helping your employees learn from peers.manager guide

8/10/2019 Helping Your Employees Learn From Peers.manager Guide

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Fostering Collective Learning: Helping

Your Employees Learn from Peers

Manager Guide

August 2010

CLC LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT™



CLC Learning and Development, Corporate Leadership Council

© 2010 The Corporate Executive Board Company. All Rights Reserved. LDR6501610PRO 2

CORPORATE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL®

CLC LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT™

Research Analyst

Deepti Srivastava

DirectorThomas Handcock

Managing Director

Todd Safferstone

NOTE TO MEMBERS

This project was researched and written to fulfill the research request of several members of The Corporate Executive Board Company and as a result may not satisfy the information needs of all member

companies. The Corporate Executive Board Company encourages members who have additional questions about this topic to contact the Member Support Center [email protected]

for further discussion. The views expressed herein by third-party sources do not necessarily reflect the policies of the organizations they represent.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES NOTE

CLC Learning and Development has worked to ensure the accuracy of the information it provides to its members. This project relies upon data obtained from many sources, however, and CLC Learning and

Development cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information or its analysis in all cases. Furthermore, CLC Learning and Development is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional

services. Its projects should not be construed as professional advice on any particular set of facts or circumstances. Members requiring such services are advised to consult an appropriate professional. Neither

The Corporate Executive Board Company nor its programs are responsible for any claims or losses that may arise from any errors or omissions in their reports, whether caused by The Corporate Executive Board

Company or its sources.

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]





Why does

coworker

support

matter?

How can

coworkers help

each other

learn?

How do I help

employees

learn from

coworkers’

experiences?




© 2010 The Corporate Executive Board Company. All Rights Reserved. LDR6501610PRO

0%

10%

20%

Support from Coworkers Support from Managers

4

COWORKERS CAN PROVIDE POWERFUL

LEARNING SUPPORT TO EACH OTHER

Effective support from

coworkers has as much

of an impact on

employees learning from

day-to-day work aseffective manager

support.

• While employees can learn a

lot from you, their manager,

they also learn a lot from their

coworkers and peers.

• You can ease the burden on

yourself by encouragingemployees to support each

other in their development.

You can drive employee learning by

enabling your direct reports to

leverage their coworkers

Impact on Learning of Support from Coworkers and Managers

I m p a c t o n

L e a r n i n g

A p p l i c a t i o n *

14%

12%

Source: CLC Learning and Development, Unlocking the Value of On-the-Job Learning , Arlington .VA: Corporate Executive Board,

September 2009, p. 67.

*Learning application refers to the amount of what an employee learned from an activity that he/she has been able to use (i.e. put into

action) in his/her work.





HOW CAN COWORKERS HELP EACH OTHER LEARN?

5

Providin g Perform ance Related Guidanc e

Giving early guidance on how to address performance issues

Serving as a sounding board for difficult issues and challenges

Teaching a new skill, concept, process, or procedure

Providing constructive informal feedback on a regular basis

Source: CLC Learning and Development, Unlocking the Value of On-the-Job Learning , Arlington ,VA: Corporate Executive

Board, September 2009, p. 70.

Opportunities for Coworkers to Support Peer Development (In Order

of Importance)

Shar ing Successes

Giving advice based on own experience

Regularly sharing ideas, best practices, and solutions

Enabl ing Learning Appl icat ion

Helping peers use and apply new skills or knowledge at work

Helping peers understand the best informal ways of getting things done

Coworkers are most

powerful at driving

learning from work when

they share past

successes.

• Coworkers have the greatest

impact when they focus on

sharing learning from their

own experiences, particularly

best practices and solutions

that have proven successful

for them.

• Coworkers can also supporttheir peers by helping them

apply what they learned in

their day-to-day work and

providing performance

related guidance.





HOW DO I HELP EMPLOYEES LEARN FROM COWORKERS' EXPERIENCES?

Enable employees to learn from peers’ successes

Facilitate demonstrated success-based peer-to-peer networking

Short-Term Tactics That You Can Adopt

Build trust within your team

Break silos and encourage cross-functional interactions

Longer-Term Tactics That You Can Adopt





ENABLE EMPLOYEES TO LEARN FROM PEERS'

SUCCESSES

Sharing and analyzing

successes provides for

powerful and mutually

beneficial learning.

• Create a mutually beneficial

peer learning exercise

focused on analyzing the root

causes of recent successes.

• Establish a clear and

structured process for

enabling success sharing

and analysis among peers to

enhance learning from theexercise.

Schedule regular

meetings as platforms

for employees to share

successes experienced

on-the-job.

Ask a group of

employees to each

prepare a

success story for

each meeting.

Have the first

participant present

his/her success

story to the group.

Reach a consensus on the

key insights from the first

participant’s success story

before beginning the next

discussion.

Work with participants

to ensure that they

apply the success

analysis”

to their work.

