THE SECRET TO TRANSFORMING PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT IS LEARNINGHow to Address Skill Gaps, Promote Career Mobility and Develop Leaders

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

IT’S TIME TO REDEFINE THE WHY OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 BY CAROL ANDERSON“Performance management” was originally created to manage merit budgets, but modern performance is about much more than a paycheck. It’s time to give a new purpose to an old process.

WHY EMPLOYEES NEED CLARITY WHEN IT COMES TO PERFORMANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9BY JAY FORTEPerformance management needs a new “why,” and so do employees. If employers want to improve performance, they need to shine a light on every role and show employees how their jobs impact the larger organizational vision.

3 WAYS TO REINVENT PERFORMANCE REVIEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12BY KIMBERLY CASSADYPeople are inherently bad at having frank, honest and vulnerable discussions about performance, whether it happens five times a year or one. So when it comes to improving performance reviews and truly helping employees grow? The answer isn’t a higher quantity of feedback—it’s a higher quality.

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A CULTURE OF FEEDBACK REQUIRES A CULTURE OF FAILURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15BY JEFF MILLERIf you want to grow as an individual or as a company, you need to be willing to identify your weaknesses and maximize your strengths. In other words, learning requires failure. But embracing failure doesn’t mean patting people on the back when they miss the mark—it means giving and receiving feedback that helps you make the mark next time.

MODERN LEARNING MOVES EMPLOYEES UP, DOWN AND ACROSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 BY JASON CORSELLOThe career “ladder” has essentially become a career “chutes and ladders”—where there are multiple paths to success, and opportunities around every corner. To prepare talent for this new world, organizations need to invest in flexible learning and career mobility.

WHY MOBILE LEARNING MAKES L&D FASTER, STRONGER, BETTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21BY CHARLES COYEmployers’ ranked L&D as the third most important issue to address in 2015, but more companies than ever reported they’re unprepared to meet the challenge. Armed with a library of top-notch, mobile-first videos, companies like Skill Pill are hoping to change that.

HOW COLLABORATIVE LEARNING WILL REVOLUTIONIZE L&D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24BY LESLIE SURLEY KOSTRIKINHR leaders have doubled down on their budgets around learning, but something is clearly still missing. The next step? It’s time to double down on the strategy, and that strategy depends on learning together.

CAROL ANDERSONCarol is the founder and principal of Anderson Performance Partners, LLC, a business consultancy focused on bringing together organizational leaders to unite all aspects of the business – CEO, CFO, HR – to build, implement and evaluate a workforce alignment strategy. She is the author of Repurposing HR: Moving from Cost Center to Business Accelerator, published by the Society for Human Resource Management in June 2015, which provides a practical RoadMap for human resource professionals to lead the process of aligning the workforce to the business strategy, and deliver results, and writes regularly for several business publications.

CHARLES COYCharles is the senior director of analyst and communications relations at Cornerstone. He came to Cornerstone interested in the ways that technology can impact how organizations evaluate, motivate and value their employees. Charles is a study in permanence, having worked in every dark corner of Cornerstone since the early days of the company more than 16 years ago.

JASON CORSELLOJason is an active participant in the human capital management community, speaking at events such as the HR Technology Conference and LA Tech Summit. He has also been featured as an industry expert in media outlets such as The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and CIO Magazine. He’s the SVP of strategy and corporate development for Cornerstone, responsible for driving the company’s product innovation, go-to-market strategies and new corporate initiatives.

Featured Authors

JAY FORTEJay is a business and motivational speaker, certified workplace, CEO/Life and Greatness Zone coach, author and nationally ranked thought leader. As president and founder of The Greatness Zone, he provides talent and strength-based tools to help people live extraordinary lives and organizations achieve exceptional results.

JEFF MILLERJeff manages the Learning & Development function for Cornerstone employees globally. He is charged with implementing management and leadership programs, providing coaching to employees around the world and organizing Development Days, internally facilitated conferences in offices globally. Prior to Cornerstone, he led training and development at two corporations, had his own consulting company and still teaches courses in motivation and learning. He has a B.A. in Communications from U.S.C., a M.A. in Education from Pepperdine University and a Ph.D. in Motivation and Learning from USC.

