1. Best Practices of Learning Organizations Results of a Global Survey
CSTD Conference, Nov, 2003
Presented by
Dr Tammy Dewar
Dr Dave Whittington

2. Session Goals
Explore the results of a global survey about learning organization practices carried out by Calliope Learning.
Compare these results with the 2003 Conference Board of Canada Training and Development Outlook
Discuss how your organization measures up against both of these survey results.

3. Why did we do the survey?

4. Learning Organization Research Results
127 responses to an online survey ed to several learning, training and e-learning lists in December, 2002

5. Learning Organization Research Results

6. Learning Organization Research Results

7. Learning Organization Research Results

8. Learning Organization Research Results

9. Training and Development Outlook 2003
Survey completed by the Conference Board of Canada June, 2002 (published June 2003)
158 Canadian organizations representing primarily medium and large sized organizations operating in all major regions and industries

10. Question
How important is being a learning organization to you personally?
How important is being a learning organization to your organization?
Extremely Important
Very Important
Important
Somewhat Important
Not Very Important
Not Important At All

11. Learning Organization Research Results

12. Conference Board of Canada
Actual training expenditures in 2001 in Canada were $768 compared to the US at $1137 (both in CAD)
Only 30% surveyed predict increases in formal training expenditures while 15% forecast a decrease
30% of employees do not receive any formal training at all

13. Question
How successful is your organization at being a learning organization?
Extremely Successful
Very Successful
Successful
Somewhat Successful
Not Very Successful
Not Successful At All
Why or why not?

14. Learning Organization Research Results

15. Learning Signature (Business Lab, 2002)

16. Extremely Successful (12)
3 were independent consultants and attributed their success to individual motivation and learning characteristics.
The remaining 9 were in education and attributed success to things like “high educational standards”, “quality instructors and materials”, “ongoing research and classes”, a diverse number of courses offered, or high grade point averages.

17. Comments
Almost 10 percent of [ABC] freshman class ranks in the top one-half of 1 percent in the nation in SAT and ACT scores.
[ABC] ranks in the top five in the nation among all comprehensive public universities in National Merit Scholars enrolled per capita and in the graduation of Rhodes Scholars.
[ABC] had 288 Sooner Scholars, or 64 percent of OU student athletes, who earned above a 3.0 cumulative grade point average last semester.

18. Very Successful (17) 16 in education
The majority of responses pointed to retention rates, assessment strategies or passing exams 100% of the time. One response, “we are teachers” is the most striking example of people interpreting learning organizations as teaching organizations
3 organizations moved beyond this narrow interpretation to note things like improvement of employee skills, involvement in jobs, sharing learning on the job, reviewing daily job processes for learning, and lower turnover.

19. Successful (18)
7 were from the education sector, and the remaining were from industry
The majority noted the importance of leadership support and staff buy-in to the importance of learning. Several noted that although commitment was there philosophically for being a learning organization, size and geographical diversity made things difficult to implement and change.

20. Comments
The level of success depends on the buy-in of each staff member. (Staff includes dept. chairs, supervisors, and first-line employee.) Some supervisors emphasize learning organizations more than others do.
This is a concept that has been implemented in the last 2 years of our 70-year history. We are still working our way through the integration of technology and the needs of the organization.

21. Somewhat, Not, or Not at all Successful (75)
Even mix of education, government and industry.
This group of respondents provided the most insight into the characteristics of learning organizations (addressed all 4 learning signature quadrants)
Implicit in their responses was an understanding of the issues that must be addressed when an organization shifts from a training or teaching culture to that of a learning culture.

22. Comments
The culture of our workplace must adapt so that informal learning becomes just as prominent and valued as formal learning.
Becoming a learning organization is something that is talked about but there is no general agreement about the definition or what this actually looks like for the organization - what changes? How can this be measured?
There is still a real mental block at the top. We facilitate students to understand what learning is and how it can assist organizational development and competitiveness. However, we do not 'walk the talk' in our own organization.

23. Comments
There isn’t wholesale buy-in or indeed understanding as to what the learning organization looks like. It is easier to target aspects such as e-Learning.
There is little effort to promote organizational intelligence. Expertise is often not shared, nor is learning by individuals captured so it can be available to all and contribute to the overall organization.

24. Summarizing Success
It’s interesting to note that there seems to be some correlation between how well an organization rates itself and the narrowness of their interpretation of learning organizations.
Many educational institutions rate themselves very highly, but at the same time focus mainly on the testing and measurement of learning in formal classroom settings (and teaching) and less so on other aspects such as organizational culture and reaching out to the extended enterprise.
The exceptions here are smaller consultancies, where the culture of the organization is in the hands of a few individuals.

25. Success – Best Practices
Organizations struggling with broader definition of learning organization mentioned the importance of:
Shifting emphasis from training to learning
Leadership and organizational commitment to learning
Buy-in and motivation for learning
Developing a culture of learning
Informal learning and knowledge sharing
Linking learning to organizational performance

26. Conference Board of Canada (2003)
Percentage of Organizations Classifying themselves as “Learning Organizations”
Garvin’s definition of “an organization skilled at creating, acquiring and transferring knowledge and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights.”

27. Report Card on Organizational Learning (CBC)
Pass*
Needs improvement
Needs significant
improvement**
Vision/support/results X
Culture
Learning dynamics/systems
Knowledge management and infrastructure
*Majority agreement in more than 50% of statements
**Majority agreement in less than 40% of statements

28. Question on measurement
Do you measure the success of being a learning organization?  
Yes No
Somewhat
Not Sure
Please provide comments

29. Learning Organization Research Results

30. Comments
The majority of comments about how measurement was completed pointed to attendance numbers and feedback received on evaluation forms
A few mentioned performance reviews, market share, goodwill
It’s clear that organizations are struggling to measure the learning organization concept as no best practices really emerged from our data analysis

31. Conference Board of Canda

32. Question
What learning organization books, tools or processes are used in your organization?
Are these books, tools or processes linked to overall business strategy?
Yes No
Somewhat
Question Not Applicable

33. Learning Organization Research Results

34. Tools and Processes used
Majority of respondents listed types of training they have
Next group mentioned various initiatives related to performance reviews, balanced scorecard approaches, QA initiatives, knowledge management systems, and technology enhanced training programs
Of those who mentioned anything specific to learning organization concepts, 13 referred to Peter Senge’s ideas

35. Question
As part of your overall learning organization strategy, are you using any form of e-learning?
Yes No

36. Learning Organization Research Results

37. Conference Board of Canada
Delivery methods as a % of all training time

38. Conclusions The global scene is very similar to the Canadian scene
There’s a particularly limited understanding of organizational learning in the education sector
Few organizations in our study had a systematic approach to organizational learning and its measurement
Senge’s ideas still provide some guidance for people
The use of technology continues to be important to many organizations

39. Contact Info
Full report at
Powerpoint presentation also online at the above address
Feel free to us at or (250)