The Learning & Development Podcast

How do we know what we do works? Well, Kevin M Yates has made this his mission. In this episode we talk about how expectations of L&D have grown and how we need to adapt in order to demonstrate our impact.  KEY TAKEAWAYS At a senior level in Learning & Development there seems to be a paranoia/anxiety that training isn’t getting results or equating to any kind of business performance, capability or change.   There’s been a transition in the expectation of what L&D is. Decades ago, expectations were very different. Right now, the expectation is that people will use their performance in a way that helps the business win. In the past, this focus on performance in that context was not resonant.   Happy sheets, attendance, completion and satisfaction, the main parameters chosen to measure the success of training, don’t actually measure whether or not anything has been learned.   Organisational goals are where L&D should begin, before looking at the gaps in performance and capability that are limiting people’s capacity for achieving those.   Learning solutions and experiences need to hit three criteria for full-blown impact analysis: Whether or not the learning solution is strategically and intentionally aligned to a business goal. Whether or not the solution or experience has high visibility within the business. Whether or not it’s expensive Being curious and creating relationships are keystones to successful implementation of L&D, and the measurement of its success.   BEST MOMENTS ‘We are expected now to impact people’s performance in a very measurable way’ ‘I believe that those metrics and measures tell a story’ ‘You’re always defining those things before you go and investigate’ ‘Be curious’ ‘I consider myself a curator of knowledge and information' ABOUT THE GUEST Kevin’s expertise is answering the question, “Did training work?”, with facts, evidence, and data. His work is global and multi-industry. He's a sought after subject matter expert and international speaker.   You can follow and connect with Kevin via: Twitter: @KevinMYates - www.twitter.com/kevinmyates LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinmyates/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevmyates/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevmyates/ Website: https://kevinmyates.com/   ABOUT THE HOST David James David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board. CONTACT METHOD Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/ Website: https://www.looop.co/

Too often, L&D technology implementations promise so much and deliver so little. The word ‘transformation’ is used prior to launch but, due to lack of sustained engagement, driving traffic to justify the expenditure becomes the goal. In this episode of The Learning & Development Podcast, Lori and David talk about what it really takes to make large-scale, organisation-wide digital transformations successful. KEY TAKEAWAYS L&D transformations today mostly depend on learning experiences not on business KPIs. This is the reason tech implementations are very hard to do inside the companies. Lori adds that before choosing any tech platform, it’s best to base it on the exisiting problems. Lori forms strategies rooted on what’s really needed in the business. She does this after evaluation. Will it target the KPIs? Is it revenue-generating? Is it regulatory? She suggests using the software Workfront. There are many resources out there, but there will only be enough resources which create meaning and impact to the team. Learning should be about presenting content with nurturing, understanding, and connections. Use the data that already exists when designing better solutions. Observe ‘digital body language’ by analysing the online engagement of each individual so you can respond properly to their needs. Implementing the emerging technologies in the company does not remove the clasroom trainings. The existing learning strategy might be improved with some new implementations. Based on Lori’s observations, she sees a pattern in the companies management of L&D programs. One-third of them are on-board with L&D tech implementations and have high learnability scores, another one-third are on-board but they won’t get through, and the ones left are the traditionalists who won’t make it also. What are the main pitfalls that L&D fall into, in their best efforts to digitally transform? They don’t start with finding the solutions. They fall inlove with the platfomr before realising it’s gonna work. They aren’t talking to the learners. They don’t engage enough with the Chief Technology Officer. BEST MOMENTS “It’s funny we find L&D teams themselves don’t initiate the change. It usually coming from pressure—they might be not meeting their sales or there might be new regulatory requests—whatever it is, it’s the external pressure that’s on them they now have to respond to. And, we try to get them back in control.” “We’re speaking to them like true business partners.” “The pressure on them to continue to learn maybe lies in being relevant and redundant.” “Fix the root problem.