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Learning & Development

Published March 2010

The Classroom in Context

 

  Allison Rossett and Deborah Pettry

A study conducted between 2007 and 2009 by Jean Leslie at the Center for Creative Leadership found a glaring gap between the leadership skills organizations have now and the ones they will need in five years. In a different study, published in 2009, Pearson and Executive Development Associates reported that 57 percent of business leaders perceived their leadership talent pipeline as the same or weaker today than it was two years ago, and 75 percent said increasing leadership bench strength will be a top business priority for the next two to three years.

Not long ago, this requirement for more and better leaders would have generated classes, long and short, good and bad. Now, to assure these critical competences, talent professionals can honor the classroom while looking beyond it, leveraging technology to deliver leadership wisdom where people are, when they need it, in bite-sized morsels. Catherine Lombardozzi, a manager of best practices for Vanguard University at financial organization Vanguard, said, "We are creating much more learning content that is very short and to the point. For example, our training on performance management and compensation is being restructured as a set of short e-learning modules supported by links to related online content and some classroom learning."

Brian Heath, Amway's learning executive, said the company's North American leader development also is taking a new direction. Some 2,500 distributors will be given an Apple iPod Touch loaded with custom support applications, including the e-commerce catalog for ordering, a business management tool to check monthly team sales volume and a sales support tool to coach conversations with customers about nutrition.

Northrop Grumman's corporate director of leadership development, Barbara Goretsky, said, "More than anything, this is about constantly improving the immediate effectiveness of Northrop's leadership. Our executive coaching and leadership development initiatives help these managers explore and practice many leadership approaches. The challenge is helping executives remember those options and how to use them under the pressure of real work demands."

Every major study confirms the benefits of what Vanguard, Amway and Northrop Grumman are doing — shifting learning, information and support into the workplace. Lessons, advice, support and learning modules can be available on a mobile phone or PC on topics as diverse as influence, cultural competence, ethics and financial risk management. Key ideas and guidance are available in the thick of things, where an expert instructor typically cannot go.

In the Classroom and Beyond

Instead of worrying about which classes to offer or instructors to schedule, the focus shifts to what leaders must know by heart and what they can reach for as needed. Consider the entire package of desired outcomes. Which ones must reside in memory? Which can come from references and reminders?