KIMBERLY CASSADYKim is an experienced Operations & Human Resource Leader, specializing in workforce transformation strategies that focus on continuous improvement through employee development and lean operation principles. At Cornerstone, she leads the team on matters such as company-wide engagement, wellness initiatives, compliance, benefits, compensation and learning and development, among others. Kim holds an MBA and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management.

LESLIE SURLEY KOSTRIKINLeslie is director of services at Cornerstone and came to the company with more than 16 years of leadership experience including driving strategy and product awareness for B2B enterprise SaaS companies. Leslie also ran her own marketing consulting firm for more than 3 years.

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It’s no secret that performance management is in need of a revolution. As the work landscape transforms and the notion of “career” becomes more fluid, employers are struggling to redefine how they approach success, growth and opportunity in their organizations.

When it comes to measuring success, modern technology has proved that infrequent and individual reviews by managers are not only insufficient but unreliable. Today, thanks to workforce analytics, success can be measured and managed on an ongoing basis. When it comes to growth, employees are now just as concerned about growing their skill sets as growing their annual salary (if not more). And last but not least, opportunity at a company is no longer defined by the ability to climb the traditional career ladder. Instead, people are interested in trying out new departments, new industries and new positions—even if it means a lateral move or pay cut.

So how do employers “revolutionize” performance? The recent conversation has centered on a single enemy: annual performance reviews. If you take a step back, however, improving employee performance depends on a lot more than how often you provide feedback—it’s also dependent on what kind of feedback you provide, and the culture you foster around that feedback.

In short, performance isn’t necessarily about reviews at all: It’s about learning. Studies show that70 percent of companies that invest in an ongoing performance management—with continuous feedback—see an increase in revenue and 72 percent see a decrease in turnover.1

In this guidebook, you’ll learn why learning and performance go hand-in-hand, and how to meet today’s most pressing employee development challenges. With seven articles on everything from redefining the purpose of performance management to creating a culture of feedback to using mobile for learning, our featured experts will help you navigate the changing landscape of performance management and create an environment to help people reach their full potential.

Introduction

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It’s Time to Redefine the Why of Performance Management

By Carol Anderson

Everyone is talking about it. Most people hate it. Almost everyone thinks it needs at least a few major revisions. The words “bureaucratic,” “time-consuming” and “waste of time” are often used when describing it. In recent years, it has gotten a lot of press as HR leaders rush to read about companies like Accenture, Adobe, GE, Deloitte and others who have “fixed” it.

What is it?

I’m talking about performance management.

A Brief History of Performance ManagementDo you remember how performance management found its way into the workforce? In the 1980s and early 1990s, compensation ruled the HR world; compensation folks were responsible for doling out pay increases. Right about that time, equal pay and issues of fairness were increasingly prominent, and performance management

became the tool for determining pay in a defensible and fair manner.

Here’s how it worked: Performance reviews were written, scored and delivered once a year, along with communication about the annual pay increase (merit). In 1990, the typical merit budget went up to 14 percent, which created a discernible gap between high and low performers. But over the years, as merit budgets shrank, the concept of “pay for performance” stuck around stubbornly—even when the difference between a top performer and a poor performer was barely two percent of the budget.

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Perhaps it is time to go back to the ‘why.’ What is the business goal

of performance management?

HR put the proverbial lipstick on performance appraisal programs by calling it “performance management,” but over the years, the process that birthed the baby hasn’t changed—even though merit budgets have dwindled to insignificance.

A Loss of FocusThus, we have today’s scramble to change a program that leads to disgruntled leadership and employees, and doesn’t do what it should do: manage performance. (Or better said, improve performance.)

Perhaps it is time to go back to the “why.” What is the business goal of performance management?

Let’s start here. If we buy the idea that organizational performance is the work of the leaders and employees, it stands to reason that leaders and employees need to know what is expected of them, as well as have the

knowledge, skills and tools to meet these expectations. This includes receiving regular feedback. This becomes your “why.”