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Workfront - https://www.workfront.com ABOUT THE GUEST Lori Niles-Hofmann is a senior learning strategist with over 20 years of L&D experience across many industries, including international banking, management consulting, and marketing. Having held L&D leadership roles at KPMG and Scotiabank, Lori’s specialisation is large-scale digital learning transformations. You can follow and connect with Lori via: Twitter: @LoriNiles LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorinileshofmann/ Website: http://www.loriniles.com/ ABOUT THE HOST David James David has been a People Development professional for over 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board. CONTACT METHOD Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/ Website: https://www.looop.co/  

“Data is the new black” according to Laura Overton. So how do we differentiate the fad from the facts? Laura has a unique perspective on L&D, which is as broad as it is deep. In this episode of The Learning & Development Podcast, we explore the applications of data and evidence-based practice in L&D, what these are and why we all need to pay attention.  KEY TAKEAWAYS  What’s different now? Unlike in the previous years where we have just started modernising some practices, the main focus lately has been on how companies can keep up with the rapidly-changing technologies present. A business must sought to study and analyse if a new technological solution might increase their business value.  What do ‘evidence’ and ‘data’ mean in L&D? Data is just a plain input (a numerical figure, a fact, etc.), but proper handling of it will greatly improve efficiency. It’s easier to gather and analyse data when we have the evidence, which involves the opinions, the observations, and the hypotheses.  Data analytics, Machine Learning (ML), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are just a few of the buzzwords we hear recently if we ask about emerging technologies. But remember to remain cautious and inquisitive of the systems you wish to adapt in your company. Being trendy does not equate to being the best.  According to Rob Briner’s The Role of Scientific in Evidence-Based HR, we can base our evidences on four different sources: scientific research findings, organizational data, professional experience and judgment, and stakeholder’s values and concerns. These can help answer questions you have in the business.  Dealing with organisational changes can be very difficult. But, the use of the available data can help ease the transitions happening without disrupting the work culture and work environment.  Some stakeholders would immediately suggest some solutions without even knowing the entirety of a certain situation. As an HR practitioner, it’s your job to present the actual data and the possible solutions based on it and some evidences.  What can L&D learn from marketing? Marketing is capable of gathering huge amounts of information, from the tidbits to the most critical ones. One of the known marketing experiments is A/B testing, which tests variations of a campaign so a company can know what’s best to use. The same experimentation can be adapted when choosing the best HR practices.  For Laura, the secret ingredient in the engagement between data and evidence are the questions you have in the current situation that you’re willing to challenge. They’ll help you gain the information you need to arrive at the best HR practices.  BEST MOMENTS  “The market dictates strongly where the practitioners should be going rather than it being an equal relationship which increases the amibiguity, as well as anxiety in the profession.”  “Data on its own is potentionally dangerous.”   “It’s about the questions we ask.”  “It’s not taking one set of data, but it’s looking at range of data.”  “Data can really shift conversations.”  VALUABLE RESOURCES  Sentiment Analysis | https://monkeylearn.com/sentiment-analysis/   The Role of Scientific Findings in Evidence-Based HR | https://www.cebma.org/wp-content/uploads/Briner-Barends-The-Role-of-Scientific-Findings-in-Evidence-Based-HR.pdf   Center for Evidence-Based Management (CEBMa) - https://www.cebma.org  How to Start Thinking Like a Data Scientist | Harvard Business Review | https://hbr.org/2013/11/how-to-start-thinking-like-a-data-scientist   The Learning & Development Podcast: Agile L&D | Apple | Spotify | Omny  ABOUT THE GUEST  Laura Overton is an award winning learning analyst dedicated to uncovering and sharing effective practices in learning innovation that lead to business value. Her work is based on 30 years of practical experience and a commitment to supporting evidence based learning decisions and has shared her ideas as author of over 40 reports and hundreds of articles over that time. As the founder of Towards Maturity, she is also known for leading the first 15 years of a longitudinal study programme (2004 – February 2019) respected for uncovering and share learning strategies that lead to business success.  You can follow and connect with Laura via:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraoverton/   Twitter: @lauraoverton  ABOUT THE HOST  David James   David has been a People Development professional for over 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.   As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board.   CONTACT METHOD   Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/   Website: https://www.looop.co/   

