What Next ? - Learning Clubs

Dear Hrdians
It is a constant challenge for the learning & development(L&D) professional.He or she is constantly asked to prove that improvements or changes that occur is a result of  the training intervention.Although we have the 4 step model of  Kirkpatrick(Reaction, Learning. Behaviour, Results ) and the  5th step of  ROI added by Philips for assessing training effectiveness, to my mind it is not so much  the measuring and proving  of our contribution but sustaining the learning & application of the learning at work  by the participant long after the training happened, that is more important.

In this connection, I have been  requesting  participants at the concluding session of each program to keep track of   the  application of their learning at work and share in our internal knowledge management site(intranet), their experiences as to what worked and what did not work .While many say "yes''to the suggestion, rarely do they actually follow through and share experiences.

Of late I have been pondering as to what other  ways could  there  be to keep the participant connected or even hooked to the learning in the program? One thought that occured was that we could have them form a club with one of them  volunteering to  take on the role of a secretary who will ensure that the group meets periodically, say once a month to share & learn from experiences.I was considering starting of such a club in respect of the subject of Ëffective Communication" handled by me.

In the meanwhile , today at the valediction of the training program " Prompt judgement & action",  it occured to me spontaneously  to moot the idea to the participants  who were open and enthusiastic to the suggestion..Mr Sreenivan of Sales Logistics came forward to take up the role of the secretary.It was agreed that he would collect experiences of individual particoipants  every week through E mail & share the consolidated record of experiences to all the members through E mail.The club will have  a physical  meeting & interact in person  once a month. It was ageed that we from Learning & Development would give all  support that may be necessary in the initial stages for forming and getting it going..

All of us warmly shook hands with Srinivasan who would be the first secretary of the first learning club of our company.In future I am planning to  form such learning groups for all programs.It may not happen that all the 29  participants who attended would be active members of the club.. some may drop out .Yet, groups of passionate learners regularly interacting & sharing  experiences amongst themselves and also  giving their feedback to L&D  for enhancing the future training programs, is to me,  an exciting proposition.You, dear readers may like to try it out too and share your experiences!
Rest in my next

Taking Learning to Shop Floor

Dear HRDians
We have been discussing in this blog how we, the HR practitioners  need to think differently and look at new possibilities for reaching out to our customers.In the area of learning & development one of our foremost challenges has been getting people to be released for training which is seen by line managers as 'at the expense of production.'

Although we may be of the opinion that line managers are too focused on the 'urgent' matters at the expense of 'important' matters and that in the long run it is the one who is equipped by training who would be able to deliver much better, it will take a lot more time for many team leaders of manufacturing to be convinced of this view point.

In the meanwhile we have to find out alternative  means to get them to taste the 'chocolate'. Once they get the taste and enjoy it, they would be after us for more and more.At the L&D center of our company we have six training halls. Yet I am now looking at having sessions at the shop floor of short duration of around two hours. While regular learning sessions will also happen, we would be organising the shorter versions as well, starting  with our  shop supervisors.

Our learning sessions could have less of knowledge dessimination and more  of eliciting from the participants the  real isssues that crop up on the shop floor and provide them insights through discussions for dealing with them effectively.Recently, we had a program for our supervisors newly promoted from the technician cadre. A supervisor who like them rose from the ranks was invited to share his experiences as to how he handled  and supervised employees who were formerly working with him on the machines.He shared how he used a mix of diplomacy & firmness in dealing with his former colleagues & present subordinates. His inputs were practical, relevant and down to earth which we video recorded  and plan to  use in future training sessions.

For finalising the content of the  supervisory development program, I along with a colleague am personally visiting & meeting up with team leaders of the shop floor requesting them to share real time issues concerning supervisors- What behaviour they expect and what is the present behaviour. Live examples are elicited .For example a supervisor tends not to take any decision at his level but tend to pass on the problem upwards everytime.This information is very useful   and can be given as real time feedback to supervisors as to what is expected of them instead of giving vague , general and 'inspiring' sermons.After the program we would also be able to check whether there is a change in their  behaviour in line with expectations.

I am happy to report to you that I received a request from a team leader of the shop floor to initiate mind reprogramming  in an alpha state for about 15 employees.We have agreed that this exercise would be done for fifteen minutes daily for 21 days.The procedure is the same as I have described in  the article"Mind reprogramming."  We modified the positive affirmations in line with the unique needs of the department such as working as a 'single unit' by all employees who normally pull in different directions with ego playing a major role. The other affirmations pertain to areas such as productivity, quality and harmony in the  work area and prosperity, health & happiness  in personal life We are now into the 15th day and the interest  and excitement of the employees to the conept is very encouraging.I will keep the readers posted on the further developments in this regard.

In the meanwhile, I am in touch with the team leader of a new department that is being formed  and have suggested to him that we  experiment with mind reprogramming involving all the employees joining his team irrespective of hierarchical levels. .He has also evinced interest and this prospect is exciting as a new team would be in a positive mood raring to go and  we could hope to achieve big results .

I conclude this article by reminding readers that instead of complaining & lamenting  we would do well  to move closer , go to the work place of our customers and provide solutions to some of their real time problems.As they see the advantages derived from our services, they  would be  more than willing to come to us without pushing even  to our training halls .
Rest in my next