Embedding e-learning Engaging your organisation Policing Learning Technologies Conference 2nd April 2008 Laura Overton Director, Towards Maturity Project Feedback from workshop delegates on the day is included in this presentation in purple Please do not reproduce without permission

How engaged is your organisation? 1 With Learning in general? Overall rate about 7/10 10 With Learning Technology? Overall rate about 2 or 3 /10

Engaging your organisation with learning Technologies What challenges to you currently face? How do we measure outcomes? Technical infrastructure Managerial barriers – business rules and attitudes Trainer capability and attitude Learner motivation Content not perceived to have value No protected learning time No Ownership/validation Miss selling by managers ( mandated learning as interesting) Enagement with learning No senior management buy in or lead by example Not integrated into other offerings Bad experiences in past Please see examples in resources (last page) of how other organisations have addressed some of these issues

Challenges to increasing use of e-learning in next 3 years 2006 Figures 2004 figures Cost of set-up, development and maintenance   45% 22% Reluctance by staff to adopt new technology   43% 42% Lack of knowledge about its potential use and implementation   (not asked in 2004) 39% Lack of skills amongst staff to implement and manage eLearning 35% 4% Lack of attractive, high-quality e-learning that supports our business goals   8% e-learning too generic and not sufficiently tailored to our needs (not asked in 2004) 30% Past experience of e-learning hasn’t fulfilled our expectations  (not asked in 2004 23% Unreliable ICT infrastructure/low bandwidth  Suppliers overemphasise presentation and style (not asked in 2004) 18% Staff ICT skills   13% Insufficient staff access to computers to be worthwhile  9% 7% Happy with current provision and no need to increase use   Taken from Towards Maturity research with 200 organisations and 1000 learners It is important to note that these are barriers to increasing use of e-learning within organisations who have had some exposure to learning in this way. Barrier of IT infrastructure dropped from 28% to 23 % Lack of staff ICT skills increased from 4% to 13%. Lack of content increased from 8% to 35%. Overcoming user objection remains at 43% (was 42%) No need to change remains at 8% Lack of people and skills to resource E-learning rises from 8% to 35%. The most significant barriers are linked to staff attitude and training staffs skill in the use of e-learning rather than ICT access and ICT skill in general which are at the bottom of the list.

Where do we want to be? Addressing challenges is like eating an elephant –it can be overwhelming but achievable if we do this one bite at a time: identify your most pressing challenge Is it something you can influence in short term? Long term? What one or 2 things can you do to help?

Who are the most influential stakeholders in your Police Force? Greatest supporters? Greatest supporters across different forces included Project managers, in force learning mentors, chief officers, area commanders, trainers, learners Greatest challenge/ gatekeeper? This same list also appeared in other forces as the greatest gatekeepers Via the elearning advisory group - can you start to encourage peer to peer engagement across forces eg get an engaged chief officer to create a podcast interview that can be used with others etc

Engaging Stakeholders – Who and why? L&D staff Senior Management Build vision Create priority Define success Sponsors within the force Line Management Own specific initiatives Incorporate learning as part of solution Influence management & define success Influence and motivate individuals Allocate time Support Learners Local learning Champions Each of the stakeholders will have a different impact on the effectiveness and should all be engaged although some may be more significant for you at this point in time Need to understand the language they use, the pressure they are under and have a unique proposition for each. Typical communication strategies focus on senior management and learners but neglect line management , local sponsors and champions as key influencers Participate in training Apply knowledge Improve performance Motivate, engage and support Ensure local relevance

Top 3 stakeholders Taken from Towards Maturity research – these are considered to be the top stakeholders that influence success. Notice the shift to learners and managers as organisations mature Those new to e-learning influenced more by Training Department and support functions (HR,IT) Mature users place learners and line managers as most significant stakeholders in success

Engaging key stakeholders Engaging appropriate stakeholders at the right implementation stages Asking the right questions using the right language Examples provided – using management to help define outcomes at the beginning so that they are engaged before you get to demonstrating value Use learners in design process Use pilot evidence (from peers) to engage others in the main role out Review your last pieces of communication to your audience ( email, promotion web site etc) Put a red line through any jargon - what are you left with? ( learning jargon or technology jargon)

Expectation of results L&D skills currency Learning Design Business Need Individual Need Alignment to Strategy Expectation of results L&D skills currency Learning Design Supporting Learners Assessment Learner/business Feedback Measurement Communicating benefit Defining impact/ Results required Learner Context Work Context Ensuring engagement Building Capability Demonstrating Value Informal Learning Empowerment Learner’s environment Motivation Work life balance Skills and Attitudes Influencing Stakeholders Peer to peer collaboration These elements all contribute to a mature implementation of learning technology that delivers impact in the workplace. They are interlinked and interdependent – if one is missing it will hold the others back – but they are not necessarily linear and some elements take place simultaneously. Examples from this model are explored in more detail on www.towardsmaturity.com Business context Technical environment Managerial support

E-LEARNING SUPERFOODS Exercise REVIEW The following activities are directly linked to staff impact, organisational impact and takeup of learning in an organisation ( from Towards Maturity research) TM dimension Current activity Future PRIORITY Provide access to a wide range of learning opportunities Learner context Visibly demonstrate success within the business to help maintain resources allocated to learning Demo Value Regularly communicate e-learning successes to managers Senior Management regularly demonstrate commitment to e-learning Work Make change management an integral part of deployment and planning of learning technologies ensuring engagmt Provide each new learning technology initiative with a specific identity and brand Help staff quickly put into practice what they learn from e-learning Building Capability Quickly implement new learning programmes across the organisation Personalise the learning experience for each learner Have a clear understanding of what types of learning technologies our internal IT systems can support Learning technologies are used to improve the way we address business requirements Defining Need Learning technologies are used to support talent management and succession planning Identify and train local champions to act as change agents The Towards maturity research highlights that these activities correlate directly to staff impact, business impact and take up of e-learning. They also map to the dimensions of the towards maturity model. Whilst they are all interlinked, this provides a useful checklist to review current activity within individual forces – are there any areas that are not being addressed that would influence the key challenge identified earlier?

Action plan for 3rd April! Challenge Actions from workshop Improving business impact of learning Improving executive sponsorship Capturing attention of time starved learners Involving busy line managers effectively Recognising and rewarding successes Other

Resources www.Towardsmaturity.com Please register to Towards Maturity for ongoing access to free case studies. The following case studies may also provide insights to some of the challenges identified earlier: BAE Systems – engaged learners and senior managers, address issues of previous bad experience, strong integration with work Care UK - demonstrating value and aligning to needs, engaging learners and managers Frontline – engaging stakeholder across locations, use of communities to link staff together, strong integration with work delivery, innovation NHS – varying IT infrastructure, enaging business with design Other employer stories also found at on Towards Maturity site