Define Your PurposeIt isn’t enough for HR to design and implement a program, even if the CEO says “Do it.” First of all, there is too much baggage associated with the concept for even a perfect program to get a fair shake. As a second point, this is hard work; it takes strength, confidence, skills and commitment for leaders to spend time defining expectations and providing helpful, developmental feedback to their employees. There are some who, unless they are held accountable, will do a half-hearted job. That won’t move the needle on individual or organizational performance.

So, what is the answer?

Encourage leaders to agree on the purpose of performance management and give them a compelling business reason to make the investment. A business reason with hard, bottom-line results. Do they want to increase revenue, reduce expenses, decrease turnover, etc.?

If so, you have a compelling business case. You must start with the “why.” Only then can you address the how.

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What employees need most is clarity. Clarity about the business,

clarity about what is expected of them and clarity around what

successful performance looks like.

Why Employees Need Clarity When It Comes to Performance

By Jay Forte

Most employees work in the dark. Here’s what they don’t know (but we still expect them to bring to their work):

1) The vision, mission or purpose of the business—in terms they can understand.

2) The specific performance expectations of their role—and how it fits into the larger company picture.

3) A definition of their performance expectations—so they have a performance standard to achieve.

We are in constant discussion about how to engage our employees, how to inspire them to show up and

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do great things at work. Some of today’s top thinkers on workplace behavior suggest we need to change to performance-based incentive plans, give employees more autonomy, provide more choice about how work is done or increase contact with management.

All of these ideas are good ones, but what employees need most is clarity. Clarity about the business, clarity about what is expected of them and clarity around what successful performance looks like.

I spend most of my days working with organizations or coaching its managers and employees. I always ask employees these three questions when I meet them:

1) What is it that you do here?

2) How do you know when your job is done right?

3) How does your job or role make a difference to this business?

I compare the responses I get to the first question above to what management thinks the job does. Surprise! Most responses don’t align. I generally get a shrug or “I don’t hear from my boss” as the answer to number two. And I usually get a long pause and a “no one has ever asked me that before” response to the third question.

Work is like doing a jigsaw puzzle. It is either impossible or inefficient to complete if you don’t know the image you are trying to create. With a clear understanding of the image, you can assess which pieces go where and how to watch the pieces make the image come together.

To provide a clearer picture to encourage greater employee performance, spend time with employees and share the mission, vision and beliefs of the business very clearly. There is much research supporting that employee performance rises as employees personally share the value of the business. Be sure employees know what and why the business does what it does.

Work is like doing a jigsaw puzzle. It is either impossible or inefficient

to complete if you don’t know the image you are trying to create.

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You should also directly define the specific performance expectations of the job. Be precise, then work with the employee to develop the process to achieve the expectations. Knowing what has to be done encourages employees to be efficient and effective in their work. If this is unclear, they tend to wander, get easily distracted, create excuses or become disengaged.

Then, share what a job or task “done right” looks like. Sharing the performance standard, as well as the expectation, will help the employee focus on a specific outcome. By creating a standard, everyone shares the same definition of success.

I know we are all busy, but taking some time every week to ensure employees know the answers to the three core questions (and know that they align with management’s expectations) will dramatically improve an employee’s clarity. This, outside of hiring for fit, is the greatest way to impact the engagement level of an employee.

After all, who can be efficient, effective or extraordinary when they are working in the dark?

By creating a standard, everyone shares the same

definition of success.

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3 Ways to Reinvent Performance Reviews

By Kimberly Cassady

Recently, the annual performance has come under attack. Performance review reformists claim that feedback should be ongoing—instead of once a year, organizations need to invest in consistent conversations happening in the workplace to actually improve employee performance. But at the end of the day, the problem isn’t the fact that the “annual performance review” only happens once a year.

While frequency of feedback is certainly an aspect of improving performance, the foundation of performance management comes down to quality conversation

While frequency of feedback is certainly an aspect of improving performance, the foundation of

performance management comes down to quality conversation

and communication.

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and communication. People are inherently bad at having frank, honest and vulnerable discussions about performance—whether it happens five times a year or one. Otherwise known as corrective feedback avoidance.

