Shrug

Do they know what L&D does?

In General L&D by JD Dillon

Do you know what the L&D team does here?

I mentioned the idea of “lack of L&D role awareness” as a symptom of an unhealthy learning and performance ecosystem during my vSession with the ATD Forum earlier today. Coincidentally, Jane Hart asked a related question this morning on Twitter …

Do people – especially frontline employees and managers – really understand the role L&D plays and the value you bring to the organization? What would they say if I asked them? Would I hear things like …

  • “They schedule me for classes sometimes.”
  • “They run the LMS (or whatever themed name its called in your org).”
  • “They trained me when I first got here.”
  • “L and what? Oh, you mean training.”

Needless to say, these answers don’t inspire confidence in the value L&D brings to the everyday needs of employees. Whether or not upper management feels L&D is delivering desired outcomes, the entire organization – again especially the frontline – must understand what L&D does and the role they play in helping the team succeed.

What would the perfect answer be IMO?

They help me do my job better …

Simple – but powerful!


So what would your employees say if they were asked about the role of L&D? Have you ever bothered to ask?

Author

  • JD Dillon

    JD Dillon is the world’s foremost expert on frontline learning and enablement. He is also one of the most prolific authors and speakers in the workplace learning community. For 20 years, JD has worked in operations and talent development with some of the world’s most dynamic organizations, including Disney, Kaplan and AMC. He is the founder of LearnGeek, a workplace performance advising and insights group. He is also Chief Learning Architect with Axonify, where he builds technology, content and services that enable frontline employees around the world to do their best work every day.