chapter 1 Becoming an Effective Learning and Deveopment Practitioner earning outcomes When you have read this chapter you shoud be abe to: describe different L&D roes and tites expain the technica skis and knowedge required of L&D practitioners discuss the importance of communication, work-management and coaborative working behaviours for L&D professionas expain the concept and importance of continuing professiona deveopment (CPD) create your own CPD records. 1.1 the &d profession The L&D profession is a wonderfu profession to beong to and this is one of the most interesting and exciting times to be a part of it! As a career L&D offers constant variety, the satisfaction of seeing the resuts of your work, recognition in many different forms, and endess opportunities for earning. Of course, the profession is not without its chaenges, frustrations and occasiona upsets, but in our experience trainers ove their work. L&D roes are rarey a first career. Often we spend a few years deveoping expertise in a technica area or operationa roe and then move graduay towards heping others to gain the same expertise. This creates a sort of natura seection, in that it is the peope who have a natura taent for heping others earn who move graduay into forma L&D roes. But, there was a time when being competent in a technica roe and having an interest in heping others earn was enough for you to be deemed capabe to pass your skis and knowedge on to others. This is no onger the case. L&D has become a profession, with its own body of professiona knowedge and professiona standards. As we as being knowedgeabe about our subject areas, we aso need strong skis in identifying earning needs and designing activities, deivering, supporting and evauating earning, and understanding the organisations we work with. And it doesn t stop there: once we have deveoped a sound base of L&D knowedge and become skied practitioners we remain effective by aways ooking ahead, experimenting with new approaches and updating our capabiities. The fire in my bey I ve got for L&D first came about when I discovered it woud give me the opportunity to do something I ve aways enjoyed doing and that is sharing with others. I beieve that you are what you share and heping peope find the knowedge they seek to achieve their potentia is what excites me most about
2 Learning and Deveopment Practice this profession. Since becoming a Learning Professiona I have heped and supported peope earn and deveop around the word in paces ranging from Mexico to South Africa, from Dominican Repubic to Peterborough. I enjoy the chaenges the roe brings and the rewarding feeing that you get from knowing you have made a positive impact. Since achieving the CIPD Certificate in L&D I ve earnt that it s a about professiona deveopment and my ambition is to continue growing my skis and knowedge within the L&D industry and to progress my CIPD membership. Adam Harwood, L&D Partner 1.2 &d roes and requirements Our profession incudes an unusuay wide spectrum of job tites and roes. For exampe, you may work in training, L&D or maybe HRD (human resources deveopment). You may be a: L&D adviser, faciitator, trainer, L&D partner, training officer, earning consutant, organisation deveopment consutant, earning curator, coach, workpace assessor, curricuum designer, instructor, digita earning designer, earning champion, or any other tite considered to encapsuate your roe. L&D may be a part of your roe or the whoe of it. You might be directy empoyed in the L&D function of the organisation you provide training for, or you might be empoyed by a private training provider, deivering training services to a range of different organisations. You might equay be an independent L&D professiona offering your services directy to organisations or working through an agency or training association who arranges the work for you. In a smaer organisation you may we be the L&D function. So, how do you know what is required of you at work? We woud suggest that there are at east two sets of requirements which affect what you do and how you do it: organisationa specifications: specific job or roe descriptions and interna competence frameworks professiona specifications: profession or sector requirements and standards. 1.2.1 organisationa specifications Most peope working for an organisation wi have some form of job description which sets out the essentia requirements of their roe. This may be suppemented by further information about the skis, knowedge and experience required (for exampe, in a person specification) or an interna competence framework which detais the abiities and behaviours required of different roes within the organisation. Your key activities might, for exampe, incude: monitoring and identifying earning needs designing earning activities and materias curating digita information for earners to access deivering and evauating earning activities designing or supporting onine earning providing one-to-one coaching assessing and reviewing earning supporting managers to deveop their teams advising on L&D opportunities and requirements maintaining earning management systems (LMS) organising earning programmes and events monitoring training expenditure and budgets
Becoming an Effective Learning and Deveopment Practitioner 3 researching and reporting on new deveopments in L&D. Aong with an overa description of the requirements of your job, it is ikey that you wi have specific objectives to meet individua performance objectives or key performance indicators which extend aspects of your work roe into measurabe activities. For exampe you may be responsibe for deivering a certain suite of programmes or competing specific projects or supporting a specific improvement in staff performance. activity 1.1 For this (and some of the next) activities consider your current, or a previous, roe: 1 How do you know what is required of you at work? 2 Where and how is the information stated? 3 How we does your job tite refect your job roe? 4 How do you describe your job to your friends and famiy? 1.2.2 professiona specifications The Chartered Institute of Personne and Deveopment (CIPD) CIPD is the professiona body for HR and L&D professionas. Operating across severa continents, it is now a wordwide community of over 140,000 members, with a stated purpose of championing better work and working ives by improving practices in peope and organisation deveopment for the benefit of individuas, businesses, economies and society. Towards achieving its purpose and supporting members, CIPD has deveoped a comprehensive specification of the genera and technica activities, knowedge and behaviours required by different HR/L&D roes. This is known as The CIPD Profession Map. The CIPD Profession Map The map has three main aspects: professiona areas; bands; and behaviours. It arranges the HR/L&D word of work into ten professiona areas, each of which are further divided into the four bands (or eves) of professiona competence. The map aso describes eight behaviours which are considered essentia to us effectivey fufiing our roes (see Figure 1.1). The ten professiona areas (insights, strategy and soutions; eading HR; organisation design; organisation deveopment; resourcing and taent panning; earning and deveopment; performance and reward; empoyee engagement; empoyee reations, service deivery and information) describe in detai what HR/L&D practitioners need to do and need to know within each professiona area. The two professiona areas insights, strategy and soutions, which is about understanding the organisation, and eading HR, which is about contributing to the organisation are considered to be core areas which underpin a HR & L&D roes. Whist words such as strategy and eading might more usuay be inked to senior roes in other frameworks, CIPD beieves that these two areas are crucia at every career eve, from entry upwards, hence their positioning at the centre of the map. The other eight professiona areas are technica areas. Therefore, for us, the professiona areas of most concern (that is not to say we shoud not aso expore the others) are: insights; strategy and soutions; eading HR; and earning and deveopment.
