Tag: Learning

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Learning Strategy

The Simple 6 Step Guide For a High-Performing Talent Strategy

I don’t care what anyone says.

Building a talent strategy is tough. I have a few war stories. I’m sure you do too.

Smart companies are reshaping their talent strategies

Bain & Company provides some useful pointers to future-proof your talent strategies in their working futures report.

I’ve summed them up here with a sprinkle of my own thoughts:

1/ From Talent Taker to Talent Maker

In the cutthroat world of business, companies have often acted as “talent takers,” looking externally to fill skill gaps. It’s the classic ‘build vs. buy’ dilemma.

The New Way: Bain & Co. suggests a paradigm shift—become a “Talent Maker.” Focus on the goldmine of untapped potential within your existing workforce.

Something to try: Why not start an internal “Talent Marketplace” where employees can pitch their hidden skills? It’s like eBay but for talent within your company.

Tool to Consider: Check out Gloat, a talent marketplace platform that can help you unlock internal mobility.

2/ Rethink L&D Models

Traditional L&D models are as outdated as flip phones. Side note: I saw one in the wild the other day. Trippy!

The New Way: Bain recommends creating frameworks that align with individual strengths and career aspirations. Sounds simple but not so straightforward.

Something to try: Consider creating specific learning pathways that match skills and roles in your organisation.

Tool to Consider: Degreed offers skill-building pathways tailored to individual needs.

Build maps, not ladders

3/ Think Laterally About Career Journeys

Vertical career ladders are so last decade.

The New Way: Embrace lateral career paths to cater to diverse strengths and interests. That means more than your typical ‘traditional’ skills.

Something to try: Encourage career maps instead of a ladder, offering multiple directions for growth. Check this article for more inspo.

Tool to Consider: Progression is great for building modern-day career maps. I’ve used the tool with two previous companies and it worked well.

4/ Create Better Visibility on Evolving Talent Needs

Companies often struggle to articulate their future talent needs, leaving employees in the dark about their career paths.

Future skills discussions often end up as opinion circuses rather than data-driven dialogues.

The New Way: Be transparent about the skills needed for future business goals. Chase real data not ad-hoc opinions from conversations.

Something to try: Use data analytics to forecast skill needs—no more guessing games. Your HR and L&D systems should help with this. If they don’t, lose them.

Tool to Consider: TechWolf is a platform I like the more I read about it. Check it out for yourself to learn more.

You have the power!

5/ Support Career Development

While each of us is ultimately responsible for our career development, companies can play a supportive role too.

Provide the right tools, better visibility, and an open environment for career discussions. People don’t want to feel like cogs in a machine but rather active participants in shaping their career paths.

The New Way: Empower them as active participants in their career paths.

Something to try: Regular Career Health Check-ups can go a long way. Yes, it’s simple but always effective.

Tool to Consider: Quite a few in this space. Progression can help with their career check-in support tools. As can Culture Amp. Always do your own research!

6/ Diverse Skill Sets

Skills pay the bills!

They’re the currency we use to play in the career marketplace.

The New Way: Bain encourages investment in a diverse and adaptable set of skills to keep pace with global shifts.

Something to try: Run a quarterly skills health check to identify gaps and opportunities. This is probably one of the best tools I ever implemented in the corpo world.

Tool to Consider: You could do this manually, but that would be a pain. My advice is to see if you can leverage existing HR and L&D tech to do this. If not, investigate something like TechWolf.

Go do your thing!

Ok. Now go forth, and kick-ass with your super-amazing talent strategy.

You’re welcome 😉

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.

You can join me every Tuesday morning for more tools, templates and insights for the modern L&D pro in my weekly newsletter.

Categories
L&D Tools Learning Strategy

Why This Gap Between Education and Work Kills Performance

computer set on the table
Photo by Pew Nguyen on Pexels.com

Key Terms 💡

Just in case = amassing reams of knowledge in multiple topics with the hope that you might need it later.

