You Don't Work in Learning Anymore

Years ago our HR Director challenged us all to consider the question "What does the organisation really hire you to do?"

The answer – delivering learning – never seemed very satisfactory to me. The business is really interested in outcomes. They have never been entirely convinced that learning delivers them, and we have never been terribly convincing.

But now I think it is clear: either you are designing experiences, or you are improving performance. There is no ‘learning’ role. In general, the role of courses (events) should be to build engagement or provide practical experience. The role of resources should be to improve performance. You can work in either (or both)*. For example, we might design a safety incident simulation - or a one-page guide for starting a new role.

But the implications are significant: firstly, there are principles and capabilities which belong to either class of activity which we are not following. Specifically - neither activity involves pushing content at people via various channels. Secondly, if we work in either experience design or performance support we must be accountable for tracking and demonstrating the outcomes. We must develop tools and methodologies that reliably track shifts in engagement and performance on a daily basis.

So next time someone asks you what you do, which is it? Performance improvement or experience design?

*I'm not even going to mention compliance.