Competition and L&D: A case study

Strategy sprung from the need for people to defeat their enemies. The first treatises that discuss strategy are from the Chinese and can be found in Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, written in 400 B.C. Western ideas about strategy come from the Greek and Byzantine. Three hundred years after Sun Tzu, Sextus Julius Frontius, a Roman senator, wrote Strategemata, a collection of examples of military stratagems from Greek and Roman history. From these ancient times until today, strategy has been about competing. That got me to thinking, again...

Against what or whom are L&D professionals competing?

Here are a few of the competitors against which L&D professionals are competing.

Internal Department Managers. Managers are taught that developing their people is something they must do to be good managers. I was talking with a woman director who manages five production facilities throughout California and Mexico. She works with the plant managers to help build their competencies and as well as the department managers reporting to them. She told me: "It's my job to get these guys to a level where I can trust them to do their jobs very well, without my help. I can't succeed without their success." She's not the exception. She's representative of the norm. I ask you this: Who is better qualified to teach plant managers about production: a woman who did that job or a L&D professional who doesn't have an in depth knowledge of the job or its intricacies?

Skilled Co-Workers. We can all agree that a good way to learn a job is to watch someone do it and then do it ourselves with guidance from someone who is proficient at it. When that process is formalized its called on-the-job training. When it isn't formalized, it's called informal learning. A friend of mine is a team leader at a ship repair facility. There are six people on his team. Whenever someone comes on board, he works with him a bit to assess his competencies. He then, assigns the new person to one of the existing team members to learn the ropes. The experienced guy is responsible and accountable for the new guy's training. I know you do this as well. It's a very commonplace onboarding strategy.

Policy and Procedure Manuals. Did you ever have a situation where you just started a new job and were given a desk and access to the policy and procedural manuals to learn what to do? It's not a very good way to learn, but it is a very common start for many new employees who aren't on the front lines of production or sales.

Industry-prepared eLearning Learning programs. Today, many employees are asked to sit at a desk or terminal and complete a series of eLearning courses as part of their on-the-job training. These programs are self-paced and learner-managed, meaning the learner could start and stop as necessary. In many instances, these eLearning programs are created by training-media vendors who specialize in creating them.

External Certification Programs. These can be apprenticeship programs, internship programs, or courses offered through professional associations. A friend of mine wanted to become a Real Estate Agent. She had to take online workshops and attend instructor-led workshops conducted by companies who specialized in teaching want-to-be RE agents how to pass the certification tests. When she passed the tests and was hired, she was assigned to an experienced agent who was responsible for showing her how things were done. She was lucky. Some people obtain certifications and that's all the training they get.

Community College and College Courses. Many people, in the trades, acquire their basic skills in community colleges. In fact, many industrial organizations work with local community colleges to create curricula to meet specific job needs. I was working with an chemical plant in Freeport, TX. The plant had a one-person training department and she was working on industry-required compliance and safety programs. She didn't have time to do any technical or production training nor was she qualified to create that training. The local community college developed several core courses that people could take to qualify for entry-level jobs in the chem plant.

These are just a few of the people and organizations with who internal L&D professionals compete.

(If you've been around a while, you quickly recognized that all of these "competitors" are actually components of a well-planned L&D strategy. The secret is not in competing against them but in incorporating them part of your L&D strategy.)

Here's a scenario. How would you handle it?

Pat has just been promoted to Director of L&D for a company that manufactures anti-lock brakes. Pat's been with the company's HR department for five years. During that time, Pat moved from a recruiter to managing the on-boarding function. Pat developed a 3-week program that covers the company's history, it's market, operations, and more. The CEO kicks off the program with a warm welcome. That's followed by a presentation by HR where the new employees learn about their benefits and other HR issues. Specifics about the company are provided during the first week by managers from different departments as well as through a series of informative videos. During the second week, new employees visit the production line and have several opportunities to talk with supervisors and employees from different production operations. During the third week, newly hired employees are assigned to a peer-coach who teaches the day-to-day functions of the job. On the last day, the CEO stops by to close the program. Pat is not involved in the actual instruction that goes on during the on-boarding program. She introduces the speakers and leaves the sessions after ensuring they get off to a good start. The program is very well-received based on formal feedback from supervisors and participants themselves two weeks after the orientation.

Pat's first assignment as Director of L&D is to develop a leadership development program for the plants production managers. They like Pat and the orientation program. In addition to Pat's good work, Pat was promoted when Pat completed a MA in Leadership at a prestigious university in town. Pat feels confident with this knew knowledge and five years experience with the plant.

Please take time to answer these questions and send them to me. I'll post all the answers and add my own in a week.

1. What is the biggest problem Pat will face?
2. How can Pat overcome that problem?
3. Assuming Pat has the resources presented in the L&D Competitors section of this article, how would you suggest overcoming each competitor's advantage?
4. If more information is needed, what information would that be?

Thank you, I look forward to reading your answers.