4 Learning and Deveopment Practice Figure 1.1 The CIPD Profession Map The profession map Courage to chaenge Roe mode Empoyee reations Empoyee engagement Driven to deiver Curious Service deivery and information Performance and reward Leading HR Insights, strategy and soutions Leading HR Organisation design Learning and deveopment Coaborative Decisive thinker Organisation deveopment Resourcing and taent panning Personay credibe Skied infuencer Band four Band three Band two Band one Eight behaviours Ten professiona areas Four bands of professiona competence Each professiona area has an overarching definition of the roe of peope who work in that area, foowed by the detaied specification of activities and knowedge. The overarching definition for earning and deveopment is: Buid individua and organisationa capabiity and knowedge to meet current and strategic requirements, and create a earning cuture to embed capabiity deveopment. Figure 1.2 is an extract from the Learning and deveopment specification. The standards are set out across the four bands, starting at Band 1 and moving across/up to Band 4. Around the professiona areas (see Figure 1.1) are the eight behaviours: curious; decisive thinker; skied infuencer; personay credibe; coaborative; driven to deiver; courage to chaenge; and roe mode, which underpin how we need to carry out our work activities. If you expore the behaviours section of the map, you wi find that they are aso specified across the four bands, identifying what is required at each career eve. You can use the CIPD map for many purposes, such as carifying your roe, identifying best practice, benchmarking your capabiities, panning your career and identifying your professiona deveopment needs. There is a usefu section within the map entited Transitions, which heps identify how you can move, or prepare to move, from one band to the next. There is aso an interactive too, My CPD Map, which wi faciitate, track and store your ongoing assessment of your capabiities and deveopment needs. Whist we have expained the map in brief here, this is no substitute for you actuay trying it out. The map is easiy accessed from the CIPD website, where there is more guidance about how to use it. As we as the genera advice, have a ook at the downoad Learning and deveopment professionas and the CIPD Profession Map which gives some overa L&D guidance aong with exampes of how other L&D professionas are making use of it.
Becoming an Effective Learning and Deveopment Practitioner 5 Figure 1.2 Professiona area: Learning and deveopment (extract)
6 Learning and Deveopment Practice appying the cipd profession map to refective practice case study 1.1 Robert Labe, an experienced L&D consutant, expains how he uses the CIPD Profession Map to gain greater insights from his refections on work performance and to enhance his CPD panning and recording. Last year, instead of competing the usua CPD Deveopment Record I mapped out my experiences and earning into key projects and work areas eg training deivery, quaity assurance, being a coach and mentor. Within each work area I refected on what I had done and what the positives and negatives were of the experiences, what were the earning points, and what if anything I might do differenty in the future. I then inked my refections to the components of the CIPD Map the professiona areas I had been working in, the bands I was working at, and the behaviours I had used, as we as the skis and knowedge I had used or acquired. For exampe, one of my coaching and mentoring experiences invoved heping a team to unbock a project to deveop an important training programme. The deivery team had become entanged in the tasks to be competed and had ost focus, eaving the project stuck and the team feeing vunerabe and under fire. As we as moving the project forwards, I had to hep the team regain their confidence and re-enthuse about the training. When I ooked at my refections on this work, in reation to the map, I recognised (and recorded) that I had used: knowedge of L&D practice, istening skis, and questioning skis. In terms of my behaviours, I had demonstrated: being a roe mode, being personay credibe, and having the courage to chaenge. The professiona areas I had covered were: Learning and Deveopment and Empoyee Engagement, and in this experience I assessed that I was operating at Band 3. Recognising my work in this way fet positive and confidence-buiding and made me more aware of how I was performing. There were some other work projects that had not gone quite as we as they coud, and exporing the map in reation to these heped me see how I coud bring new skis and behaviours to simiar work in future. The more I considered and potted my refections in this way, the more insights I was abe to gain into how I had worked, what my key skis and behaviours are, and some areas I coud usefuy deveop. Robert Labe, FCIPD, HR/L&D Consutant Questions 1 What are the key benefits of this activity for Robert? 2 How woud you divide up your work areas? 3 When/how coud you undertake this same activity as Robert? Profession for the Future ooking ahead CIPD s new Profession for the Future project continues its work of defining and representing the HR/L&D profession particuary in a rapidy changing word of work. The initia aim of the project is to expore and estabish the high-eve principes that describe what peope management and deveopment professionas stand for and which wi guide the way we operate and contribute in any context.
