The Learning & Development Podcast

More and more, forward-thinking organisations are exchanging traditional hierarchies for networks of empowered teams. These teams are more agile, connected by tech and may only be brought together for short amounts of time. In this podcast, we discuss the importance of measuring high performance in teams and what we need to do to develop them accordingly.     KEY TAKEAWAYS  There are now fusion teams that are brought together for a specific activity.  You are not just part of a set team you are teaming with others.  Our environments are highly complex so it’s important that our definitions of high performing teams continue to evolve.  When a measure becomes a target, it is no longer a measure.  A measure will always help the team to learn more and work out where look for it.  In real situations, the dynamics are continually changing.  We need to understand what we want to affect,  the current state of play and what the priorities are for the people within the team.  When you are in a complex environment you cannot ask the question ‘what’ or ‘how’ you can only ask  - who can I speak to?  Currently, you have to learn the tool first and then use it with the team.  The team has to be able to self-service the data and deal with its environment and the individuals.  To start you can identify the number of teams you have and what types of teams you have within your organisation then look at the environment.  If you are at a point where you are moving teams you can look at a different way of evaluation, one that empowers people.  Find out what you need your teams to be able to do and the environment they need to do it in. What environments need to be created so that teams can be effective.  Start from a place of knowing not a place of assumption.  What teams are currently using as tools are far too slow we have the technology, the people, the knowledge and the science its now about creating the tool that  works in real-time helps us learn on the go  providing the information that indicates progress is in the right direction. People are then in a position to make decisions and performance  becomes a by-product because the team are energised  If people are coming in happy and leaving happy it’s an indicator of positive team energy.     BEST MOMENTS  ‘The answer are everywhere else but in your own industry’  ‘It’s making the world your classroom’  ‘As a team lead, I wanted help to be able to practically support my teams’     VALUABLE RESOURCES  The Learning & Development Podcast      ABOUT THE GUEST  Imran Rehman Bio     Imran Rehman is an organisation and performance specialist, with an expertise in measuring and developing high performance.  Based in Vienna, Imran is a leadership coach as well as co-founder of Kokoro, an intuitive app to measure emotions in teams, in real-time.     CONTACT METHOD  You can follow and connect with Imran via:  Twitter: @ImsRehman  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imranrehman/  Website: https://bekokoro.com/     ABOUT THE HOST  David James  David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.  As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board.     CONTACT METHOD  Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning?lang=en  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/  Website: https://www.looop.co/ 

What is Resilience and Why is it such a Hot Topic? Interview with Dr Carole Pemberton, Resilience Expert and Developer of Coaches  There has been a generation who have seen themselves as helicopter parents, watching over their children,  but in reality, they are lawn mower parents, mowing out of the way any obstacles but resilience is the learning that you take from the things that go wrong when obstacles are overcome. All the time spent having adventures and playing with others is important in building resilience and without this learning, it can be challenging for individuals to cope when things go wrong at any point in their lives.  In this fascinating interview with Dr Carole Pemberton a resilience expert, we find out about the role of resilience in individuals and organisations and how L&D can support and develop resilience effectively.     KEY TAKEAWAYS  Resilience is a requirement when working in any organisation as the environment can be subject to constant change.  There is no longer a fixed path through an organisation.  There’s a whole climate that feels less certain and within that in order to work a level of agility is required, you’ve got to be able to flex and adapt.  The situations in which we expect people to be resilient have changed dramatically  The evidence shows that it is less about a particular approach to resilience and more about on-going support.  If we think about resilience as an outcome that is a result of a variety of things  - your confidence, optimism, ability to flex are all contributors to your level of resilience.  It can be helpful to start by asking about the resilience you already have.  Developing resilience is a commitment by the organisation, the team and the individual.  There is something about sharing that helps people deal with problems and challenges.  One of the most important things you can create is a supportive environment where people feel confident about sharing.  Being able to talk with group or peers can leave the individual feeling more resilient and more resourced.  For L&D building in ongoing support and including it as part of training programs alongside the recognition that it has to be an ongoing conversation can be effective in building resilience.    