Chief Learning Officer’s “Learning Insights” series is dedicated to showcasing the thoughts and career journeys of chief learning officers and learning executives—the tireless trailblazers who are transforming the landscape of corporate learning and workforce development. In this Q&A series, we garner strategic insights, innovative approaches and challenges overcome from visionary leaders worldwide.
CLO: What initially drew you to a career in learning and development, and how have your experiences evolved over the years?
Initially, I was drawn to L&D as someone who enjoys helping others be the best versions of themselves and providing opportunities and resources to help others reach their goals for growth both personally and professionally. Although my experience started with workshops and basics on common topics, it has evolved into many pieces such as curriculum design and implementation, consulting, organizational culture, coaching and strategic planning.
CLO: What key initiatives have you implemented as a learning leader to drive employee development and foster a learning culture?
I led the effort to focus on identifying and fostering the organizational culture for the college which included: creating the college’s cultural beliefs, providing training and consulting to align with strategic priorities, creating branded models and tools, forming and maintaining a culture steering committee and trainers and implementing an annual Culture in Action conference.
In collaboration with faculty and college leaders, we created the Lone Star College Faculty Qualities of Excellence and the Profile of a Lone Star College Leader, which have become foundational models for leading and instruction at the college.
I have also led the expansion of session modality to include a variety of in-person, virtual, hybrid and on-demand options. I have created learning cohorts that have helped promote continuous and intentional learning with tools to measure success, implementation and transfer of learning to the job while increasing both retention and promotion within the organization.
CLO: What is the most impactful learning program you’ve introduced in your organization, and how has it contributed to employee growth and business success?
The culture work has been the most extensive and impactful learning program. It was built from the ground up and has become embedded into so many facets of the college as the foundation for how we need to act and behave to best achieve our priorities at the college. It is not only showing up on paper but is included in recruitment, hiring, discussions, learning, engagement, performance and decision-making at all levels and more. It includes continual learning, workshops, trainers, a steering committee and a conference, and has resulted in awards and recognition for the college.
CLO: What is a common misconception people might have about the L&D function, and how do you address it?
A common misconception about L&D is that it is “fluffy and feel-good” but not related to results. To combat this mindset, I bring in the goals and results that we are seeking as a college and the team that I am working with at the moment. I provide the research on the impact of learning and then facilitate discussions to have the team show the impact and value of the learning to address their obstacles, needs and desired results. This creates inclusiveness, engagement, value and alignment across the organization.
CLO: What excites you the most about the future of workplace learning, and how are you preparing your organization to adapt to the changing landscape?
There are so many exciting things on the horizon. What excites me most is beginning to see and show the extent to which learning has on an organization, from the individual level, to the team level, all the way to the organization as a whole. It’s also exciting to see things like artificial intelligence, and how we can use learning opportunities to help others not just learn about the new technology but use it in a way that will help them with their work and with meeting their goals.
CLO: What essential qualities or skills make a successful L&D leader, and how do you cultivate these traits in yourself and among your team?
A successful L&D leader is empathetic and takes time to listen and consider other perspectives. This helps ensure the learning provided is truly what is needed and will have a positive impact on the development and growth. A strong L&D leader does not have to know it all or have all the answers but should continually learn by themselves and trust and support others in a way that helps them know their strengths and contributions as well as the importance of continuous learning. Leaders should always do their best but be willing to seek feedback and admit to mistakes, learning and growing from them. Being willing and available to the team to listen and including them in decisions goes a long way. Leaders who show up to help in little and big ways provide support and help the team know they are willing to do what it takes to support the team and get the best outcome possible.
CLO: What game-changing advice would you offer if you could go back in time and mentor your younger self?
If I could go back in time and mentor myself, I would say to never shy away from being my authentic self and rely even more on my strengths, knowledge and experiences. These will help me do my best, provide unique perspectives and be in a place where I feel I can best contribute.
CLO: What do you feel is currently the single biggest challenge facing L&D professionals and the industry as a whole?
I think the biggest challenge L&D professionals currently face is linking and providing evidence of transformational learning to show the long-term impacts of learning on areas such as engagement, retention, well-being, etc.
CLO: We’re always looking to showcase innovative tools and technologies. Can you share one work or learning tech product or platform that has significantly improved your work processes and why you find it valuable?
Connecting our learning system with Power BI has helped us gather significant data and dashboards that have “opened our eyes” to learner trends, gaps and needs. This has also helped us to provide better opportunities and measure progress as well as overall ROI.
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