How does a company stay in
business when it does not have a way to capture mission-critical
knowledge? How does a company stay in
business when it cannot ensure that people are in the pipeline and are ready to
fill vacant positions in mission-critical positions? How can a company achieve high levels of success
when it has to to keep rehiring people because it does not effectively set new
hires up for success?
My answer to these questions is a
business that does not pay attention to learning and development (L&D) will
not reach high levels of effectiveness, efficiency, nor performance. Research has shown a direct correlation
between a strong L&D to organizational success. When L&D departments work
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Much of what we do as L&D
professionals is all about employing good business practices and becoming trusted
advisors. When we’re serving as businesspartners, we are looking for opportunities to improve organizational
performance. We are providing possible
scenarios to organizational leaders of what may happen if we don’t pay
attention to succession planning, knowledge management, onboarding, and other
L&D areas. Here are a few scenarios
of what happens when L&D professionals don’t serve as business partners and
lead organizational efforts that focus on performance improvement.
The Knowledge Management & SuccessionPlaning Scenario
When an organization lacks a knowledge
management strategy in place and businesses have failed to effectively capture
and share knowledge, mission-critical knowledge walks out of the door as
John is retired, what happens now? Now that John has retired, no one is ready to
fill his shoes. John’s supervisor was extremely
dependent on John being the go to person who carried a bulk of the load. His supervisor did not use John’s expertise as
an opportunity to develop other employees.
Here’s an opportunity for L&D
to improve organizational performance by partnering with organizational leaders
to create a succession plan.
The Onboarding Scenario
Bobby has been in her position for 6 months
and she still does not know how to do key aspects of her job. Unfortunately, her organization lacks a
formal onboarding program. Bobby went
through a one day orientation where she filled out forms and was then placed at
a desk with no computer or phone for one week.
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My guess is that these scenarios may
be familiar to you. Remember, what we do
as L&D professionals is just good business.
Our end goal is always performance improvement which leads to successful
businesses. What are you doing to do about turning things around in your
organization? Are you viewed as a
trusted advisor?
