The Business of Learning, Episode 100: Celebrating L&D Success Stories

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Speaker B: Welcome to the Business of Learning, the Learning Leaders podcast from Training Industry, where we speak with industry experts and thought leaders on all things learning and development. Hi and welcome back to the Business of Learning. I'm Sarah Gallo, a senior editor here at Training Industry.

Speaker C: Michelle and I'm Michelle Eggleston Schwartz, Editor in Chief. Today we're sitting down to record episode 100 of the podcast and we thought, what better way to celebrate this milestone than to celebrate learning leaders themselves? In this episode, you'll hear real world L and D success stories from your peers that we hope motivate and inspire your own efforts.

Speaker B: It's an exciting milestone and we couldn't be here without our listeners and, uh, sponsors. So thank you for tuning in and making it possible. And to kick us off, we have Jasmine Webster, who is Chief Learning Curator at the Quality Experience. Jasmine, thanks for joining us.

Speaker D: Thanks for having me.

Speaker C: Yes, welcome. Jasmine, thank you for being here with us today. If you could, to kick us off, can you walk us through an L and D success story that you're particularly proud of?

Speaker D: Thank you so much for having me today. And I really think it's a huge accomplishment that you're at your 100th podcast and I would be honored to share a success story with you that kind of connects with the topic I'm here to share with Training Industry and that has to do with onboarding. Oftentimes, organizations and individuals think about onboarding as an event, uh, an instance in time that happens. I like to think about onboarding as a continuum, as a cycle, as a continual evolution of an employee's experience with your organization.

Speaker E: And I was honored to bring about

Speaker D: a program that helped to evolve the concept of onboarding from a single instance

Speaker E: to a moment that happens over the Mid the journey of an employee's life cycle, uh, with some pharmaceutical companies that I worked with in the past. And that ties directly to how you develop an individual, such as. And not just thinking about people, management or leaders, uh, that are at the C suite level. We're also talking about frontline employees and employees that also might be looking forward to just developing themselves and being a better version of themselves. So onboarding connects with that because you are also helping that individual craft their learning journey. Thinking about when you start, what is it that you want to learn more about? What areas of the organization are you curious about? And if you're not sure, that's okay. You can try out some things so that you can develop a better sense of what this company and what this organization is about. So one of the proudest moments I would have to share is about the specialist talent program. And that was a individual, uh, contributor development opportunity where, where we're able to bring about 40 specialists through this program. And about 50% of them were raised in their level from say, Specialist 1, Specialist 2, Tech 1, Tech 2. And even a little percentage of those individuals ended up going over to people leadership as well because they didn't know what they didn't know about. Being curious about that.

Speaker C: Yeah, I'd love to hear, um, kind of what sparked that initiative, kind of what business challenge were you experiencing, uh, and how did you, this training initiative, kind of become the solution?

Speaker D: Well, that's a very fantastic question because it ties directly to feedback that the individuals were giving the organization about development opportunities. Uh, the employee engagement data were showing that individuals were looking elsewhere for opportunities because they did not see a progression path for them outside of people Leadership. And that's perfectly okay. Not everyone wants to develop on that people leadership or that manager pathway. So this organization decided we were going to do something different. It started off actually with a smaller initiative within two functional areas. I worked in the manufacturing, uh, company department, uh, and they started off with a quality assurance team and also an operational team that combined into this cohort so that we could test the program out. So, you know, the advice I would give to anyone, if you're thinking about doing a larger initiative, make sure you do some type of pilot test, uh, with a group that's interested and curious about championing that development opportunity for their employees. So my quality leader at the time was highly interested. And, uh, that was the first team that we started with and had some huge success.

Speaker B: That was great. Must have been great to have that champion for learning as well.

Speaker D: Oh my gosh. Having a champion is also one of those critical things. And I was so proud to hear that. The training industry's data is showing that leaders are actually championing more and more of those development opportunities. So, you know, it is, it's very important.

Speaker B: That's huge. Um, I'd love if you could walk us through kind of what the path from idea, initial idea, um, to execution kind of looked like and what really ultimately made um, this initiative a success.