Becoming an Effective Learning and Deveopment Practitioner 7 The principes estabished within the Profession for the Future project wi extend current definitions of what it means to be an HR/L&D professiona and provide a new framework of professiona standards, which wi in turn form the basis of new deveopments at CIPD. You can read updates about the project on the CIPD website (cipd.co.uk/cipd-hr-profession/about-us/evoution-hr-word-work.aspx) and join in the discussions on twitter about how the HR/L&D word is evoving (#changinghr). 1.2.3 other professiona specifications Nationa Occupationa Standards Since the ate 1980s there has been a movement in the UK, and other countries, to deveop Nationa Occupationa Standards (NOS), which specify performance and knowedge requirements, across a occupations. Learning and Deveopment NOS were the basis of Nationa Vocationa Quaifications (NVQs) in L&D (not currenty avaiabe in Engand, athough they remain avaiabe in Scotand) and sti underpin various other trainer quaifications. The NOS standards reating to assessment and verification currenty form the nationa units of assessment, sometimes referred to as the TAQA quaifications for assessors, interna verifiers and externa verifiers /quaity assurers. These incude: Leve 3 Award in Understanding the Principes and Practices of Assessment Award in Assessing Competence in the Work Environment Award in Assessing Vocationay Reated Achievement. Leve 4: Award in the Interna Quaity Assurance of Assessment Processes and Practice Award in the Externa Quaity assurance of Assessment processes and Practice. The L&D, and other nationa occupationa standards, are now positioned with the UK Commission for Empoyment and Skis (UKCES) and can be accessed via the NOS Database (http://nos.ukces.org.uk). FE and skis sector Whist CIPD tends to focus on L&D professionas within organisations, various government-ed agencies (previousy: Lifeong Learning UK (LLUK), Institute for Learning (IFL), Learning and Skis Improvement Service (LSIS), Education and Training Foundation (ETF)) and currenty the Society for Education and Training (SET) have defined standards and acted as a professiona body for tutors, trainers and ecturers who work within the FE system. The FE system primariy refers to coeges and coege staff, working in a further education setting, but aso encompasses some trainers working within government-funded adut and work-based earning contexts. Consequenty, the terms FE and skis or FE and training are aso used, and there are some areas of overap with the CIPD standards and quaifications. In 2013, an updated suite of quaifications for FE system professionas was introduced centred on three main quaifications: Leve 3 Award in Education & Training Leve 4 Certificate in Education & Training Leve 5 Dipoma in Education.
8 Learning and Deveopment Practice activity 1.2 1 Do you think of yoursef as a professiona trainer? 2 What does being a professiona trainer mean to you? 1.3 it ain t (just) what you do it s the way that you do it! 1.3.1 the importance of great communication skis We ive in the information age, where the abiity to communicate is essentia to success in most professions. This is particuary so for L&D, which is amost whoy about communicating, one way or another, with our coeagues, earners, customers, networks and stakehoders. Good communication skis hep us to: be cear about what is required of us and what we need from others engage and motivate earners infuence stakehoders manage disagreements and resove work probems be credibe as L&D professionas. So how can we buid our abiities in this area? One of the best ways is to identify peope we beieve to be great communicators these coud be peope in the pubic eye or just someone we know and whose skis we admire and isten and earn from them. We can aso expore the guidance given by those who have studied this area (reevant references can be found at the end of this chapter), who typicay emphasise that istening is possiby the most important ski we need to deveop if we are to communicate effectivey with others. We have two ears and one mouth so that we can isten twice as much as we speak. Epictetus In theory, communication shoud be very simpe: one person has something to convey; they convey it by one (or more) of a range of methods; and it is received by someone ese. But we know it is much more compex than that and that many factors can prevent a satisfactory transference of the message. To hep get it right, et us consider some of the key points we need to think about in our communications. Know your objective Even the simpest of communications has a purpose. If you are not cear yoursef about what you are trying to say, then your communication wi aso be uncear. Consider the needs of the recipient For exampe: the types and amount of information they need their preferred methods of communication and the channes avaiabe for them to repy how much they aready know about the subject so that you can pitch your communication and anguage at the right eve. Consider aso how the recipient might react to your communication. If your message is emotive or contentious, what might the impications of their reaction be (for you as we as them)? Does this change how you communicate your message?
