Less than 12 months ago I started on a journey having moved into an L&Drole 9 months prior. I fell on “training” purely by accident and having hadprevious experience of training delivery from insurance to software tocustomer service in the airline industry I knew that I wanted to workwithin L&D. I also had an ambition to fly and to work for a worldwiderespected organisation. I wrote to my current organisation British Airwaysabout opportunities in training in 2006 and quickly came to conclusion thatI had to take a different route. 6 years on having had a fantasticexperience as cabin crew both long and short haul, and cabin crewmanagement an opening occurred within Learning and development and I becamea Learning Innovation Lead in Feb 2012.If I am brutally honest I found it a challenge in the early days. We as anorganisation were on a journey from training to learning. My role involveddoing things that I had not been exposed to before including Stakeholderand project management at quite a high level.I wanted to be taken seriously as an L&D professional both internally andexternally. The first step on this journey for me was getting my CIPD inLeaning and Development Practice. This to me is the stamp of approval whichis then backed up by experience. Several people had mentioned a learningprovider called DPG and after doing a bit of research I liked what I saw.The blend of a workshop once a month, presentation and the completion ofpacks and Show You Knows I felt, would fit in with my work and personallife. I signed up two weeks before the first workshop and thought tomyself: don't think about it just do it!I found from my first workshop in London that I was going to love it. Mygroup and facilitator clicked instantly-every single one of them added suchvalue to the learning experience. For me what was so beneficial was comingout of my organisation once a month and learning with people from a varietyof businesses and industries both public and private sector. Standing upand presenting can of course be daunting especially with so manyexperienced L&D professionals but to me this experience is invaluable asyou see different styles; what works, and perhaps what doesn't to add toyour "facilitator toolkit" as I call it.The first workshop was HR focused and the part we as L&D professionals playin the HR professional map. What I took away from this was the fact that Iwas going to start challenging myself using the behaviours of the map. Iwanted to be personally credible a role model and to have the courage tochallenge. Often in the past I have felt that I had been influenced byorganisational constraints or perhaps 'the way things have always beendone' what I needed to do was to start challenging from a learning, andindeed a learner perspective. How do people best learn how are we going toget the best results keeping adult learning at the forefront of my mind.Around the same time as commencing the qualification I also commenced amajor project at work. Although I knew this was going to be a challenge Iwas going to use it as an opportunity to put my CIPD learning straight intopractice by applying it into the project. I was practising what I preach tomy clients with the transfer of my learning into workplace!It was however a hectic few months!From conducting effective Learning Needs Analysis to presentingrecommendations, to incorporating brain friendly learning. I used the4-phase learning cycle from phase 1: arousing interest/curiosity andsetting up the learner for learning to phase 4: helping learners applytheir learning to their job to ensure that learning sticks. What must notbe underestimated is the importance the manager plays in the learningprocess so I always ensure that my recommendations always includemanagement engagement.I was receiving emails from CIPD counting down to the closing date for thesubmitting of applications for the CIPD Awards. If I am honest I didn't paymuch attention until I received the final one saying "One Week to go" Itook a look at the website and realised this was quite a big deal. One ofthe categories was "the Michael Kelly Outstanding Student of the YearAward" a category for those who had completed or were about to completetheir CIPD and how learning has been applied into the business. At theeleventh hour I submitted an application and put it to the back of mymind..Until one night in June on checking my emails I had been advised that I hadmade the short list! Oh my goodness I didn't expect this. The next stagewas to present my application to a panel of judges at the CIPD head officein Wimbledon on what was one of the hottest days of the year! I presentedfor 15 minutes followed by an interview with the panel. Whatever theoutcome I know that I did my best and yes it's a cliché but anything now isa bonus...The awards night is on the 17th September so I will keep you posted!My thoughts have now turned to thinking about the next level and the CIPDlevel 5 Diploma in L&D management with DPG.
I didn't win unfortunately on this occasion but it was a fantastic evening and I was delighted to have got that far...there is always next year :-)I will post a full update soon.
An inspiring and honest account of your L&D course experience. I am really looking forward to starting this course in September. Best of luck with the presentation! Anam
Comments
Come on David, how did you do? Don't keep us in suspense :-)