Speaker D: Yes, yes, yes. So to start off, you have to establish a plan. You know, plan planning mode. You have an idea, you have some inspiration. What could this look like? What experience do you have with building a program at this scale? This was a global pharmaceutical company, had, uh, eight sites globally, different cultures, different languages. Uh, and how do you ensure that we can offer this program at scale to all of these sites around the world? So starting off with an idea, starting off with the set of champions that were going to help support the program and then also establishing some framework for scope and governance of the program. And that's where you can tap into some of those project management skills that

Speaker E: you might need and also stakeholder influence.

Speaker D: So understanding who is it that the program is really for, understanding who is it that this program is going to serve and then also understanding what business objectives does this tie directly into. And that's how you can get your stakeholder buy in early. The earlier you can get that stakeholder buy in, the better. And uh, you know, I would say the next step, after you have the clear governance structure, you have your milestone

Speaker E: set, you know who your supporting team is, you can then work towards developing

Speaker D: a plan for yourself to make it

Speaker E: more bite sized approach.

Speaker D: You know, don't try to eat the whole elephant at the same time, you

Speaker E: know, so you, you want to start with bite sized, uh, development of the program.

Speaker D: What are you going to need?

Speaker E: Who are the, um, speakers or who other departments or functions might you need to involve? And what tools do we already have in place that we can leverage? This particular organization leveraged the Insights profile,

Speaker D: um, assessment and this was the very first time these employees had the opportunity to lear, learn more about themselves and the way that they communicate and their personality styles. Uh, so we leveraged that as a opportunity for them to first learn about themselves before they formed teams during the actual event itself. So, you know, this kind of just gets you into the mindset of planning the actual length of time that you're going to need to deliver the project and really just ensuring, you know, have those milestones in place.

Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. Nice, nice.

Speaker C: And as you develop the initiative, um, did you run into any kind of roadblocks or challenges along the way?

Speaker F: How did you navigate that?

Speaker D: It's not a, you know, so, you know, projects. There's never really an opportunity where a project is probably going to run 100% smooth and there are going to be a few challenges along the way. And in the world of manufacturing and operations, time is of the essence. Having individuals that are not active in their daily tasks can have impact for operational leaders and also for overall processes. So having that in mind was one of the most difficult things in terms of planning and ensuring that the resources were available. Because this was also a global company, we had to manage across various time zones. So we had participants that might be participating from, say, China, where we have other participants from the US or from Europe. And so we're managing across multiple time zones. And that also presents some level of challenge. Uh, I would also add that when we looked at the outcomes of this program, we wanted these individuals to be proud of what they've accomplished during the Talent Accelerator. And one of the outcomes was that they would actually solve a business problem. They were to propose what's something that is, uh, an itch or something that's bothering them in their work, their daily work, and they would propose a solution to that and actually walk through the steps of what it would take to implement that solution. Then they would present that to the executive leaders of the company. So this was a huge opportunity for them to showcase their work. So, again, we had to struggle trying to manage the challenge of, uh, working with the schedule for those executive leaders and ensuring that we had enough time to allow those talents to shine.

Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. Um, Jasmine, as you're kind of looking back and reflecting on this, um, initiative, what was the biggest lesson you took away and how do you plan to apply it it going forward?

Speaker D: The biggest lesson is that each individual desires to be a better version of themselves, whatever that looks like. And it's unique to each and every person. Your version of Best is different from my version of Best is different from their version of Best. And helping someone to, even if it's just moved a slight nudge or a slight inch in the direction of what better is, uh, can be very impactful. You know, I had individuals in that program that looked back and looked at the relationships that they, that they, that they made, looked at the business, uh, aspects that they learned that they had never touched before. You know, when we work in large companies and we tend to get very focused into our area or our function or that siloed thinking and approach, it can really blind us at times. And I would say that the biggest outcome of this program was being able to see and participate in and helping those individuals to remove some of those blinders and then for them to see the bigger picture and also for them to be able to become a little

Speaker E: bit better version of themselves.

Speaker B: That's great.

Speaker C: Love that. Well, on that note, Jasmine, thank you so much for sitting down with us and sharing your story with our audience.

Speaker D: Thank you. Thank you for having me. Again, congratulations. Congratulations for your 100th podcast.

Speaker C: Thank you.

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Speaker C: Uh, next, we're sitting down with Chris Castle, Director of North America Training and Development at Align Technology. Chris, thank you so much for joining us today on the podcast.

Speaker G: Thank you.

Speaker B: And to get started, could you walk us through your L and D success story? What business challenge were you looking to solve and how did training become part of the solution?