Becoming an Effective Learning and Deveopment Practitioner 9 As someone who is quite task focused I recognised that my emais sometimes came over as a bit stern or unfriendy to recipients who are more peope focused. I tend to go straight into the main purpose of the communication, forgetting any of the opening words that make an e-mai friendier and more engaging for the reader. Now, I sti focus on writing the main purpose of the emai first (whist it is cear in my thoughts), but before I send it I go back to the beginning and think about the recipient a bit more and maybe add some more persona or sociabe opening words. It doesn t take much just a How are you doing? or I hope X project is going we can make the emai more baanced and avoid it sounding too stern or impersona. Choose the best medium There have never been so many different ways to communicate. Options incude: face-toface, teephone, emai, text, meetings, presentations, webinars, intranets, bogs, reports, newsetters and socia networking (eg Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Googe+). And of course, communication is not just about words pictures, images, diagrams, photos, charts, objects, touch, movement, body anguage, non-verba signas and facia expressions can a be of equa importance. Choosing the best medium depends on much more than your persona preferences. Emais aow peope to access information in their own time and provide a written record of a communication, but they can be impersona and open to interpretation. Sometimes a teephone ca or face-to-face meeting is more appropriate to carify and discuss detais or address more sensitive matters. Presentations and forma meetings have their pace for forma communications and can add weight to a message, but can be disruptive and take time away from the workpace. Texts and socia media are great for quick and informa messages, but may be inappropriate for some business communications. Intranets and bogs are usefu for non-urgent information and for deivering a consistent message to arge numbers of peope. The important factor is to choose the best method for the purpose and the recipient. Twitter is a great way to connect with feow practitioners and to share and tap into their knowedge. Many share bogs via Twitter and this is a fantastic source of CPD and the forums on Twitter (such as @LnDConnect) aow for discussion around current and future professiona practice. I aso ike how Twitter shows us to be more than just our job descriptions you get to see those you are foowing as the whoe person, not just the L&D Practitioner! @HaydenDavidhrd Check for receipt and understanding Good communicators aways make sure that their message has been received and understood. In face-to-face and visua onine communication we can check out non-verba signas as we as istening. In teephone and onine ora communications we can monitor the questions we are asked, or ask questions ourseves to gauge the eve of understanding. In webinars we can aso make use of interactive faciities such as pos whist aso monitoring individua contributions. For forma written communications we may ask for responses or compie a ist of frequenty asked questions. If we identify that we have misunderstood or been misunderstood, we need to keep trying and rechecking unti we are sure the communication is successfu. If our intentions are good to understand and be understood we wi get there in the end! We bring varying attitudes, expectations and understandings to communicative situations. Even if the receiver sees or hears exacty the same message which the
10 Learning and Deveopment Practice sender sent, the sense which the receiver makes of it may be quite different from the sender s intention. Danie Chander If you woud ike to deveop your communication skis, you might find topics such as networking skis, using socia media, presentation skis, persona impact and infuencing skis, business communication, report writing, non-vioent communication, body anguage or some aspects of neuroinguistic programming (NLP) to be of interest. Tabe 1.1 An NLP approach to communication NLP: Thinking Styes An exampe NLP approach aimed at enhancing communication skis concerns thinking styes. Three pairs of thinking styes are identified as away from and towards, goba and detai and procedures and options. Away-from thinkers are motivated to take Towards thinkers are motivated to take action when it wi get them away from the action when it wi move them towards things that they do not want. Your message things that they do want. Your message shoud refer to penaties, current probems shoud refer to rewards, soutions and and potentia dangers. achievements. Goba thinkers understand things when they can see the bigger picture. Your message shoud incude overa concepts and ink to bigger themes and messages. Procedures thinkers ike to foow instructions and processes. Your message shoud incude step-by-step procedures and protocos to foow. Detai thinkers understand things when they know the ins and outs of the detais. Your message shoud incude practica exampes and referenced detai. Options thinkers ike to make their own decisions. Your message shoud incude the choices that are avaiabe and the eve of individua empowerment that peope have. If you recognise any of these thinking styes in your customers or coeagues, you coud try adjusting your message to fit their stye and see if this adds to the quaity of your communications with them. 1.3.2 managing the work We frequenty see surveys in the HR/L&D press about the skis empoyers most need from their potentia and existing empoyees. Two areas that consistenty appear, aong with reference to communication skis, are work management skis and team work. These are aso encapsuated in the CIPD Profession Map behaviours, particuary Driven to deiver/roe mode and Coaborative. Be cear about requirements and objectives The first rue of managing your work is to know what is required of you what, why, when and who for? Once you have a cear understanding of this, you can set about panning and co-ordinating your work to meet your objectives. We have aready discussed job specifications and performance objectives as the main source of what is required of us at work. It can aso be usefu to think about your work in terms of who your customers are, and define what each of them requires of you. Or if your work is more project-based, what each project requires from you. Figure 1.3 beow is a simpe spidergram showing how a L&D Officer (Keri), working in a oca authority, identifies her customers and their requirements. Keri s remit is to work across three departments, deivering a range of operationa and compiance training for
Becoming an Effective Learning and Deveopment Practitioner 11 frontine staff, co-ordinating a coaching programme for team eaders and providing occasiona induction programmes for new starters. Figure 1.3 Identifying customers Centra training team Department managers Learnersnew entrants Learnersfrontine staff Me Learnersteam eaders As you can see from the spidergram, Keri has identified five customers or customer groups. She summarises their needs and expectations from her, as: Learners: frontine staff: varied programme of L&D activities to meet current and emerging roe requirements up-to-date onine compiance training programmes, accessibe at any time information, advice and support so that earners can manage their own earning occasiona representation to managers about L&D issues. Learners: team eaders: fuy co-ordinated coaching programme reguar communications and updates. Learners: new entrants: comprehensive, engaging, up-to-date induction programmes. Department managers: support in identifying earning needs and transfer of earning to workpace information and advice about L&D issues and activities induction/orientation programmes for new entrants as required. Centra team require/expect: information on earning needs and skis gaps in my areas evauation feedback on a areas in my remit project updates.
