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Lucy Sotar

After the Layoffs Orienting New Employees

Training and developing employee skill sets is one of the top items on the minds of leaders and executives. The number of companies looking to build learning and development (L&D) programs for their employees is growing, and will continue to grow, to keep up with the emerging need to provide a more learner-centric environment in the workplace.The L&D landscape is not simple or straightforward. With archaic systems, ever-changing technologies, and constantly adapting audiences, it’s vital to understand the learning and development challenges that can make building a program difficult. By identifying these challenges, you can learn to recognize pitfalls and plan accordingly.Demonstrating Value to LeadershipDemonstrating value is one of the biggest challenges an instructional designer, content manager, or developer can face. If you are lucky, you will have a champion on the executive team who already understands the value of organizational learning and how it impacts the bottom line. In most instances, you will need to work with the executives and build those relationships. Here are some ways to help build value for the work you do:● Show the value. Demonstrate to your potential advocates why L&D is going to make their lives easier.● Understand pain points. Constant communication and understanding of their main pain points is important when it comes to learning and development. To be successful you must be crushing their pain points.Adapting Content for a Varying AudienceCreating a 300-page manual for a product that employees would get on their first day and calling it training used to be enough. This, coupled with on-the-job training on day two, and the employee had completed the onboarding process.Times have changed, and our employees and clients expect more from us. Here are some tips to develop content that speaks to all your learning styles:● Microlearning. The days of sitting and consuming hours of videos at once are gone. Learners expect content to be digestible, easily consumed within five to 10 minutes at a time. Designing your program to be modular will allow your learners to have more control over what they learn and when.● Easy access to content. Your employees should be able to access content from their phone, tablet, or desk.Measuring Return on Investment (ROI) and EffectivenessShowing ROI within a learning and development program can be very difficult, as it’s not always black and white. There is not a single cause that equals one expected effect. You cannot always pinpoint a specific training that directly leads to a landed deal. However, there are ways to build this ROI.Here are a few tips on how to measure the effectiveness of training:● Start with a project. To show you can provide value and are worth the investment, start with a small, targeted program. The less money and time you need to put in, the larger the ROI will be. Positively affecting one group with this program and then being able to show the ROI will allow you to grow and expand.● Start with a group that has measurable metrics. Pick a group to build training for that you can show true black and white metrics. Sales and support are great groups to start with, as they often have a clear need for training, and already have built in metrics where you can provide training. It is much easier to show how implementation of a pipeline development training program grew pipeline development by X% over the same time last quarter.Building an organizational learning program for employees may seem daunting but as long as you keep in mind your true objective and are thoughtful about the work you are doing, you will be successful. Learning and development is a vital component of a company’s success. Don’t let training challenges block you from moving forward and providing the value you bring to the table, consider using a solution such as MadCap Flare to make this process easier for you.About the AuthorAndrea Maliska is an award-winning learning and development leader with more than 15 years of experience across multiple industries. She currently owns her own e-learning consulting company, Rebel Learn.

Three Challenges of Building a Learning and Development Program and How to Overcome Them