If you can improve the way people—executives, managers and employees—communicate about failure and success in the workplace, you will have more productive, more engaged employees who won’t have a knee-jerk reaction to a piece of constructive criticism or expect solely positive praise. Here are three key ways for any HR organization to reinvent and improve the performance review.

Divide Compensation and PerformanceIt’s important to decouple conversations about compensation and performance—even though the two are related. When an employee sits down for a conversation about performance that directly leads to a bonus or raise, it’s natural that they’ll start to focus on the reward (or lack thereof) and not absorb the feedback.

Even if your compensation strategy depends heavily on performance scores, scheduling separate meetings dedicated to each will allow employees and managers to give their full attention to the “performance” side of the conversation. Then, when appropriate at a near but later date, you can follow-up with compensation based on the earlier review and the employee’s performance since.

Hold Informal Conversations and EvaluationsSocial feedback is important to switch up the traditional style of performance reviews. This can be done through employee gamification such as badges, engagement surveys, comment cards, awards and peer reviews.

Employees can get a unique perspective on their productivity through feedback from coworkers above and below them in the workplace, instead of only receiving feedback from managers. You can also invest in programs like Situational Leadership, leadership motivation, development and communication to train company leaders on how to have Crucial Conversations—formal or informal—about performance.

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Promote TransparencyIf you want your employees to accomplish their goals, it’s important to tie those goals to larger company objectives. By communicating your organization’s vision clearly and consistently, you provide employees with a strong reference point for their personal goals.

If it’s clear that your organization is invested in finding ways to improve and grow, then your employees (particularly in leadership positions) will follow suit. Transparency will lead to stronger employee loyalty and better performance.

Consistent feedback in forms of multiple conversations and evaluations is key to improving employee performance. By teaching company leaders how to have clear, crucial sit-downs with their employees, productivity

will increase and business goals will be completed in a short amount of time. The key to performance management is not how often you have a performance review—but how much you invest in creating high-quality, useful communication among employees and leadership.

By teaching company leaders how to have clear, crucial

sit-downs with their employees, productivity will increase and

business goals will be completed in a short amount of time.

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A Culture of Feedback Requires a Culture of Failure

By Jeff Miller

In order for people to take risks and push the envelope, they need to have a certain level of comfort with defeat. In other words, you don’t only need to walk before you run to succeed—you also need to be okay with stumbling every once in awhile.

But what does this “culture of failure” look like, and how is it achieved? Embracing failure isn’t about patting people on the back when they miss the mark—at its core, a culture of failure is about feedback that helps you make the mark next time. If you want to progress as an individual or as a company, you need to be willing to identify your weaknesses and maximize your strengths.

However, even the most self-aware people are limited in their ability to identify these strengths and weaknesses on their own. They need help—and, based on my experience, they want help. If you look at recent research on the millennial generation—which, in many ways, I believe strongly reflects the desires of every generation—you’ll find that almost everything points back to the desire for growth and development, for continuous

At its core, a culture of failure is about feedback that helps

you make the mark next time.

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feedback. Most people are craving conversations that push them to the next level. The question is, how do you get there?

Build Structured CommunicationCreating a culture of failure comes down to communication—communication between employees and managers, between managers and VPs, between VPs and the C-suite. As director of talent management at Cornerstone, I’ve focused a lot of my time and energy on fostering the type of communication that leads to a company and workforce not only open to risk-taking, but prone to it.

At Cornerstone, we train managers to provide their employees with “stretch projects.” The key to these projects’ success, however, doesn’t lie in giving the assignment—it lies in the conversations that occur before and afterward. Prior to the project, the manager asks the employee, “What’s your likelihood for success? What’s your expected failure rate? What are your obstacles?” After the project, the manager debriefs with the employee to identify successes and failures on both ends: “What were the unforeseen obstacles? Was the task as clearly communicated as possible? Were the challenges identified individual blocks or systemic blocks? And if they were systemic blocks, who should have gotten on your side?”