12 Learning and Deveopment Practice activity 1.3 1 Who are your customers? (Or what are your work projects?) 2 What do they need/require from you? 3 How do you ensure that you fufi your work requirements? Stay on top of the work Many of us find that keeping some form of to-do ist heps us to keep on top of our work. Thinking about the different areas (customers, projects) of work, as above, and carifying what is required of us in each, can then be taken across to a to-do ist. You coud either keep a separate to-do ist for each of your work areas, or just ensure that you consider each area when drawing up your singe ist. To-do ists might be daiy or weeky, and those who particuary ike to work with them recommend a master ist that everything goes on to, pus a specific daiy or weeky ist. Lists don t have to just be straightforward handwritten ists some peope prefer mind maps or spreadsheets and if you need inspiration, check out the wide range of interesting stationery or mobie apps now avaiabe (getting organised appears to be a growing industry!). Check your ist reguary and keep updating it so that you don t forget any essentia tasks. If you maintain a good overview of your work and make reguar checks on how you are doing, you wi be abe to make any adjustments needed and take eary action to resove any emerging probems. Prioritising tasks However organised we are, things change around us a the time, and getting a our work done on time can be difficut. We often have to prioritise our work, according to key work objectives and project timeines, and a usefu too to hep with this is the Time Management Matrix, which was popuarised by Stephen Covey, in The Seven Habits of Highy Effective Peope (1992). To use the matrix, you first need to cassify your tasks in terms of how important they are and how urgent they are: An important task is one that heps you achieve your main objectives, or moves you forward in an important direction. It is probaby something you want to spend time on and do particuary we. An urgent task is one that has to be done to meet a deadine. The nearer you get to the deadine, the more urgent the job becomes. You can then pot your tasks on the two scaes of the matrix and in so doing, position your tasks within four quadrants or categories, as iustrated by Figure 1.4. How you approach your different tasks is then guided by which quadrant they sit in. Quadrant 1: Important and urgent These are your top priorities and shoud be done first. However, you shoud try to avoid tasks moving into this quadrant by panning important work ahead. Quadrant 2: Important but not urgent You shoud start working on these as soon as you can. Pan in advance how you wi address them and start chipping away at them whenever you have some time. Because they are important, they shoud not be eft to the ast minute, when you may have to
Becoming an Effective Learning and Deveopment Practitioner 13 compromise your standards. Try to keep making sma contributions to these tasks before the deadine so that you avoid the pressure and compromises of them becoming urgent. Figure 1.4 Time management matrix Important Quadrant 2 Important but not urgent Quadrant 1 Important and urgent Not important Quadrant 4 Not important and not urgent Quadrant 3 Urgent but not important Not urgent Urgent Quadrant 3: Urgent but not important You wi have to do these tasks quicky because there is a deadine, but do not spend too much time on them. Get them out of your way quicky or, if possibe, deegate them to someone who is capabe and that you can trust. Quadrant 4: Neither important nor urgent There are three ways to dea with these: 1 Do not do them at a if they are a waste of time 2 Deegate them 3 Forget about them unti they are nearer to the deadine. If you are managing your workoad we, the majority of your time wi be spent in Quadrant 2. If your time is taken up with Quadrant 1 activities then you are constanty fire-fighting and probaby not achieving a great quaity of work. If you are spending your time on Quadrant 3 and 4 tasks, then you may be negecting important work for tasks that you find easier or more immediatey interesting. If this is the case, it is probaby a good time to review your priorities! 1.3.3 working with others One of the highights of our profession is the variety of peope we often get to work with. This is a huge benefit for most of us, but it aso means we need to be abe to buid and maintain good working reationships. Good reationships make the work more enjoyabe for everyone and make it easier to get our work done. They enabe us to gain support or understanding when we need it most from others and can avoid or mitigate the adverse effects of any disagreements or probems. Poor working reationships, on the other hand, can be stressfu, sow down the work, and make ife a bit more difficut for everyone invoved. Being abe to work effectivey with others is an essentia ski set for L&D professionas, and this is neaty captured in the CIPD Profession Map behaviour Coaborative.