Process for Creating a Mutually Beneficial Peer Learning Exercise

Have the group ask the

presenter probing and

clarifying questions

to identify the root

causes of success.*

Facilitate a discussion

where the group identifieshow the drivers of

success might be applied

in their own work.

Rotate the Presenter : Having employees take turns sharing successes ensures a mutually beneficial exchange

where employees are both learners and teachers. If you have a small team, have each employee play the role of

presenter in the same session. With a larger team, ensure that everyone knows upfront that each employee will be

asked to share a success story at one of the sessions.

Essential Feature

*Provide employees with example questions to ensure a productive session. (see page 9 )

Help employees analyze the root causes of successes. (see page 10)

Source: CLC Learning and Development, Shell ’s Enabling Employees to Collectively Learn from Successes, Arlington, VA:

Corporate Executive Board, September 2009, pp. 1 –6.





Provide guidance to

help employees

effectively participate in

the exercise and learn

from peer successes.

PEER LEARNING EXERCISES SUPPORT

MATERIAL

Definition of Success

Predefine success to enable consistency in the experiences that qualify as success stories. For

instance, at Shell, they define success as “something that proved to be highly effective in achieving

an outcome important to the business or to the presenter ’s development ”.

Clarifying Questions

Provide short, easy to answer clarifying questions to the group to help them understand the specifics ofthe success while listening to a presenter, such as:

What resources did you have available to help you with this?

What was the overall challenge that you looked to address through this experience?

What support did you receive from your manager or other peers during this experience?

Probing Questions

Provide probing questions to the group that they can leverage in order to help the presenter think more

deeply about the success and move reaction to reflection, such as:

What had to hold true for the success to have occurred?

What if the opposite were true? Then what?

What, if anything, would you do differently on a similar situation in future?

Guidance Provided to Employees for Success Analysis

Source: CLC Learning and Development, Shell ’s Enabling Employees to Collectively Learn from Successes, Arlington ,VA:

Corporate Executive Board, September 2009, pp. 1 –6.





Identifying the

underlying factors (or

"root causes") of a

success will help

employees learn from it

and replicate the

success.

• Enable employees to see

that, as with failures,

successes can be attributed

to multiple root causes.

•

Ask employees to considerhow much control they had

over the factors that

contributed to the successes

and identify the factors that

can be replicated in other

situations.

IDENTIFYING THE ROOT CAUSES OF SUCCESS

Source: CLC Learning and Development, Shell ’s Enabling Employees to Collectively Learn from Successes, Arlington ,VA:

Corporate Executive Board September 2009, pp. 1 –6.





IMPLEMENTATION TIPS FOR SUCCESS ANALYSIS EXERCISE

Enable Employees to Learn from Peer Successes

Drive participation by iterating the value of learning

from successes and not just failures.

Provide sufficient time for employees to think about

and prepare a success story that they can share

with the team.

Ensure that each team member presents a successstory either within the same session (if you have a

small team, or want to split your team up into

smaller groups) or at some point across a series of

sessions.

Help employees identify and focus on the root

causes of success during the discussion.

Facilitate a few initial team discussions on success

stories, and thereafter, encourage employees to run

the sessions on their own.

Quick Tips: How Else Can I Leverage This Practice?

Incorporate Success Analysis into Daily Work

Help your direct reports diagnose and analyze the root

causes of success and failures during weekly one-on-

one conversations and informal day-to-day

conversations.

Conduct Failure Analysis in a Similar Manner

Leverage the success analysis drivers (see

page 10) to conduct a similar analysis to identify root

causes of failures at work in order to minimize the

possibility of repeat failures.





Coworkers that have

successfully solved

similar challenges can

provide more relevant

input than "general

experts".

• Identify coworkers that can

support your direct report

based on whether or not they

have demonstrated success

in a critical event related to

your direct reports

development area.

• Provide guidance to help

your direct report extract

maximum learning from

his/her interaction and apply

it in his/her work.

FACILITATE DEMONSTRATED SUCCESS –BASED

PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKING

Process For Enabling Success-Based Peer Networking

Identify your direct

report’s

development area

to target.

Identify a networking

partner who has

demonstrated

success in your

direct report’sdevelopment area.*

Determine the

objectives andtimeline for the

network

interaction with

your direct report.

Discuss with you direct report

how he/she will apply what

he/she has learned to his/her

work, and how you can

support him/her.

Agree on key

success measures

with your direct report

and monitor their

progress.

Provide a list of

questions to your

direct report for

reference during

the networkinteraction. **

Help your direct report

think about what

he/she has learned

from the networking

interaction.***

*Ensure to identify networking partners based on specific past success in your direct report ’s development area. (see page 12)

**Provide employees with interview questions to ensure an effective network interaction. (see page 13 )

***Help employees reflect on the key learning from the network interaction. (see page 14)

Source: CLC Learning and Development, Event-Based Network Brokering (American Express), Arlington ,VA: Corporate Executive

Board, July 2010, pp. 42 –48.