According to Bob Mosher, Workflow Learning is "learning that occurs while I do my job" - not when I stop work to engage in learning content like when we attend a course, complete e-learning, log into a webinar or other ‘learning activity’. It’s performance-focused and is measured in terms of its ability to deliver results.  This conversation unpacks this, along with the 5 Moments of Need framework, and is a fascinating exploration of L&D practice that makes real difference. KEY TAKEAWAYS The danger of “training” is that there’s so much baggage in terms of what that word means, and what it has meant in the past.   The Five Moments Of Need are: New More Change Solve Apply   Designing for the moment of apply is hugely different from the current approach of content-driven learning. It’s equal to the question of “are we learning to swim, or are we learning not to drown?”   Happiness in learning does not always equate to a leap in performance. As trainers and developers, we need to remember that.    We must make sure that we understand that failures in the classroom is a legacy problem. It has become overburdened, and is not good at the main purpose for which it has been designed.    When you are done with your deliverables, and you look back on the effect that it has had on the workforce, if they have not enabled learners to perform effectively on their own in the workflow, it has failed, because transfer and sustain did not happen.   Performance support needs to be re-evaluated by the industry as a whole. It is a discipline, it’s not a thing.   If you want to shift to performance first, but you build training first, you will never have time to build performance assets.   We need to orchestrate the asset appropriately, not just for the thing it solves, but the way in which it solves it.   Workflow learning is consumed while doing the work, guiding learners along so that ultimately they perform while learning. By far, the most effective form of learning Bob has seen is trial and error.   BEST MOMENTS ‘We’ve got to get out of the training business’ ‘I am a performance architect’ ’The sweet spot of learning and development is the moment of apply’ ‘What is the deep end like for a learner?’ ‘Carpentry is not a hammer. Surgery is not a scalpel'   ABOUT THE GUEST Bob Mosher is a genuine Thought-Leader in L&D and Chief Learning Evangelist, at The 5 Moments of Need™, an organisation that specialises in helping learning professionals design, develop, and measure effective learning and performance support through the 5 Moments design methodology. Bob has been an active and influential leader in the learning and training industry for over 30 years and is renowned worldwide for his pioneering role in new approaches to learning. You can follow and connect with Bob via: Twitter: https://twitter.com/bmosh LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bmosher/ Website: https://www.5momentsofneed.com/ Performance Matters Podcast: https://performancematters.podbean.com/   ABOUT THE HOST David James David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board. CONTACT METHOD Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/ Website: https://www.looop.co/

Christopher Lind is Head of Global Digital Learning at GE Healthcare and a seasoned L&D executive.  In this episode he talks about how speaking the language of business, rather than the language of L&D, has helped him influence his stakeholders, transform his function and do more with digital. KEY TAKEAWAYS One of the biggest differentiators in Christopher’s success is the ability to speak the language of business, as well as the language of L&D. In L&D there’s a tendency to be caught up in your own space; the way thinking is done, even down to the phrases used. But to business leaders, lots of what they hear doesn’t make sense. It’s fine to be passionate about L&D, but we need to communicate that passion, along with ideas and input, by using laguage that everyone understands, otherwise it seems like a closed community. We can either take what business leaders say and start talking about learning needs and solutions, or stay with their map and talk about the business. A better place to start is not to enquire about the state of the people, who are of course important, but to enquire about the state of the business itself. L&D people need to have a genuine curiosity about the business when you ask the questions, which will allow an authentic response. Remember also that you’re going to get knocked down. Get back in there and keep trying. There’s a misconception that Learning And Development should mimic the school scenario, but it’s up to us to bust that preconception. It should not take the form of “learn before work”. Technology is allowing entirely new ways of learning, including livestream tutoring and networking that can allow people to learn on the job with the help of a