Last Friday's #ldinsight Twitter chat discussed the question: What would happen if there were no L&D department? Is it a good question to ask? Surely there is enough to do and to figure out without spending time contemplating being out of work?
Below I have shared some of the tweets from the session (using a tool called Storify). My conclusion from looking at these is that it is a great question to think about. Why? Because 'What if' questions give permission to have a deeper, wider think about a topic. The tweets highlight some really interesting points around accountability, procurement, organisational design and the role of managers and more. There is lots to think about here that can inform future practice.
What other 'What if?' questions would be useful for challenging your thinking and the way you work?
Here are the tweets . . .
Replies
I like the answer from Liam Moore - "it depends!" I think Liam is right. It depends upon many things related to the organisation in question.
I also like Gerald Crittle's diagram linking Knowledge Management, Employee Engagement and L&D. It would be interesting to know if his work with smes has revealed any answers :)
I have worked in small sites with no L&D where I, and all my colleagues, have been trained (vocational technical training) and I worked in one large organisation with a large L&D department where as an employee one would never have known (I was unaware of any training going on)!
I have also been a manager in several organisations where I have procured and provided training for my staff - I wasn't aware of an L&D department. Didn't even expect one to be truthful. In fact thinking about it, I'm wondering whether L&D departments are a newish invention?
Hi Alison
I think L&D as a standalone department is relatively new - I'm going to look into that. I think you raise an important issue around the visibility of L&D. Even if there was an L&D team you weren't aware of it. Maybe they were such a good team and L&D was so embedded in the organisation that you didn't need to know they were there OR you really could have done with knowing they were there for help and support!
I don't think there are any right or wrong answers here. What matters is the context of the organisation and its skills and development requirements and how the organisations wants this to be supported. If all employees were more responsible and accountable for their own learning and development I think we would be having a different conversation.
Martin
Afternoon Martin,
I think Paul may have started and finished the debate in one brush stroke.
It might require Performance Business Partners or Consultants, however the alternative might be that the priorities and core activities within line manager roles could shift.
Would this resolve the primary focus onto performance input versus current fixation on performance output??
Mark
I think you are right, Paul. Good question about managers too. Looking at it through the performance lens really opens up the conversation with the business - and managers too.
Martin
I like the insight from Charles Jennings. Something would arise into the vacuum, but it would not look like a 'son of current L&D'.
So... what would it look like? That's a good question.
To answer that, you would first need to ask 'Why would something arise?'
It would arise to meet the need for improved performance, so it would likely be more focussed on performance as the raison d'etre rather than learning or even just training hours.
It would therefore be looking at ALL the factors that affect performance which automatically pushes it into a performance consultancy approach.
Perhaps this phoenix should be called the Performance Consultancy department :-)
Cheers, Paul
I really like your thinking, Paul, to focus on why the need for L&D. As you say, performance is likely to be the number one reason - or arguably should be. And that reframes the activities of L&D.
Hi Martin,
I am unable to see the tweets? I would love to see what was discussed! This is a great and very valid topic!
Tracey
Hi Tracey
Sorry, not sure what happened there! You can see them here: https://storify.com/martincouzins/what-would-happen-if-there-were-n...