A lot of L&D pros tell me they don’t feel valued.
They feel like a conveyor belt of fulfilling orders vs delivering meaningful work. I get it. That sucks.
For that to change, you have to change.
You have to move from transactional to conversational. From McDonalds drive-thru to performance. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy.
Here’s what you need to know to deliver meaningful performance impact.
Performance consulting explained
Think of Performance Consulting as being the workplace detective of the L&D world.
It’s not just about throwing a training program at a problem and hoping it sticks (or not spraying and praying as I was once told).
Nope. You dig deeper.
You chat with the team, look at the data, and figure out what’s really going wrong. Then, you come up with a game plan that might be training, but could also be other stuff like better tools, process changes, or even a morale booster.
The end game is making sure everyone performs better and the business scores a win.
The art of consulting seems lost in L&D teams.
We take a lot of questions, but ask few questions. Sometimes, you have to do this. The nature of your organisation can be tough to change.
Your mission is to partner with the workforce to understand their needs and propose the best solution.
The benefits of performance consulting for L&D
Yes. I get this all sounds like a utopia.
But whats the actual value of adopting this approach?
For starters:
- Get the Respect You Deserve: I know I sound like the Godfather here, yet, imagine walking into a room and everyone’s eager to hear your ideas. That’s the kind of respect we’re talking about – where your voice matters, and your skills shine.
- Credibility: I’m not just talking about looking smart. Anyone can do that. This is about intelligent insights delivered in a way anyone can understand.
- Building trust with ease: You’ll learn how to align so perfectly with your company’s goals that they’ll trust you as if you were reading their minds (which I can’t promise you can actually do).
- Think Like a Consultant, Not an Order-Taker: Say goodbye to just checking boxes and hello to strategising like a pro. You’ll ask the right questions and find the real solutions.
- Impact That’s Visible: Let’s be honest. We all want this. PC offers a set of tools and know-how to get you won the radar.
How you can get started with performance consulting in L&D
Step 1: Change your mindset 🧠
Easy to say, harder to do.
If all you know is how to take orders. You won’t become a strategic partner overnight. You’ve got work to do and mostly in the mindset department.
We’re often held back by our perceived limiting beliefs.
I can’t give you a concrete plan to change that. What I can do is offer advice and what worked for me. It doesn’t mean it will work for you. Yet, you can use it as an example to adapt for your context.
Useful resources:
- How to move from Learning to Performance: Defining what it is that Learning and Development teams do
- How To Transform Your Learning Strategy From Education Obsessed To Performance Focused
Step 2: Gather tools and resources 🛠️
A great L&D pro has a great toolkit.
Learning what you need and how to use them in a real scenario is what will set you apart. Your version of performance consulting will heavily depend on your context e.g experience level, company maturity.
There’s basic principles to guide you.
But as the great Bruce Lee said: “Absorb what is useful, discard what is not and add what is your uniquely your own”. In other words, don’t be afraid to adapt what you read online to your specific approach.
A lot of performance consulting focuses on the mindset shift mentioned above. After this it’s about your approach. You should look at how and what you communicate.
With that in mind, crafting smart questions is a good starting point to unlock meaningful conversation.
→ Get started with my 8 powerful performance consulting questions L&D must ask.
Step 3: Experiment 🧪
This is going to feel scary, and that’s ok.
You won’t go from taking orders to consulting in days, weeks or even months. We overestimate what we can do in a week but underestimate what can be done in a year.
One of my go-to stories to illustrate this journey is through my Trojan horse technique.
The TL;DR (too long, didn’t read) version is to try to move 5-10% towards a consulting approach in every interaction. If you go in like a bull in a China shop smashing stakeholders all over the place with a new way of working. It’s not going to end well for you.
The best advice I’ve received is to always take people on a journey.
Change is hard, and people will resist. But don’t lose hope. It’s the small steps that lead to the biggest shifts.
Bonus step: Become the strategic L&D Partner they can’t ignore
Learn from someone who has been there, done that and knows the code.
I’ve worked across the Talent and L&D space for 16 years. Leading projects, teams and creating products with huge enterprises to small startups. I’ve been in the fire and know what works. So, why not take advantage of that for yourself?
Get access to all my performance consulting strategies in my The Art of Performance consulting course.
An unfair advantage: Get performance smart with AI
My custom AI assistant, Ema can help enhance your performance consulting skills.
Ema is available to all ChatGPT Plus subscribers in the GPT Store. Ema was designed to do one thing only and to a high level = Enhance the performance consulting skills of L&D Pros.
Learn more about how Ema works here and access this on ChatGPT.
Before you go… 👋
If you like my writing and think “Hey, I’d like to hear more of what this guy has to say” then you’re in luck.
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