BEST MOMENTS  ‘Resilience can be applied at a team level – are they supportive of each other, does this team notice when something is going well and support each other’  ‘You can start with a conversation and gain a feeling about how things are going’  ‘Most of your resilience comes from the stuff you didn’t want to happen’  ‘Most of the time most of us are resilient’  ‘Sometimes people don’t start a conversation until its almost too late’     VALUABLE RESOURCES  The Learning and Development Podcast  Resilience: A Practical Guide for Coaches  Carole Pemberton website    BEST MOMENTS  ‘The L&D world needs to become much more confident working in these ways’  ‘For people in senior positions, it’s about letting go and trusting in something new’  ‘You need to be where people are and understand why they want to learn in the first place’  ‘There is a recognition now that everything is changing, and it is happening at a pace so beware of certainty’     ABOUT THE GUEST   Dr Carole Pemberton has over 30 years’ experience in helping individuals to have more successful and satisfying working lives. She does this in her work as an executive coach and career coach working with clients across the globe and across sectors. Her doctorate in resilience coaching positions her as having a particular expertise which is supported by her advanced level qualifications in Executive Coaching and Career Coaching.   Carole is an author whose publications offer coaches and managers practical tools for enhancing their effectiveness, based on research and experience.   You can follow and connect with Carole via: Website: https://carolepemberton.co.uk/ Email: carole.pemberton@coachingtosolutions.com ‘Resilience: A Practical Guide for Coaches’ Book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Resilience-Guide-Coaches-Carole-Pemberton/dp/0335263747/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425577961&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=resilience+a+practical+guide+for+coaches   ABOUT THE HOST  David James  David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.  As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board.     CONTACT METHOD  Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning?lang=en  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/  Website: https://www.looop.co/ 

In an article of the same name, Mike Bedford commentated on a revolution that he’s seeing - and experiencing - in the Learning & Development profession, and encourages us all to get involved.  In this episode, we discuss the revolution, which is a backlash against ineffective practice and maintaining the status quo. KEY TAKEAWAYS Revolution is about change. In terms of an L&D revolution we need to change, but we also need to unite behind a common purpose. At present the L&D industry feels too fragmented, but needs to come together or risk becoming obsolete. Employees often misperceive L&D as the training itself, rather than the functional improvement that results in effective targeting of training needs. Disruption in the sector means breaking the cycle of Order - Content - Delivery. The disruption needs to come from us instead of elsewhere. Telling an evidence-based story, and using effective evaluation is far more valuable to L&D and to their respective parent companies, than any kind of stat sheets or numbers. Mike has adopted a blended approach towards L&D for his organisation. Because many of the workforce are scattered, he rules nothing out. Some development is done remotely or through e-learning, while some is done in-house. They are currently looking at the first six months of 2020 for potential direction. Sometimes, when the training requested by the workforce does not seem a fit, it is Mike’s job to look at the deeper reasons that have led them to ask. The questions asked and the solutions are becoming more bespoke. We need to stop being so entrenched in our preferred methods of delivering our craft. We need to be more fluid and embrace the entire profession. Ask ourselves how equipped we are to hold the right conversations and develop the solutions that will move the needle. BEST MOMENTS ‘It feels to me like revolution is in the air’ ‘We’re in the business of improving performance outcomes’ ‘Disruption needs to come from us’ ‘LinkedIn knows more about you than your HR department does’ ‘People think I’m anti-training, but I’m not’ ‘We’re changing the world one conversation at a time’ ‘We have more things in common than we do differences'   ABOUT THE GUEST At the time of recording, Mike was Head of Learning & Development and Wellbeing at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. He is a self-proclaimed L&D modernist and blogger.   You can follow and connect with Mike via: Twitter: @BeddyMike LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebedford/ Read ‘The L&D Revolution’: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ld-revolution-mike-bedford ABOUT THE HOST David James David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board. CONTACT METHOD Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/ Website: https://www.looop.co/

