Lessons From the NFL to Improve Employee Learning and Development

Time to step up or step aside as connected solutions will replace the corporate learning function, writes contributor Brent Kedzierski.

As I watched player highlights during the 2022 National Football League (NFL) draft it came to me that based on its performance, I would not draft corporate learning today.  

Corporate learning is like a player who has been playing out of position for decades and continually fails the team in key moments. Playing out of position means that you’re not where you are supposed to be when you need to be.

The NFL continually increases its strategic agility when it comes to drafting its player talent. Many teams secure players with a known performance record for positions such as the offensive and defensive line; they leverage the draft to recruit instant impact starters such as youthful wide receivers and franchise quarterbacks.  

NFL teams operate in a highly dynamic, competitive, and short cycle environment. This means they need players who can fill relevant gaps on the field as immediate playmakers. A generation ago you could let a number one draft pick sit on the bench for a few years and develop, but today’s top picks enter the NFL with the assumption they are ready to immediately make an impact as they transition from college to professional football.

This same is happening in organizations as companies struggle with resourcing, onboarding, development, and retention. Because of increasing attrition rates and decreasing tenure cycles, companies want to accelerate time to proficiency. They want company rookies to hit the ground running with minimal coaching. Meanwhile, company veterans must grow new skills so they can fill gaps and add greater impact and value as the resourcing churn continues.

These are all sweet spots for the corporate learning folks.

Unfortunately, at many organizations I see the function failing to grasp accountability to achieve meaningful outcomes.

For instance, corporate/industrial learning teams often produce a sea of learning content and formal learning that is missing the mark. Employees receive too much information in a classroom setting before they have the experience to make it meaningful. They tend to leave the classroom and forget much of what they have just learned.

The concepts of human performance improvement and human performance technology have been around for over half a century. For instance, Thomas F. Gilbert, a student of B.F. Skinner, introduced the concept of human performance engineering in the late 1970’s. Then Glory Geary introducing Electronic Performance Support Systems in the late 1980’s and then the Performance Consulting movement of the 1990’s. Josh Bersin even reintroduced a better-positioned version of these concepts for corporate learning in 2014 with the flow of work learning movement.

Even with this pedigree, many corporate learning functions still miss the point on fundamentals. Learners have no time and little temperament for traditional learning environments. Formal learning needs to focus on relating content at critical moments in the flow of work and building relationships to create personally and professionally enriching social outcomes.

Transformation of this sort for corporate learning means embracing simple but profound concepts such as component level learning content and objects, “less is more” approach to relevant learning, cultural ownership for learning, personalization, learning enablement ecosystems and dynamic anytime, any device, anywhere learning channel choices.

The work environment is shifting so quickly that corporate learning IT architecture teams can’t waste time with platforms that are not extendable to enable component level management. This is the critical success factor for flow of work learning.

When people know how to better perform, they are less frustrated. When they are less frustrated, they have more time to be reflective, curious, and innovative. When they are reflective, curious, and innovative, they will more likely be better peers, coaches, and collaborators. When people help others, enjoy a sense of relatedness, and feel the impact of their worth, they will ultimately be happier and more fulfilled workers. Happy workers take the time and attention to prioritize their own growth and development as well as the role they play in the development of others.

Every day we are seeing evidence that the performance context of the typical workday is quickly changing. Corporate learning functions need to start being a valuable impact position player to help organizations score more performance points. It’s time for corporate learning to start playing in position.

Interested in learning more about this topic? 

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