Just in time = acquiring the knowledge to serve a specific task, challenge or new skill acquisition for the now.

Continue reading “Why This Gap Between Education and Work Kills Performance”
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Learning Technology

How To Stop Buying More Bloated Learning Tech

The mind is buzzing on all things learning technology today.

It’s funny to me how I’ve watched the transition over the last few decades in the L&D industry from ‘we need to have as many classroom courses as possible’ to ‘we need as much learning tech as possible’.

When I spoke at the Learning Technologies conference in London late last year, I shared with the 200 attendees packed into our room that the average organisation has 88 different pieces of digital technology for employees to use. That’s bloody mad, right?

If you think about it, it’s not really that staggering in today’s world. I’ve worked with large organisations that have had 20+ LMS/LXPs and tiny organisations that have nothing but a Google doc.

In a confusing land of boundless technology and pressure from market expectations. We lose our way with acquiring shiny new things when we would do well to step back and figure out what’s the right tool for the job. Spoiler: It might mean no tech.

This week’s words were inspired by other words I wrote on LinkedIn.

I shared a thesis that LMS vs LXP is the wrong question and that the right tool for the job is the better one. I fully expected to be met with hellfire and brimstone. Mainly from tech vendors, (I know some of you are reading this!), but that didn’t happen.

Instead, I saw an outpour of “Yes, thank you for saying this”.

So, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief at least knowing I’m not as crazy as I think on some days. The core of my thesis was L&D teams struggle to get unstuck in what can easily be a confusing land of boundless pieces of technology. Which (IMO) means we would be better positioned to ask these questions of ourselves and our teams before uttering the word’ tech’:

1️⃣ What are you solving?

2️⃣ Who are you serving?

3️⃣ What is the best tool for that job?

The reaction to this post got me thinking.

What tools and insights can I share with you to navigate the often complex field of learning technology in your organisation, and most importantly, if you need it?

After a decade-plus dealing with vendors, L&D teams and senior leaders (I’m looking at you CFOs). I’ve picked up a few useful thoughts and experiences which I hope can serve you well.

1️⃣ The Ultimate Checklist Before Buying New Learn Tech

This is a meaty one which walks through the process I used with a 30,000-plus sized business. The key takeaways are to figure out if you really need anything new and pick partners, not providers. Read the whole thing to learn from my wins and avoid my failures.

2️⃣ The 5-Step Framework To Build Your Tech Stack

This one came from a webinar I delivered for Degreed and their customers.

It’s the same framework I’ve used across enterprise orgs and scale-ups with a few tweaks here and there to avoid costly tech mistakes.

3️⃣ The Learning Tech Decision Template

This is a variation of a template I used with quite a few companies over the last 6-ish years.

It’s short and simple but incredibly effective in encouraging critical thinking on your technology decisions. This is the companion to the above visual and you can get the template here.

Ok, folks. That’s it from me.

I hope these tools and insights serve you well in your own practice.

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.

You can join me every Tuesday morning for more tools, templates and insights for the modern L&D pro in my weekly newsletter.

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Categories
L&D Tools Skills

How Data-Informed L&D Design Unlocks Better Solution Design

Leveraging a data-informed approach has more benefits than just in your work.

As L&D pros, we constantly hear the drum beat of “We need to get better with data”.

That’s cool. But no one ever explains why we need to do it (you might say it’s obvious, but stick with me here). Let’s take a shared experience many of us can understand: Taking your driving license test.

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Artificial intelligence Learning Technology

AI Copilots Will Finally Fulfil The Promise Of ‘Learning in The Flow of Work’

Back in 2018, famed HR analyst, Josh Bersin coined the term “Learning in the Flow of Work®” and the L&D world went mad for it.

For years, not a moment, a social post or industry blog went by without mention of this very phrase.  It became part of the buzzword lexicon quicker than Ed Sheeran can bang out the next heartbreaking tune. It was ingenious.

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