I had the pleasure of sitting down at the 2019 ATD ICE with Paul Meshanko, who is all about respect and how it is a powerful tool for success in the workplace. Paul spoke at the conference about The Respect Effect: Reaching Beyond Tolerance to Build an Inclusive Workplace which is also the title of his book: The Respect Effect
ATD featured a sneak peek at the new Association for Talent Development Competencies model currently in progress. Any questions or feedback for the study email to: competency_study at td dot org
The session called Shaping the Future of the Profession: The 2019 ATD Competency Study, featured a round table moderated by: Courtney Vital, (cv) Associate Vice President, Education & Credentialing, ATD
Panelists: Elaine Biech, (eb) ebb associates inc;
Jonathan Halls (jh) Trainer Mojo LLC; and William Rothwell, (br) Penn State University
This is a slide capture of the Top Trends Identified in ATD’s Competency Research
This peek was in the middle of their re imagining the skills needed to be a competent talent development professional. The quotes were captured via a live tweet stream. I tried to identify the panelists as I could while tweeting. This is not verbatim but I did try to get the sense of what each speaker was saying at the moment. This session made my conference since I got to meet Elaine Biech.
Any questions or feedback for the study email to: competency_study at td dot org
CV Lets talk new competencies. ATD is in a unique position to determine the needs of talent development. TD professionals have to predict future changes otherwise we won’t be able to move our orgs into the future. What is a competency study? Scan literature, scan field, occupational survey and talk to practitioners. The model development is continuing and the comps should be released later this year.
First question [to the panel] Why do we look at the forces to form competencies?
EB the comp study will take us from where we are today to where we need to be. The study will put thoughts on paper to codify what we need to be true professionals in field.
BR we start with a trends and future study so that the comps aren’t dated when they are written. Characteristic that underlies a successful performer as a def of comps.
JH Comps help to bring to a concrete place what we can focus on developing in response to changes in profession.
EB our profession is both wide and deep. We cover many areas of organizational development.
CV there were 3000 responses to survey
BR we are becoming trusted advisors. Technology is allowing us to be in a position to do things we need to do.
CV most significant shift is…
JH Our world is shifting. We get to build a new bridge.
EB our role in supporting our leaders and guide them. We need to speak C suite ese. Part of building a new bridge. ATD name change solidified TD role.
BR Technology will have a profound effect on the workforce. Full time workers are going away. Employers want to pay for results not time. 40 % of workforce will work virtually in the future. We expect online workers to produce immediate results.
JH go from deliver learning to helping workers access learning.
EB The bridge building will require everyone to stretch. We will have to help people learn to learn. Must coach employees to find way through training and make them feel good and excited to plan for their future.
BR 70 percent of org change efforts fail. As changes get faster humans have trouble adapting to change. they shut down. We need to be aware of learner stress that comes with too much change too fast.
Why have competencies?
EB if we don’t pay attention to building our own comps, we need to take it and go with it. Otherwise, someone will take our job role away from us. Masters of Learning Engineer from BU? has many things that are learning pro
JH need to have competencies to make sure our roles are valued and known in organizations. What will never change is people needing help to develop their skills.
JH the professionalization of the training must be codified. Someone will do it and it should be us.
BR There will be new labels new names and charge more for the same work.
The Players: Courtney Vital, (cv) Associate Vice President, Education & Credentialing, ATD, Elaine Biech, (eb) ebb associates inc; Jonathan Halls, (jh) The 11th Hour Group; and William Rothwell, (br) Penn State University.
If you have questions or feedback for the study email competency_study at td dot org
Q and A (questions from the floor and answers have no attribution.)
IEEE is working on a learning engineer program …
Is the change part of the comp model small?
Yes it will be woven into all the other parts of competences. Think holistically think integrated change management and integrated change.
Is Career development in the competency model?
Yes it is and it is an important element. We have to look at careers in a broader manner.
What does speak c suite mean?
