What are the underlying principles of a transformative Learning & Talent Development strategy?

We all know that a goal without a plan is just a wish. As Greg Reid said, “A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.” These inspirational words remind us of the importance of always writing down that which we envision for our organizations and developing strategic blueprints that are well thought out before actual execution.

If you dream of achieving a great working culture, for example, have you documented what a great culture would mean for your organization? Why is that envisioned culture important to achieve? Have you designed a blueprint for achieving the same? 

In this article I would like us to explore the underlying principles of a transformative Learning & Talent Development strategy that has only one goal - to support the building and sustenance a Culture of Excellence through an impact-based Learning and Talent Development approach that is well aligned to the strategic direction of the organization. This envisioned culture is anchored on 5 pillars of excellence:

1. Leadership Excellence
2. Team Excellence
3. Customer Service Excellence
4. Operational Excellence 
5. Financial Excellence 

The following principles would serve as the underpinnings of a transformative, culture-oriented Learning and Talent Development strategy:

1. Maintaining a sense of agility, change consciousness and future proofing as a learning organization in a VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) world
2. Meticulous design of impact-based Learning and Talent Development (LTD) programmes devised to enhance cognitive, behavioral and occupational competence at all levels of the organization.
3. Conscious, strategic undertakings for talent identification and optimization fastened with a strong tendency for nurturing of capabilities and capitalizing on individual strengths for excellent outcomes
4. Inspiring high levels of intellectual curiosity, creative problem solving and innovative approaches to work while committing to transform mindsets and stimulating positive, enthusiastic and winning attitudes in the pursuit of excellence
5. Engaging in tactical, resource-conscious and solution - oriented stakeholder involvement endeavors, geared towards satisfaction of stakeholder needs and interests to the degree most feasible, thus cementing of cordial stakeholder relations that result in long-term, collective value
6. Providing immediate opportunities for practical application of learning outcomes to result in better grounding of newly acquired knowledge and skills, delivery of tangible returns for the organization’s investment and motivation of the learner through timely recognition of the learning outcomes successfully applied
7. Fostering enabling work environments and organizational approaches that promote high performance levels and allow the flourishing of talent and individual capabilities, strongly reinforced by an objective performance measurement framework that features an open window for growth – purposed feedback
8. Possessing a strong affinity for proactive, risk-based thinking as well as planning for new opportunities, enveloped in an atmosphere of continuous improvement and effective corrective action mechanisms for identified root causes of organizational problems in a long-term, quality driven, system based approach
9. Transcending knowledge barriers and tapping into different forms of knowledge as well as exploiting previously underutilized learning opportunities, resources and techniques 
10. Developing and empowering authentic and purpose - driven leaders at different levels of the organization
11. Cultivating a force field of highly engaged and inspired life-long learners working in empowered, cohesive and purpose-driven teams and grounded on strong professional and organizational values
12. Finding pride in being a center for meaningful, purpose –driven and rewarding work, a center well housed in a healthy, positive and enabling work culture
13.  Promoting psychological safety by endorsing healthy avenues for intellectual freedom and capitalizing on cognitive diversity
14. Maintaining an aerial view of the organization as a complex ecosystem of people, culture, resources, technology and stakeholder needs

Now, I find it important to mention that one of the things I have come to appreciate in the continuous evolution of HR (and the perception of it) is that HR is, after all, a creative field. Or rather should be a creative field. This means that most of the things we do in HR (which I personally prefer to a call it People and Culture) do not have to follow the same rules and protocols and nothing is really cast in stone. The profession is evolving from being more administrative to more strategic, from more transactional to more transformational, from more process based to more people-centric, from a leadership support base to an axis of leadership in the organization. Whether it is time for HR professionals to think of themselves as creatives is a story for another day. All I’m saying is that HR knowledge should essentially be applied in context.