Learning Lane™
“Investing in people, the only possible appreciating asset”
Do organization’s need a learning plan and/or strategy?
Some organizations deal with learning intuitively: “Learning is good so let’s do it!” This is great, to a degree, in good times.
What happens when things get tight and what “expense” gets cut first?
Simple mantra: “Ensure each learning initiative explicitly identifies which business outcome(s) it is contributing to”
Do organization’s need a learning plan and/or strategy?
Some organizations deal with learning intuitively: “Learning is good so let’s do it!” This is great, to a degree, in good times.
What happens when things get tight and what “expense” gets cut first?
Simple mantra: “Ensure all learning initiatives explicitly identifies which business outcome(s) it is contributing to”
Do organization’s know where learning is occurring?
Yes, to a degree. Activities such as OJT (on the job training), informal coaching and mentoring may fall off the radar especially if they happen informally. In fact, most organizations have a lot of learning occurring that is either implicit or hidden. Uncovering such learning is both revealing and rewarding. It can also serve as a mini learning strategy in itself and/or a strategy benchmark as well as a great “Orientation tool”. GHS Enterprise in collaboration with Friesen Kaye and Associates has a proprietary learning map called a Learning Lane™ that does just that and more.
Do organization’s know where learning is occurring?
Yes, to a degree. Activities such as OJT (on the job training), informal coaching and mentoring may fall off the radar especially if they happen informally. In fact, most organizations have a lot of learning occurring that is either implicit or hidden. Uncovering such learning is both revealing and rewarding. It can also serve as a mini learning strategy in itself and/or a strategy benchmark as well as a great “Orientation tool”. GHS Enterprise in collaboration with Friesen Kaye and Associates has a proprietary learning map called a “Learning Lane” that does just that and more.

What is a Learning Lane™?
A Learning Lane™ is the journey of learning through an employee’s lens during the tenure of work life. It is a meandering journey with learning occurring within both obvious and less obvious people practices.
The most readily captured are those learning moments within the visible portion of an iceberg, above the waterline. Industry experts believe the learning above the waterline represent more than a $92.3 Billion investment.
Other learning moments are less visible but are more numerous below the waterline, like the construct of an iceberg. These real time learning moments take a little more effort to uncover. Just imagine the $ investment of the learning going on below the waterline!
What is a Learning Lane™?
A Learning Lane™ is the journey of learning through an employee’s lens during the tenure of work life. It is a meandering journey with learning occurring within both obvious and less obvious people practices.
The most readily captured are those learning moments within the visible portion of an iceberg, above the waterline. Industry experts believe the learning above the waterline represent more than a $92.3 Billion investment.
Other learning moments are less visible but are more numerous below the waterline, like the construct of an iceberg. These real time learning moments take a little more effort to uncover. Just imagine the $ investment of the learning going on below the waterline!











Recruitment
Orientation &
Onboarding
Organization
Culture
Coaching &
Mentorship
Morning
Huddles
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Recruitment
First opportunity for the employee to learn about the Company and the Company to learn about the employee
Role
Role


The Employee’s Role
- Research the organization to learn about both its business and its culture
- Prepare questions to learn more about “fit” during the interview process
- Seek more information from potential peers and colleagues who have experience with the company
- Review the Company’s culture and think of examples of how you have demonstrated key aspects in past work experience
- Be honest in your responses - if you are not the right fit for the position, this is the best time to find out

The Manager’s Role
- Develop screening criteria that include assessment of candidate’s capacity to continuously learn
- Prepare questions that will enable you to learn about both skill and culture “fit”
- Be candid in responding to questions and concerns to allow the candidate to gain a realistic view of the job and to learn about the Company’s culture in getting the work done
- Consider how the candidate will increase your team’s capability to learn and grow

