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7 Principles To Get An Immediate Return On Your Learning Investment

  By Christina Lattimer • February 1, 2013 - 7:28 am

 

There are many evaluation models and cost/benefit frameworks which attempt to determine the “worth” of learning and development in the workplace.  Depending on the type of learning required, some models and frameworks are easier to apply than others.  Sometimes even when applied, the expected outcomes and improvements have either not materialised or they have taken far longer than expected.

Even when the learning programme is excellent, it doesn’t always deliver results

A number of years ago, I worked with an organisation who had invested a great deal of employee time and financial resource into a learning and development programme, with frustratingly little result.  A professional business consultancy had evaluated before and after, calculated a ROI which was a persuasive driver to buy in the proposed programme, but 18 months later, the expected benefits had simply not accrued.

The MD was totally frustrated; as the learning programme was polished, expert and inspirational.  Employees were enthused, and bought into the concepts and the benefits of working in a different way.  The formalised feedback on the training event was excellent.  The business consultancy had done an amazing job.  So what had gone wrong?

Improving knowledge, skills and behaviours doesn’t always mean better results

In another example,  lack of effective leadership skills and behaviours had been identified as a big problem for this national organisation.  It was decided to re-design the leadership skills framework and to develop a programme for all senior leaders.   A set of behavioural standards were developed, and a methodology to measure changes was put in place.  A coaching and mentoring framework was agreed along with monthly action learning meetings.

There was a new spring in the step of leaders across the organisation.  They gave positive and enthusiastic feedback for the coaching and development programme.

When the 2nd annual employee feedback survey showed less than a 1% improvement in perceptions of employees, alongside results with marginal improvements, they were dumbfounded.

Great learning programmes don’t always result in improvements, but they should

Those examples are simply two of hundreds I have seen, when learning and development has been brought into an organisation; the learning has been evaluated and the content and application has been faultless. The organisation is absolutely clear about the improvements they want to see.  But yet, still, the expected results did not materialise.

Why is this?  As you know there are many factors which impel or motivate people to change the way they do things, and learning new skills, behaviours, knowledge or even raising awareness is just one part of the equation.

When your business is buying in development interventions, you want to be able to see a real return on investment, otherwise why would you use precious financial resources on it?   No one can completely guarantee a return on investment, but the chances of a return can be greatly improved, and more importantly you can pinpoint exactly why the return hasn’t been realised by introducing the following principles.

When I was asked to do some work for the organisation in the first example, the MD was frustrated that the learning he had bought in had not realised the outcomes he required, even though the learning providers had delivered the learning they had promised.

 

Seven simple principles

My first step was to establish the following 7 principles if I were going to take on the task of getting results:

  1. A learning and development provider will facilitate a real return on investment in partnership with the commissioning organisation.
  2. Learning must enable a measurable improvement or change by the learner.
  3. The improvement or change must contribute to the overall outcomes for the organisation.
  4. Each learner must develop a “call to action, or objective” where they are accountable for achieving the measurable improvement or change. 
  5. The organisation must enforce accountability, usually through their performance management system.
  6. The achievement collectively of “calls to action, or objectives” will result in a measured outcome for the organisation.
  7. “If it is not possible to set individuals a call to action or objective which aligns with overall business objectives, following learning then the commissioning organisation should consider whether development is actually needed.

 

I agreed to deliver a short refresher programme, with a pragmatic design.   I explained unless the training included an accountable call to action for each employee, it would likely be unsuccessful once more, and so secured his agreement to establish accountability for achievement within the organisation.

We agreed at the end of the event, each employee would identify a work based objective to improve, abandon or shorten a process and to quantify the savings.

  • Improve customer service or increase customer satisfaction, with a measurable difference
  • Reduce the number and type of complaints
  • Create a measurable increase in quality

In  a 6 month period, 95% of employees met objectives,  outcomes were recorded and collectively it was calculated that almost  £1 million had been saved up to that point as a direct result of achievement of the outcomes or objectives.

Not only were amazing results achieved, employees felt an increased sense of ownership of the success of the initiative.  They had tangible evidence of their contribution and saw a real difference.

Incidentally, these principles will also work for individuals if you are thinking of buying in your own self-development programme.  For the majority of learning, unless it translates into accountable action, then it might be a “nice to have” but not necessarily an activity which will create significant change

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The Single Most Important Question to Ask to Get Great Results

  By Christina Lattimer • July 5, 2012 - 8:57 pm

question In the beginning of my management career, it never occurred to me to ask this question.

As a school girl, I was pretty horrendous at meeting deadlines for handing in homework.  At the time I didn’t realise the more I was rebuked and reminded I was going to ruin my future, the more resistant I was to doing the work at all.

Luckily I scraped by. Progressing to the world of work, I didn’t have a problem meeting deadlines or getting things done.  I was pretty driven.  I was driven because I wanted to do a great job.  I quickly got into the habit of setting myself a “TTD” (things to do list) and liked nothing more than ticking off my
tasks.  Deadlines were like a big red flag spurring me to action.

On becoming a manager I encountered a problem which my frustrated teachers would have relished.   I found not everyone was as driven as me.  In fact, in the early days, team members would pitch up late at meetings and even (perish the thought) miss deadlines to complete tasks which put whole projects into jeopardy.

I tried everything I could and although some of my team rose to the occasion, I found I was spending much of my time chasing up work, making sure people were getting things done on time.  Even worse, I found deadlines being missed without a raise of an eyebrow by some of the team and even with a casual acceptance.  I was mystified.

Working alongside senior managers across different organisations, I realised getting things done on time and to the standard required was a BIG problem.  It wasn’t just about meeting deadlines; it was about quality of work and also lack of right actions.  I realised some people inherently didn’t quite get “accountability”.  Even worse, some managers didn’t either.

I pondered this for a long time and one by one a number of factors came together.  One day I finally got it. It was a big learning curve and one which made me change the way I led my team.  This dawning once I had it, resulted in me leading hugely successful teams which achieved great results.   What I learned was this:

People do not accept accountability because they do not see the “Why” in what they do.  , they are resistant to being told what to do because what they are told to do holds no meaning. As a result they remain in their comfort zone and limit their effort.

Don’t get me wrong:  I don’t think people consciously or deliberately hold that stance, but it exists and resistance shows up like this: They will say:

  • They aren’t capable; don’t know how;  don’t have the capacity…..
  • It’s too lengthy;  too complicated;  too expensive;  too messy; too confusing……

What then happens is a constant reshuffling of policies, processes, resources and a call for more or better training.

If you have even a small problem with accountability in your business then you are simply meeting resistance.   There are some simple actions and a culture you can develop which can get great results and turn the tide of people being willing to be held accountable for ever.  These are:

Purpose

Help employees find meaning in your vision.  Agree how they will play their part and uncover the reasons why their contribution is meaningful to them, so they are emotionally invested.

Ownership

Don’t make people accountable.  Give them responsibility for achieving outcomes, in a way they want to achieve them in a timescale agreed with you both.  Build in consequences if they don’t legitimately achieve.

Notice and Act

Notice what happens.  Reward great performance, review faltering contributions and follow through on consequences.  There is nothing so dis empowering for your teams when you have set up an agreement on roles and responsibilities and because of a lack of attention you appear indifferent or ineffective about acting on results both good and bad.

I received a letter from my 15 year old son’s school informing me he hasn’t been handing his homework in.  The problem with a 15 year old is he doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life.  Of course, knowing what I now know, the first thing I did was find out his “Why”.  It took some doing, but once he identified a purpose which meant something to him, the change was remarkable.

So, if you do nothing else this week, why not ask the question Why ?

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.