Andy Lancaster is Head Of Learning at CIPD and author of the book ‘Driving Performance Through Learning’, in which he charts a course for L&D that challenges traditional expectations and shows the way towards the future.  In this episode, we explore the drivers of this change and how L&D can - and should - adapt to meet the needs of the modern workforce. Please note, as a special offer to listeners, the link below to purchase Andy's book will give you 15% off the cover price. KEY TAKEAWAYS What can we practically do to support the transformation of organisational learning; to really support performance improvement? - this was the question that spurred Andy to write his book.   Learning and development in any organisation, private or public, should always be driving that company’s performance and purpose.   Performance itself is a contentious, and indeed sometimes controversial word or concept. Many believe that performance is open to interpretation, and therefore a difficult metric to measure.   When preparing to write the book, there were several key themes that emerged for Andy surrounding the emerging organisational landscapes (we need to understand how organisations are changing), and foundational principles (transformational approaches to development). These manifested in three themes: Work - operational models are being disrupted everywhere. The way we approach development has to change. Workforce - There are a greater range of ages in the workforce than ever before. There is less hierarchy. Workplace - Single locations are becoming rarer these days.    In Andy’s experience, he has found that change is generally embraced when it comes to development, but there will always be an element that resists due to the transition to the new way of working, and the ever-evolving working environments.   We need to ask what foundations look like. We need to ask what learning approaches look like. We need to think about these questions in a new way, and use technology to aid in answering.   Around 50% of all Learning & Development professionals are extremely concerned with the state of their own development.    Smart devices are changing the way we live. They guide us throughout our day and act as personal assistants in every way possible. We need to better understand a way in which these highly personal devices can drive our own learning and development in a revolutionary way. We need people to have more self-direction in the workplace, with a greater sense of autonomy (essential), and learning needs to be interrelated with others in that space BEST MOMENTS ‘You have to have a very compelling reason to write a book’ ’Performance is not a contentious word’ ‘Unless you paint a compelling vision, change is a very difficult concept to go with’ ‘We’ve got to think about a bigger vision’ ‘People want to change. We have to be modern learners ourselves’ ‘It’s now about creating not fixed dishes, but buffet menus’ ’Self direction is what really motivates us’ ‘I dream of painting and then I paint my dream’ ’The best way to predict the future is to create it' ABOUT THE GUEST Andy Lancaster has more than 25 years’ experience in learning and organisational development in commercial, technological and not-for-profit organisations and has also worked as a consultant.  As Head of Learning at CIPD, Andy is responsible for professional development and learning products, content and qualifications for L&D, coaching and mentoring and management and leadership. You can follow and connect with Andy via: Twitter: @AndyLancasterUK LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-lancaster-ab995418/ Link To Book With 15% Discount Off Cover Price when you enter the promotion code AHRDL15 at the checkout: www.koganpage.com/DPTL ABOUT THE HOST David James David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board. CONTACT METHOD Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/ Website: https://www.looop.co/

Performance Consulting is recognised as a key skill-set for the modern L&D professional who wants to make a difference in their organisation. In this episode, Nigel Harrison helps us to understand what Performance Consulting is and how it’s helping L&D to align to its organisation to achieve more.  KEY TAKEAWAYS  Performance Consulting is how you ask your client questions to uncover the apparent need. It doesn’t assume that learning and training are the best solutions. Deliberate beforehand if what L&D strategy is the way to go.  Some use L&D for work compliance, some use it for personal development, and some use it to improve the business performance. You need consulting when something’s bound to be crucial to the business goals. Great L&D can help you in cost reduction and in work efficiency.  There are great risks when we become lenient of people we take in our company. We want people who understand your business needs and can move with us forward.   Application > Theory. Your priority is to ready them in what they’ll be facing in work. Give it a second thought if an academic or educational appraoach is the correct one for them. You should be able to introduce them to the work culture, increase their productivity, and be knowledgeable with your obectives.  Why people have the hard time seeing that performance is greater than training courses? Some seniors are immovable in incorporating changes in the traditional apporach they’re used to—the mentality has to change. Some, though know of the recent developments in L&D, just don’t have the means to push through such changes.  BEST MOMENTS  “A lot of learning and development are misaligned with the business.”  “Our job is to help people do things better.”  “We are so fixed in our training bubble and we don’t have the time to see what’s really going on.”  ABOUT THE GUEST  Nigel Harrison is recognised as an authority in Performance Consulting and has worked globally with clients to develop the skills for sustained business impact. He’s a Chartered Business Psychologist, Author of “How to be a True Business Partner by Performance Consulting” and founder of Performance Consulting UK Ltd.  You can find out more from Nigel via:  Website: https://performconsult.co.uk/   The Performance Consulting Process: http://performconsult.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/new-web-site-7StepProcess.png   ‘How To Be A True Business Partner’ Book: https://performconsult.co.uk/book-shop/  ABOUT THE HOST  David James   David has been a People Development professional for over 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.   As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board.   CONTACT METHOD   Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/  Website: https://www.looop.co/ 