Speaker G: Um, the business challenge was about midway through last year we had a new VP that covers all the the Americas, and he was trying to get a single view on our coaching reports. And there's Canada. Ah, us, latam, all had different competency libraries, different coaching reports, so there was no way to roll everything up into one. So I was brought in on a project to um, as a stakeholder, really to um, to work through that. Um, and where I came in was that you can't have a single form for a single dashboard without a single competency library. Like, that's the root problem that we have. Yeah, um, so I said, I'll take it.

Speaker E: Yeah.

Speaker B: Nice.

Speaker C: And so kind of, kind of going through this initiative, what did execution look like kind of from that beginning idea stage, um, through development and in delivery?

Speaker G: Well, the, um, I had to sell in the concept because you have the, you know, the, the leaders of the three areas, Canada, US and latam, uh, didn't believe that you could have a single competency library. But like sales is sales, you know, so it doesn't really matter like where that, how it presents itself could be different, but the basic competencies and skills that ladder up to them, um, can Be consistent. So I built a prototype to prove it. Uh, that's how I operate is rapid prototyping. So get something over there, let people scrum over it and then fix it. Right. So I did that, I presented it um, and won the argument that we could have a ah, single. The framework was what I needed. Right. People had something to look at. Um, so then um, I had a project team of managers uh throughout the regions uh to help me actually build it. Um, at one point we were trying to figure out how to get our sales methodology in there, how to work that into the skills in a, in a coherent way. And it wasn't working. And one of the regional uh managers said why don't we just put the competency library in the framework of our methodology. Um which was a good idea and I hadn't thought of it, which is unfortunate for me and learned from it. But um, yeah the uh, uh so we framed it up that way, built um, that out, sold in and gained agreement on the structure of it. So the competencies laddering up to this sales uh methodology, the skills that laddered up to the competencies we had uh, agreement across the region that that was the model that we were going to go forth. The reason why that works and it's the same reason why the sales uh common sales methodology works is because the details can change underneath. So the concept was same competencies, same uh skills but the observable behaviors, the indicators can vary. Why not? Right. So if the co travel form goes down to the competency and skill level and then the behavioral indicators inform the language that you're going to use to deliver the written feedback in then that could be, you could have nuances. Not only US Canada but you can have new nuances uh between roles you can have nuances. If ah, a regional manager wants to work in their own behavioral indicator will go ahead. Right. So when you have that framework um, that everybody agrees on then you can build out and that could be. So some of the behavioral indicators are like in one of the skills we've got four another we've got I think 13, 14, um and then with version controlling we can iterate that on that over time as roles change. So it should future proof us for the next several years at least because of the way that we set it up.

Speaker B: Definitely. How did you go about sort of identifying those skills and behavioral indicators?

Speaker G: Um, well the skills um, we took what we had from previous competencies libraries that, that we um, that we had so that we agreed on and then we built out. Okay not, not what are people doing now, but what does the job need to look like? Okay, so uh, you know, you can do a ksa, uh, investigation into what people are actually doing on the job and that's very helpful. But if you, then you take that information, say should we be doing these things or should we directionally do, should we be doing something else? Should there be a little bit more focus, for example, rather than like doing everything. So we built in a couple of the things that we hadn't had before defined as skills. So the managers have things to coach, like meet to coach, coach to um, you know, like negotiation skills. Like that was built in before but not called out as its own competition or its own skill or prospecting. What does that look like at Align Technology? So, um, so we did, that's how we built it out. Just like what are the skills that are needed in order to go forward and then what are the observable behaviors? And we eliminated uh, proficiency levels. I know that's not what we're supposed to do, but it's like one lens. This is what the job looks like. You're either doing it or you're not. Or we have four ratings. You're not doing it, you're doing it partially time, you're doing it well and you're exceeding expectations. And that gives the RM's one lens to look at the job. So if it's a TM job, this is what the job looks like. And then they can choose the skills and then the behavioral indicators or the observable behaviors based on the skills that they want to focus on. So it gives them some agency in how they want to coach based on where they want need their team to go.

Speaker B: Very cool. Um, were there any challenges or roadblocks that your team faced kind of going through this initiative? And if so, how did you navigate those?

