L&D as growth engine rather than a cost centre... Upskill to Upsell

Guiding People to Growth

When I changed my sales and marketing hat for my learning cap some years ago, some questioned me about the why. Wouldn't I miss the business and the direct relations with customers?  How to stay close to the "business speed of change", the product development and innovation teams? The reason is simple, I find too much joy in guiding people to growth... And I believe that when people grow, business grows. At Signify, our L&D team has a clear vision on learning and how we can support our businesses and learners to take ownership.

People Growth = Business Growth

Knowledge is power. At Signify, we use this power to turn our Technology into relevant Business Solutions for Better Lives and a Brighter World. You might have seen it in the news: Signify and Boston University validated the effectiveness of UV-C light sources on inactivating the virus that causes Covid-19.

UV-C has been used for decades in medical environments and specialized applications. Using light as a medium to disinfect water, air and surfaces is what we have been doing for years. Today, we might be changing our scale, but is has always been in scope. We are experts. We can be trusted with the topic. With the Boston University validating our effectiveness, Signify is now ready to open the door to a new set of application areas such as public transport, offices or supermarkets, making sure our customers can create healthier and safer environments for their customers and visitors.

Providing the best advice to our customers can only happen with the right knowledge in our pockets and – not to forget - with the right growth mindset. That does not happen by itself. That’s where L&D can add real value.

In-House Development and Agile Content Curation

The past few months our team worked on our strategic UV-Capable Learning program. It allowed me to work with the best experts in the world on this topic. Together with these SME’s we transformed high complex content into easy digestible learning nuggets, "fitting" the busy lifestyle of our learners. At the speed of light, we were able to build new knowledge hubs and certification tracks. We used our full set of learning technology and even grabbed some new technology on the go.

We used our collective internal knowledge, developed by Signify for Signify. Most importantly – we connected people with people, as learning from peers helps building trust.

The real hero? Our Learner

I am super proud of all our colleagues who are joining our virtual classrooms or webinars, these weeks, the true leaders who are connected with each other via our LXP platforms. We facilitate and guide. We coach and create. But They Make It Happen !

We are guiding people on their journey for growth .. What these learners have in common?

1. A strong appetite to learn something exciting and new
2. A capability to build knowledge at a rapid pace
3. A willingness to learn on the job
4. An ability to instantly use the newly acquired knowledge to better serve our customers.

After all, helping our customers creating healthier spaces for their employees or customers in the post Covid-19 times is what true partnership is about.

People Growth = Business Growth

Are we done now? Up to a new project? Of course not... we are not only talking about continuous learning here, we are actually doing it. Our incredible innovation speed and ambitious roadmap developments will make our created learning materials redundant very soon probably. Will we start complaining as L&D professionals? No. This is our new L&D-normal. We accept, embrace and adapt. We will keep building planes in the air and stay connected to follow up on the latest and the newest.

My personal take away?

Business proximity is crucial for successful user-centric, relevant and in-time L&D solutions. In-house development is not always easy, nor sexy, but is the only way to keep up with the changes and connect learners with experts. I told this before, in my article “From L&D to L&B” ... To upskill is to upsell .. and that is what we are doing. Together.

I am proud to work for a company that sees L&D as a value driver, not as a cost-centre. I am grateful for all the SME's that put on their teachers hat and walk with us n our journey to become a true learning-company. What metrics we use to measure success? I know you are curious... Let's take that as input for a new article after the holidays :-).

What does your L&D department do to stay close to business-stakeholders? How does your organisation leverage internal knowledge to create learning programs? Curious to hear your thoughts...

PS: Oh and … Yes I still wear my marketing and sales hat every now and then! Don’t leave this page before you visit  www.signify.com/uv-c  or learn more on the light spectrum via this page https://www.signify.com/global/lighting-academy