We use acronyms that confuse. Get in the suite quickly. Diana Booher is a recommended read. We need to fit training into business goals. Tie talent development to business strategy.
BR what ceo’s think of training book. Don’t say comps say blueprint of successful performance. Think like a consultant. Problem, solution, action plan, budget, payback, staffing.
JH Learn what bonus structure is or regulations to be met and show how talent development and learning helps those goals.\
EB Kevin Cope is the other name of the books of how you can talk to C level folks.
What is the role of trusted advisor:
EB the role is three-pronged. 1) Collecting and curating. 2) Coaching and connecting others 3) Consulting and Coordinating organizational projects.
Organizations must be learning organizations. (BTW libraries have been learning organizations for decades. Look to your local library to see how it can be done. )
General Statements:
BR We need to find a way to build blended experiences.
EB Think about the topics and how they are best delivered. Everything can’t be taught face to face. We need to be curators of information right answer at the right time.
JH we are in the business of helping people change.
Change management Creating competencies for leaders is going to crucial Leaders need a core comp for change.
BR training is retention strategy. People STAY if there is training and talent development programs for staff. We need to look at the people who have invisible learning disabilities. There are over 600 different things.
JH We need content creation as a competency. (we have always been content creators)
Excitement about future
JH we are at an exciting time no longer clunky tech
BR How our field can contribute to change everything
EB We can create an exciting future for our organizations. Orville Wright didn’t have a pilot’s license.
I hope that you have enjoyed my twittercap of the 2019 ATD competencies sneak peek.
Ken was gracious enough to spend a little time talking about evaluations, the PLA Method, learning analytics, predictive measurement, what most people get wrong with evaluations and his upcoming book Going from Training to Application Using Predictive Learning Analytics on evaluation backed by analytical data via a predictive model.
The mission of PLA is to provide L&D professionals with a systematic, credible and repeatable process for maximizing the value of learning and development investments by measuring, monitoring and managing the amount of scrap learning associated with those investments.
Contact him either via the Predictive Learning Analytics website or email at ken at phillipsassociates dot com
Side Note: I sometimes have problems remembering people’s names. Faces I know names, not so much. Names can take a while to settle in the database. This interview was so wonderful, I would talk about it and try to remember the name of the interview subject. I merely said “the evaluation guru” and two different people said, oh, you mean Ken Phillips.
The one thing about conferences, is that if you time it just right, you come back from a conference at night then get straight up to work the following day, with little time left for immediate reflection.
Here are some things I learned on Wednesday at the conference.
Trade Show floors always look the same. ATD’s could be ALA’s or vice versa.
Author signings can be fun. Kevin Kruse I am looking at you.
The Talent Development and Learning profession is constantly changing. ATD’s competencies for Talent Management professionals are currently being re imagined by ATD’s membership guided by a group of highly regarded talent development folks. They presented a sneak peek at the direction of the new competencies. I will bullet point my notes (from twitter) from the presentation with a slide or to later this week. Below is a slide capture from the event.
Eric Whitacre’s closing event of the conference was incredible. He talked about how he scaled his project from one voice to thousands, his collaborations to create the virtual choir and his writing process. There was even a live/virtual choir mashup at the end to send us soaring out of Washington. Here is the Virtual Choir Website.
My editing continues on the interviews. They will be up on the T is for Training Blog over the next two weeks.
Christie began with an overview of the conference and the topics that resonated with her, and then Paul chimed in with sessions that piqued his interest. Both spoke about AI (artificial intelligence) which was the focus of several sessions. With technology changing – and an increase of AI – people need to be flexible. Flexibility is a skill that students need to learn at a young age.
Paul noted that librarians and trainers overlap on many levels. We are both invested in helping people acquire new knowledge and skills for the future. There is much happening online that helps people learn, including TED Talks. Christie quoted someone who said that TED Talks are the largest deliverer of learning.
This was a FAST moving conversation and these notes really do not do it justice. So LISTEN to the episode!