14 Learning and Deveopment Practice Consider the definitions in Tabe 1.2 and sef-assess, maybe out of ten, how you currenty perform against them. Tabe 1.2 Extract from CIPD Profession Map Behaviours Coaborative, Bands 1 and 2. Coaborative: Works effectivey and incusivey with a range of peope, both within and outside of the organisation. Band 1 Band 2 Shows sensitivity and respect for others feeings, cutures and beiefs, showing respect for diversity. Makes a positive contribution to the team, supporting coeagues in their day-to-day work. Estabishes constructive and coaborative reationships with immediate coeagues. Passes on information prompty keeping coeagues up to date. Handes disagreements as they occur, seeking a constructive soution. Makes time to get to know individuas, istens to and buids understanding of their skis, interests and motivations, to work together more effectivey Buids a sense of team spirit, encouraging shared ownership of objectives and deiverabes. Buids mutuay beneficia reationships, istening to and gaining the respect and confidence of others. Soicits the invovement of others and readiy shares own experience and expertise. Recognises sensitive or controversia situations and pans how best to hande them. If you want to deveop your skis in coaborative working, you coud try the foowing approaches. Undertaking psychometric tests Psychometric tests have been around for many years now and are intended to hep you to understand aspects of your personaity, behaviour or way of interacting with other peope. There is a wide range of tests avaiabe, ranging from simpe free onine tests to highy speciaised anaysis instruments with rigorous and expensive operator icensing requirements. A basic onine search wi revea many different types of tests and ways of accessing them. Psychometrics can be a great way of anaysing and gaining insights into your behaviour, but we woud aways recommend that you do a itte research first to estabish the vaidity of any test you undertake and that you aways consider any findings to be insights and ideas, rather than comprehensive judgements on you or your personaity. Learning about human behaviour You coud aso read about and experiment with some of the research about human behaviour emerging from psychoogy and neuroscience. For exampe, David Rock s framework of human motivation, known as SCARF; this is described by Rock as a brainbased mode for coaborating with and infuencing others. SCARF is based on two key concepts: Firsty that human behaviour is essentiay driven by two basic needs or desires, to minimise threat and to maximise reward. Rock points out how our natura response to threat, based on our basic surviva need, is to cognitivey abe it as bad and seek to avoid it (the avoid response ), whist our natura response to something we perceive as reward, is to abe it as good and seek to engage with it (the approach response ).
Becoming an Effective Learning and Deveopment Practitioner 15 Secondy, Rock expains that these responses can operate as much within a socia context, where human beings interact and coaborate, as they woud within a basic surviva context. For the framework, he divides the socia context into five domains of human socia experience : Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Reatedness and Fairness (hence, SCARF). Understanding how we might perceive threat and reward and react as a resut, within each of these domains, can hep us to both manage our own behaviour more effectivey and understand a itte more about how others behave. SCARF may seem ike a compex mode at first, but with a itte persistence you might find it hepfu to managing your interactions with others. Of course there are ots of other approaches you coud expore, such as assertive behaviour, emotiona inteigence, or positive inteigence, and other usefu writings on human behaviour. Ask peope you trust and read book reviews to identify texts and resources that might be most hepfu for you. Go the extra mie One approach that wi aways hep buid good working reationships is to go the extra mie occasionay, such as: recognising when coeagues or managers are under pressure and doing something to hep without being asked coecting materia and offering a quick update for someone who was unabe to attend a meeting or event you attended being courageous in teing someone when you think that what they are doing is not in their best interests or in the interests of their team giving peope your undivided attention sometimes, reay istening to them, even though you are very busy. 1.4 continuing professiona deveopment CPD is the action we take to maintain, update and grow the knowedge and skis required for our professiona roe. As the name suggests, it is an ongoing commitment, asting for as ong as we remain within our profession. As L&D professionas, our skis and knowedge are our products. If we are not abe to devise, support and faciitate earning effectivey, then how can we hep others or contribute to our organisations? CPD is douby important to us if we are to roe mode the commitment to earning we expect from others and undertaking CPD and recording it is an expectation of the CIPD and most other professiona bodies. The fact that we are in this profession suggests that we are aready enthusiastic earners. CPD requires us to focus a part of our earning on areas specificay reated to our profession but L&D is a very wide fied, and there are very few things we can earn that do not contribute in some way to our abiities to hep other peope with their earning. The benefits of continuay deveoping ourseves are endess not just for us but aso for our earners, the organisations we work with, and the L&D team or function we are a part of. Some of the potentia benefits are shown in Tabe 1.3 beow. Tabe 1.3 Potentia benefits of CPD Benefits for you: improved ski sets increased confidence improved professiona status improved career prospects enhanced job variety and satisfaction deveopment is a transferabe ski. Benefits for your earners: more creative and interesting L&D that empoys new approaches and methods better quaity L&D services up-to-date advice and information greater confidence in the organisations L&D provision.
16 Learning and Deveopment Practice Benefits to your L&D function: enhanced reputation more ikey to be seen as credibe and reiabe, and to become a trusted partner in the business more infuence with key stakehoders a more exciting earning environment and opportunities to earn from each other. Benefits to the organisation: staff who are better trained more abe to achieve evoving organisationa goas managers confident that staff ski eves are compiant and up to date with requirements improved empoyee engagement enhanced externa reputation. The concept of CPD refects both the Training Cyce (Figure 1.5) and David Kob s Experientia Learning Cyce. It foows the Training Cyce in that we need to keep identifying our earning needs, seecting and undertaking earning to meet these, reviewing/evauating our earning and then starting a over again. Figure 1.5 The Training Cyce Identify needs Evauate Design/seect soution Deiver/impement soution CPD aso foows the Experientia Learning Cyce (Figure 1.6) in that it requires us to refect on our experiences, find new ideas and ways of doing things, experiment with our new ideas and then again, refect on our new experiences. (Chapters 4 and 8 of this book discuss the Experientia Learning Cyce in more detai.) activity 1.4 1 What inspires you to earn? 2 What was the ast earning activity you undertook? 3 How did this contribute to your abiities as an L&D practitioner?