connected mentor. BEST MOMENTS ‘We talk about things that make sense to L&D practitioners, but to business leaders it’s just Greek’ ’The first conversation we have with stakeholders, there’s a fork in the road’ ’Speaking the language of business requires us to refocus the conversation’ ‘You’re gonna get knocked down, and that’s okay’ ’Technology is changing things at a pace that is out of this world’ ‘Instead of being a content department, we can be an experience department' ABOUT THE GUEST Christopher is a bold, digital-first learning and talent development leader that’s always been directly embedded in the businesses he serves. As a result, he’s spent his entire career reimagining the landscape of learning and talent development while going head-to-head with business operation leaders and being directly accountable for the outcomes.   You can follow and connect with Christopher via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherlind/ LINKS The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523 ABOUT THE HOST David James David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board. CONTACT METHOD Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/ Website: https://www.looop.co/

Gemma Critchley is Head of Technology & Innovation for Learning at Aviva and her mission is to make work feel more like real life by focusing on creating effortless, useful, beautiful experiences that solve real business problems.  We discuss this in detail in relation to the actual work Gemma and her team do and the results they seek. KEY TAKEAWAYS One of the most important things in learning and development is to design things with and for people, really focussing on what they care about, what they’re struggling with, what their problems are, and design accordingly.   Innovation can be a scary word. But by looking at what is taking place within organisations, and not keeping learning and development within a bubble, we can listen to the people who do the actual work, and develop in a positive way.   The Five DI Methodology is about defining a problem before you start the work: Define, Discover, Design, Develop, Deploy, Iterate.   There can be a mentality that when you create a learning project and put it out into the world, you’re done. But you should always look at the impact it’s having, measure it, and make it better.   Technological innovations in L&D mean that instead of treating development as some kind of field trip, companies can treat it more as though it’s part of the workflow, meaning that it can be communicated and absorbed more efficiently.   When people go through transitions within the context of an organisation, things become predictable, repeatable and then it’s all about the timeliness. If you can anticipate when people experience that then you can have that point on an automated workflow to surface the things that people require, and when.   Gemma found something of a culture shock when she moved from marketing to L&D, in that marketing is very much data led. By tapping into the data being amassed about her customers, she was able to pinpoint the exact requirements and most effective methods of reaching them at all times. L&D’s data only seems to come after the fact, and so being able to pinpoint the development required is much more difficult. But the industry is getting there.   Judge the success of any venture by measuring the difference in the business as a result of having implemented something new. BEST MOMENTS ‘We forget that there’s a human in Human Resources’ ‘Let’s not focus on what’s wrong, let’s focus on what could be better’ ‘Learning and development is about finding out what people are up against and then helping them’ ’That’s what learning is missing: that campaign mentality’ ‘We use data as the autopsy’ ‘You’ve got a North Star that you can work to. You need a guiding light' ABOUT THE GUEST Gemma Critchley has been leading teams to develop, manage and market digital products in learning, talent, social media and marketing for over 10 years. As Head of Technology & Innovation for Learning at Aviva, Gemma leads a team to deliver commercial outcomes through innovative approaches to learning, talent and organisational development, with a focus on the digital transformation. Using innovation, technology, storytelling and experience design her ultimate aim is to deliver real business results. You can follow and connect with Gemma via: Twitter: @GemStGem LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gemmacritchley/ LINKS The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523 How People Learn by Nick Shackleton-Jones https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-People-Learn-Designing-Performance/dp/0749484705/ref=sr_1_1?crid=4QWWKQ5GU5HT&keywords=how+people+learn&qid=1565856607&s=books&sprefix=how+people+learn%2Caps%2C132&sr=1-1 ABOUT THE HOST David James David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board. CONTACT METHOD Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/ Website: https://www.looop.co/

