HR, L&D Capability and Role

This brief written case study explores how a performance support philosophy was used to implement the Mind Tools resource in my previous role/organisation. 

You can also view a 30 minute recorded presentation of the case study from the 2020 HR Tech Fest here. 

The role of the resource in supporting business performance AND the language used to position Mind Tools have been critical. Instead of learners and learning, the focus was on workers and working. We referred to Mind Tools as a 'toolkit' to reinforce the idea of helping people perform their role/tasks, respond to challenges they face and continuously develop. 

The initial focus was to integrate selected Mind Tools content within the company intranet and in support of key business processes. This performance support approach was about helping people refresh, prepare, perform and respond in the context of their work and at the point of need. The approach was also aligned to key business priorities and processes,, so the purpose of the resource and the value it was creating were clearly defined. I think this has much greater impact than trying to sell a huge library of 'self-directed learning', which sounds nice, but is vague and leads to questions about  activity/usage...

I hope you find the case study useful. You might use it to trigger a discussion with your HR/L&D team. For example:

What language do we use and does it help or hinder? Are we creating learning or performance solutions? What is the difference? What mindsets, capabilities and guiding principles might we develop to maximise our impact (i.e. performance consulting)?

Are we creating and maintaining content or curating it?  How much time do we spend working on content for general capabilities versus business specific/critical capabilities? How might a resource like Mind Tools help to shift this balance? How could we engage L&D, HRBPs and other specialists (i.e. Change Managers, Project Managers) to utilise MindTools resources as part of their role in enabling and developing others?