Changes in the Retail landscape have meant that companies have had to adapt or collapse if they don’t meet the changing expectations of consumers. But a business can’t change if it’s people aren’t ready. In this episode, these changes are explored and Mike shares how River Island’s approach to L&D has had to adapt too.     KEY TAKEAWAYS  Challenges  Resale and in particular fashion is facing real challenges with competition and changes in the buying trends of consumers. As a business, we have to focus on serving our customers better.  In retail ,recruiting and having the right people with the right expertise is vital and there are challenges in attracting and keeping the right people.  Retail is still about how people feel - both the customer and the people within the business.  Our employees may not our customers but we need to take the mindset methodologies and the approaches we apply with customers and use them for the people who provide the service to the end-user.  Learning  There are so many different ways we can support people in getting access to the information they need at the time they need it, feeling connected with the organisation and that they have meaningful work and are developing professionally.  People do want to learn but they will only learn when they have the autonomy to do so and can link it to developing their competence and expertise. This then, in turn, drives the motivation to go out and find learning for themselves.  If you can guide and support people towards confident and competent doing then you will have their attention.  When you create a program for everything you create rules and barriers for people wanting to engage and then what we offer as learning and development becomes a blocker to actual performance.  As L&D professionals we need to have a suite of tools and solutions that we can mix and match to suit the individual need and we need strong enough relationships with our colleagues to follow it through, understanding what the problem is and working collaboratively to solve it.  We should be able to attribute hard business metrics to the things we are doing and we can only do this if we have credible relationships with our colleagues and are trusted to work with them.  Data-driven learning  There are lots of different ways of using data but it’s helped me to tell stories with credible points.  We need more people telling stories about how data is helping them.  Data is the foundation of digital from which the approaches and tech are built  If you can talk with authenticity and not talk about the tech, but talk about the value then you start to change hearts and minds and gain traction.  It’s about challenging yourself taking your opportunities learning from other people and don’t be afraid of taking a jump and being brave.     BEST MOMENTS  ‘The bedroom is the new changing room’  ‘I wanted to feel that buzz and excitement about contributing to real business change’  ‘The way and means in which  learning and development serve an organisation would be better served in listening more’     VALUABLE RESOURCES  The Learning & Development Podcast     ABOUT THE GUEST  Mike Collins  Mike Collins is Senior People Experience Specialist at River Island and podcast host on The Lancashire HotPod. Previously, working for RBS for 10 years winning numerous awards for the work he had been involved in. Mike has also worked for CIPD training provider DPG plc, specialising in social & collaborative working and developing L&D qualifications.     GUEST CONTACT METHOD  You can follow and connect with Mike via:  Twitter: @Community_Mike  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/communitymike/  Instagram: layzmc   Podcast: https://www.thelancashirehotpod.com/    ABOUT THE HOST  David James  David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.  As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board.     CONTACT METHOD  Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning?lang=en  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/  Website: https://www.looop.co/ 

Since it’s rise to prominence, e-Learning has promised so much and often failed to deliver. Is this the fault of the medium or the fault of L&D?  This episode explores the evolution of technology-enabled learning and what it will take for L&D to truly capitalise on the potential of digital. KEY TAKEAWAYS L&D has had a strange relationship with technology. It has been very difficult to get the average person to engage with tech-based development, but although strides have been made, we are still not there yet.   Technology is best at educating large numbers of people remotely, and at once. The problem is that many companies use tech to educate when they don’t want to. This generally results in an unpalatable product.   If you don’t engage with your target audience early enough, and effectively enough, you’ll end up shaping your development in ways that may not be suitable. Remember you have two customers: the business and the learner. Each person has different requirements in terms of learning practices.   Once we do understand the business and client needs, we need to make the learning experiences engaging, accessible and relevant.   If you can solve real problems for people, you don’t just help them, you can disrupt entire industries. Disruption can be uncomfortable, but incredibly innovative. BEST MOMENTS ‘Learning is a very human experience’ ‘L&D has not kept up with the world, and is not delivering the experience people want’ ‘Given the choice, people can choose bizarre and unsuitable ways of learning’ ’The simplest things are often what people need’ ‘We know so much more now about what makes good learning' ABOUT THE GUEST Clive Shepherd is a workplace learning and development specialist, with a particular interest in the application of media and technology. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Clive has headed up a corporate training function, co-founded a leading multimedia development business and operated as an independent consultant. In recent years, Clive has devoted his attention to the new role of the learning architect, the design of next generation blended learning solutions and the design of digital learning content.   You can follow and connect with Clive via: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cliveshepherd/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliveShepherd Blog: hhttp://www.cliveonlearning.com/ Website: https://skillsjourney.com/ ABOUT THE HOST David James David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board. CONTACT METHOD Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/ Website: https://www.looop.co/

How do we know what we do works? Well, Kevin M Yates has made this his mission. In this episode we talk about how expectations of L&D have grown and how we need to adapt in order to demonstrate our impact.  KEY TAKEAWAYS At a senior level in Learning & Development there seems to be a paranoia/anxiety that training isn’t getting results or equating to any kind of business performance, capability or change.   There’s been a transition in the expectation of what L&D is. Decades ago, expectations were very different. Right now, the expectation is that people will use their performance in a way that helps the business win. In the past, this focus on performance in that context was not resonant.   Happy sheets, attendance, completion and satisfaction, the main parameters chosen to measure the success of training, don’t actually measure whether or not anything has been learned.   Organisational goals are where L&D should begin, before looking at the gaps in performance and capability that are limiting people’s capacity for achieving those.   Learning solutions and experiences need to hit three criteria for full-blown impact analysis: Whether or not the learning solution is strategically and intentionally aligned to a business goal. Whether or not the solution or experience has high visibility within the business. Whether or not it’s expensive Being curious and creating relationships are keystones to successful implementation of L&D, and the measurement of its success.   BEST MOMENTS ‘We are expected now to impact people’s performance in a very measurable way’ ‘I believe that those metrics and measures tell a story’ ‘You’re always defining those things before you go and investigate’ ‘Be curious’ ‘I consider myself a curator of knowledge and information' ABOUT THE GUEST Kevin’s expertise is answering the question, “Did training work?”, with facts, evidence, and data. His work is global and multi-industry. He's a sought after subject matter expert and international speaker.   You can follow and connect with Kevin via: Twitter: @KevinMYates - www.twitter.com/kevinmyates LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinmyates/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevmyates/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevmyates/ Website: https://kevinmyates.com/   ABOUT THE HOST David James David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board. CONTACT METHOD Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/ Website: https://www.looop.co/

Too often, L&D technology implementations promise so much and deliver so little. The word ‘transformation’ is used prior to launch but, due to lack of sustained engagement, driving traffic to justify the expenditure becomes the goal. In this episode of The Learning & Development Podcast, Lori and David talk about what it really takes to make large-scale, organisation-wide digital transformations successful. KEY TAKEAWAYS L&D transformations today mostly depend on learning experiences not on business KPIs. This is the reason tech implementations are very hard to do inside the companies. Lori adds that before choosing any tech platform, it’s best to base it on the exisiting problems. Lori forms strategies rooted on what’s really needed in the business. She does this after evaluation. Will it target the KPIs? Is it revenue-generating? Is it regulatory? She suggests using the software Workfront. There are many resources out there, but there will only be enough resources which create meaning and impact to the team. Learning should be about presenting content with nurturing, understanding, and connections. Use the data that already exists when designing better solutions. Observe ‘digital body language’ by analysing the online engagement of each individual so you can respond properly to their needs. Implementing the emerging technologies in the company does not remove the clasroom trainings. The existing learning strategy might be improved with some new implementations. Based on Lori’s observations, she sees a pattern in the companies management of L&D programs. One-third of them are on-board with L&D tech implementations and have high learnability scores, another one-third are on-board but they won’t get through, and the ones left are the traditionalists who won’t make it also. What are the main pitfalls that L&D fall into, in their best efforts to digitally transform? They don’t start with finding the solutions. They fall inlove with the platfomr before realising it’s gonna work. They aren’t talking to the learners. They don’t engage enough with the Chief Technology Officer. BEST MOMENTS “It’s funny we find L&D teams themselves don’t initiate the change. It usually coming from pressure—they might be not meeting their sales or there might be new regulatory requests—whatever it is, it’s the external pressure that’s on them they now have to respond to. And, we try to get them back in control.” “We’re speaking to them like true business partners.” “The pressure on them to continue to learn maybe lies in being relevant and redundant.” “Fix the root problem.