Quotes of the Day:
The pause is not a delay, it is a discipline. – Charles Fred, outgoing chair of the ATD Board
Pausing can be a sign of respect; meaning that you want to think before acting or responding. Pausing is helpful in terms of respecting diversity and creating inclusion.
“ … That we even call these things ‘soft skills.’ How dare we. These are REAL skills.”#atd2019#sethgodin
After that, I wandered around the conference and found some great people to talk to about their learning, training, and talent management work. Their cleaned up interviews will be coming soon to this space.
I continue to be inspired by the passion for the work and the depth of knowledge of the good people I interviewed today.
JD Dillon (@JD Dillon) Chief Learning Officer at Axonify and Principal at Learngeek.co talked about micro learning and the undervalued contributions to company success of your front line staff.
Evert Prius (@evertprius) and I talked about AI in the real world and how AI can be leveraged in learning and training development to customize the training experience to the specific needs and skill levels of the learners.
Finally, in the couldn’t interview them today but will try in the future category:
Craig C. Clayton @craigbclayton with a good chicken story;
Justin Brusino @atdlearntech talked about some ways to collaborate; and
Ryan Changcoco @atdmanagement talked about ATD’s upcoming Wayback Training Videos that should be out this summer to advertise the upcoming ATD TechKnowledge Conference in 2020.
Thanks to all the people mentioned and to all of those who provided the energy of their presence today.
If I talked to you and you didn’t make this list I apologize profusely.
Some notes from the @ATD State of the Association Conference briefing featuring @tonybingham ATD President & CEO, Charles Fred, Current ATD Board Chair and Rose Velez-Smith Board Chair-Elect.
NB: The bullet points below are a collection of the tweets sent from the press briefing this morning. All quotes are from one of the three participants. I apologize for not being able to properly attribute each quote to one of the three speakers, but I thought it was more important to capture the essence of the quick moving conversation. Thank you for understanding.
Different membership levels to reflect greater diversity in learning roles in organizations
you want to hang onto the things that work but keep an eye on the new to move the association forward.
The association focus is aligned with c level concerns about talent recruitment and retention.
CPLP certification is an international certification mindful of the cultural similarities and uniqueness of different markets.
We need to make sure that there is a culture of continual learning (like libraries!) that will help all talent adapt to future changes.
Learning is not something is done to you. How do we get individuals to get proactive about learning and receptive to learning.
Shift of organizations into learning organizations. (Libraries have been doing this for decades MD has learning libraries method of organizational thinking.)
People come to ATD for career development. The Association has to continue to provide resources that support that goal here at the conference.
How do the people that influence the business the most get a seat at the table? How do you draw others to the table?
ATD worked for years to get @Oprah to come to ATD. Demonstrates persistence, generosity, low ego and relatability. And she is one of the most influential people in the world. How do you NOT learn from her.
ATD continues to create new channels of content with a new person at the association and taking a look at the content segmentation structure and see how we can drive more people to more relevant to them content.
ATD is taking a deep dive into the UX and ATD’s current content organization. They have hired someone at the association that will focus on this specific area of member support.
Was the increase in conference attendance this year and last year because of the speakers?… Pres. Obama and Oprah Having them speak at ATD put the stamp of approval to the conference to those who don’t know about ATD
ATD continues to protect organization neutrality even though a few thought that Pres Obama and Oprah were more political choices not leadership choices for speakers.
ATD continues to work on increasing the international representation at the highest levels of the association. Being mindful of the logistics, how to keep the international perspective on the association’s radar.
So today at #ATD2019 for the show was awesome. Here goes the bullet points of my day:
Sat in on the Chad Udell @visualrinse presser about his book Shock of the New. Hope to have him on the show to talk about his work including how you can use his 30 question rubric to help you evaluate your organization and how technology can be used by your organization.
Sat in on the Paul Smith (@paulsmithatd) discusses his new book Learning While Working which focuses on successful training while in a particular position. His interview will be coming up on the show soon.
