As the talent market remains fiercely competitive, products and services become commoditized, and as more human tasks become automated, organizations recognize that talent is their most valued asset. Investing in that talent – providing opportunities for learning, growth and development – is a priority on many corporate agendas.
But companies rightfully want to see strong returns on these investments. Following a program that has taught innovation or coaching, they want to see innovation or coaching become business as usual – skills their leaders now practice. They want to reap the results of these new capabilities. But too often participants complete a program with a commitment to behave differently, ultimately reverting to the old ways of doing things, and learning and development (L&D) take the blame.
What organizations are missing is this: the most well-designed learning experience can only activate behavior change in an organization that makes space for such changes. An organization’s readiness – its design, its norms, its unknown and unseen obstructions – often prevents these new capabilities from finding life.
Consider a few examples
A company seeking new product ideas invests in a program designed to teach its leaders skills around innovation. The program delivers tools, frameworks, brainstorming guides and techniques. Participants leave equipped and excited. But they return to their desks only to realize they’re afraid to implement new ideas because the organization has no tolerance for risk. It labels a failure as failure rather than an opportunity to have tested and learned. Innovation remains stifled and the program takes the blame.
Another company’s employee engagement results point to a lack of coaching from leadership as a driver of disengagement. So the company invests in a program designed to upskill its team leaders on coaching. Participants leave committed to putting their new skills to work – demonstrating curiosity and empathy with their teams, exploring their ideas and tapping into their collective intuition. But back at their desks, participants realize there is no time or space to coach. The organization doesn’t effectively prioritize initiatives, so there is only time to direct and command – to tell their teams what to do rather than explore possible new approaches. Coaching doesn’t happen, and the program takes the blame.
A third organization has experienced significant changes over the past few months. Its people are tired and worn down, so the company brings in a program designed to increase the change leadership capability of its middle management. Participating leaders learn to translate and articulate a vision, analyze and engage their stakeholders, and explain the details of future changes so their teams can plan and anticipate. But when the next change arises, these tools are rendered ineffective as executive leadership opts to make all its big decisions within a small, senior group behind closed doors. Middle management lacks the access, context, insight and foresight to leverage the skills and tools taught. Once again the program takes the blame.
One or more of these examples likely resonates with you. That’s because no organization is without its unseen blocks. Removing every obstacle is unrealistic. But by shedding light on these hurdles – making the invisible visible and committing to managing them more mindfully – we can significantly amplify the impact of any (L&D) program.
Let’s look at three useful strategies.
- Discovery: Most leadership development programs are built on a foundation of discovery – a series of conversations with executive leaders and sponsors about their goals, hopes and objectives for the program. It provides the designer with context, direction and measures of success. But Discovery can serve some additional purposes as well. It can deliver small bits of consultative value if the right questions are infused. As sponsors describe the outcomes they hope a program delivers, it can be helpful to pose additional questions investigating why these skills and capabilities aren’t already present in the organization.
- Beyond participant skill, what else might be inhibiting this behavior or outcome today?
- Are there pockets of the organization where you see this behavior happening.If so, what is unique about that part of the company?
- What changes to organizational norms might help support and activate these new behaviors?
Asking just a few of these leading questions, may inspire early curiosity and awareness around organizational readiness.
- Collective Problem Solving: Participants typically show up for a program hungry and ready to learn. So satiate their appetites with high-quality content – tools, frameworks, time and space to practice in the room.
But also create space in your agenda for a facilitated discussion of what could prevent them from practicing these skills in the “real world” and how they might overcome these obstacles. Generally, participants identify a range of challenges falling on a spectrum of surmountable to insurmountable. Focus their attention on the blocks they feel empowered to minimize and have them crowdsource solutions.
For example, mid-level leaders may not be able to influence how changes are chosen or designed by executive leadership. But they are empowered to proactively ask questions about shifts they’re observing in the current environment; to keep their teams as informed as they are with information they have access to; and to maintain a practice of regular one-on-one check ins with team members so when a change does arise, trust and connection are already present. At the close of the session, invite participants to identify – and share with the group – one or two changes within their control that they will make. Focusing on action and public accountability helps bring these new skills to life.
- Flag Raising. Finally, those obstacles participants raised that sit outside their locus of control? Those bigger issues such as the organization’s lack of discipline around prioritization, unwillingness to invest in critical tools and systems or the absence of role clarity and decision rights? Invite participants to articulate not just what the problems are, but also the solutions they’d implement if given a magic wand.
Feed these ideas back to executive leaders, positioning them as “enablers” of organizational success. Help them understand how their actions, behaviors and investments can influence the degree to which the desired behavior changes find the light of day. Link these directly back to hopes and objectives raised during the discovery process.
Formal L&D is a powerful enabler of talent retention, engagement and empowerment. But the best programs in the world are only as effective as organizational readiness allows. Program design and organization design go hand in hand. Considering both in tandem will amplify the program’s return on investment significantly — unleashing the full potential of the program’s participants.