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Workfront - https://www.workfront.com ABOUT THE GUEST Lori Niles-Hofmann is a senior learning strategist with over 20 years of L&D experience across many industries, including international banking, management consulting, and marketing. Having held L&D leadership roles at KPMG and Scotiabank, Lori’s specialisation is large-scale digital learning transformations. You can follow and connect with Lori via: Twitter: @LoriNiles LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorinileshofmann/ Website: http://www.loriniles.com/ ABOUT THE HOST David James David has been a People Development professional for over 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board. CONTACT METHOD Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/ Website: https://www.looop.co/  

“Data is the new black” according to Laura Overton. So how do we differentiate the fad from the facts? Laura has a unique perspective on L&D, which is as broad as it is deep. In this episode of The Learning & Development Podcast, we explore the applications of data and evidence-based practice in L&D, what these are and why we all need to pay attention.  KEY TAKEAWAYS  What’s different now? Unlike in the previous years where we have just started modernising some practices, the main focus lately has been on how companies can keep up with the rapidly-changing technologies present. A business must sought to study and analyse if a new technological solution might increase their business value.  What do ‘evidence’ and ‘data’ mean in L&D? Data is just a plain input (a numerical figure, a fact, etc.), but proper handling of it will greatly improve efficiency. It’s easier to gather and analyse data when we have the evidence, which involves the opinions, the observations, and the hypotheses.  Data analytics, Machine Learning (ML), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are just a few of the buzzwords we hear recently if we ask about emerging technologies. But remember to remain cautious and inquisitive of the systems you wish to adapt in your company. Being trendy does not equate to being the best.  According to Rob Briner’s The Role of Scientific in Evidence-Based HR, we can base our evidences on four different sources: scientific research findings, organizational data, professional experience and judgment, and stakeholder’s values and concerns. These can help answer questions you have in the business.  Dealing with organisational changes can be very difficult. But, the use of the available data can help ease the transitions happening without disrupting the work culture and work environment.  Some stakeholders would immediately suggest some solutions without even knowing the entirety of a certain situation. As an HR practitioner, it’s your job to present the actual data and the possible solutions based on it and some evidences.  What can L&D learn from marketing? Marketing is capable of gathering huge amounts of information, from the tidbits to the most critical ones. One of the known marketing experiments is A/B testing, which tests variations of a campaign so a company can know what’s best to use. The same experimentation can be adapted when choosing the best HR practices.  For Laura, the secret ingredient in the engagement between data and evidence are the questions you have in the current situation that you’re willing to challenge. They’ll help you gain the information you need to arrive at the best HR practices.  BEST MOMENTS  “The market dictates strongly where the practitioners should be going rather than it being an equal relationship which increases the amibiguity, as well as anxiety in the profession.”  “Data on its own is potentionally dangerous.”   “It’s about the questions we ask.”  “It’s not taking one set of data, but it’s looking at range of data.”  “Data can really shift conversations.”  VALUABLE RESOURCES  Sentiment Analysis | https://monkeylearn.com/sentiment-analysis/   The Role of Scientific Findings in Evidence-Based HR | https://www.cebma.org/wp-content/uploads/Briner-Barends-The-Role-of-Scientific-Findings-in-Evidence-Based-HR.pdf   Center for Evidence-Based Management (CEBMa) - https://www.cebma.org  How to Start Thinking Like a Data Scientist | Harvard Business Review | https://hbr.org/2013/11/how-to-start-thinking-like-a-data-scientist   The Learning & Development Podcast: Agile L&D | Apple | Spotify | Omny  ABOUT THE GUEST  Laura Overton is an award winning learning analyst dedicated to uncovering and sharing effective practices in learning innovation that lead to business value. Her work is based on 30 years of practical experience and a commitment to supporting evidence based learning decisions and has shared her ideas as author of over 40 reports and hundreds of articles over that time. As the founder of Towards Maturity, she is also known for leading the first 15 years of a longitudinal study programme (2004 – February 2019) respected for uncovering and share learning strategies that lead to business success.  You can follow and connect with Laura via:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraoverton/   Twitter: @lauraoverton  ABOUT THE HOST  David James   David has been a People Development professional for over 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.   As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board.   CONTACT METHOD   Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/   Website: https://www.looop.co/