

My GM

Now that I own 60% of GM, I would like to know how the automaker is going to become profitable and pay back the loan I gave them. Workforce.com reported that on June 1, in a videoconference for all employees, GM CEO Fritz Henderson talked about:

… the “new GM” that would emerge from bankruptcy with more competitive labor contracts, reduced operating costs, fewer plants and a leaner production capacity focused on small, fuel-efficient cars.

That’s all well and good, but unless GM transforms its culture, it won’t be long before the “new GM” begins to look like the “old GM” again. David Leonhardt, economics columnist for the New York Times, writes:

General Motors has been hemorrhaging customers for decades. For the last 30 years, it has been losing almost one percentage point of market share every year. It sold 45 percent of the new vehicles in this country in 1980, 35 percent in 1990, 28 percent in 2000 and 19 percent so far this year.

So why should I believe that GM will be able to achieve something going forward that it hasn't achieved over the past 30 years? In an interview with NPR’s Robert Segal, Henderson said, "We've made mistakes, there's no question we've made mistakes. We need to learn from those mistakes, and we will.” I would like to know how GM will learn from those mistakes, as well as future mistakes. Will employees tell their managers when mistakes are made? Will managers tell executives when mistakes are made? Will they all look for root causes without placing blame? Will they discuss the undiscussable? Will employees be rewarded for continuous improvement? Will organizational silos disappear between functional areas so that employees can share information and learn from each other?  These are just some of the questions I would like to ask GM execs.

Paradox of Employee Training

Paul Krugman, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics and columnist for the New York Times, believes that three paradoxes are worrisome for our economy.  He writes in his May 4 Op-Ed piece:

We’re suffering from the paradox of thrift: saving is a virtue, but when everyone tries to sharply increase saving at the same time, the effect is a depressed economy. We’re suffering from the paradox of deleveraging: reducing debt and cleaning up balance sheets is good, but when everyone tries to sell off assets and pay down debt at the same time, the result is a financial crisis… And soon we may be facing the paradox of wages: workers at any one company can help save their jobs by accepting lower wages, but when employers across the economy cut wages at the same time, the result is higher unemployment.

I think there is a fourth economic paradox: the paradox of employee learning. Recently, in the course of my work, I have talked to many training and development leaders in many organizations in many industries. The common refrain I hear is, “We have had to cut training positions; our budget for training and development is frozen; we’ve had to offer less training to our employees; and we don’t see any of this changing before the end of the year.” The paradox of employee learning is that, to save money, fewer people are doing more jobs but learning less. Instead of saving money, this is costing more in terms of lost revenue, decreasing market share, failure to retain high performers, poor employee engagement, and an inability to respond when the economy picks up. The opportunity for employees to learn how to do their jobs more effectively, be more effective managers and leaders, and help other people in their organizations be successful, is critical to being successful as an organization. Eliminate that learning and these companies will find that they cannot provide great customer service and they cannot make great products. They might save money in the short run but they will lose loyal customers and market share in the long run.

Culture of Learning in Non-Profit Organizations

If you work in a nonprofit organization or NGO, including health care, social services, advocacy, arts, education, or government, or if you volunteer for a nonprofit or serve on the Board of a nonprofit, I encourage you to look at my new book, Developing a Learning Culture in Nonprofit Organizations. The purpose of this book is to provide practical ideas and tools for continuous learning and organizational improvement.

Much like for-profit companies, nonprofits need to do a better job of learning and learning how to learn. The pressure on them to continuously improve performance has become enormous in recent years. They need more than occasional incremental improvements, they need a culture that supports continuous learning.

I write in the Preface of the book:

A learning culture exists when an organization makes reflection, feedback, and sharing of knowledge part of the way it functions on a day-to-day basis. A nonprofit or non-governmental organization (NGO) that has a learning culture is continuously learning from its own experience, which means it has the capacity for improvement and success. In this way, a culture of learning contributes to the overall capacity of the organization.

Nonprofits need a learning culture now more than ever. Aramand Lauffer, Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan,writes in the foreward to the book:

Adaptation has always been a key to organizational survival, but never more so than today. That’s why this is a much-needed book. Nonprofits are faced with funding uncertainty, altered expectations from consumers, complex and often competing regulations, and changing perceptions of how services should be provided and to whom.

Developing a Learning Culture in Nonprofit Organizations gives you a framework and tools for helping nonprofits and NGOs become more effective at achieving their missions. I hope you will read the book and let me know what you think about the usefulness of the ideas and tools.