Agile is at risk of becoming a buzzword in L&D and misinterpreted, watered down or disregarded as just a fad. However, it’s working to help Sky move at pace, achieve more and achieve real results. In this episode, Tracey Waters, Director of People Experience at Sky, talks about her team’s adoption of Agile, what this actually means, and how it is experienced - from all sides. Discover today on The Learning & Development Podcast why we need to be disruptive with our L&D approaches (e.g. classroom learning), what technologies we can utilise inside our business, how you can influence more value to the team, how Agile can help you and your team’s perfomance, and many more. KEY TAKEAWAYS Why transition to Agile? It encourages better understanding of each team member, it’s built it on iterations, and it’s data-driven. It delivers capacity, flexibility, responsiveness and adaptability. Tracey believes that classroom learning has not been very effective and only brings little to no benefits. It does not improve how people work. Here are the 4 R’s that classroom learning causes: Relationships – People get a lot from meeting others in the same boat as them and learning from their experience. Recuperation – It gives them a chance to get away from tasks even just for a while. Recognition – They get motivated to complete the training because of the awarded certificate. Reward – People felt good about being nominated or accepted onto a programme. Focus instead on how every operation can be valuable to each individual. If they see that what they’re doing have beneficial outputs, it’s easier for them to get influenced and motivated to perform well. With this approach, they can still build relationships, learn new things, and improve themselves. Utilise technological innovations (i.e. Agile). There’s better understanding, and reaching out becomes easier when the data is always available when you need it. You also make every moment memorable for them and offer invaluable support when there is full awareness of the situation. Some might have doubts on incorporating Agile. The key thing to remember here is it helps distinguish what works and what doesn’t anymore in your business. And with these as the basis, we can choose what to improve and what to change. Visual management is very useful. You need two softwares: one is where the team can communicate (e.g. Slack, Microsoft Teams) and the other one is a visual planning board where the work flow can be tracked (e.g. Trello). Before looking into different approaches such as Agile, know your WHY. Take the time to go back to your planning board and evaluate your goals, visions, and objectives. If you think Agile is the vehicle that will get you to all of them, then it’s easier to get started from there. BEST MOMENTS “If we run L&D, we should be embracing a philosophy that is fundamentally built in learning and high-performing teams.” “When you also learn from psychology perspective and neuroscience perspective how people learn, it makes classroom learning more bonkers.” “If you start with a consumer-grade technology experience and build around that, then you can actually be flexible of what you offer to people.” “The whole emphasis is on we’ll get better at this together, we’ll make mistakes together, and we’ll make sure that we get better.” “If you aren’t getting resistance, then I’m not sure you’re disrupting the model.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Agile Software | Wikipedia The Learning & Development Podcast: How People Learn With Nick Shackleton-Jones | Apple | Spotify | Omny How People Learn: Designing Education and Training that Works to Improve Performance by Nick Shackleton-Jones Slack Microsoft Teams Trello ABOUT THE GUEST Tracey Waters is Director of People Experience at Sky UK and a pioneer in the application of Agile to Learning & Development. With over 15 years of experience in the profession, Tracey has overseen Sky’s transition from a traditional L&D operating model to fully embracing Agile to move at speed and solve real business problems. You can find out more about Tracey’s work and the Agile HR Community via: Agile In Learning Blog: https://medium.com/agile-in-learning Fosway Innovation Profile on Sky: http://www.fosway.com/innovation-profile-sky/ Agile HR Community: https://www.agilehrcommunity.com/new-events ABOUT THE HOST David James David has been a People Development professional for over 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board. CONTACT METHOD Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/ Website: https://www.looop.co/

