The Critical New Role of Learning Professionals
I was summoned to the office of our new CEO, Robert Warrington on the chilly morning of November 14, 2003. Since taking over for the legendary Bud Melton earlier that year, Robert and I had had several informal conversations about training, local restaurants, and world travels. Like conversations with Bud, our interactions were cordial, friendly, and productive. My job as the Director of the First Indiana (Bank) Learning and Development department had been an enjoyable and productive experience for the past eight years.
I was not sure what was on Robert’s agenda, other than it was “training related”. I arrived at my office early enough to brush up on the latest initiatives my L&D team of six was in the midst of. In the past, I would ride the elevator up to the 28th floor, where I would get off and be met by the always pleasant executive assistant, Tonya. Tonya would always ask me how I was doing, and suggested that I have a seat until Robert (or Bud, previously) were ready to see me. When Tonya announced that it was time to go in, I would simply stand up, and take a few steps through the large door to the lavish office of First Indiana Bank’s CEO. Friendly conversation and discussing ways to leverage training was the norm – except for this day – November 14, 2003.
As I walked through the door, something unusual, no, something dreadful happened that had never occurred during any of my prior visits. I heard a dreaded ‘click’.
What could be so ominous about a simple metallic sound? That day – November 14, 2003 – Robert was sitting behind the desk with a rather somber look on his face. As I took the first few steps toward the chair that was waiting for me at the near side of the desk I heard the click that would change the course of my career and beliefs about training forever. At first, I didn’t know what the click was. With my peripheral vision and a subtle glance over my shoulder, I saw in horror the big, oak door slowly closing behind me.
My next thoughts came quickly, one on top of the other, one of which was “he is going to give me bad news.” I was right. After exchanging some nervous pleasantries, he said, “Jim, we have decided to eliminate the positions of the six trainers on your team. I have all the confidence in you that you can carry on alone, and utilize the fine managers we have to pick up the slack.”
Since, 2003, this scene has recurred many times. It takes different forms, but the message is remarkably consistent – executives are becoming wary of the value that training brings to the business in relation to the investment they make. New research by several major training-related groups clearly shows that learning professionals and training departments that emphasize the training event as the key to business results are particularly vulnerable to this type of action. I learned a valuable lesson that day. I vowed to no longer count on good relationships that may exist between ‘us trainers’ and our business partners, or the great programs we put on. Instead, I now concentrate on understanding what our stakeholders – our key business partners – expect from us, and to focus our training, reinforcement, and coaching efforts to not only create strategic value, but to be able to demonstrate it as well. We survive and thrive when we understand that our role is not to deliver training programs, but to extend learning from on-line modules to self learning to the classroom to the job site, and to ultimately deliver value to our business partners. SMR USA is dedicated to this. All of our programs and services fall under the heading of providing this type of value to the business. We are committed to helping you avoid the dreaded ‘click’.
SMR USA's Public Sessions, 2008
|