How to Stay Successful in a Recessionary Economy

In tough times, successful organizations actively look for ways to strengthen themselves. Four leaders of successful organizations were on a panel March 24th in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The panel included: Paul Saginaw, co-founder of Zingerman’s, an Ann Arbor institution and internationally famous deli; Janet Muhleman, President of re:group, a highly successful branding and marketing agency; Doug Rothwell, president of Detroit Renaissance, a consortium of business leaders working together to accelerate the region’s economic growth; and Roger Palay, Vice President of Instruction at Washtenaw Community College, a fast growing two-year college serving the learning needs of people in and around Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. When asked what they were doing differently in this challenging, economy, they said that they were:

• Recruiting new talent to add to their teams at a time when talent is relatively cheap
• Developing personal relationships with future customers and business partners
• Being obsessive about their focus on customers and the customer experience
• Cultivating new customers
• Picking up market share while other companies are hunkering down
• Showing employees that they appreciate them
• Planning for the future
• Developing their “digital face” (Web site, social networking sites, etc.)
• Doing additional maintenance and improvement of their facilities

It seems to me, this is all good advice for any organization struggling in this recession. It would be easy, and probably very tempting, for these four organizations to take a defensive posture and ride out the economic storm using tough times as an excuse. Instead, they are aggressively nurturing new relationships, new talent, new customers, and new opportunities.

Some Wall Street Leaders Never Learn

Leaders and organizations make mistakes. And we’ve seen plenty of evidence of mistakes made over the past few years by many previously highly respected financial firms. The tragedy is that some of these leaders and organizations have not learned from their mistakes, mistakes that have dramatically affected the economic well-being of millions of people. William D. Cohan, author of House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street, in his op-ed piece in the New York Times titled, “A Tsunami of Excuses,” contrasts Wall Street executives who haven’t learned from what went wrong with those who have learned. He quotes the former CEO of Bear Stearns responding to questions from the Senate Banking Committee:

I can guarantee you it’s a subject I’ve thought about a lot…Looking backwards and with hindsight…If I’d have known exactly the forces that were coming, what actions could we have taken beforehand to have avoided this situation? And I just simply have not been able to come up with anything ... that would have made a difference to the situation that we faced.

Compare this to the Morgan Stanley CEO’s comments to Congress:

The events of the past months have shaken the foundation of our global financial system…And they’ve made clear the need for profound change to that system. At Morgan Stanley, we’ve dramatically brought down our leverage, increased transparency, reduced our level of risk and made changes to how we pay people…We didn’t do everything right. Far from it. And make no mistake: as the head of this firm, I take responsibility for our performance.

What a difference between these two leaders! We need more like the Morgan Stanley CEO, Wall Street executives who learn from their mistakes, who take responsibility for their actions, and who help everyone else in their organizations continuously improve performance and do the right thing. Otherwise, how can we have confidence in our financial institutions?

Predictions for 2009: Baby Boomers; Engagement; and Learning

Given the new year, I feel compelled to offer some thoughts about three major trends I see for 2009 related to organizational learning and leadership development. It seems like everybody is making predictions at this time. My caveat is that I'm like the economist who has trouble predicting the past, let alone the future. But I'm going to give it a try, anyway.

First, let's look at what will be happening with Baby Boomers, the 76 million people who are beginning to reach traditional retirement age. Given the economy and their personal financial situations, many will have to work longer than they had planned. Some will remain in the workforce but disengage because of their disappointment with having to work longer and the anger they feel regarding their situations. Others will appreciate not being "put out to pasture" yet and they will become highly engaged. Some of these workers will be in "encore careers" and very excited about the opportunity. However, for those who are working because they feel they don't have a choice, organizations will have a difficult time increasing levels of engagement. Unless these organizations address this issue head-on, they will have large numbers of workers who are "not in the game."

Second, employers will risk losing the talent of all employees during the worst economic slump since the Great Depression, unless they take special care to be honest, forthright, and fair. And they need to communicate, communicate, and communicate. They must keep employees informed, even if it's only to say that they don't know anything new at this time. Employees already are feeling a great deal of generalized anxiety. If employees believe that they are not being told the truth or they are not being treated fairly and with respect, this anxiety will just increase. This could affect the health of many workers. Uncertainty leads to chronic stress which results in serious health problems. Right now we are faced with a time of tremendous national and global uncertainty. Employers should not be making it worse for their employees.

The third major trend I see is an increasing emphasis on efficient use of resources. Money will not be as readily available as it once was. Companies will have to do more with less. To be competitive they will have to lower their costs and make sure that every dollar is spent wisely. This has always has been true for the mom-and-pop company, but it is also becoming true for the multi-national conglomerate. Learning interventions, whether training, coaching, elearning, internships, or any other employee development activity, will have to show positive results to justify continuation. It won't be enough to have good attendance and happy participants in workshops. Executives will demand to know how those events are contributing to achieving business goals of companies.

Do you agree with these predictions? What trends in organizational learning and leadership development do you see for 2009?