Nigel Gan, APTD has been a member of ATD since 2017 from Japan. Here's his story in his own words.Tell us a little bit about yourself.I've found that no matter where you are living, you can make a difference. I'm originally from Sydney, Australia, and started my career—my first taste of training—as a privacy advisor in the Department of Justice in Victoria, Australia. I now work at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Hiroshima office in Japan, where I wear a few hats as part of UNITAR's Division for Prosperity.I am the lead for instructional design and quality assurance, the project manager for our Afghanistan and disarmament capacity building training portfolios. I mainly work on leadership, empowerment, and entrepreneurship programs and manage the division’s media and communications team. I am lucky that I get to meet people from all walks of life from all around the world, having developed and delivered training to participants from more than 60 countries.What are your professional goals?I'm working to obtain my CPLP this year and to supercharge our e-learning at UNITAR so we can reach more people, more effectively, leaving no one behind.What challenges have overcome in your career?Like many of us, I was originally thrown by accident into design and facilitation. I was not good with public speaking, and I still starkly remember the first training session I facilitated—on mandatory privacy compliance—and totally bombed. Yet it sparked my interest in designing and facilitating effective training, and here I am now.What’s the most valuable thing you’ve gained or experienced during your membership with ATD?Upskilling and networking. I did my first formal training three years ago—the ATD Master Trainer—and it was game-changing. I've since completed the Master Instructional Designer and the APTD, and it provides valuable insight into not only, "Oh, that's why we do it this way" and "Oooh, we should do it this way," but also into a broad platform of good practice and theories that we can implement to take our everyday work to the next level.Linked to this, networking with colleagues from around the world who often are facing, or have faced, similar challenges, is invaluable. I attended the ATD International Conference & EXPO and spoke at the ATD Japan conference last year, and I learned something from everyone I met.Can you share any professional tips, specific to talent development, that you have picked up along the way?What I've found, and what I always emphasize, is that it all comes down to communication. Good communication is hard. Whether it is working with government officials to identify the needs among the wants, engaging project stakeholders, or supporting individuals as they upskill, everyone has their own rich tapestry of experiences and circumstances from which we can all learn, yet we often don’t. Having open, two-way communication, using lessons learned, and working to ensure that participants are walking away with the ability to undertake change all comes down to effective communication.What’s a common misconception you see when it comes to talent development?I'm sure many of us see this. Needs versus wants. The idea that training can fix any problem and is the solution to all performance issues, "We need training."Do you have any advice for people looking to further their careers?It's so easy to get caught up in the everyday busyness of building the capacity of your organization and beneficiaries. Don't forget to upskill yourself and find mentors who can guide you.What is your personal definition of talent development?Talent development is about enabling people—building their knowledge and skills to empower them to be effective in their communities or organizations.How do you stay motivated?As talent development professionals, we make differences in people's lives. I have been fortunate to work with, and for, beneficiaries who are determined and passionate to improve and make a difference while living in countries that are war-torn and still developing, with unimaginable pressures and difficulties. Being able to help them, to upskill them, and to build their capacity, brings all the motivation that I need.How do you find meaning in your work?Similarly, working to support and build the capacity of our beneficiaries—highly intelligent and motivated people from government, NGOs, civil society, media, and universities in countries that are emerging from conflict, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and South Sudan, and seeing how our training can make a difference—improve lives, careers, organizations and communities, is humbling, and gives great meaning to the work I do.Have your own story to tell? Share it with us.

"Don't Forget to Upskill Yourself"

My last post focused on repurposing your work life. It reviewed the major and secondary work modification options available for moving forward toward the next phase of your life, but at the same time being focused in a different direction. Now, let’s take a look at successful transitions.A transition is a process that, as William Bridges states, “starts with letting go of what no loner fits or is adequate to the life stage you are in.” It is an internal issue—like a belief, a perspective of yourself, a priority, or a viewpoint of your world. A work-life transition concludes when you take action, such as to leave a job, make a career shift, or rebundle your skills and expertise. Successful work and career transitions start with maintaining realistic and positive outlooks. Each day, take one step at a time, continually refining the transition process and strategies to meet your specific needs and plan of action. Do not be discouraged or upset when unpredictable things happen. Instead, be open to unexpected opportunities that arise or new possibilities that people suggest. Thinking outside of the box, taking calculated risks, and going with your “gut-level” feeling can lead you through a transition more easily, smoothly, and with less pain than you can imagine.Two Basic StrategiesStrategies for accomplishing an effective transition start with writing a focused and clear vision or mission statement for making changes in your work life—resulting in more meaningful experiences and improved outcomes. The statement should integrate realistic expectations of achievement with some of your “What if?” ideal work environment and job prospects. This is the basis for creating an action plan with measurable milestones and a timetable for your transition process. Self-assessment is another key basic strategy to reaffirm career and professional interests, priorities, skills, and values. This enables you to communicate effectively your thoughts and ideas, and to seek help with undergoing a transition. Bottom line: Knowing yourself and your strengths enables you to be more decisive and to accept possibilities when a door opens—so you can begin a new work challenge.Enhancing Strategies As a senior-level L&D professional, you may be thinking: What’s next for me? That’s okay. You are starting the search for new and different ways to experience life—more specifically your work arena. This is merely the start of ending one career pathway, the beginning of a new career journey, and the initiation of the transition process. What are some of the steps or actions you can take to exit transitioning successfully? Take charge: Manage your transition as another career change that you are looking forward to experience. See yourself as flexible, willing to risk, adaptable, and open to exploration.Understand transition as movement: Consider your change as a series of events and the transition as advancing steps to the other conclusion..Embrace the change: The challenge is to work with the change, not against it to create the path thru the transition and achieve your next work stage.Develop a support team: Identify people from your family, co-workers, and your network who you can ask advice, will act as a sounding board for your ideas, and encourage you as you make the change happen by moving thru the transition. As the transition ends, you launch your new beginning—the reinvention of yourself and the development of a new direction for your L&D work have begun. Good luck wherever the next stage of your work life may take you.

Strategies for Successful Executive Career Transitions

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