Why Organizations Are Approaching Learning All Wrong! HRDO 561

Learning is an absorbed process, not a quick fix. 

Currently, there is a shift in the culture of Human Resources in organizations. The shift is the extreme focus on people development. Companies use data analytics to research, identify, and implement models exemplifying change management. Whereas the idea previously was that training would alleviate any issues with learning, organizations are finding that it takes much more than providing a training class to their employees.

Imagine an organization that has several highly skilled employees in specific areas of the business. The employee body consists of baby boomers preparing for retirement and millennials trying to find their career path within the organization. Every other day a baby boomer is retiring leaving the organization scrambling to fill back their position. Millennial are screaming for the opportunity to develop but cannot access developmental opportunities because there are none. There is no department head for learning and development and the employee body has lost hope in training and development opportunities. A cultural shift is occurring due to the reorganization of the hierarchy and the morale is low. What do you do?

Do not throw the employee body into worthless training sessions! It will not fix the issue.

The first step is to understand the science of organizational development. Understanding the systems approach to cultural shifts and changes and learning and development would help an organization experiencing this type of disconnection re-prioritize its focus. The example provided shows there is no succession planning, a lack of development, mentorship, and coaching and as a result of that employees are losing trust, hope and faith in the organization's ability to express and show value in developing employees. An assessment of the organization's culture is extremely important. This will allow key stakeholders to offer input on what has happened, what is currently going on, and what need to happen in order to be the organization it has been set out to be. If this means a change in the  mission statement to represent the final decision on culture, so be it. The person leading the assessment for the culture should be someone who has a great understanding of the science of organizational development.

Once these factors are aligned, the conversation begins. Employee engagement surveys, one-on-one's with key individuals, and an evaluation of the different types of leadership styles represented will help the organization assess needs, barriers, strengths and opportunities.

Then, specific training sessions can be offered based off of the findings from assessments. And, it may not be training for a "process" rather, training for behaviors. Organizations are guilty of assuming training for a process will uncover  or reveal bad behaviors that hinder a culture. Training and development should always support the culture in which it thrives. Learning is an ongoing process so companies have to continue to feed the hunger of adult learning in the workplace. Otherwise, complacency becomes a part of the norm or culture and that's where development stops. Human Resources departments can no longer thrive without having a  focus on organizational development within the organization.