Conference Take Aways: What Are They, and How Can You Use Them?

Conference Take Aways: What Are They, and How Can You Use Them? By William J. Rothwell, Ph.D., SPHR, CTDP

Part I:Introduction

Overview • This session will summarize key developments in Workplace Learning and Performance (WLP) based on the ASTD International Conference and Exhibition • It will also summarize key issues in the six generations of the field formerly called training

Objectives Upon completing this session, participants will be able to: • Discuss the 6 generations of the field formerly called training. These generations are: (1) training; (2) human resource development; (3) human performance improvement; (4) workplace learning and performance; (5) the workplace learner; and (6) learning and performance. • Describe the key features of the conference, viewed through the lens of the 6 generations, and pinpoint the most important developments of the conference • Discuss how to apply what you learned at the conference

Brief Outline • Introduction • The Six Generations of the Field and Why They are Important • What Was Important About the Conference, and How Can You Apply What You Learned? • Conclusion

Part II:The Six Generations of the Field and Why They are Important

Overview This part summarizes the 6 generations of the field formerly called training. These generations are: • Generation 1: Training • Generation 2: Human resource development • Generation 3: Human performance improvement • Generation 4: Workplace learning and performance • Generation 5: The workplace learner, and • Generation 6: Learning and performance

Your Task • Let’s divide up into 4 teams • One team is to come up with at least ONE QUESTION about the lecture you are about to hear • The second team is to come up with ONE CRITICAL REMARK that disagrees with what I am about to say in the lecture • The third team is to come up with ONE REMARK THAT AGREES WITH WHAT I AM ABOUT TO SAY IN THE LECTURE

Your Task • The fourth team is to come up with ONE EXAMPLE, from your own experience or from the experience of people you know, that supports or does not support what I am about to say during the lecture • Let me give you about 3 minutes to get into your teams, introduce yourselves and then get clear how you will go about the task assigned to your team while I am giving the lecture

What Do We Mean By “Generations of the Field”? • Ways of thinking about the field have been changing “at the speed of business” • Each new viewpoint represents a paradigm shift—a new way of thinking • There are no “right” or “wrong” ways to think • Each generation carries with it ideas from previous generations

What Do We Mean By “Generations of the Field”? • The appropriate generation is the one best-suited for the business needs of your nation and/or your organization • Each generation is punctuated by a competency study that codifies and explains it—and the role of practitioners

For many years the focus of our field was on training alone Training is an activity, a change effort designed to change individuals by equipping them with knowledge, skill and attitudes Generation 1: Training and Development

Training can focus on off-the-job training in groups, off-the-job training for individuals, on-the-job training in groups, on-the-job training for individuals, e-learning for groups, and e-learning for individuals Much time and attention has historically been focused on what type of training? Why were the other types not so much a focus of attention? Generation 1: Training and Development

ASTD sponsored two important competency studies that described the training field The first modern competency study of the field was Patricia McLagan’s Models for excellence (1983) Generation 1: Training and Development

Human Resource Development (HRD) is defined as the integrated use of training, organization development and career development HRD changes individuals through activities both at present (through training) and in the future (through career development) as well as changes the work environment (OD) Generation 2: Human Resource Development (HRD)

The competency study that codified and defined this generation was McLagan, P. (1989). Models for HRD practice. 4 vols. Alexandria, VA: The American Society for Training and Development. Generation 2: Human Resource Development (HRD)

Human Performance Improvement (HPI) is the process of identifying the root cause(s) of human performance problems and finding solutions or interventions to address those causes HPI is interested in results, not activities HPI uses any or all means to achieve results Generation 3: Human Performance Improvement (Performance Consulting)

Generation 3: Human Performance Improvement (Performance Consulting) The competency study defining this generation was Rothwell, W. (1996). ASTD models for human performance improvement. Alexandria, VA: The American Society for Training and Development; and Rothwell, W. (Ed.). (2000). ASTD models for human performance. 2nd ed. Alexandria, VA: The American Society for Training and Development.

The field has: Broadened in scope beyond efforts to change individuals and beyond activities like training to focus on whatever it takes to get results and improvement Moved away from single solutions to all problems Become more demanding in practice So What Does It All Mean?

Workplace Learning and Performance (WLP) is defined as “the integrated use of learning and other interventions for the purpose of improving human performance, and addressing individual and organizational needs. It uses a systematic process of analyzing and responding to individual, group, and organizational performance issues. It creates positive, progressive change within organizations by balancing humanistic and ethical considerations” (Rothwell, Sanders & Soper, 1999, p. 121). Generation 4: Workplace Learning and Performance

WLP reinvents HRD in light of HPI WLP emphasizes learning as a tool for achieving improved work performance in organizational settings Unlike training, which is done to people, learning is something that is done by people The competency study defining this generation was Rothwell, W., Sanders, E., & Soper, J. (1999). ASTD models for workplace learning and performance. Alexandria, VA: The American Society for Training and Development. Generation 4: Workplace Learning and Performance

Generation 4: Workplace Learning and Performance The competency study defining this generation is Rothwell, W., Sanders, E., & Soper, J. (1999). ASTD models for workplace learning and performance. Alexandria, VA: The American Society for Training and Development.

