NHRD April 2013.pdf - National HRD Network

Learning and Development – Providing the
Strategic Edge
Dr. Vishal Shah
About the Author
Dr Vishal Shah is currently General Manager, corporate HRD
at Wipro. His work experience spans roles in Sales, HR and
Leadership Development. He has worked in multiple industries
like Consulting, IT, BPO and Retail. He has published papers in
international journals and presented in international conferences.
He is an alumnus of IIMB’s PGDM and FPM programs
The Context
The business environment today is
characterized by what the US army calls
VUCA conditions – Volatile, Uncertain,
Complex and Ambiguous. Change is the
only constant and the speed with which
old business models are failing and new
ones arising, has increased substantially.
Internally too, organizations are having to
balance the challenges of downsizing with
the challenges of delivering to demanding
customers, all the while facing the pressure
to build new knowledge and stay ahead.
In such a scenario, the ability of the L&D
function to rise to a strategic level provides
an organization a valuable resource for
navigating the rapids.
The Changing Expectations from L&D
To play a strategic role, the L&D function in
organizations needs to actively contribute
to business results. It needs to support the
organizational mission and prioritize its
contribution to the organizational strategy.
Some of the fundamental principles that
characterize this shift in the function’s
priorities are -
l Partnership with Business – HR has
had a history of partnering with the
business functions. L&D needs to take
on this role actively too. If learning
is recognized as a key organizational
capability then the L&D function
can at best ‘’facilitate” this process of
capability building. Line and Business
functions thus have an important role
in partnering with the L&D function
for maximizing learning effectiveness.
l Eliciting Real Needs - L&D interventions
need to be based on assessed needs.
Needs analysis is a non-trivial process
and requires skillful diagnosis and
elicitation from internal clients and
stakeholders. The “team– building”
problem is a well-known malaise in this
field. Even senior business leaders are
known to struggle while articulating
the nuanced and layered development
needs of the business and the team.
Most end up asking for some kind of
‘team- building’ activity and it then falls
on the L&D person to act as a consultant
and help the stakeholder arrive at the
right need and the problem.
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April | 2013 NHRD Network Journal