June 19, 2007

Expo L&D Conference

By Monta Monaco Hernon

A successful learning and development program permeates the entire culture of an organization, and the successful L&D professional should be a "trusted advisor," and leader. These were some of the themes at yesterday's Conference on Broadband Learning and Development.

It is imperative that everyone be involved with training, all the way up to the president of the company, said Mark Belcher, manager, training services for Corning Cable Systems. "Then everyone will believe you are serious about it."

He advocated incorporating as a training program goal "growing the next generation of instructors." At Corning, field engineers are trained not only to be project leaders, for example, but also to teach fiber-optic installation courses, Belcher explained. Qualification cards are used to mark the completion of each step of the process, and everyone in the department has a role, whether it be directly training or serving as a "gatekeeper" to verify a certain level of knowledge.

Become a trusted advisor

Presumably, the reverse of making training pervasive in a company's culture is for a training exec to become concerned with the business as a whole. This is one step along the way to becoming what Jennifer Mounce, president of Coach Effect, calls a "trusted advisor." This person, in short, is someone in a position to promote the value of the L&D department and its effect on the overall well-being of the company.

To achieve this status, engage (show an interest in the industry and the company's position within it), listen (to intellectual and emotional data concerning a problem and offer help), frame (identify situations succinctly), envision ("wave a magic wand"), and commit (come back to reality and find an actionable path), Mounce said. "It takes a while to gain trust and to get to a point where top executives are listening to (you) and to know (you) are a subject expert," she added. But doing so generally leads to a seat at the proverbial table.

Be a leader

Luncheon keynote speaker Mary James, director of customer operations training for Cox Communications, offered a similar theme. "Trainers who differentiate themselves do so by knowing their business first," she said. The most successful also "demonstrate a sense of leadership that is pervasive."

She defined good leaders as those who are humble enough to recognize there always is more to learn, who are willing to participate in mentor relationships, and who have a focus on the customer, both external and internal. "Treat customers like you would treat the flag," James said. This means maintaining a "sense of dignity and respect" for external customers and meeting internal customers as "partners" not clients.

A winner

All of this talk about what characteristics make a good training professional were apropos given that the inaugural SCTE Excellence in Telecommunications Learning and Development Award was presented during the conference. Steven Harris, a regional technical trainer for Comcast University, was the recipient. In the short time he has been with Comcast, he has developed 15 new training programs and serves as a board member of the SCTE New Jersey Chapter.

-Monta Monaco Hernon