How to Spot an L&D Pro Working as a Strategic Business Partner
They're out there! The L&D leaders and professionals who are working as Strategic Business Partners. They have traded in their order taking hat for one that solves talent challenges and makes a bigger impact. Are you one of them? Do you know one of them? Do you know how to spot them?
If you are lucky enough to work alongside one of these Strategic Business Partners, you can observe their behavior in the wild, listening to how they talk with stakeholders and learning from their actions. Directly or indirectly, you can gain a mentor who will show you how work in L&D could look different.
How do you know if you have a Strategic Business Partner in your company? Who should you learn from? I've found a few telltale signs.
Sign #1 - Collaborative Conversations vs. Transactional Requests
Learning leaders working as Strategic Business Partners are pulled into conversations as collaborators in problem-solving, instead of recipients of pre-determined solutions. As an equal partner to the business, this person is trusted to understand, ask good questions, and bring their expertise to the conversation.
I knew my team had shifted our work from order takers to Strategic Business Partners when key stakeholders throughout the organization stopped coming to me with transactional requests like, “We need a 1-hr workshop for our team on time management.” Instead, they came to me with a conversation starter, “We are having some problems with people getting all their work done in a timely manner on our team, what ideas do you have to help?”
The second question is an invitation to a collaborative conversation. It doesn't assume that a learning solution will solve the problem, but it's willing to engage and figure it out. My team got to this point slowly, over time, by demonstrating that we could do more than provide training.
--Is there an L&D pro in your company who is regularly tapped as a collaborative problem-solver?--
Sign #2 - Presence of the three R’s: Rapport, Reputation, and Relationships
In a recent conversation with Sarah, the learning and organizational development manager at a mid-sized retailer, she shared her belief that a Strategic Business Partner in any organization has the “three R’s”: rapport, reputation, and relationships. These three "R's" look like positive rapport with stakeholders throughout the business, a solid reputation of high-quality work that moves the organization forward, and strong relationships with business stakeholders.
When these elements are present, stakeholders understand learning isn’t limited to a classroom or program. L&D is a valued member of the overall organizational team who is respected for their expertise. L&D is an organizational equal who established a pattern of contributing to business improvement over time.
--Is there an L&D pro in your company with the three R's?--
Sign #3 - Early involvement in key initiatives
One other way to spot a Strategic Business Partner is in how early they are brought into strategic initiative conversations, large-scale decisions, and/or major organizational changes.
The transactional order taker is pulled in towards the end of the conversation and asked to come up with training. Often this feels like a previously forgotten or last-minute request, as if the stakeholders were sitting in a room and someone said, “Oh shoot, we probably need training for this!” Now the L&D team needs to scramble and pull off a miracle on time and within the budget.
Strategic Business Partners are involved from the beginning. Learning initiatives are woven into the overall strategy of a large-scale initiative, decision, or organizational change. They are in the right meetings, listening, asking thoughtful questions, and offering solutions in partnership with others.
--Is there an L&D pro in your company who seems to get involved earlier in large-scale initiatives/projects?--
Where's Your Mentor?
I have yet to meet an L&D pro interested in making a larger impact who doesn’t want to work according to these three signs. Imagine if you were asked to collaborate on solutions to problems, you were seen and trusted as an expert who delivered quality solutions, and you were brought in on key conversations from their inception. How might your work be different from day to day?
This change doesn't happen overnight. There is much work to do, slowly and through very small actions to get there. For tips on how, stay tuned to the L&D Must Change newsletter (subscribe if you aren't already).
For now, look around you. Can you spot an L&D working as a Strategic Business Partner using these signs? How can you learn from them? What do you notice that they do differently?
Finding value in the L&D Must Change Newsletter? Check out the L&D Must Change Podcast!
While Jess Almlie shares her voice in the newsletter, the podcast shares the voices of others in L&D who are working to make a change in our profession for the better, big or small. Episodes are released bi-weekly, opposite the newsletter.
If we are truly going to move our profession forward, it will take many different voices and ideas.
Listen to the L&D Must Change Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
Almlie Consulting is dedicated to helping L&D leaders stop working as order takers and start working more strategically, intentionally, and with measurable impact. Jess can work with you to determine the best strategy for a single program or project, lead your L&D team through strategic planning, provide individual L&D leader/team coachsulting (a combo coaching, mentoring, and consulting approach to professional development), and/or guide you and your L&D team through a series of workshops to learn and implement needed skills. If this sounds like something you need, contact me to set up a time to chat.