Teach People to Ask For FeedbackWith structured communication, employees will begin to feel more comfortable taking on stretch assignments. First, because they know the goal isn’t success—it’s growth. And second, because when they fail—and, usually, they are bound to “fail” in some sense—they will have a deep understanding of how to succeed the next time around.

The second benefit of structured communication—and another step toward fostering a workforce comfortable with failure—is that it will teach people to be comfortable with feedback. When most people ask for “feedback” today, I’ve found that what they truly expect is congratulations. Why? It’s not that they don’t want to improve—it’s just that they aren’t used to hearing constructive criticism, and are therefore unsure of how to handle it.

Instead of asking, “How did that go?” employees will learn to ask,

“How could that have gone better?

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Structured communication familiarizes both employees and managers with receiving and providing tough feedback. After a few stretch assignments, employees will learn to be their own best advocates and managers will learn how to truly coach their employees. Instead of asking, “How did that go?” employees will learn to ask, “How could that have gone better?” And instead of a nonchalant “Good job!” managers will be able to provide both congratulations and criticism.

Prioritize GrowthLast but not least, it’s not enough to simply encourage employees and managers to communicate or discuss feedback. It needs to be a formal part of your culture, embodied by your values. Because as I’ve learned during my career, there are two truths about culture: 1) Culture can be made and 2) Whether you consciously make it or not, culture will happen.

If you aren’t mindful and strategic about integrating failure into your company culture—through formal communication, training and leading by example—you won’t realize the eventual success that comes from risk-taking. It is critical to prioritize manager feedback, employee reviews and general stretch assignments.

As a CLO or CHRO, you can beat the drum of “failure is a good thing” all you want—but unless you formalize this belief, and immerse your workforce from the start in a company that encourages feedback and growth, you won’t see a true cultural shift.

An excuse I hear all too often is, “I want to give feedback—it’s just that I’m too busy.” The hard truth is that at the end of the day, your employees are the only thing you should always have time for. If you’re too busy for them, then you’re failing to invest in the future of your personal career, team and company. Like all good things, this is easier said than done—but as I’ve learned throughout my career, your biggest failures will take you farther than any small success.

The hard truth is that at the end of the day, your employees are

the only thing you should always have time for.

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Modern Learning Moves Employees Up, Down and Across

By Jason Corsello

The modern career is no longer defined by a vertical ascension of titles. Today, we rarely see a resume with a gradual move from “Junior Sales Associate” to “VP of Sales” over a ten-year period in the same industry. Instead, people move from one industry to another, and one department to the next, gathering a variety of

skills and diverse knowledge as they grow. In fact, our recent Career Trends Report found that 42 percent of respondents (across generations) expect to have three or more careers in their lifetime.

The career “ladder” has essentially become a career “chutes and ladders”—where there are multiple paths to success, and opportunities around every corner.

The new definition of careers means employees have new learning and development expectations from their employers. While people desire more independence at work, they also crave more personalization. Sure, people want to carve their own path—but they also want mentorship and guidance along the way.

The career ‘ladder’ has essentially become a career ‘chutes

and ladders’—where there are multiple paths to success, and

opportunities around every corner.

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Here are three ways HR leaders can meet these dual needs, and create a workplace culture that is both flexible and supportive.

Offer 24/7 Access to ResourcesPeople working across different departments and schedules makes it difficult to meet everyone’s interests and availability. Instead of offering infrequent, mandatory training sessions, develop a learning hub that covers multiple topics and can be accessed 24/7 on multiple platforms.

Consistent access to resources enables employees to learn on their own terms and test out different interests—for example, a sales associate might be interested in taking a marketing class, or vice versa. Learning and development opportunities should always be readily available to those who want them.

At Cornerstone, our learning management system is preloaded with content from our content partners like TED, Skillsoft and Harvard Business Publishing. In addition to covering a variety of skills and interests, the content is available in different formats—from a 2-hour course from Harvard on management to a 2-minute video on how to give a great presentation. Everything online is mobile-ready, and we also offer in-person learning sessions.

