Featuring:

Sam Stern, Principal Analyst and Erin Streeter, VP, Training & Certification

Show Notes:

Imagine an architect comes up with the idea for an innovative skyscraper. He goes to put his idea down on paper. But instead of drafting a blueprint that details the skyscraper’s specifications, he opts to write a few big-picture notes. “The skyscraper is cool, tall, and awesome,” he writes, handing his notes over to a building crew. The builders guess what he means. They guess wrong, and the whole project falls apart. The architect is frustrated that his world-changing skyscraper wasn’t built. The builders feel ill-prepared and blamed.

Thus is the fate of many business transformations. Too often, firms draw up amazing strategies that have the potential to radically renew their business. But things go awry when they don’t map out how employees should execute this strategy, failing to connect it to the work that needs to happen on the ground.

On this episode of What It Means, we’re joined by Principal Analyst Sam Stern and VP, Training & Certification Erin Streeter to discuss the crucial role employee learning plays during successful business transformations.

No matter how enthusiastic employees are about a strategy, in the absence of clear, job-specific direction, they’re likely to give up in frustration or invent behaviors that may or may not be on track.

Learning can alleviate frustration and convert it into progress for both leaders and employees. Specificity indicates that the business is serious about its vision and helps employees understand how to execute (and what is expected of them). Listen to hear how learning can support your business, how to establish an effective program, and how to best activate the power of your human capital.