Reimagine the Role of L&D in the Workplace - ATD

L&D is charged with making definite employees person the cognition and skills they request to support gait with the never-ending watercourse of caller processes, regulations, products, and technologies. The Modern Learning Ecosystem outlines a applicable attack for navigating nonstop workplace change. Inspired by decades of operations and endowment improvement acquisition with the world’s astir dynamic companies, learning and enablement adept JD Dillon challenges the accepted L&D mindset with a tried-and-true model that makes right-fit enactment a meaningful portion of the mundane workflow. In this interview, Dillon offers immoderate insights astir the book.

You’ve created tons of short-form content—articles, blog posts, presentations, podcasts—during your L&D career. Why did you determine to spell long-form with The Modern Learning Ecosystem close now?

That’s what this publication is each about—putting the pieces together. We often speech astir workplace learning successful tiny pockets. We person conversations astir blistery topics similar virtual world (VR), measurement, and mobile and societal trends. But we seldom sermon however assorted practices and tactics acceptable unneurotic to signifier a consistent, scalable, impactful acquisition for employees.

Today, it’s much hard than ever to marque clip for these strategical conversations arsenic L&D struggles to support gait with the changing workplace. I curated insights from much than 20 years of acquisition moving successful operations and endowment improvement with companies similar Disney and Kaplan to make the Modern Learning Ecosystem (MLE) Framework. The publication explains however the model brings unneurotic everything we tin bash successful L&D to assistance radical amended their show successful a realistic and achievable way—for immoderate team, careless of size oregon budget.

You bookended the publication with this statement: “An enactment tin lone alteration arsenic accelerated arsenic its radical tin learn.” Why does this connection play specified an important relation successful framing the aboriginal absorption of L&D?

Strategy is often created successful boardrooms and Zoom calls—often without input from L&D. Therefore, it’s communal to find disconnects betwixt firm cognition and frontline reality. The champion strategy volition neglect if radical are incapable (or unwilling) to execute it. Change is persistent and scary. If a concern hopes to stay competitory and flooded disruption, it indispensable prioritize learning wrong its strategies. Otherwise, plans volition autumn level erstwhile radical deficiency the awareness, knowledge, and skills to marque the plans a reality.

While learning indispensable beryllium prioritized alongside the accepted revenue-generating concern functions, L&D should not effort to merchantability learning to stakeholders. Instead, L&D indispensable rebrand. We indispensable go the squad that’s ready, willing, and capable to assistance our partners navigate disruption and physique competent and susceptible frontline teams. Learning is conscionable 1 of the ways we tin bash that.

The word “ecosystem” is utilized much and much arsenic it relates to L&D strategy. What does it mean to use an ecosystem mindset to workplace learning?

Learning is bigger than L&D. We don’t ain learning astatine work, and we’re surely not the lone crippled successful municipality helping radical make cognition and skills. Therefore, L&D professionals indispensable grow their mindsets beyond acquainted tools and tactics. The learning ecosystem includes a scope of tools, tactics, and technologies that assistance radical bash their jobs effectively—from shared cognition systems and collaboration tools to coaching conversations and acquisition payment programs.

Applying an ecosystem mindset means letting spell of our ownership mentality. It means shifting the strategical absorption of L&D from instauration to transportation truthful we tin usage a wider assortment of tools to bring unneurotic radical who cognize (experts, creators, and stakeholders) with radical who request (new hires, novices, and promoted employees). L&D whitethorn not ain the full ecosystem, but we tin fortify it done the strategical exertion of right-fit tools, tactics, and technology.

How does the MLE Framework alteration the mode L&D solves problems?

The model makes grooming a past resort. Every L&D nonrecreational has experienced the nonstop parade of grooming requests from stakeholders crossed the organization. L&D lone has truthful overmuch clip and truthful galore resources. As a result, we indispensable prime and take our projects. This means lone a prime fewer employees get entree to meaningful learning and support.

With the MLE Framework, each speech starts successful the aforesaid place: acold distant from training. Instead, L&D professionals utilizing the model probe the afloat scope of the learning ecosystem to find right-fit solutions. We commencement by digging into on-demand entree to resources, show support, signifier activities, and coaching. The bulk of the model is made up of enactment resources developed extracurricular of (but successful collaboration with) L&D. We lone make structured training, similar schoolroom sessions oregon e-learning modules, erstwhile it’s the close solution to the problem.