Here Technologies has a fascinating culture of autonomous learning that fits perfectly with their company culture. In this episode, Toby Newman talks about the shift that was made, what that looks like now, and his own journey from trainer to a totally modern Learning & Development professional. KEY TAKEAWAYS eLearning has changed radically over the years, putting far more control into the hands of users, and turning the experience into less of a teacher-pupil relationship. Access to online and remote access to professionals has changed the landscape.   Online training is so popular because it fits in with people instead of trainers. But face-to-face training should never be discounted, as it has many of the benefits that remote training cannot.   Autonomy is on the rise, with location technology at the core its DNA. From Smart Cities, to Navigation, location is an ever-expanding industry.   Technological advances happen so frequently, and leaps in learning are so persistent, that Toby insists upon instilling and implementing a learning culture in the business, so that the company can always keep moving in the right direction.   Learning is one thing, but discussing it in depth afterwards is just as powerful, and can help to embed the information in a different way.   The main aim for Toby is to develop tools in order to build bridges between those with the expertise and those seeking the expertise, rather than building programs filled with content. It’s a far more “blended” approach.   Toby’s autonomous approach to training allows those who wish to develop faster, the ability to do so. Often training takes place with large numbers of staff, many of which are not engaged, or do not wish to develop. By allowing those who wish to progress the opportunity to do so independently, the training becomes more targeted and effective.   Go to expos - For Toby the biggest thing going to the Learning Technologies Expo, and simply walking around, talking to people, and listening, gives you an eye towards where the industry is heading.    Take responsibility for your own development as a professional, keep your ear to the ground, but also filter. Understand your own organisation, too.   It’s important to ask our customers for direction, but we must also understand where the industry is going and use our own instincts. BEST MOMENTS ‘I just went by what I felt was right’ ‘What I’d love to be able to do is some kind of “Matrix” thing; plug yourself in, download it, and away you go’ ‘We provide the solid foundation and a couple of walls, but they get to build the inner house’ ‘You put your energy into the people who want to be there’ ‘Provide people with the bridges and resources to be able to get what they want’ ABOUT THE GUEST Toby is L&D Manager at Here Technologies, an Open Location Platform company, based in the Netherlands, with a fascinating culture of learning. An experienced Learning & Development professional with 15 years in our profession, Toby has worked across different organisations and industries, including Telecommunications and Retail. LINKS The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523 Toby Newman on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/theneverendinglearner Toby’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoUEYHTCDPcdwXMsQNkb1Qg?view_as=subscriber Toby’s TEDx Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hHrXGDqNzc&list=PLDoXrtJe8hy4EJ2PswlFy-zSTmv1LEddn ABOUT THE HOST David James David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board. CONTACT METHOD Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/ Website: https://www.looop.co/ . https://applysynergies.com/

In the last 12 months, Adam has gone from Digital Learning Partner at ASOS, to L&D Manager for Revolut and, finally, Head of L&D at D&D London. And not because he’s flighty but because his skills are in high demand. In the episode, Adam talks about his rapid rise in L&D and what others can take from his focus and development.     KEY TAKEAWAYS  Resources before courses  The sweet spot is where we can help people to get stuff done by creating things that speak to their challenges and questions.  It all comes down to asking the questions.  A business starts and ends with the people.  It's working with and for the client in an agile sense focusing on the outcomes rather than the product.  It’s all about taking them on a journey building resources that can actually help.  Performance support is at the core of resources. Asking questions and unpacking the answers ensures you can really help and drive effective change across an organisation.  If you want to be the change that you see and create the job you want then you need to understand the background and mandate of the organisation.  Finding the right people  You have to work hard to find people who are truly forward-thinking, reframing what you are looking for to attract the disrupters who will drive change.  Its someone who is willing to find out what the real challenges are, and seek the real answers.  It's having an appreciation that digital is woven into our lives at all points of time  For any young aspiring learning and development person, there are great opportunities  It's about being in real life and wanting to make a difference  Understanding  what is holding L&D back from having a greater impact  Organisations have an expectation of what an L&D department is for within the company.  We are stuck in the prison of what we have always been doing when there are real problems and challenges that need to be supported.  When learning and development reappraises and understands that it can have a more important role then it will be able to focus on creating that role within a company.  It's about what the problems really are and understanding how you can support individuals in solving them.     