Questions like those below are always
cropping up in the trade press and at conferences.
- How can we keep our learning and development
efforts aligned with the needs of the business?
- How can we gain and keep the support of key
executives?
- How can we deal with conflicting priorities
among our executives?
Without adequate answers to
these questions, the learning and development departments are at risk of
- Planning their programs and budgets based on
employee demand or based on what they themselves think the business
needs
- Getting their budgets and headcount cut in
tough times because they lack understanding and support from the power
structure
- Finding competing training groups cropping up
in various parts of the business, because the executives do not have
confidence or feel ownership in the central training group's
capabilities
In our experience, the one
silver bullet to slay this dragon is what we call the Governance System.
The Governance System organizes business leaders to direct and support
the learning and development work of the business; it harnesses the
power structure. Learning and development is a support function within
any business. It can and should be run like an internal support
business. The Governance System is like the board of directors and
customer councils for this internal business.
Below are some of the key
features of a Learning and Development Governance System.
- Executive Learning Council or Board
- Made up of key executives and chaired by
president or COO; can be the Executive Leadership Team wearing this
hat several times a year
- Approves the strategic plans for learning and
development based on alignment with business goals, strategies, and
challenges
- Sets high-level priorities on where the
business will spend its learning and development resources
- Approves the annual operating plan and budget
for learning and development
- Reviews results and holds the organization
accountable
- Holds subordinate councils accountable
- Functional Learning Councils (e.g., Sales,
Engineering, Manufacturing)
- Made up of functional leaders and chaired by
the function head; can be the Functional Leadership Team wearing
this hat several times a year
- Approves the learning strategies and
“curriculum” for the function
- Sets priorities for functional learning and
recommends or approves a functional operating plan and budget
- Helps the training department get access to
staff from among the company’s master performers or subject matter
experts
- Reviews results of functional learning and
development and holds the organization accountable
- Leadership Development Council
- Cross-functional group of executives who
oversee leadership development across the business
- Plays the same role as the Functional
Learning Councils but for leadership development
We have more than
25 years of experience helping to set up and effectively use Governance
Systems for learning and development.
