| It is no surprise that globally, business faces at least | | | | neuroscience and cellular biology but it starts with |
| 3 major internal challenges each of which have been | | | | common sense. There must be receptivity to learning. |
| blamed on the failure of HR managers or on | | | | If a learner is receptive and can see how the learning |
| ineffective training: | | | | applies to their work or personal life, then stepping |
| | | | into the stretch zone is much easier if not natural. If |
| 1. attract and keep talent; actively engage existing | | | | there is no willingness, there is likely a low level of |
| employees; | | | | receptivity. People can go through the motions but |
| 2. convert productivity lost due to internal infighting, | | | | not move. |
| silo turf wars, and destructive conflict to productive | | | | For learning to work the match needs to be made |
| gain; | | | | between the social working environment that the |
| 3. close the performance gap left by poor | | | | company culture subliminally creates and the more |
| performers; increase organizational effectiveness as | | | | deeply held values of employees, especially when the |
| demographic shifts take place. | | | | employee profile is multi-generational. |
| To understand the situation it helps to see what | | | | To stimulate and activate learning receptivity and |
| forces keep things in place. | | | | retention means engaging in learning which: |
| - The temptation and habit of blaming the people, | | | | |
| particularly with respect to performance, is signaled | | | | 1. Is experiential with the intention shared and explicit. |
| by phrases like: they should have; she/he should have | | | | 2. Is reflective - engaging the learner's experiences |
| and other phrases that indicate energy being directed | | | | and insights, to see the larger picture. |
| to find individual faults totally ignoring the deeper | | | | 3. Uses whole body; brain techniques so that the |
| systemic and evolutionary forces that are drive and | | | | emotional processor, which is considerably faster than |
| create the dynamic. Training is often used to 'fix' the | | | | the logical one, is wired into the learning and will not |
| people without paying attention to the deeper forces | | | | short circuit when on unfamiliar territory. |
| driving the issue. | | | | 4. Allows time for integration and application. |
| - When the external environment is perceived by the | | | | 5. Is collective and applied. It is not enough for the |
| individual to be unsafe, then underlying talent will stay | | | | individual to find security within themselves. The |
| submerged. Humans have a long standing preference | | | | entire social network within which they contribute |
| for survival and most will not push the boundary of | | | | and interact with must have the capacity to receive |
| uncertain territory beyond a zone of comfort, | | | | released talent. |
| particularly if the systems and processes in the | | | | 6. Is tracked against performance using a wide angle |
| working environment unintentionally repress initiative | | | | lens to capture direct and indirect results. |
| and self-leadership. Epigenetics is the field of science | | | | 7. Provides employees with a systematic way to |
| which establishes that the environment sends direct | | | | strengthen their relationship with themselves so tacit |
| messages to your cells, along with instructions for | | | | knowledge can emerge and self-leadership can power |
| survival. This explains why so much talent gets left | | | | action. |
| under the surface. | | | | It helps to remember that people are human and |
| - The nature of the work and the resulting habits can | | | | bring powerful emotional, energetic and mental |
| create an unreceptive climate for the necessary | | | | intelligences to work. Like humans, organizations |
| post-training reflection and application essential for | | | | unknowingly adopt addictive habits that can appear |
| learning integration. | | | | to improve performance but essentially impair |
| Organizational habits such as making decisions through | | | | perceptiveness to the more subtle signals that |
| knee jerk reaction or generating actions before | | | | indicate what needs to be put in place for true social |
| understanding the situation can interfere and block | | | | and emotional development -- the fulcrum for higher |
| employee's good intentions to use and apply the | | | | levels of workplace leadership and group |
| learning. | | | | performance. |
| Learning retention employs what we learn from | | | | |