Op Ed: Thinking About Learning as a Bonusable Objective

By Jean Adams

Like exercise and good nutrition, we know learning is good for us. But it’s often difficult to find time for learning among all the other activities and tasks that require our attention. The problem is that learning can’t be ignored for long with current business pressures. Learning is required to get new hires up to speed, redeploy existing employees to new jobs, trouble shoot complex problems, and innovate and streamline business processes, among other things.

One way to promote learning as an integral part of everyone’s job is to involve employees in self-development e-learning programs that are mandated to improve job results. A key success factor for these sorts of programs is to ensure that people are recognized and rewarded for any impact that learning has on their jobs. Rewards reinforce the benefits of self-motivated learning both for the individual, such as self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-sufficiency, as well as the organization, including empowered employees and improved performance.

However, rewarding learning in traditional programs in which test scores and pre- and post-behavioral assessments are used to indicate skill improvement can be a tricky business. People can pass courses with flying colors and yet have little impact on their actual job performance.

To tightly integrate learning and work performance, a completely different approach must occur. Evaluating self-directed e-learning performance support programs requires learners to demonstrate what they’re learning by applying it to their jobs. This produces quantifiable results gains that can be tracked, reported, and shared with managers, coaches, mentors, or instructors as the basis for recognition and reward.

For example, consider the case in which a manager wants to improve personal coaching:

·         In traditional self-directed e-learning programs, the employee completes the course, passes the tests, and is awarded a certificate for course completion. This signifies the person knows theoretically how to coach. But, there is no clear evidence that the manager can succeed in an actual coaching session on the job. That is post-course work that is rarely assessed formally.

·         In just-in-time, self-directed e-learning programs tightly linked to job performance, the manager learns about coaching using practical worksheets that prompt him or her to apply the information during a coaching situation. As part of the online guided reflection, a self-assessment of personal progress is recorded in a personal notebook that can be shared with managers, online coaches, or instructors who support self-development programs. The proof of learning is measured as impact on the job. Or, in this case, the ability of the person being coached to improve performance. When the performance of the employee being coached improves (perhaps a 5 percent increase in sales), the manager’s new ability as a coach becomes highly visible through the demonstrable gains made by the employee. These quantifiable gains directly attributable to the self-development program can be recognized and rewarded.

Pay-for-performance is a well used management tool for focusing attention on results. When performance meets targets, pay gains are awarded. Introducing e-learning programs targeting job results enables managers to recognize and reward learning as part of performance appraisal programs, making learning a bonusable objective a reality.  

Here are some suggestions for making pay-for-performance-learning programs a reality by tightly integrating self-directed e-learning and performance management programs.

Step 1: Develop and publicize a portfolio of highly targeted, just-in-time, self-directed e-learning programs for management soft skills development (if you don’t already have programs in place).  

Step 2: Initiate a pilot program with a select group of participants interested in promoting learning targeted directly at improving job performance. Suggest participants meet with direct reports to discuss performance gaps and the appropriate self-directed learning programs available. Have them set appropriate performance goals by selecting an area that needs improvement such as delegation or create a stretch project such as coordinating a product launch as the basis for learning.

Step 3: Provide adequate support for learners through online learning teams, one-on-one coaching, peer coaching, job mentoring, and so forth to help maintain momentum in self-directed programs. The key to effective on the job learning programs rests in creating flexible programs in which people are empowered to take ownership and control of their own learning process.  

Step 4: Ask learners to document and report visible signs of learning results that can be used to measure progress. As part of the self-directed program, insist that employees provide regular updates report on what they’re learned, how it’s being applied to the job, and any demonstrable impact that learning is having. Learning progress must be backed by documented results gains. 

Step 5: Recognize and reward self-directed learning that is directly linked to performance targets and results as part of your annual performance appraisal process. Or, if this isn’t possible, find other ways to recognize personal and team achievements (for example, awards breakfast, recognition plagues, or a letter from the CEO).

Step 6: Encourage everyone to share new insights and best practice ideas with colleagues on their own teams and across the organization to create and sustain learning momentum and continuous improvement. Roll out the program based on the results and feedback received in the initial pilot.

In summary, according to research released by Accenture in February 2005, leading organizations measure learning impact in relation to business goals and strategies. (For more details, read to “Few Learning Organizations Prove Business Impact, Finds Accenture Report” under the February items on the Learning Circuits News page.)

My own experience shows just-in-time e-learning systems can be used to give people access to powerful real-time performance toolkits that can help them impact bottom-line results. By making learning an integral part of performance management programs as bonusable objectives and pay-for-performance-learning programs, you will be able to reinforce the importance of on the job learning, as well as create opportunities to recognize and reward those who excel. Because people get both intrinsic (pride of accomplishment) and extrinsic (pay and career opportunities) rewards, the likelihood that they will continue to stay involved in self-directed learning programs increases supporting high performance cultures.