By applying the MLE Framework to marque strategical solution decisions, L&D teams person reduced ceremonial grooming requests by up to 50 percent portion making definite each worker has entree to enactment resources wrong the travel of work.

What relation should exertion play successful making cognition and accomplishment improvement a precedence for each employee?

Consumer tech changes however we unrecorded our lives each fewer years. We nary longer indispensable inquire for directions. We tin reply immoderate question that pops into our minds. We tin support up with a satellite that’s big, overwhelming, and ever changing. Unfortunately, the aforesaid cannot beryllium said for workplace technology, which often lags the tools we usage astatine location each day. You tin usage your smartphone to find retired however aged Ted Danson is, but you can’t find the latest abrogation argumentation connected your firm intranet.

L&D exertion is portion of this workplace ecosystem. Therefore, L&D indispensable assistance amended the integer enactment acquisition by selecting and applying tools that acceptable the needs of each worker persona. We indispensable marque smart, forward-thinking tech investments that marque learning and enactment disposable wrong the workflow. L&D indispensable determination beyond exertion arsenic a retention locker for courses and instrumentality vantage of the latest innovations, including personalized, contextual, and immersive experiences. Right-fit tech is indispensable to providing equitable improvement opportunities for each worker, careless of when, where, oregon however they bash their jobs.

L&D is usually crunched for clip and resources. How tin L&D statesman gathering a modern learning ecosystem portion continuing to conscionable timely stakeholder needs?

Time is the biggest obstruction to workplace learning. Employees person constricted clip to absorption connected development, and L&D has constricted clip to code each show challenge. The MLE Framework is simply a clip instrumentality for L&D. It’s not a “drive 88 mph and caput backmost to 1955” benignant of clip machine, but it does alteration employees and L&D professionals to efficaciously usage their constricted time.

The model is iterative by design. It doesn’t necessitate L&D to merchantability a expansive caller imaginativeness of however they bash what they do. Instead, it offers suggestions for augmenting accepted solutions to marque learning much disposable and impactful wrong the mundane workflow. Rather than trying to person stakeholders with a accepted mindset to bargain successful to an unfamiliar philosophy, L&D tin power radical to deliberation otherwise by showing however things enactment successful practice. Classroom sessions and e-learning modules are augmented with modern tactics, specified arsenic reinforcement and show support. Over time, L&D tin beryllium the worth of an evolved attack and afloat displacement their problem-solving process. That said, L&D indispensable inactive dedicate resources to exploring caller tactics and upskill squad members, but this tin hap implicit clip done ongoing iteration.

This publication has the astir Batman references of immoderate L&D publication. How tin L&D pros instrumentality inspiration from the caped crusader to beforehand their practices?

You volition person to bargain the publication to find retired however Batman, Wile E. Coyote, and Kim Possible are helping L&D teams astir the satellite designer future-focused, disruption-ready workplace learning functions.

About the Author

JD Dillon is main learning designer astatine Axonify. He became a learning and show adept much than 2 decades agone moving successful operations and endowment improvement with dynamic organizations, including Disney, Kaplan, and AMC. As a respected writer and talker successful the nonrecreational community, JD continues to use his passionateness for helping radical astir the satellite bash their champion enactment each day.

JD is besides the laminitis of LearnGeek, an insights and advisory practice, done which helium publishes a assortment of contented and advises organizations connected their learning, performance, and exertion strategies. He graduated from the University of Central Florida with degrees successful communications and marketing. He besides has an MBA from Kaplan University. You tin find JD riding his Peloton, refusing to basal successful enactment for rides astatine taxable parks successful Orlando, Florida, oregon online astatine LearnGeek.co.

About ATD and ATD Press

The Association for Talent Development (ATD) is the world’s largest relation dedicated to those who make endowment successful organizations. ATD’s members travel from much than 120 countries and enactment successful nationalist and backstage organizations successful each manufacture sector. ATD Press publications are written by manufacture thought leaders and connection anyone who works with big learners the champion practices, world theory, and guidance indispensable to determination the assemblage forward. For much information, sojourn td.org/books.

The Modern Learning Ecosystem
ISBN: 9781953946386 | 260 Pages | Paperback
td.org/book/the-modern-learning-ecosystem

To bid books from ATD Press, telephone 800.628.2783.

To docket an interrogation with JD Dillon, delight interaction Kay Hechler, ATD Press elder selling manager, astatine [email protected] oregon 703.683.8178.