Provide Ongoing FeedbackRecently, there has been substantial backlash against the annual review in favor of ongoing feedback. In my opinion, both forms of performance evaluations can be valuable—learning isn’t measured by when you give feedback, but by how people feel about reviews. A true learning culture is an environment where people feel comfortable about asking for feedback and receiving it at any time.

An annual review is only harmful if it’s a surprise—and it should never be a surprise. People should always have an understanding of where they stand, and the review should be an opportunity to spend a couple hours reflecting more deeply on where they stand now, and where they want to go.

Our Career Trends Report found that 42 percent of

employees expect to have three or more careers in their lifetime.

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A motto we use at Cornerstone is “Always be developing.” We recently rolled out a course for employees on situational leadership, which encourages employee-led feedback. We’re trying to teach people to be proactive about performance conversations, so we can identify their career goals and help them get there earlier.

Align Employee Goals with Organizational NeedsAfter defining an employee’s goals through feedback sessions, focus on how those goals align with your organization’s needs. Career paths need to support both vertical and horizontal movement, and matching an employee’s goals with organizational gaps will allow you to identify unique opportunities for him or her across the company. In addition, aligning these goals and gaps will help your employees understand how they are making a difference in your company.

The complexity of today’s career paths also means people are shying away from simply defining goals by “core competencies,” or a defined set of skills. At Cornerstone, goals are defined by three things:

knowledge, behavior and attitude. This triumvirate is our guiding light when we evaluate employee performance, when we ask employees about their aspirations and when we think about new opportunities for our employees. We want our employees to know that we support their personal and professional growth.

With the notion of a career becoming more and more fluid, it’s crucial for organizations to see individuals as partners in learning and development. Learning is about empowering people to reach their full potential—and subsequently, empowering your organization to do the same.

Learning is about empowering people to reach their full

potential—and subsequently, empowering your organization

to do the same.

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Why Mobile Learning Makes L&D Faster, Stronger, Better

By Charles Coy

Lifelong learning is now an institution, as evidenced by the massive success of digital “universities” like Coursera, Khan Academy, and more. And while consumers are taking education into their own hands—signing up for classes ranging from Economics 101 to mapmaking—companies are equally eager to incorporate self-motivated learning into employee learning and development.

More than eight in 10 executives view learning as an important or very important issue, according to Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends 2016 report. But at the same time, many companies feel they’re unprepared to meet the challenge—particularly when it comes to new platforms and mediums, like mobile and video.

That’s where companies like Skill Pill come in. The London-based agency has created buzz in the HR community with its top-notch, mobile-first videos for corporate learning and development initiatives. With the marching beat to go mobile growing louder by the minute, we sat down with founder Gerry Giffin to get his tips on getting mobile L&D right.

More than eight in 10 executives view learning as an

important or very important issue.

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What was your “aha” moment when you realized L&D needed better mobile videos?I was running a face-to-face session in Romania for Unilever and it was going quite well. A colleague was onstage, and I was looking at the faces of the participants. I thought to myself, isn’t it a shame that in two months’ time, the majority of that content will have disappeared?

The idea behind Skill Pill is to try and create a bridge between a moment of intervention, be it e-learning or face-to-face learning, and the moment of application. Say somebody attended a session on dealing with team conflict. Four or five months later, he or she may need to apply that learning—we use [videos] to get people in the right frame of mind to be better, faster, stronger at that moment of delivery.

Why is video so engaging on mobile, in particular?Let’s start with duration. One’s sense of duration—the length of the piece of content—is different, based on

device. The rule of thumb is the smaller the device, the longer the piece of content feels. Our data tells us that after about three to four minutes, you get a massive dropout rate [on mobile].

We use animated video a lot, because it’s twice as efficient at getting the message across than real video. We use some text, but an interactive, engaging, animated video style is much more appreciated than other modes in terms of getting the learning points across.

What tone of voice works best in m-learning?In a broad sense, people feel that a mobile device, even if it’s been issued by your company, is personal space. We need to shift from a didactic, prescriptive tone of voice to a more coaching, enabling, buddy style.

[L&D leaders] need to shift from a didactic, prescriptive tone of voice to a more coaching, enabling,

buddy style.

