As learning professionals, we understand the value of learning and upskilling. We spend a lot of time improving our skills and the skills of our teams in topics related to learning and development—adult learning theories, instructional design and development, learning technologies, competency models, and more. However, we often forget the importance of preparing ourselves for our roles as strategic leaders within our organizations. We tend to leave strategy and business knowledge to our counterparts responsible for the core operations and service delivery in our companies. This skill gap is holding some chief learning officers (CLOs) back from being an integral part of their executive leadership team.
In a recent ATD Forum roundtable discussion on April 24, 2024, CEO and co-founder of CLO100, Cathy Hoy, posed the question of what it means to have a seat at the table and asked Forum members what they are doing in their organizations to get there. Many of the responses echoed Cathy’s key message— having a seat at the table allows CLOs to strategically influence the direction of the organization and contribute to decision making at the top level. This can only happen when learning leaders align L&D goals with business objectives. To do this, Cathy outlined five key steps that CLOs can take today.
1. Develop Business Acumen
Through Cathy’s research over the past few years with learning leaders globally, it was clear that business acumen is not typically something L&D leaders are known for. She encouraged Forum members to really understand the industry that they are in as much as they understand the L&D industry. Regularly reviewing industry reports and publications, participating in industry associations, and following thought leaders in the industry are just a few of the actions that learning leaders can take to get immersed in the industry that they work in. Another critical step that learning leaders can take is to start speaking the same language as their business counterparts do. Instead of talking in “learning terms,” we should speak more on performance improvement and business outcomes.2. Leverage Data and Metrics
Most L&D departments measure the effectiveness of learning programs to help shape their actions and improvements. However, Cathy’s research indicated that they rarely share it with the business. Regularly producing and communicating learning impact reports that tell compelling stories about how L&D initiatives contribute to the bottom line is a must. These impact reports can have different levels of detail depending on the audience, and it allows CLOs to build the L&D brand within the organization while demonstrating the value and impact of learning on business results to the executive leadership team.3. Build Relationships With Stakeholders
As a first step, learning leaders need to clearly define who their key stakeholders are and what a stakeholder means to them. Since organizations have different pockets of influence at different levels and within different teams, Cathy recommended learning leaders map their organizational structure, especially if they are new in the role. It will help them know how different departments are interconnected and where the interdependencies lie. Once the stakeholders are clearly defined, learning leaders need to begin engaging them and assessing their needs. It’s not enough to have informal conversations with stakeholders regarding their needs and interests. It’s much more effective to establish a structured stakeholder plan that outlines how often to meet with stakeholders, the format of the meetings, the topics to be covered, and more. Engaged stakeholders will in turn become learning advocates. For an excellent resource on stakeholder collaboration, see Section 5 in Leading the Learning Function.4. Market and Communicate Learning
CLOs need to start thinking of their function as a business and learn how to market the L&D brand internally. By communicating the value that L&D brings to the organization, directors and other organization leaders will start “wanting to come and buy from us.” Learning leaders need to develop an understanding of the priorities and concerns of the executive team and begin tailoring L&D communications to address those points. Gaining visibility for L&D successes and initiatives can be achieved through regular updates, presentations, and reports to the leadership team. Teams can highlight their success stories by sharing examples of learning programs and initiatives where employees improved their performance due to L&D efforts. Forum members’ approaches for showcasing success stories included:- Capturing employee testimonials in writing
- Sharing videos from key programs with the executive team, and
- Sharing employee learning journeys via newsletters or company portals.
Effectively marketing and communicating learning allows us to “shift the perception of L&D from a cost center to a strategic partner capable of driving significant business results.”
5. Anticipate Future Skill and Capability Needs
Closely examining market megatrends will help learning leaders support their organizations by anticipating future skills and capability needs of their employees. Megatrends are “large transformative global forces that impact business, economy, cultures, and personal lives … over a very long period of time. They are a really interesting and useful lens that we can use to look up the world through.” Understanding these trends allows talent professionals to predict the types of skills and capabilities their organizations would likely need in the future.Through the use of several tools available in the market (such as Megatrend Pathfinder by E&Y and the PwC Megatrends report), learning leaders can identify the megatrends that are most relevant for their business, list the assumptions and uncertainties related to each megatrend, develop plausible scenarios for the future for each of the uncertainties or the assumptions identified, and finally determine the implications and possible actions that can be taken by the L&D function to mitigate the impact of each scenario.
During the ATD Forum annual fall lab last year, Forum members collaborated on the topics of anticipating future skill and capability needs. Through their collaboration and the discussions in this roundtable, it is apparent that all learning leaders are faced with similar challenges related to developing the skills of their employees to meet anticipated future needs.
Assess Your Skills: A Call to Action for Learning Leaders
CLOs can hold the key to unlocking the potential of your organization’s most valuable asset—its people. To elevate your position and align more closely with other top executives, it is essential to demonstrate both your capabilities as an expert in the L&D field but also your ability to add value in solving your organization’s most pressing business problems and challenges. With that, we come back to our question: Are CLOs truly ready for boardroom conversations? The answer is “It depends.”One of the most powerful tools available is the Talent Development Capability Model™. It allows you to assess your skills along the five key areas Cathy proposes are critical for success. It is a great place to start if you want to answer the question in the affirmative!