Becoming an Effective Learning and Deveopment Practitioner 17 Figure 1.6 The Experientia Learning Cyce Experience Experiment Refect Conceptuaise (Have ideas) 1.5 choosing sef-deveopment activities Many CPD options are avaiabe; for exampe, you coud: create or join a Facebook or LinkedIn group, where you can foow and contribute to debates or generate a new discussion by posing a question to the group attend a training session, seminar, conference or exhibition read books, artices or bogs (or write your own) job-shadow someone in an area of work that interests you experiment with new L&D technoogy, exporing reevant new apps and software pursue academic earning and quaifications attend a rea-time webinar or access some recorded ones refect on work events and discuss with someone who understands the work find and contract with a coach or mentor take part in a project, either at work or in a vountary work context set up or join an action earning set with peope in simiar roes attend networking events. In terms of what you choose to earn more about, there wi be a number of factors infuencing this, such as your job roe, compiance or professiona requirements, finance, avaiabiity and time scaes. We aso recommend that you consider some of the changes and deveopments currenty shaking up L&D. 1.5.1 the changing word of &d As we have aready indicated, we are working in a rapidy changing word, often referred to as a VUCA word, where VUCA stands for Voatie, Uncertain, Compex and Ambiguous. This is naturay impacting on the way we provide L&D. Deveopments in technoogy in particuar are changing the way peope earn, and demanding new ski sets from L&D practitioners. If we are to remain reevant and effective we have to stay ahead.
18 Learning and Deveopment Practice Learning trends are being driven by two of the biggest trends in goba business today the rise in mutigenerationa workforces and the unremitting pace of technoogy deveopments. Cegos (2015) The 2015 research report, L&D: Evoving roes, enhancing skis, written by Ruth Stuart of CIPD and Laura Overton of Towards Maturity, compares the skis L&D practitioners beieve to be a priority and the skis they actuay have (according to the Towards Maturity Benchmark) and the resuting, very obvious skis gaps; see Figure 1.7. Figure 1.7 Priority L&D skis (outer circe) and current in-house capabiity (inner circe) Onine or bended earning deivery 96 47 Business panning 87 47 34 Programme evauation 96 41 49 89 Instructiona design Supporting earners onine 96 36 15 42 31 89 Deivery via virtua cassroom 91 Digita content deveopment Using socia media effectivey 93 91 Marketing and stakehoder engagement Consider a priority Of these, have the skis in-house currenty The mapping provides a stark message to us a of the new skis we need to be deveoping, if we do not have them aready. activity 1.5 1 Try potting your own skis against the stated priorities. How do you match up? 2 Do you agree with the stated priority areas? 3 How does this research impact on your thoughts about your own CPD? 1.5.2 emerging science A huge amount of information is currenty emerging from neuroscience and from the intersection of neuroscience and technoogy (such as how gaming and augmented reaity appications can enhance earning), which offers us a kinds of new insights. CIPD is eading the way in channeing this information for L&D professionas, providing research reports, guidance materia and earning events (cipd.co.uk). We aso expore some neuroscience findings in chapter 8, and provide a range of foow-up references. If this is
Becoming an Effective Learning and Deveopment Practitioner 19 an area of interest for you, foow up opportunities to gain new insights and experiment with them in your L&D practice. For some (of the case study organisations and practitioners) neuroscience is a transformative subject; for others, it represents an evoution of existing knowedge. There is one common theme, however: a sense that those who don t engage with neuroscience are missing out, both in enhancing L&D effectiveness and their own credibiity. Indeed some think that a working knowedge of neuroscience wi be an essentia part of L&D professiona knowedge in future. CIPD Research Report (2014) Neuroscience in Action, Appying insight to L&D Practice 1.5.3 getting a good baance of activities Aong with the above considerations, and the many suggestions for CPD provided throughout this chapter, you might aso take some of the foowing into account when panning your CPD. Behaviours as we as skis and knowedge As we as the behaviours aready discussed in this chapter, the CIPD 2015 Learning and Deveopment Survey highights others which are considered to particuary contribute to the success of an L&D professiona. These incude the abiity to think innovativey and offer creative soutions, and the abiity to infuence the organisation. Remember to use the CIPD Map and any mechanisms avaiabe to you, for getting feedback on your behaviours at work and incude these in your deveopment panning. Speciaist (technica) subjects as we as L&D skis If you train in a particuar subject area you wi need to maintain your subject/technica abiities and knowedge, as we as deveoping your L&D skis. Make sure you are taking both into account in your CPD panning. Persona aspirations as we as work Aong with the earning you have to undertake for your job and professiona requirements, think about your onger term persona aspirations. Different earning activities If you tend to choose simiar earning activities a the time, why not push your boundaries and try something new? For exampe, if you tend to choose onine earning because it is easier to access, motivate yoursef to attend a face-to-face networking event where you wi meet new peope and practise different skis. Or if you tend to rey on inwork earning sessions, register for some webinars as we so that your earning is twofod, in other words, about the subject matter and an insight into how to ead webinars. If you usuay get information from books or the Internet, try accessing Twitter and searching on a subject that interests you instead. (Enter a one-word subject preceded by a hashtag (eg #neuroscience or #vuca) in the search bar to see recent tweets and their various attachments reating to that subject.) Never forget the basics Whist exporing new areas is crucia, don t forget to keep honing your essentia L&D skis. Learning about, and enhancing your skis and knowedge in reation to, identifying needs, designing earning, deivering earning and evauating and improving earning
