Why should talent professionals care about employee performance? Using the Simon Sinek golden circle Big WHY was the lead into ATD Forum’s 2024 Fall Lab. The HOW included using the creative strategy approach to investigate proven practices from five members from different industries, including a government agency. The WHAT included various ways learning structures, tools, techniques, and conceptual frameworks can catalyze results and enhance a performance culture.

The 2+ day experience was designed to create an environment for members to collaboratively research, benchmark, and investigate member practices and processes to gain insights and ideas. Additionally, the emphasis was on thinking of themselves as not a talent leader but as strategic business partners. This investigative approach was introduced by a special guest appearance from master detective “Sherlock Ohms” and two of his senior detectives. Using a series of interactive activities, they encouraged using probing questions, curiosity, and associational thinking to find clues and gain deeper insights.

Research prior to the lab identified four organizational components or elements related to structures critical for a high-performing organization (HPO). These four elements are: 1) having a business focus, 2) being strategic, 3) using collaborative partnerships, and 4) having a robust measurement and evaluation system. Because these elements permeate the organization, variants of these elements also emerge in the talent and learning functions.

As the lab host, Booz Allen Hamilton shared their application of learning for performance results in three ways: a keynote presentation, a tour for lab attendees to experience the Helix Innovation Center, and a zing round case study on how they use the SWOT analysis. Grainger shared their performance-focused story on tactics for building a learning culture in a pop-up presentation. Four member companies shared case studies on a performance focus in quick zing rounds. There were also numerous opportunities for members to informally share.

Some examples of the WHAT of a performance focus shared with the group include the following:

A Business Focus

Starting learning projects with the customer needs and their definition of success. This might include developing courses such as End-to-End Leading, an MBA-style capstone course, to ensure leaders know every aspect of the business.

Connecting the actions of the learning function to business goals such as growth, retention, innovation, and engagement. Start with the results and show the evidence for the impact of learning.

Ensuring business acumen and financials are core skills for employees. This includes having a deep understanding of the business, especially the organization’s KPIs (key performance indictors) or the OKRs (objectives and key results). This can happen by having employees participate in quarterly investment calls, reading annual financial reports, team member discussions, and micro courses. A starting point is ATD’s Talent Development Capability Model™.

Being Strategic

Incorporating learning into the flow of work with performance support and based on the 5 Moments of Need.

Using the Six Disciplines (6D) approach for designing learning to focus on the outcomes and business results. This method starts with defining the business outcomes and designing the complete experience. It is then delivered for application and drives for follow-through. It includes deploying active support and documenting the results.

Intentionally building a learning culture by focusing on outcomes and not skills. This might include starting every meeting with a discussion of how learning is happening at the organization. It can also include stories of success for how learning mitigates risk.

Using success maps to document the responsibilities for various roles and providing a career path. This can be combined with individual development plans (IDPs) and managerial coaching.

Using Collaborative Partnerships

Adapting the mantra: “Never go it alone.”

Leveraging internal and external partnerships, such as using the leaders as teachers concept for some of the learning sessions. This includes the CEO and SMEs teaching something like the End-to-End session mentioned above.

Enabling and supporting communities of practice to engage opportunities for all employees to share and learn.

Co-creating learning experiences with internal business partners.

Leveraging external partnerships with consortiums or vendors such as those for the 6D learning and Workflow Performance Support, and the ATD Forum.

Using mentoring, cohort-based training, and the 70.20.10 approach to continuously upskill and reskill employees.

Having a Robust Measurement and Evaluation Process

Incorporating badging for skills development and tracking can move learning from a push model to a pull model. In one member organization, the managers are responsible for signing off and certifying mastery. Another organization has a large-scale requirement for employees to achieve artificial intelligence (AI) literacy, and badging can be used to monitor this proficiency by department.

Using data to drive decisions. Data and talent intelligence is powerful, especially for creating centers of excellence, tiger teams, and succession plans. It is most important to be “data-ready” at all times, and conducting an annual SWOT analysis of performance can promote this.

Developing stories using the results data to show successes for the learning function.

Incorporating TDRp (Talent Development Reporting Principles) and the new ISO standards, especially around the various reporting mechanisms.

Using leading indicators for predictive analytics, not just lagging indicators.

In the capstone activity, small groups developed graphic representations showing highlights of the many ways members are using learning experiences to directly affect performance results and organizational impact. These visual stories of tools and techniques, along with the list of elements and their sub-elements developed and provided as prework and the plethora of resources provided, can now be used by members to assess their own organization for a performance-based culture.

There are numerous benefits of focusing on performance and talent leaders being strategic business partners. Probably the biggest benefit is that when these practices are used consistently, every employee in the learning/talent function understands the business and sees how their contributions helped to achieve business results. This enables engagement and motivation to continue developing new skills to meet the changing needs of the organization.

In the Forum’s lab, it is not just about the connecting, collaborating, and sharing; it is about the doing. Over the next month, performance nudges will be provided to the attendees, and there will be various opportunities for them to share what they are doing to activate performance through learning solutions.

Visual by Renatta Algalarrondo of Fall4Art