A systematic approach
by Andrew Mayo

One of the many mantras of current HR ideology is that 'people should manage their own development'. I have observed participants on courses listen to this so many times as the opening or closing comment by an HR director... and watched their eyes register puzzlement about what exactly that might mean. I can choose my own future courses? I can get that job as marketing manager for the Maldives and Indian Ocean just by asking? I can go and do that MBA? Of course they know that none of these things are that easy or are under their control. The same HR directors are rarely explicit about the next level of the exhortation - namely "and this means that..."

Herein lies a problem, because what do we mean? People do control their own learning, of course, even on training events - although great facilitators can encourage and stimulate it. But, day by day, some are more alive to the range of learning opportunities available to them than others, and people differ in the degree of discipline they apply to such opportunities.

I worked once with a medium-sized software house on its values, and one that emerged was 'curiosity'. I can think of no word that more aptly describes an attitude of continuous learning. This was a group of managers and employees who were alive to anything new — new data, new ways of framing a solution, new potential customers. By a process of questioning through genuine interest, they were naturally led into innovation and change. When recruiting, they explicitly looked for people with this characteristic, as well as their other values.

Is this a personality trait, or can it be learned? As a trait, there is no doubt it is unevenly distributed. But, just as with creativity, there are things we can do to enhance what we have naturally. This may include some guiding models that help us understand effective learning, a set of steps to go through, or lists of questions that prompt us to be aware of the possibilities available.

We can start with the people around us - our boss, our colleagues, perhaps our customers, and even members of our team if we manage one. What might they know that I do not, that I might be able to tap into? How much do I know about their past experiences? Do they have some particular personal or technical skills that I could be coached in?

I have never forgotten a week I spent 'shadowing' a senior executive when I was a relatively junior management development person. Admittedly this was given to me rather than a case of me using my own initiative but, on reflection, I could have done so. Brian was always keen to improve himself and he arranged with my boss for me to follow him around for the whole week, to see if I could provide some feedback about how he could be more effective. I was the one who had the great learning experience. I learnt more about our business that week than I could have done in months doing my ordinary job. But I learnt also about the pressures and requirements of being a senior manager, which served me well in looking for high potentials later.

There is a discipline to be learned about 'on the job' learning opportunities too. I refer here to what is sometimes called 'emergent learning' - new tasks, projects, or problems to be solved. Some people take the time to reflect about the range of learning that they could achieve. Others dive in straight away. Both groups will learn, but the former will certainly learn more. Half an hour spent drawing a simple mind map would show the different avenues that could be followed.

Another area needing a systematic approach is that of taking up a new job. How can we manage the learning curve most efficiently? My first company, Procter and Gamble, always took such occasions very seriously and nobody ever started work on day one. They would be given a detailed self-directed programme of learning, involving tapping into others' experiences, researching the past, or studying specified reports. At the end of every learning assignment some synthesis would be required for review with one's manager.

Managing anything effectively requires tools and frameworks. Managing learning and development is no exception — exhortations are not enough. Is the provision of such help a core part of your offering?

This article was published in the July 2007 issue of Training Journal and is reproduced with kind permission. If you would like any further information please contact the author via this page.