After lunch and some time in a session by Bob Pike (@bobpikectt) where he trained some trainers. And did so with style and humor. Paul Signorelli @trainersleaders has the notes about that session and a session with Jamie Millard/Frank Satterwaite authors of the book Becoming a Can-Do Leader. If we are lucky we will get them on an upcoming episode of the podcast.
Then a string of great serendipitous interviews with:
Paul Meshanko (@paulmeshanko) about the keys to respect. An organization were the employees respect each other is a more productive workplace with an engaged workforce not focused on their limbic brain. That two part interview will be up soon.
Ken Phillips (site to come) talked about evaluation and how to build a strong evaluation tool and his work on the 12 questions to effectively evaluate the transfer of learning. He taught me that what I don’t know about evaluation would fill several volumes. Two parts up soon.
Dr. Chan Lee (@hrdream) from Seoul National University talked about AI and that AI won’t take away jobs but allow job restructuring to free workers from mundane tasks.
I was truly lucky to meet such a group of smart and engaged people today. I do need to clean up some sound, including two different breaks for convention center unexpected furniture movement.
We will be talking about some of these subjects on the next episode of T is for Training this Friday at 2pm ET.
Paul Smith (@paulsmithatd) discusses his new book Learning While Working which focuses on successful training while in a particular position. I was lucky enough to hear his briefing and record an interview with him. That interview is coming up soon on this same @tisfortraining station.
NB — This is an edited stream of consciousness note taking. This only scratches the surface of the book.
Many places treat OTJ (On The Job) training as an episode of survivor, sink or swim.
Organizations should treat OTJ training just like regular structured training. It should have consistent goals and outcomes just like a successful n or outside of the traditional classroom setting.
Known objectives work to keep younger learners engaged. Keep them in the drivers seat with upfront objectives shared at beginning of job cycle.
Good SOTJ (Structured On The Job) training program builds on a specific job role not the whole company. if there is just a sink or swim training mentality, the good people leave after four years.
Best to have specific tasks not just general Know excel but know how to x in excel.
There are two things that all good SOTJ training programs have:
Number One:
Sit down with specific role and identify specific and measurable things to be considered competent. Doesn’t matter the size of the job. Both learner and organization must know specific tasks to ensure learner success. This list is a living document, not set in stone for eternity.
Must be specific measurable competencies in a position.
It can be a painful but beneficial journey to make organization position skills consistent throughout an organization leaving room for customization and local enhancement.
Once you do that you go to Two which is:
How do you know that they are competent? Must evaluate observable output so someone else can evaluate position competence.
Don’t think of On The Job Training as that but think of a competency based training. While there is a place in the workplace for classroom training, job specific training is different from the information dissemination class training experience.
OTJ should be competency based learning to help you the worker establish a sense of competence in what you need to know to successfully do you job. Use the measurable items to determine success of training and program.
You can use a competency based learning program that is completely organized and viewed up front can be used as a recruitment tool.
Mentors love the list of competences so there is a consistent training foundation and expected outcomes with the benefit of helping a mentor guide the learner leading to project success.
What makes a good program works is accountability Somebody must monitor and measure so the job gets done. The employee has a list of measurables, the mentor has list, then there is an independent development coordinator to meet with the learner to evaluate the measurable items and what they have successfully completed in time x and what hey plan do to in the near future.
The book is platform agnostic. The tech and evaluation is important not the container.
The book has a 30 question rubric to help you evaluate your organization and how technology can be used by your organization.
Budget in Learning and Development should include money for R and D of new technology and how it can be leveraged in your organization to promote better employee engagement.
Organizations need build the capability of its workforce.
10 years from now the workplace climate will be as different as our homes are now compared to 10 years ago. Smart devices, connectivity and seamless knowledge access are becoming the norm not the exception in places.
Very approachable and accessible person, so I am assuming that his book is just as approachable and accessible.
Looking forward to a longer interview on T is for Training in the near future.
T is for Training 