If L&D does not assess Points-of-Work, who will?
We need to get to where true business value is generated – the Point-of-Work. Given there are many roles and a multitude of tasks that comprise diverse Points-of-Work there is no single-pass discovery effort holistic enough to identify performance restrainers in this mash-up of potential challenges and the measurable outcomes we seek, so I ask again – Where do we begin?
This is a call-to-action to see beyond the prevailing myth that Training Drives Performance to the accepting the reality of Potential as the only provable training outcome until our Performers graduate to their respective Points-of-Work where they actually generate measurable value and business outcomes. Sadly, we do not fail during Training…we fail at Point-of-Work. Should we not build solutions that zero in on performance challenges at Point-of-Work and Moment of Need?
Is it time to create an organizational entity scoped and chartered to ensure sustained workforce capability? Is it time to enable performance IN Workflows at Moments of Need found at Point-of-Work? Ask the operational stakeholders if they are after knowledge…or the capability to execute at Point-of-Work to add measurable value to the bottom line. They […]
Downsized three times in seven years. Why? Because we could not show bottom line value creation and productivity impact. Why? Because Point-of-Work was not assessed to determine what was restraining performance. In other words, no performance benchmarks were established at current state. Instead, solutions were automagically defaulted to training-based and focused on skill profiles, learning […]
If I had the opportunity to be CEO for a day, I’d blow the doors off the existing Learning/Training paradigm and shift my CLO out from under the HR umbrella or create a role and align them as a direct report…with the title of Chief Capability Officer (CCO). Place the CCO over the Office of […]
The mission for L&D carries a primary objective not too dissimilar to that of “eating an elephant”; a daunting proposition to say the least. The “elephant” I’m referring to here is “Optimization of a dynamic learning performance ecosystem”. This represents the Tactical aspects critical successfully impacting and sustaining workforce capability at numerous Points-of-Work. The key point here is “Training solutions are not enough!” and plays into perpetuating the myth that Training Drives Performance when in fact, it only enables potential. Want to transfer results and track measurable impact…go to Point-of-Work where performance really happens…or not.
The Point-of-Work Assessment (PWA) is a discovery discipline designed to examine sources of performance and productivity restrainers in the Workflow. The outcome delivers findings across six categories of attributes limiting optimization of workforce capability. Traditional Training Needs Assessments typically only cover one – People/Capability – in search of training solutions. That’s great…but not enough!
I submit to you that we (L&D) need to shift thinking within the ranks of our stakeholders (and ourselves) to enable a different conversation. I’m not suggesting we back off Training; rather, I’m suggesting we confirm what restrainers behind the performance deficiencies are going to be resolved by Training. I firmly believe L&D’s role should be to confirm what knowledge and skills are appropriate to include in a solution and what performance restrainers are present that do not. We need the ability to do both. Does L&D own Process Improvement challenges…or access rights to critical resources…or missing online apps…or…or…or? No, but I believe we should play a liaison role to facilitate hand-offs in a collaborative solution role with the business partners who do own those kinds of interventions.
The “Point-of-Work Discipline – PWD” is dynamic Change that enables L&D effectiveness at a new Destination – “Point-of-Work”. It’s always tough to change thinking and move skeptics off long-held beliefs and embedded traditions. It’s tough to create the critical mass and momentum necessary to reach full Change Adoption and Sustainability which leads me back to the advice of “start small and scale”. Integrating Point-of-Work Discipline is the “project that never ends”. As ominous as that sounds, PWD is a necessary evolution to enable our abilities to sustain effectiveness in our dynamic learning performance ecosystems.