Equipping For The Learning Journey
Recruitment:
- Ensures that both the Company and the candidate have had sufficient learning to make an informed decision before embarking on a continuous learning journey
- Recruits are assessed for learning competencies to build a learning and teaching bench strength
Key components:
- Review position requirements
- Post job on website
- Detailed behavioral-based interview process
- Hiring Manager and Recruiter interview jointly

Orientation & Onboarding
Learning about the context of the Company’s business and being introduced to the organization’s culture and its people
Role
Role


The Employee’s Role
As a new employee
- Utilize internal and external social links to resources to learn about the company’s customers, products, services, and focus
- Actively seek out information on the Company to learn from customers, peers and managers about the needs, issues and opportunities
As a co-worker:
- Be accessible to provide information and knowledge to new employees to fast-track their learning about the company
- Act as a role model to demonstrate the company’s preferred operating culture

The Manager’s Role
- Model the Company’s values in everything you do so new employees learn their new operating culture and how to behave in their new environment
- Introduce new employees to appropriate people in a timely manner
- Establish a learning partner for each new employee
- Clearly explain the business strategy and the preferred operating culture and where & how the employee fits
- Create a learning plan for new employees to ensure that their orientation to the company is not short circuited by “day-to-day” activities

Equipping For The Learning Journey
Orientation & Onboarding:
- Provides new employees with complete and uniform information about the company, organization, culture, safety and critical practices
- Onboarding is the longer term process of enabling employees to be functional as soon as possible
Key components:
- HR guides in-processing, form-filling, review of benefits, compensation, policies and procedures, as well as health and safety instruction
- Manager introduces new employee to other team members
- Manager explains business strategy, culture, goals and objectives, employee’s place in team

Organization Culture
Learning about what the Organization stands for and how one is expected to behave
Role
Role


The Employee’s Role
- Seek out information to learn about Vision, Mission, Values & Ethics
- Ask questions to clarify and ensure full understanding
- Learn to live the values of the company and incorporate them into all that you do
- Learn to abide by and demonstrate the Principles and Ethics
- Hold your manager and others accountable for demonstrating appropriate behaviours
- Nominate others for recognition

The Manager’s Role
- Hire candidates who reflect the Vision, Mission, Values and Ethics
- Model and demonstrate the Values and Ethics in all that you do so that employees learn what is expected of them
- Assist employees in understanding their role in demonstrating the Values and Ethics of the company
- Hold colleagues at all levels of the organization accountable for demonstrating appropriate behaviours
- Recognize those who “live” the PREFERRED CULTURE

Equipping For The Learning Journey
Organization Culture:
- The Company builds its business strategy around its preferred operating culture - its customers want to do business with a company that is helpful, confident, straightforward and dynamic
- It is founded on honesty, integrity and dedication to our customers
Key components:
- The Company leaders exhibit the values, creating a culture where they are imbedded and actively upheld
- Ethical principles are integral to our way of doing business; ethical behaviour is a principle we all share
- All employees are expected to exhibit the values and ethical behaviours

Coaching & Mentorship
Learning how to benefit from the skills and wisdom of others to understand the business and maximize performance
Role
Role


The Employee’s Role
In a coaching relationship:
- Ask yourself what you might learn from your coach for future success
- Ask for feedback and assistance
- Speak up if you disagree with your Coach
- Keep a learning journal to capture learnings and progress
As a “Mentee”:
- Seek a Mentor you admire who will help you grow and continuously learn
- Integrate advice from your mentor with your personal knowledge of the situation to maximize learning
- Actively maintain your mentoring relationship

The Manager’s Role
As a Coach:
- Offer employees a variety of opportunities to learn
- Create a climate of trust to encourage people to talk about their mistakes and what they have learned
- Make yourself available to meet with the employee in a timely manner to discuss situations as they come up
As a Mentor:
- Consciously accept or reject your role as a mentor (it’s personal)
- Make yourself available at mutually established times
- Keep a learning journal to capture learnings; have your “mentee” do the same
- Don’t hold back – be direct

