When was the last time your organization’s L&D management team discussedstrategies and plans for delighting your customers? I’m not talking aboutexternal paying customers; your sales or customer service teams are likelyresponsible for keeping those customers happy. I’m referring to delighting yourinternal customers: the employees onthe receiving end of your L&D initiatives.
Having worked with L&D leaders in the public, private, andnot-for-profit sectors for over 20 years, I’m noticing that an increasing numberare more preoccupied with keeping a seat at the table than making sure theirgrowing infrastructure is focused on creating an internal culture whereemployees actually enjoy their training.
Of course, it is very good news that, in most organizations, L&Dhas a permanent seat at the proverbial table. Implementing and maintainingcomplex learning management systems, rolling out mandatory courses, andreporting on compliance rates is important and represents a lot of money.Twenty years ago, a seven-figure annual L&D budget would have been unthinkable,but it is now par for the course in larger organizations.
And yet, if you asked randomly-selected employees from across yourorganization to speak honestly about your L&D initiatives, most would admitthat they do not look forward to a never-ending stream of mandatory courseshoused in labyrinthine LMSs where the only thing that counts is completionstatus.
Time and again, employees tell me how long it takes to find and completetheir courses; how most course content is so dry and heavy that they only skimit; and how their intelligence is insulted by the preachy instructions androte-recall quizzes that lead to a “Congratulations, you’ve completed thiscourse” certificate.
The hidden paradox
Here is the hidden paradox I believe all L&D executives mustconfront: Although L&D has larger budgets, more staff, and greaterinfluence than ever before, why do so many employees dislike the formaltraining they are required to take? When they have more training resources attheir disposal than ever before, why do they prefer to ask a peer or justfigure it out on their own?
The answer may well lie at that senior management table,where L&D’s gaze has shifted from the employees it supports to theprojection screen where activity-related statistics—number of courses created,course completion status, Kirkpatrick Level 1 results—are displayed for C-suitereview. Those stats, however, rarely provide insight into whether L&D ishelping employees willingly pivot into their new tasks, skills, andresponsibilities.
Shifting the focus back to internal customers is not an easy task—butit must happen if L&D wants to survive modern disruptors such as YouTube,Wikipedia, MOOCs, and social media. If employees are not constantly delightedwith L&D products, they won’t willingly seek them out or return forthem—especially with so many free and easy alternatives at their fingertips.
Expand L&D stats to include the ones that count
Senior executives will inevitably start asking questions about theorganization’s ROI onL&D’s growing budgets, especially since training is not always the answerto performance issues. Indeed, they should already be asking about how quicklyemployees transfer their new knowledge and skills to the workplace, and howdecisively meaningful key performance indicators—like employee engagement levels—improve as a result of L&D initiatives.
How can you expand your L&D stats to include the ones that count? Bykeeping a pulse on the changing preferences of your employees, and askingcustomer-focused questions.
Here are three to start:
- Do your employees absolutely need another new trainingcourse, or will a well-designed job aid, eBook, or email accomplish the samegoal?
- Have you convened a focus group of employees tovalidate your assumptions and to ask for examples of previous training theyenjoyed and applied?
- If a new training program is indeed required,how, specifically, will it delight employees?
