The cost of
training in North American companies exceeds $60 billion per year. Try
to visualize that. Picture a stack of 1,000,000 $1 bills. Now try to
picture 60,000 of those stacks. Amazed? Then consider this fact:
estimates of training costs worldwide approach a quarter of a trillion
dollars ($250,000,000,000) when indirect costs and opportunity costs
are included. Do you find those numbers as difficult to comprehend as I
do?
Understandably, senior executives are
concerned about the ROI (return on investment) on these massive
investments. Many executives are not convinced that the benefits of
training exceed the costs.
Corporations are now looking for
organizational learning (OL) consultants who can serve as partners in
the strategic decision making about these large investments of
resources. These OL consultants will be expected to help improve not
only learning, but ultimately performance.
To serve as strategic business
partners, OL consultants must have expertise in adult learning theory,
methods to promote self-directed learning, usage of learning and
development agreements, knowledge capture, knowledge transfer,
management and professional development, expatriate training and
support, corporate universities, and what I call “strategic learning.”
The first step for the OL consultant
is to be sure the organization has a well-crafted strategic plan that
clearly communicates how senior management intends to fulfill the
organization’s mission. Frequently, the organization has a vague
mission and/or unrealistic strategic plan. There is no way to develop
strategic learning and development systems until senior management has
completed the strategic planning process.
Only after the organization has a
well-crafted, well-communicated strategic plan can the OL consultant
recommend learning and development systems that will help implement the
plan. “Strategic learning” is learning that is focused on helping the
organization fulfill its strategic plan.
Senior management must be able to
depend on OL consultants to maximize the organization’s investment of
money, time, and other resources to build its human capital into a
sustainable competitive advantage. In an era when human capital is far
more important than physical assets, the role of the OL consultant is
critical.
Raymond Noe has made the following
predictions:
- the focus of learning will become
business needs and performance
- there will be increased emphasis on
the capture and storage of intellectual capital
- new training technologies will be
developed
- the demand for training for virtual
work will increase
- the use of learning management
systems will be widespread
- HRD departments will develop
partnerships with outside vendors (e.g., traditional universities)
- the practice of outsourcing
training activities will continue
Senior management will be seeking the
OL consultant’s advice on all of these issues. Are you and your
organization prepared to address these issues?