Speaker G: Yeah, there are big ones and they delayed uh, the launch by a quarter. Uh, so late last year. Uh, so when I started I ran uh, the operations team and then in early December moved uh, up to run the entirety of the team. Um, so I had a new job I had to focus on. And then we did a go to market shift where everybody's job changed and all the managers who I was working with, they had new jobs too. So it was like, okay, let's just table this for a little bit. Um, so we, we still introduced it at a, at a January regional manager the conceptually and got the buy in for that and then just kind of put it on the back burner just Deprioritized it. And then on, um, April 1st, I, I have a new team that's part of this, um, that is a training force that's kind of embedded in the organization. They all started on April 1. I brought them in because they were coming directly from the field doing, doing the jobs.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker G: And said, hey, can you guys clean up the mess that I made and finish this project up? And they did. They turned it around. They brought people in and turned it around and finished, uh, gave us a finished product within a couple days. Uh, so once I had the team to do it, we were able to execute. It's still on a spreadsheet, so it's not like branded and doesn't look fancy, but the words are there, the co travel form is there, people are using it. We're getting feedback on things that we can add or remove or maybe are redundant. Um, that's why it's important to get things out there. You know, things don't have to be perfect to launch. Just get it out there and have people using it.

Speaker C: How long? Um, kind of from, from start to, to, to finish. I guess what's saying I don't think you're finished, per se.

Speaker G: Yeah. Never finished.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: But how long have you been working on this?

Speaker G: I, uh, think. I think the overall project initiated. It was either late summer or very early fall, you know, like September around that area. Um, we moved the work forward pretty well through November until, you know, things shifted. Um, and then it stalled and then we launched at beginning of April. So if you take out the quarter of dormancy. Uh, um, Four months. Yeah, no, not even that. Three months.

Speaker D: Okay.

Speaker G: Maybe, uh, if you add in the time that we had to table it, then you're looking at about 3/4, 2 1/2 quarters or so. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker C: In terms of like rolling it out, like, what kind of feedback are you seeing and changes you're seeing in the work?

Speaker G: Uh, oh, well, it's. It hasn't been out there that, that long.

Speaker C: Right, right. So I didn't know if you had any like, early stage.

Speaker G: We have some, uh, feedback on the model or, or kind of both. Yeah. Okay. Um, haven't had much feedback on the model itself. Um, and I created a. Forms. A feedback form for that purpose. Um, and the only feedback I got through that was there was a glitch in the, the form itself, which I don't own, but we were able to get that it was, you know, a good vehicle for that. Um, I've heard generally positive feedback on it. I've Gotten, um, not through the form, but via email, some ideas to add some things. So. And we've added them. And, um, there is one aspect of how our retail interacts with our special markets that we felt that we, we needed to build into there. So generally it's going well. The feedback has been good. It's a very easy framework to work with. Um, and then the dashboard, we're starting to see the trends. So the dashboard was built in trends with people over time, trends between teams of, like, where, uh, directionally the competencies are going and that. That's just beginning to emerge.

Speaker C: It's exciting.

Speaker G: And so it's too early to really give you any insights from there.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker C: But that's quite an accomplishment.

Speaker G: Um, it was fun.

Speaker C: Yeah. Getting that done. Um, kind of looking back, um, are there any kind of lessons learned, like things you learned along the way that kind of stick out to you?

Speaker G: Yeah. The big one that I mentioned earlier, don't be so rigid and academic with training. Like, I was like, a sales methodology is this thing, and competency, uh, framework is this thing and they're separate. And it took somebody not in training, a regional manager of saying, like, why don't we just make it like that. Yeah. For me to go, like, well, yeah, duh. Uh, like, it can be whatever you want it to look like. Get out of your. Get out of your head of your own training and.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker G: How you view the world and just simplify it. So that was the biggest takeaway. And I, I've taken that into other decisions. Definitely you can do training without saying training words and doing, you know.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker G: You know, like, you can humanize things.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: I like what you said earlier of like, it doesn't have to be perfect to launch. You can launch something before it's perfect and still see results and progress from that.

Speaker G: Yeah. I believe that that's the only way to operate.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker D: Great.

Speaker B: Well, thank you for sitting down with us and sharing your success story, Chris. For more resources on this topic, check out the episode description or visit the show notes notes on our website@trainingindustry.com podcast and don't forget to rate and review us wherever you tune in to the business of learning. Until next time.