Learning

Why Aren’t We Sharing What We Learn?

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In our Human Resource studies related to Training and Development, we read and hear about collaborative learning and systems thinking as key concepts and drivers for the learning organization.  Systems thinking, in particular, brings forward the need for understanding organizational and management issues in context with each other. Research and analysis are all part of systems thinking which allow for organizations to learn and to grow using evidence based methodologies. It seems, however, that there is a continuing divide between the learning that business organizations achieve based on management research and the learning that is produced in post-secondary communities, based on purely academic research.

This divide is explored in an interesting article, by Fiona McQuarrie.

  Click here to read the article

Isn’t it time for research that results in management learning and research that results in academic learning to come together and be shared in order to be truly collaborative?  Ms. McQuarrie’s article speaks very clearly to the need for all of us to start communicating about what we have learned, so that we move out of a silo-based mentality that hoards information and into a collaborative, shared learning community that benefits all members of our respective academic, management, and Human Resources related constituencies.

Discussion Questions:

  1. How will you apply what you have learned through research in your HR studies into practical application as an HR professional?
  2. What benefit does academic research bring to the Human Resources profession?
  3. How should organizations share research based learning inside and outside their respective communities?
  4. Where can you access current Human Resources related research that provides leading edge learning?

Learning to Listen

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Effective transfer of training for all employees is easier when there is a culture of learning.  Creating a culture of learning must come with clear support from the top of the organization through the office of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).  As we have learned through our studies, two additional key strategies recommended for the effective transfer of training for employees into productive performance behaviours include, management support and on-going performance coaching.  So how does the CEO become more effective in their own performance as a cultural role model for the learning organization?

They too need management support and on-going performance coaching.

Click here to read the article.  

According to this article, there is a 65.4% increase in management productivity due to one-on-one coaching when compared to the transfer of learning that comes from attending a three-day management training session.  Further, most of us forget a significant portion of what we have heard within 8 hours!   So, it is particularly interesting to note, that for the CEO, the focus of performance coaching in this example relies on the continued development of their own listening skills in order to become better communicators.

If the CEO learns to listen more, then employees are more likely to be heard.  If employees feel like they are being heard, then they are more likely become more productive.  If there is more productivity, then there is likely to be an increase in organizational value as a result of employees feeling valued and listened to.

Does it matter?  If the transfer of training by the CEO makes for better listening practices and effective communication, then a positive chain reaction throughout the organization could occur.  This result makes it obvious that it does matter…a lot!

Discussion Questions:

  1. What advice would you give the CEO where you work (or have worked) in order to increase their communication effectiveness?
  2. What types of performance coaching would you benefit from in your current work situation?
  3. How much do you remember from past training sessions that you were able to implement into your daily work routines?
  4. Who would benefit from on-going performance coaching in your current workplace and why?