How is Learning Served Up
in Your Organization?

By Rob Zell

How is learning delivered in your organization? Would you say it’s “pushed” (often used with “down” or “out”) or does it follow a “pull” model in which team members access it at will? Either way, your learning department is working hard to make sure that training is available as needed to support the business, and that’s a good thing. Furthermore, the best in class organizations are doing both, providing just in time training to meet immediate needs and optional offerings to advance knowledge and skills.

Organizations that follow a “push” only model are going to rapidly fall behind the curve and will soon find themselves lagging behind the competition. In the current business environment, companies need to have innovative, forward thinking leaders and requires a culture that fosters experimentation, exploration and critical thinking. Your organization can certainly hire for those skills but it’s an expensive model to support and you might be better served growing talent from within the organization.

Compliance often drives a “push” model of learning. In organizations with a high need for safety, security, internal accountability and regulatory compliance, training reflects the need to ensure that employees are certified for legal reasons. Historically, this follows a traditional model of education. Primary and secondary schools modeled the factory model of the industrial revolution, demanding homogenized groups and standardized levels.

Instead, I propose to maximize the effectiveness of learning in your organization you should be looking at three categories of training:

1.  Compliance Training. We’ll call this “Mission Critical”, training that meets regulatory compliance or is necessary to keep the wheels on the bus. In my experience, things like food safety, OSHA training, information security, Patriot Act and, for front line employees, training required for cash management, point of sale, and inventory management. In some organizations, ethics courses and diversity training fall into this category based on the culture. These types of courses fit well into the “push” model and are considered ticket to entry into the organization.

2.  Development Training. Let’s call this “Nuts and Bolts” training. This set of courseware advances the knowledge and skills of the organization in various functions. Content areas in this curriculum cover topics like leadership, project management, merchandising, human resources management, real estate development, logistics and customer relations. These courses can be developed in house or outsourced and may be linked to university or certification programs for transferable credits. By delivering this content you raise the knowledge and skill level of your people which increases the bench strength and long term survivability of your team. These courses fall into both “push” and “pull” categories. Learners engage the content as needed for their own development and growth in the organization but managers can always prescribe a course of learning to help move employees along or ensure accurate execution.

3.  Personal Training. This is the “Bells and Whistles” content. This is my catch all bucket for anything else that people want for their own learning plan. These courses support personal development and fill in the gaps to improve personal performance. Courses on time management, communication and organizational skills or experiences and roles that provide experience through trial and error. These should be primarily “pull” programs; employees self-identify areas of improvement and seek out learning opportunities to enhance their performance. In some cases, managers may prescribe specific courses or experiences based on need.

A solid learning program should have all three kinds of content, delivered via various modalities. Some sessions are best served through classroom sessions (in person or virtual classes) while others might be online courses, self-study documents, or peer sharing networks. Having a menu of content and delivery options provides access to the necessary training for success.

How is training structured in your organization? Is all training served up through a “push” model, a “pull model” or a combination of both? What do you find to be the most effective way to ensure employees are receiving the content they need, when they need it?