HR, L&D Capability and Role

Alignment is one of the most frequently sought after nirvanas within organisations.  We read how a lack of alignment can cause irreparable problems and issues, but what does alignment mean to learning and development professionals and should we bother?  This post explains why, perhaps now more than ever, we need to make sure that all of our L&D efforts are aligned to the needs of our business. Introduction L&D professionals are under pressure from all areas.  They are being asked to deliver more with less, to justify their existence and to show how their activities have a positive benefit on the businesses they serve.  Budgets are constantly under pressure and in some quarters are being slashed.  Times are tight and are set to stay that way for some time to come. It doesn’t have to be this way.  It’s possible to rise above these issues and really demonstrate what the L&D profession can deliver, but to do that we must listen first and foremost to the needs of our businesses, for if we do that, and do it right, then we can set ourselves up for long-term success.  It’s our future and it’s in our hands. So what’s all the fuss about? Every once in a while a topic becomes fashionable.  We’re currently going through a real trend for Big Data.  The media are telling us that we’ve got to concentrate on big data; we’ve got to learn about it and we’ve got to embrace it. Indeed, according to the website Quartz, “big data” was one of the most overused corporate buzzwords of 2013. But when notable business authors such as Robert Kaplan and David Norton start writing about alignment then you know it’s time to sit up and take note.  Kaplan and Norton published The Balanced Scorecard which has transformed the way businesses look at their results and operations.  Their latest book “Alignment: Using the Balanced Scorecard to Create Corporate Synergies: How to Apply the Balanced Scorecard to Corporate Strategy” is now getting corporate executives to think harder than ever before about how their valued resources – people, time and money – are all working as one towards a common goal.  Anything less is wasted effort. Kaplan and Norton describe alignment in the following way: “Most organisations consist of multiple business and support units, each populated by highly trained, experienced executives. But often the efforts of individual units are not coordinated, resulting in conflicts, lost opportunities, and diminished performance.” But let’s not just dwell on what Kaplan and Norton think – here’s what others in the wider business community think about alignment: According to Fred Smith, Chairman of FedEx, “Most managers don’t know what alignment is all about; alignment is the essence of management.” KPMG research as long ago as 2001 identified that “getting everyone aligned around strategies and vision was endorsed by 87% of US and European senior executives as their top priority.” And even the Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent Van Gough understood alignment, saying, “Great things are not done [...]

Every learning principle might not be right for your specific situation, but as a general rule, the 23 principles make for a better learning experience.

The smell of change is in the air!  Yesterday  I read a post on TeachThought  called 50 crazy ideas to change education and I tweeted it. Andrew Jacobs was on Twitter and he responded and the follo...