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People Development and Blended Solutions – the missing ingredient

Flexibility of delivery, responsiveness to people’s different learning styles, cost effectiveness - the benefits of Blended Solutions are obvious, and increasingly well-recognised by HR Development specialists. The last five years have seen this approach become a key part of organisations’ long-term people development strategy.

Strategy is one thing, but reality can be something else. Have Blended Solutions really caught on?

How many organisations have succeeded in building a learning and development environment which is truly focused on the learner; which holistically blends instructor led training, coaching, e-learning and online learning and assessment tools, with conventional distance learning and self development resources? Happily, it does appear that the number is rising.

Use of Blended Solutions in Just in Time Training (positioning and timing of training - versus ongoing learning - as close as possible to the point of use of the relevant knowledge and skills) also seems to be growing. This supports Rhema’s experience that people’s development needs continue to be driven by organisational change, and that very often the timing of the training intervention is driven by the timing of corporate change initiatives. This shorter term, just-in-time approach can be one dimensional, but these days it is more frequently multi-dimensional in its delivery.

So Blended Solutions are now used in the long and short term. This is as it should be, to meet both strategic and tactical people development needs. The number of true “learning organisations” is increasing and they and their employees are more likely to be winners in the future.

That all sounds great: the recipe is fine. But what is the missing ingredient?

All too often managers lack the motivation and ability to grow their peoples potential.

The reason? Quite simply a lack of reward to fulfil their part of their role properly. Many senior managers receive and pass on mixed corporate messages about people development. Yes, the organisation subscribes to the ideals and ideas, and yes, it is investing in tools and techniques. But managers are not being specifically appraised and measured on delivering people development, and they are not being specifically paid for doing it.

Organisations will continue to struggle to optimise the potential of their people, and therefore the full potential of their business, until managers are recognised and rewarded for their people development role. Unless this happens the traction needed for the success of wider people development initiatives and plans will not be there.

What makes the very few true learning organisations which exist today different to others is that they really understand the old maxim – “You get what you reward.”

And they know that rewarding managers for their vital contribution in this area is not difficult at all. All that is needed is the ability to make the connection between the long term sustainability of their organisation and the people development role of their managers.

They must in a practical, businesslike way recognise that ongoing corporate success today is all about their people and how they are developed and grown.

This belief still seems to be a long time coming as the vital ingredient in the blend. Those senior managers that capture it may be few, but their contribution to their organisations will be colossal.