EMEA Reporter: Are Learning and HR Partners? Or Eternal Enemies?

As a learningprofessional, how do you view human resources (HR)? David Wilson has spent 18 years watching how therelationship works and has come to some thought provoking conclusions.

David Wilson

David is CEO of Fosway Group, an industryanalyst practice focusing on the HR and learning markets in EMEA. Fosway grewout of Elearnity, David’s original analyst practice, founded in1996, which concentrated on the emerging eLearning space. He says he has “watchedthis market rise and evolve, providing insights into the plethora of technologyenabled tools we take for granted in learning today.”

Forming an EMEAanalyst practice happened in response to the US-centric nature of research inlearning. There are many commonalities between the two sides of the Atlantic, butalso huge differences. In EMEA, much of this research does not fit well. Nationaldiversities in Europe mean organizations have to consider different cultures,multiple languages, legislative disparities, and many other factors. They aremulti-national in their DNA, starkly contrasting with the relatively mono-assumptionsof US organizations. Many European companies, despite being successful in theirL&D initiatives, do not appear in American-driven research. Some Europeanvendors either also don’t figure, or are evaluated against performance in a US-weightedcontext.

In recent years,another market divide has become apparent. Some time ago, David recognized areal business need for organizations to look at the development of their peoplenot just through a learning lens, but also through a broader talent management perspective.“Once we started looking at talent through the lens of innovation andtechnology, a clear need emerged for a more effective conversation betweenlearning, talent management, and operational HR.”

Commonly, talentmanagement is owned by HR. Alternatively it is an extension to the learning function.Despite the cross over, the two often talk at cross-purposes. At a recent event,for example, David discovered that no one among an audience of senior HRleaders had heard of 70:20:10! He explains, “HR often views learning as littlemore than a training transactor. On the other hand, it can seem that thelearning fraternity lives in a bubble, divorced from business realities.Despite much talk of aligning learning with business goals, few are actuallydoing it—most are just junior partners when HR talks strategic development. Itis HR who decides the reference models. Learning has to step up to the plateand be more assertive!”

A key tool in David’smarket analyses is the Fosway 9-Grid model, an objective methodology for simplifyingresearch findings that focuses on how solutions perform in EMEA (See Figure 1).

Figure 1: AFosway 9-Grid

In contrast to the 2×2“Boston-box” style (Boston Consulting Group matrix) favored by US analysts, justbecause a solution is in the “top right,” does not always mean it is the best.Uniquely, 9-Grid incorporates other factors including total cost of ownership thatenables organizations to select what will work best for them. What might suit a global organization might not work fora smaller company. Something less sophisticated and cheaper may be the rightchoice for many. As David emphasizes, “It is all about being fit for purpose.”

Significantly 9-Grid isa design familiar to HR, especially in talent management circles. In a 9-Gridtalent assessment, every box has value and a set of actions to maximize it. Each“zone” in 9-Grid has associated actions to maximize the value of thosesolutions—whether from existing suppliers or new options. That’s the linkbetween learning and next-gen HR that David believes will create commonthinking and more synergistic outcomes. With its origins in learning analysis,9-Grid has already broadened its scope into talent management, and will befurther extended to the available solutions in the human capital management (HCM)market.

Whether analysis isfocused on HR or learning, David’s aim is always to provide advice that is “unusuallydirect.” When he rebranded Elearnity earlier this year, the clever new name wasinspired by the ancient Fosse Way, a characteristically straight Roman Roadnear David’s offices in Cirencester (and which incidentally passes close to myhouse some 80 miles further south!). His intention is to be constructivelycritical and, particularly in relation to learning, more assertive of thedirection of travel as well as what really works.

David remains passionateabout the need for EMEA-centric market analysis to support strategic decisionmaking within organizations. “The lack of European-focused analysis and insightremains a significant challenge for companies, and we intend to address that.”And while he bridges the gap across the Atlantic, it will be interesting to seehow the learning and HR “divide” evolves over the next few years.

The latest 9-Gridreports can be downloaded for free via fosway.com.