Equipping For The Learning Journey
Coaching & Mentoring:
- Helping people continuously learn so they can tackle new challenges, make decisions, and solve problems on their own
- Promoting confidence so that people take responsibility for their own professional development and continuous learning
Key components:
- Identify development needs
- Create a learning journal
- Seek feedback from significant others, including a mentor

Morning Huddles
Purpose of Learning
Touching base on projects & possible barriers
What Kind of Learning
Real Time - Understanding Needs of Business



Cross Team
Projects
Cross Team Projects
Purpose of Learning
Bringing different perspectives & relationship building
What Kind of Learning
Real Time - Broadening Individual & Team Knowledge



"Cubbiehood"
Discussions
"Cubbiehood" Discussions
Purpose of Learning
Connecting personally sharing "knowhow"
What Kind of Learning
Real Time - Storytelling, Questioning & Engagement



Learning
Journals
Learning Journals
Purpose of Learning
To share personal learnings with others
What Kind of Learning
Real Time - And Tutorial Depending on the Sharer




More
Uncovered People
Practices PDF



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What are FKA and GHS Enterprise equipped to accomplish?
FKA and GHS Enterprise are equipped to create a fully functional Learning Lane™ that can be hyper linked, if so desired, or focus on a subset of one of the three “D”s below.
What are FKA and GHS Enterprise equipped to accomplish?
FKA and GHS Enterprise are quipped to create a fully functional Learning Lane that can be hyper linked, if so desired, or focus on a subset of one of the three “D”s below.
Discover
Unique templates that capture the information deemed critical
A variety of applications on how the Learning Lane™ can be used which maximizes the build investment
Develop
Project plan that ensures ownership of the Learning Lane™ by the Organization
Work with the organization’s IT group to automate and provide access to the desired level
Deliver
Beta test the preferred application
Support the implementation and sustainment plan
What about the need for learning infrastructure?
A good learning governance framework manages expectation from the “get go”. Having a simple dashboard that links learning to business outcomes including impact on culture and bottom line financials will pay enormous dividends.
What about the need for learning infrastructure?
A good learning governance framework manages expectation from the “get go”. Having a simple dashboard that links learning to business outcomes including impact on culture and bottom line financials will pay enormous dividends.
Driven by the Business Strategy and aligned with the People Strategy it includes the articulation of Core Purpose, Envisioned Future, required infrastructure and any or all elements indicated below:
Includes standardization of Instructional Design and Techniques to be deployed, Learning Investment Decisions, Accountability Frameworks and Measurement Dashboard creation.
This may include Explicit vs Implicit Leadership approaches, Conversations with Action, Development of Succession Planning, Culture Shaping Techniques and Tools, etc.
How we involve key stakeholders in Strategy Development pays huge dividends in the deployment with engaged Learning Advocates that will be instrumental in successful execution.
The development of a competency-based curriculum with life cycle and learning opportunities designed and/or identified within the journey.
This may include Orientation with Sustainability, Performance Consulting or other Topical Workshops with built in ROI.
A communication plan is an imperative. We will either work with an Internal Specialist or provide one to identify and deploy stakeholder specific messaging.
It provides a framework that captures all learning: Work Related; Social Interaction; and Structured Programs formally and informally within an Enterprise.
What is unique to GHS’s approach to improving the effectiveness of an organization?
It places the underpinning evolution of “learning” as a business imperative. This embedded capability permits consulting outcomes to be sustainable practices for clients in areas such as: creating organization’s core ideology; removal of perceived toxic environments; embedding performance consulting; adapting a relationship management model and improving customer service approaches.
What is unique to GHS’s approach to improving the effectiveness of an organization?
It places the underpinning evolution of “learning” as a business imperative. This embedded capability permits consulting outcomes to be sustainable practices for clients in areas such as: creating organization’s core ideology; removal of perceived toxic environments; embedding performance consulting; adapting a relationship management model and improving customer service approaches.