BEST MOMENTS  ‘Wanting to affect what is important to the business and increase the expectations of what the L&D function can do, it's bold and it's brave’  It's easy to run a schedule of programs because it's easy to measure   ‘I looked at what they are trying to achieve as a company and how L&D could remove the friction’       VALUABLE RESOURCES  The Learning & Development Podcast     ABOUT THE GUEST  ADAM HARWOOD     Adam Harwood is Head of L&D with D&D London, having recently been both L&D Manager at Revolut and Digital Learning Partner at ASOS.   Adam is renowned for his views on digital and its potential to transform L&D and truly affect employee performance in service of organisational results.   In addition, Adam is active in the L&D community.    GUEST CONTACT METHOD  You can follow and connect with Adam via:  Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamharwood26  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamharwood1984/  Article Adam mentioned in the chat: https://peopleatwork.cipd.co.uk/2018/12/21/were-the-ones-who-bring-people-together/    ABOUT THE HOST  David James  David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.  As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board.     CONTACT METHOD  Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning?lang=en  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/  Website: https://www.looop.co/ 

We did something different in this episode and took your questions.  We posted on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook for suggestions and were overwhelmed by the response - and by the quality of the questions.  So we discussed everything from David’s experience - what he’s most proud of, and what he’s no so proud of (in terms of L&D projects); about the current state of L&D’; overcoming challenges to modernising; and the future of the profession… But much much more as well.  David is joined by Adam Harwood again but in a switch of roles, as Adam asks the questions on behalf of listeners.  KEY TAKEAWAYS  What’s the most inspiring learning project you have seen? Disney Digital Lab’s transition of their publishing business to digital. They brought in experts to create awareness to the general. There were apprenticeships and the transition became successful.  What’s the most disastrous project you’ve seen? It was a customer service training for a telecommunication company. It didn’t just cost money, but it also cost time.  What’s the most frustrating thing you ever dealth with? The one with Disney Digital Lab.  If there’s only one person who you will listen to for the rest of your life? Tracey Waters  Is it time to rename L&D to L&P? When people are learning, they’re doing it because they want to achieve a certain goal. David is more drawn to the ‘performance & capability’ part of it. L&Dneeds a clearer vision  Is there a big gap between the modern and tradtional approach in L&D teams? It’s big since they came from two different roots. Not everyone is talking about the same thing.  Why are we having a hard time developing L&D professionals? It’s because we build everything from scratch. We all start with a vision. It’s easy but complex at the same time.  What do you advise when you meet with the professionals? Work on real problems so people will engage.  “If we work with data, understand, and show how to address these real problems, then we understand the language of the business.”  Do you think the future leads to L&D moving into more operations or operations moving into more L&D? There will be advancement in HR management and analytics. We will align more with the operations if we create a new vision for L&D that focuses on the outcomes.  What advice can ou give for those who are starting out on a project? Gather and analyse data. Make sure you’ve understand fully before starting out any tasks. David wished he had learned technology even before.   BEST MOMENTS  “if you don’t want to use it, then how do you expect users to use it?”   “I value conversations that are grounded in the practical realities of organisational life much more than I like isolated learning solutions.”  “We should be focusing on the goal rather than the means.”  “We don’t produce learning; the learning part is an internal process.”  “There is need for REAL Learning & Development as far as I’m concerned. It needs a vision—a vision that’s better than now.”  ABOUT THE GUEST  Adam Harwood is Head of L&D with D&D London, having recently been both L&D Manager at Revolut and Digital Learning Partner at ASOS.   Adam is renowned for his views on digital and its potential to transform L&D and truly affect employee performance in service of organisational results.   In addition, Adam is active in the L&D community.  You can follow and connect with Adam via:  Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamharwood26  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamharwood1984/  ABOUT THE HOST  David James   David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.   As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board.   CONTACT METHOD   Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/   Website: https://www.looop.co/