Beyond FLM and MBAs

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Here’s a bet that I don’t think is guaranteed, but it would be a pretty solid one. You think there is so much more that can be done to develop and grow your people, but you’re not getting much further than a first line management course (FLM). If not now, then at a previous organisation. It’s an easy idea, a lofty goal, and superficially very achievable. So why does our L&D system rarely get further than: an organisation-wide FLM course for line managers and supervisors, MBAs for executives, and a scattering of conferences?

First let me both set the table, and give you the TL:DR- instead of identifying competency gaps in current and future roles and working towards addressing these, we fall into the trap of bending our perceptions of needs to the tools we have, and it looks like success because it’s a placebo.

Read here for more on the building vs buying question.

Heterogeneity: The invisible roadblock

So what is the problem we hit? Heterogeneity. If there is a problem that we hit a lot in HR, is that we are looking for homogeneity and commonality, but don’t find it as much as we like. We are interested in find common needs, opportunities that don’t just apply to one, but to many, so that when we apply a solution, we can apply it across a range of people. We want to provide learning that work for as many as we can, to get the most ‘bang for our buck’.

But unfortunately, training needs start with the job, and very quickly it becomes apparent that very rarely do people do the same, or even similar jobs. One person’s skill gap rarely matches another, and if they do, it’s unlikely to be a high priority.

If you want proof, you can test this. Get a gap analysis for one employee- what competencies they need to do their current job, or a future job. Now compare that to a gap analysis of another employee- how far down both lists do you get before you can find a common need? Quite far.

Read here for the strategic benefits of building competence.

Why we land on ‘soft skills’

‘Ah, but’ you say. They don’t know what they need, and if fact soft skills is what they really need. ‘Ah, but’ I reply- is that really the case? Or are we fitting the need to the product, instead of the product to the need? Are we trying to fit the person to the jacket size we have available?

We land on ‘soft skills’ because they are common, identifiable (although sometimes you’re squinting) needs that have a wide applicability. Suddenly soft skills like listening, communicating, and time management get bumped up the list of ‘identified needs’. I do need to step back from the brink a little here- these genuinely may be real needs for your managers, they may in fact be the most important skills to be taught.

But- it’s happened to me many times, and it either has, or will, happen to you. You draw up your list of what your people need to know, only to end up with a a generic, off-the-shelf, FLM course, that an outsourced training provider delivers again and again to many companies.

The placebo effect

This is your greatest enemy, although you might choose to see it otherwise. Strictly speaking, we are closer to the Hawthorne effect, but placebo is a little easier for people to remember.

In short, people enjoy, value, appreciate and embrace training they receive. I’ve sat in many an in-house graduation and felt the immense gratitude, and it’s not disengenous. People can really rave about FLM and similar across-the-board training. BUT- it doesn’t last. Like a placebo pill, after the initial rally of spirits, the lack of real, tangible, actual effect, means that things quickly go back to how they were.

The worst form of training is training that only changes how people feel, and not what they do. And feelings don’t last.

What to do better: identifying the learning gaps

To do Learning and Development well, you need to start with what needs doing, not what we can do.  If L&D is a solution, the first question is ‘what is the problem’.  Unless your L&D spend is just trying to buy you engagement (and let’s be honest, it could be) its not going to be effective without some targeted problem areas. 

Learning gap analysis is a large area of knowledge and practice that we don’t have time to get into, so let’s just focus on the principle.  A learn gap analysis is an investigation to what people don’t know; the gaps between optimal knowledge and skills, and current knowledge and skills. 

Read here for the difference between ongoing learning and structured learning.

Invisible bespoke is better than generic but reportable

Here we need to stick to our guns- better to be bespoke (i.e. each tailored to each individual) but hard to know what is going on, than to try to fit to something generic but visible.

The vast majority of learning that occurs, or needs to occur, is scattered, different and separate.  Most of the learning that needs to happen either happens without HR knowledge, or without HR involvement.  This is fine- we don’t need our fingerprints on everything. 

Practically speaking, you don’t need to control this, but you need a) coach your managers to keep people learning experientially, and b) encourage a knowledge-sharing organisation.  Other than reviewing annual performance reviews and feedback through exit interviews, you’ll never really know if, when and how learning is happening; but it at least recognise how it happens and you’re halfway there.

Most importantly, remember that learning is happening all the time without us (see here). We just need to guide it, not force it.

Read here (or pass it on to a manager) for how to be a good mentor.

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