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What kind of data do you and your clients use to understand how employees are learning?We’re able to see what people look at and their dropout rates, but also the time and increasingly the location of viewing. Are folks looking at it within the building or are they looking at it outside the building? We’re able to gather traffic reports on concentration and known points of learning and distributed access points, as well. That begins to tell us ... how people are using the content and how they’re recommending it to each other.

How can learning and development officers make mobile learning tools and materials more engaging for employees?I liken good learning to a retail experience. In good retail, there’s a great window display; they welcome you in. That’s the first step—how welcoming does the layout feel? Can you get into the environment fairly quickly and simply?

If I need to have a difficult conversation with a colleague this afternoon, I may say, “OK, I need a piece of content to help me.” I need to go search for that piece of material and then I need to consume it. That arc takes about five minutes. Any more than that five minutes and you’ve lost your customer. That’s a “retailing” dynamic.

Secondly, [L&D leaders] need to understand the motivations of the individual users. If you don’t really connect with that, all you’re doing is throwing some spaghetti at the wall and hoping some of it will stick.

Any more than that five minutes and you’ve lost your customer.

That’s a “retailing” dynamic.

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How Collaborative Learning Will Revolutionize L&D

By Leslie Surley Kostrikin

The recognized value of corporate learning and development has been growing over the past few years as skills increasingly trump tenure in the workforce. In our rapidly changing world of work, ensuring your employees are armed with the latest knowledge and competencies is critical for staying competitive.

As a result, companies are investing heavily in L&D: The learning management system market is expected to grow to $10.5 billion in the next five years. Yet despite increased investment, impact is low: 66 percent of L&D professionals say they have trouble engaging learners

with their programs, and while employees say training opportunities are a top priority in staying at a job, the average employee spends just 1 percent of his or her time on L&D.

The average employee spends just 1 percent of his

or her time on L&D.

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HR leaders have doubled down on their budgets around learning, but something is clearly still missing. It’s time to double down on the strategy.

The Evolution of LearningThe integration of technology has changed the world of work: People now collaborate across time zones, industries and skillsets. Yet our core learning methods are still based on solitary, individual endeavors—and that’s not how effective learning takes place.

According to Jane Hart, founder of the Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies, workplace learning has progressed through five stages: 1) classroom training, 2) e-learning, 3) blended learning, 4) social learning and 5) collaborative learning. Starting with classroom training, each stage gradually moves away from top-down control—dictated by the organization—to bottom-up control, whereby employees drive their learning. Hart says we are currently in the fourth stage with “social learning,” the theory that people learn through observation and socialization. True innovation, however, requires moving to the final stage: collaborative learning.

What is Collaborative Learning?Collaborative learning happens “in the flow of work [that is] enabled, supported and encouraged; not designed or managed,” Hart says. Ultimately, collaborative learning allows learning and work to not only be interdependent, but unified.

Collaborative learning expands upon the social learning premise that individuals learn more through sharing and social interactions than they would alone, and moves beyond an instructor-learner model. Employees not only learn from their teammates; they also experience deeper learning through sharing information and perspectives with their peers.

Collaborative learning happens “in the flow of work [that is] enabled,

supported and encouraged; not designed or managed.

The Impact of Collaborative LearningCollaborative learning leads to greater knowledge retention than top-down education. According to Josh Bersin at Bersin by Deloitte, learners retain only 5 percent of what they hear and 10 percent of what they read, but they remember more than 50 percent of what they learn through discussion and interaction. In fact, retention can soar to 75 percent or more through direct experience and on-the-job learning.

But collaborative learning also has another, perhaps unexpected, impact as well: As networks replace hierarchies, relationships between team members deepen.

From the C-suite to your newest employees, collaborative learning provides improved ROI, as well as an enhanced culture of camaraderie and innovation.

Learners retain only 5 percent of what they hear and 10 percent of what they read, but they

remember more than 50 percent of what they learn through discussion

and interaction

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1 Brandon Hall Group, 2014. http://www.halogensoftware.com/blog/the-value-of-ongoing-performance-management