Assignment:
Extending Learning with the 6D's
How can the 6Ds you have learned about in the book help evaluate a learning organization?
Read Case in Point 1.2: Extending Learning at Emerson in your text on page 21-22. Based on Emerson's account, please find an example of an organization which is NOT a learning organization (A good place to look is a business or company who perhaps failed because they didn't learn, change, adapt, etc.). Compare and contrast the key characteristics of learning organizations at Emerson with your example. How does your example fail to meet the characteristics of a learning organization?
The requirements below must be met for your paper to be accepted and graded:
Write between 1,250 to 1,750 words (approximately 3 to 5 pages) using Microsoft Word in APA style, see example below.
Use font size 12 and 1" margins.
Include a cover page and reference page. The word count does not include the title page or reference page.
At least 80% of your paper must be original content/writing.
No more than 20% of your content/information may come from references.
Use at least three references from outside the course material; one reference must be from EBSCOhost. Textbook, lectures, and other materials in the course may be used, but are not counted toward the three reference requirement.
Cite all reference material (data, dates, graphs, quotes, paraphrased words, values, etc.) in the paper and list on a reference page in APA style.
References must come from sources such as scholarly journals found in EBSCOhost, CNN, online newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal, government websites, etc. Sources such as Wikis, Yahoo Answers, eHow, blogs, etc. are not acceptable for academic writing.
Below is the case in Point 1.2 Extending Learning at Emerson
When Terrence Donahue accepted the leadership of the Charles F. Knight Learning Center at Emerson, he knew he had big shoes to fill. The former director had been highly respected and greatly admired. The learning organization he had built-which is responsible for leadership training for Emerson worldwide-enjoyed strong support from management and an excellent reputation throughout the company. They embraced the importance of learning transfer. How could Terrence and his team build on those strengths and take learning to an even higher level of excellence?
They decided to use the 6Ds to strengthen their ties to the business, drive learning transfer, and ensure that training delivered business impact. They started spreading the idea of a new finish line; that a leadership development experience isn't finished until leaders have transferred and applied their new skills and knowledge. The learning Center staff kept repeating the message about business outcomes and began including transfer and achievement phases in program plans and descriptions.
And the message began to stick. "The concept of the new finish line for learning has struck a resonant chord here and across our enterprise," Terrence told us, "A global manufacturing company like Emerson really understands the concept of manufacturing scrap, so the concept of learning scrap has hit some people like a thunderbolt."
For example, one of the business unit presidents recorded a video for all supervisors in his company, outlining his expectations of them to drive learning transfer and provide performance support and how he intended to hold them accountable for outcomes. In India, front-line supervisors attending Leading at Emerson 2.0 are so excited about the implementation phase that they are calling their facilitators to share their successes.
In the company's 2015 Professional Development Learning Guide, the senior vice president for human resources, Michael Rohret, wrote. "We are making a significant investment in your future... don't become a victim of learning scrap. Attending a workshop and not applying what you learned is a wasted investment. To make sure your learning investments bring a return, we introduced a new finish line for learning."
The chief financial officer, Frank Dellaquila, embraced the concept immediately, so much so that he agreed to record a video "call to action," for the company's flagship program, Leading at Emerson. The video is shown about 90 minutes before the end of the workshop phase of the program. In it, the CFO congratulates participants and explains how the workshop is an investment Emerson has made in a foundation for their careers. He goes on to emphasize that "there is more work to do," if that investment is to pay dividends. "The value of the training will be measured by what you do with that foundation; that is, what you put to work when you are back to work. The next twelve weeks are actually the most important part of the process." Coming for the CFO of a $25 billion global corporation, it's a clear and unambiguous message that learning needs to be converted into action.
"The new finish line and all the components around it continue to receive very strong positive support from senior executives and front-line managers alike," Terrence said. "It is a delightful situation for us to be in."