20 Learning and Deveopment Practice shoud aways be part of your ongoing deveopment. Take a different sant on them as we by earning about content curation as we as content creation or deivery skis in the context of a mutigenerationa workforce. Serious versus fun Sometimes it does us good to do some ight-hearted deveopment that may appear to have itte professiona connection but coud just ight a spark of new thinking or creativity, or at east be a good stress reiever. Who knows what attending a magicianship workshop, a science ecture or a stand-up comedy course coud ead to? You won t know uness you try! activity 1.6 1 If you were suddeny given one month off a responsibiities and 3,000 to spend on your own deveopment, what woud you choose to do with them, and why? 2 What does this te you about your passions and interests? 3 How might this deveopment impact on your capabiity as an L&D practitioner? 1.5.4 recording cpd Undertaking CPD is not just about seecting and carrying out deveopment activities, but aso refecting on earning and appying it to our practice. We shoud aso find ways of capturing our earning activities and refections to show our progression as earners and to demonstrate our commitment to CPD to other parties. It is so important that we take time to refect upon earning, particuary from big L&D activities and conferences. How wi things ever change if there isn t time to think? My advice is to bock out specific time for refection. Take some time out after an event to absorb, process and review what you ve earnt, or perhaps need to action to earn. Do what you need to do at work to get this time, buid a business case, expain the benefits to management and what you do in return for this time. It wi be time we spent. Bake Henegan, optimus sourcing earning soutions There are different ways of capturing and recording CPD, incuding: traditiona CPD pans and refective record formats; freestye text or persona bogs about our CPD activities; and digita patforms that aow us to store CPD information and to share and network with ike-minded communities. The way you choose to manage and capture your CPD is a persona choice: experiment to find whatever system works best for you. Traditiona CPD pans and refective CPD records CPD records can be set up in word-processing or spreadsheet appications, and if you don t want to design your own, you can access a number of tempates on the CIPD website. Tabe 1.4 and Figure 1.8 give some exampes of how you coud structure your records.
Becoming an Effective Learning and Deveopment Practitioner 21 Tabe 1.4 Exampe CPD pan ayout What I want to achieve How I wi achieve it? Info/resources required Review date Outcome Figure 1.8 Exampe CPD refective record Date Event/experience/activity Refections on earning and how I wi use it 5 February Attended third webinar for Certificate in L&D Group discussed the fu L&D roe and I reaised it was wider than I thought. made me aware of some of the areas I sti have to earn. I recognised that I need further deveopment in identifying earning needs and designing training. Aso want to earn more about curating toos. I fee more confident about deivery and evauation. Aso need to think more about how I specificay contribute to organisationa objectives. 10 February CIPD Profession Map Did some sef-assessment against the behaviours. My best behaviour is communication skis. Not as strong on driven to deiver. I am going to start monitoring my work more cosey to keep on track with timeines and anticipate issues sooner. 19 February Team meeting We began the process of setting team objectives for next year. We did a review of what we need to do more of, what we need to change and what we need to stop doing. I ran a session on our organisationa goas and how these cascade into what we need to achieve. Everyone said this was usefu and heped them see how they fit into the big picture. It aso consoidated my own thinking and I fee much cearer now about the purpose of some of my activities. Freestye text or bogs Another option is to set aside reguar time (every month, quarter or more frequenty) to consider a repeated question such as: How have my skis and knowedge deveoped over the ast three months? What have been the biggest contributors to my deveopment, and why? What do I want/need to do next?
22 Learning and Deveopment Practice As your writing/bogs buid up you wi have a very persona refective record of your CPD. (Aways remember that you may have to submit this to your empoyer or professiona body.) Digita patforms for managing CPD Digita CPD toos are an increasingy popuar way of managing CPD. At the time of writing, CIPD is pioting two systems with members: these are Captured and an internay deveoped Mahara-based system, my CPD foio (see Figure 1.9). Both toos aow you to upoad mutimedia CPD materias (eg artices, notes, video or podcast inks) both for your own use and refection, and aso to share with the various groups and networks you can join within the system. A main advantage of digita systems is that they get away from the reguar ogging of your CPD activities, and give easy access to your CPD information. Of course, they aso aow easy networking and sharing with other peope working in simiar areas and with simiar interests (thus vasty mutipying your access to resources). Figure 1.9 Two exampes of digita CPD toos ( Captured and CIPD s my CPD foio ) However you choose to manage your CPD, remember that this in itsef is a very vauabe deveopment activity. Defining your goas and panning how you wi address them gives you a much greater chance of achieving them. Capturing or recording your deveopment activities and refecting on them, consoidates and enhances the earning you get from