Introduction
In June 2007 we launched a poll on positive learning cultures and investigated the role of trainers, line managers and employee learners. In all 467 CIPD members completed the poll which ran until September 2007. The poll was based on work undertaken in the course of research on the role of the trainer, published in “The Changing World of the Trainer” (link to CIPD bookstore). Given the increasing internationalisation of business and the increasing geographic spread of the CIPD, we were interested as to whether the issues raised could be generalised outside the UK so members of the CIPD International Network were also invited to participate.
Profile of respondents
369 of the 467 respondents were UK nationals, working in the UK and with a largely UK training and learning remit. 98 were from overseas, a full list of countries is available on the link below.
Results
The summary of results shown here takes the responses to the propositions in the poll and analyses them in three ways. The first focus is on barriers to learning that respondents to the poll indicated. The second focus is on international differences, and this is followed by a deeper analysis of the influence of a supportive organisation for the Learning, Training and Development (LTD) function.
The summarised poll results are below. The table of results has been presented in the order that respondents saw issues as barriers to learning. This has taken into account the fact that some questions were phrased positively and others negatively.
Poll Results (percentages are rounded to one decimal place)
| Question |
Completely disagree (1) |
Mostly disagree (2) |
Mostly agree (3) |
Completely agree (4) |
% 'agree' |
Rank order as a barrier |
| In my organisation it can be difficult to get line managers to release staff for learning and training activities |
5.5% |
34.9% |
42.6% |
17.0% |
59.6% |
59.6% agree% |
| In my organisation individual employees are very good at taking ownership of their learning and development |
6.0% |
45.7% |
42.4% |
6.0% |
48.4% |
51.7% disagree |
| In my organisation line managers can see the link between training / learning and the bottom line |
7.5% |
41.5% |
45.0% |
6.0% |
51.0% |
49.0% disagree |
| In my organisation culture, set by senior managers, and enforced by their budgeting decisions, is very supportive of the learning and development function |
7.5% |
37.1% |
42.8% |
12.6% |
55.4% |
44.6% disagree |
| In my organisation learners see participation in learning, training and development as part of their benefit package rather than a way of doing their job |
14.3% |
50.3% |
32.5% |
2.9% |
35.4% |
35.4% agree |
| It is hard to find effective learning, training and development staff to deliver what my organisation needs |
17.2% |
51.9% |
24.7% |
6.2% |
30.9% |
30.9% agree |
| In my organisation those who deliver learning and training are good at enabling learners to transfer the benefits into their work |
3.1% |
20.1% |
62.7% |
14.1% |
76.8% |
23.2% disagree |
When the questions are ranked in order, we can make some powerful observations. Many of the problems perceived by the training community can only be solved at the micro-level where line managers are key through giving time off and appreciating the bottom-line link of LTD. Areas where respondents had some control (locating trainers who were good at delivery) were the lowest of the barriers.
One purpose of the poll was to detect any differences between UK and non-UK respondents. In the event, only one question was answered differently by UK and non-UK nationals. This question concerned learners seeing LTD as ‘part of their benefit package rather than a way of doing their job’ where non-UK nationals were more likely to agree with this statement. However, given the range of questions, the lack of significant difference between UK and non-UK nationals is striking.
The final area of analysis examined how answers about organisational support given by senior managers (ranked 4th in the table of results) corresponded to answers for other questions. We suspected that there would be difference in all other questions depending on how someone answered the question about the level of support in their own organisation. In fact there was difference but only in some questions. Respondents from organisations which supported the learning and development function also reported better line management “time-giving” for learning and training activities and were more positive about levels of managerial appreciation of the bottom line link for LTD. Those with supportive environments also responded more positively to the proposition about employees taking ownership of their own learning and development and were also more positive about their trainers enabling the transfer of learning to the workplace. Two questions were unaffected by whether or not a supportive environment was reported; the level of difficulty finding trainers and employees seeing LTD as a benefit rather than a way of doing their job.
Comments on the results
The poll results have been analysed in several ways, and these results are interconnected.
The results are interesting and surprising in some areas. The very wide spread of countries from which non-UK nationals are drawn reflects the growing reach of the CIPD. It is also interesting that UK and non-UK national showed little significant difference in their responses to the questions, suggesting that they face common issues in spite of country and nationality difference. This has positive implications for CIPD work, as it provides evidence of applicability to many other cultures internationally.
The rank order of barriers to LTD shows that those areas where the LTD function has greater control are perceived as less problematic, which one would expect. However sourcing LTD staff appears to be an issue independent of support from top managers and other factors. 30% agreed that a shortage of effective LTD staff is a problematic issue.
As mentioned in the results, most of the key problems associated with LTD from this survey are at the operational level, and hence difficult to solve through policy. This reflects findings from the Value of Learning research which has shown a need for buy-in from employees and line managers alike as well as top management commitment to realise the full potential of LTD. It is possible that the line manager question answers are linked - if managers do not make the link between the bottom line and LTD activities, they will be less likely to prioritise time for their staff to undertake LTD activities. This represents an important area for future focus for the LTD community. Changing these operational attitudes may be harder for the international CIPD practitioner who may have physical and cultural barriers to overcome and the time taken to effect change might be longer.
It would be interesting to re-run this poll with line managers in order to find out their views on the same topics. Line managers may be quite varied in their understanding of the bottom-line link to LTD and the need to invest in staff time for LTD activities in addition to the financial (budgetary) investment that is involved. The poll supports the view that there are more similarities than differences in different countries with regard to the challenges facing the LTD function.