Provide employees with

an interview guide to

help them focus on

“how” different

behaviors led to

success rather than

simply “what” the

behaviors were.

• An interview guide helps

employees leverage the

network interaction to reach

an understanding of the root

causes of success which can

be replicated.

CREATE INTERVIEW GUIDES FOR EMPLOYEES

Source: CLC Learning and Development, Event-Based Network Brokering (American Express), Arlington, VA: Corporate Executive

Board, July 2010, pp. 42 –48.





Help employees reflect

on network interactions

and apply learning back

to their work.

• Providing reflection guides

helps employees identify

what they learned during the

interaction and how it can be

applied to their work, which

extends learning beyond the

initial conversation to on-the-

job application.

PROVIDE REFLECTION GUIDES TO EMPLOYEES

Source: CLC Learning and Development, Event-Based Network Brokering (American Express), Arlington, VA: Corporate Executive

Board, July 2010, pp. 42 –48.





IMPLEMENTATION TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE EXECUTION

Facilitate Demonstrated Success-Based Peer-to-Peer Networking

Clearly articulate the “what’s-in-it” for the employee to convey

the personal development value derived from peer networking.

Leverage your direct report’s development plan to identify a key

development area that can be addressed through peer interaction.

Contact identified networking partner to inform him/her about and

prepare him/her for the networking interaction.

Help the identified networking partner see the value of the

exercise by explaining how analyzing and articulating what

he/she has done can help him/her learn from it and more easily

apply the lessons again in the future.

While face-to-face meetings are recommended, allow employees

to leverage different platforms, such as e-mail or telephone

conversations to hold this interaction.

Quick Tips: How Else Can I Leverage This Practice?

Encourage Employees to Actively Prepare for Any

Developmental Intervention

Before any developmental intervention, use one-on-one

meetings with your direct reports and other informal

interactions to help them prepare for the opportunity.

Instill Deliberate Reflection Post Activity as a

Regular Practice Among Employees

Following a developmental intervention, encourage your

direct reports to deliberately reflect upon what they have

learned from the activity and how can they best apply

the learning to their daily work.





HOW DO I HELP EMPLOYEES LEARN FROM COWORKERS' EXPERIENCE?

Enable employees to learn from peers’ successes

Facilitate event-based peer-to-peer learning

Build trust within your team

Break silos and encourage cross-functional interaction

Short-Term Tactics That You Can Adopt

Longer-Term Tactics That You Can Adopt





BUILD TRUST WITHIN YOUR TEAM

17

Build trust within your

team to enhance

employee ability and

probability of learning

from coworkers.

• To build trust, you need to

understand which behaviors

build trust and encourage

those behaviors within your

team.

• Create opportunities and

leverage exercises/activities

that help strengthen trust withinthe team.

Understand Behaviors that Drive Trust

Encourage the following behaviors among

team members:

Sharing some personal information to

build a rapport with team members

Acknowledging and apologizing for

mistakes

Communicating consistently

Giving credit when due

Honoring confidential and sensitive

information

Keeping promises and honoring

commitments

Involving people in decisions that affectthem

Sharing information, both positive and

negative, with people who need it

1

How Can You Build Trust?

Create Trust-Building Activities/Opportunities2

Leverage the following opportunities and

activities to build trust within your team:

Increase Team-Based Interactions:

Hold team meetings to share any

organization, function, and/or team

specific updates Organize frequent brainstorming sessions

to help employees share ideas and

collaborate on decision making

Use Team Building Exercises:

Organize outdoor or indoor exercises that

involve substantial team participation and

require team members to rely on each

other

Absence of trust within the team increases employees

unwillingness to collaborate and

share with coworkers.





BREAK SILOS AND ENCOURAGE CROSS-FUNCTIONAL

INTERACTIONS

18

Improve cross-functional

collaboration to enable

employees to learn from

coworkers across the

organization.

• Identify opportunities to

connect your employees to

those in other functions and

business units to break

functional silos and further help

employees leverage coworker

support.

Opportunities to Enhance Cross-Functional Interaction

1 Hold Cross-Functional Meetings

Involve employees from other teams and functions in your team meetings and brainstorming

sessions to help employees acquire a multi-dimensional perspective.

2 Encourage Your Team to Participate in Cross-Functional Projects

Create project teams consisting of members from disparate functions or geographic locations

to work on a common goal or objective, typically over and above their primary roles. Use the

following recommendations to enhance project teams’ effectiveness and success:

Define benefits of the cross-functional team initiative to team members

Outline the purpose and objectives that each team member is expected to achieve

Clarify expectations regarding team members’ roles

3 Facilitate Informal Cross-Functional Peer Networking

Encourage informal networking between employees from different departments to facilitate greater

cross-department knowledge sharing and collaboration.



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