An Old Chinese Saying Retold “Fish for people, and they can eat for one day; teach people how to fish and they can feed themselves; help people learn how to learn and they can discover new ways to feed themselves and others.” -- William J. Rothwell, 1998

This generation is emerging The Workplace Learner generation focuses on individual change throughlearning, not training Learning is a means to achieve the end of improved performance Learning helps individuals become and maintain employability A focus on learning implies a new role for the trainer, HRD professional, HPI practitioner, or WLP practitioner Generation 5: The Workplace Learner

The driver for this generation is that many people are able to become Free Agent Learners when they have nobody between them and the instruction—which is what happens with technology-assisted instruction The focus of attention in this generation is on what it takes to become a more competent learner Generation 5: The Workplace Learner

The Workplace Learning Process Triggering Circumstance Recognition of Importance Double Loop Trigger/ Evaluation Curiosity Reflection Information Application Conversion/Knowledge Transformation Processing

What Is a Learning Competency? • A learning competency is a characteristic that distinguishes a superior from a fully-successful learner • Authors Lombardo and Eichinger believe that High Potential (HiPo) performers are chiefly distinguished from others because they are superior learners

What Is Learning Climate? Learning climate refers to: • Recognition that learning occurs in a unique corporate cultural context • The operational characteristics of a learning organization • What the organization does to encourage or discourage real-time individual learning

CEO expectations for the field are different from what trainers have traditionally thought about their own roles, competencies and outputs An important stakeholder, who controls organizational resources, has never been systematically examined before now What Else?

Another way to think about the future is based on 6 key trends centered around increasing: Technological change Globalization Focus on cost containment Speed to market Importance of human capital Change itself What Else?

This is the current generation ASTD has created a certification program based on it Learning is a means to achieve the end of improved performance Learning helps individuals become employable and maintain employability Performance means productivity Generation 6: Learning and Performance

Link learning and performance and the meaning is “the role of planned and unplanned learning in achieving results” A focus on learning implies a new role for the trainer, HRD professional, HPI practitioner, or WLP practitioner Generation 6: Learning and Performance

Generation 6: Learning and Performance Trends impacting learning and performance: • Drastic times, drastic measures • Blurred lines—life or work? • Small world and shrinking • New faces, new expectations • Work be nimble, work be quick • Security alert! • Life and work in the e-lane • A higher ethical bar Source: Jan 04 T+D “8 Trends You Need to Know Now”

Generation 6: Learning and Performance This is the current competency study for the field, and its purpose is to: • Identify trends driving change in the WLP profession • Update past competency models • Research certification “State of the Union" • Provide preliminary certification design with recommendations

The field has: Continued to broaden in scope beyond efforts to change individuals Focused increasingly on the relationship between workplace learning and performance, linking the two together Taken a broader view of development than simply training, recognizing that most development occurs on the job Increased its sensitivity to the results gained by developmental efforts So What Does It All Mean?

Questions and Answers Do you have any questions about the six generations?

Interaction with Your Teams • Spend about 5 minutes to work in your teams • Remember, depending on the role of your team, you are to come up with your choice of a question, a comment that disagrees with what I said in the lecture, a comment that agrees with what I said in the lecture, or an example that supports what I said in the lecture • When your team is finished, I will ask for several teams to volunteer to speak

Debrief of the Small Group Activity • Could I have a spokesperson for a small group to tell us what your group came up with as definitions for the terms role, competency, and with a list of some critically-important roles for this field?

Part III:What Was Important About the Conference, and How Can You Apply What You Learned?

Overview This part gives you a chance to: • Describe the key features of the conference, viewed through the lens of the 6 generations, and pinpoint the most important developments of the conference • Discuss how to apply what you learned at the conference

Small Group Activity • Divide up into small groups of about 3-5 people each • Spend about 5-10 minutes to summarize the most important points that the individuals in your team learned from the conference • Appoint a spokesperson for your team • When you are finished, your spokesperson should be prepared to share the key points of what you learned from the conference—and also be prepared to describe what they means in terms of what you should do when you go home

Debrief of the Small Group Activity • Could I have the spokesperson for each small group share: • The key points of what the members of your team learned from the conference • What those points mean in terms of what you should do when you go home

Part III:Conclusion

Overview • This session summarized key developments in Workplace Learning and Performance (WLP) based on the ASTD International Conference and Exhibition • It also summarized key issues in the six generations of the field formerly called training

Objectives You should now be able to: • Discuss the 6 generations of the field formerly called training. These generations are: (1) training; (2) human resource development; (3) human performance improvement; (4) workplace learning and performance; (5) the workplace learner; and (6) learning and performance. • Describe the key features of the conference, viewed through the lens of the 6 generations, and pinpoint the most important developments of the conference • Discuss how to apply what they learned at the conference

Final Questions and Answers Do you have any questions?

Conference Take Aways: What Are They, and How Can You Use Them?