Past Editions
| Interviews |
| “Training really does need to shift to learning” |
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Alfredo Castro, Brazilian talent development professional, long time ATD supporter, international speaker and subject matter expert from Brazil interviews Neville Pritchard, 2015 ATD Chairman of the Conference Program Advisory Committee.
Neville Pritchard is CEO at HR in Flow Ltd, an HR Performance Consulting, Coaching & Solutions company with offices and resources in USA, across Europe, South Africa, Latin America and Singapore.
Considering you are the 2015 ATD Chairman of the Conference Program Advisory Committee, can you name the main trends and perspectives for this industry (for the next decade or so)?
- Language – the plain language of the business has to replace HR speak - Training really does need to shift to learning – any individual need has to be met and thus one size will not fit all. An integral approach to learning opportunity provision where costs and benefits against intent will drive the appropriate development and use of different medium incorporated in a smorgasbord of content and application, transfer and performance sustainment options. - We have to go beyond learning theory; Business reality has to be overlain onto any current academic philosophy or model or concept. Time to stop being precious on the learning front. - We have to understand performance in every role and work with others to deliver potential value improvement. So many Talent or L&D teams have very little appreciation of the potential application needs for IT, for professional service roles, for engineers unless they have been in those roles at some point. I met a company who had supplied zero development support to their IT team beyond induction and management training. They had had to spend by going around the HR function with suppliers who charged them a higher rate than the central team due to lower volume!!! Working with external expertise in a more structured way, working with other businesspeople to ensure impactful content and approaches, using genuine experts whether internal or external are all critical in lifting the quality of response. - Collaborative impact on performance has to be incorporated into all smorgasbord mixes; i.e. any function involved or impacting on potential change need be involved in the coordination of response options. - Measurement will be far easier once coordinated, collaborative and result focused intent is clarified. What really matters will be well defined and this will keep all other activity, reporting, consequential finesse action and discussion in context. - Technology will be integral – the IT team will be Talent & L&D team’s best friend! Considered and pragmatic incorporation of technology, the encouragement of internal and cross Industry social learning and the blend of instant repair and long term recovery when it comes to the depth, time needed and attention paid to learning will be realized.
We all know that ATD is a new brand for the well‐known ASTD. What do you see as an added value on this change? Is the industry changing at the same speed? I believe that the industry is changing at a quicker speed. Global consciousness is absolutely critical in large corporates and all can see. However, it is true in government, not for profit, charities, sport, education, small or medium sized business or any other business category. No organization can work in isolation and for me it is not all about the name. It is the first step to the realization that the name is less important than the intent, the target community, the strategy, the renewal of energy to reflect the change the industry needs if it is to contribute value to individuals, teams and organizations.
The conference is known as the largest one for talent development professionals where around 10,500 are expected to attend from around the globe. What comments and differences can you bring to the table regarding cultural aspects on LD industry? Any special remark to Latin America and/or Brazil? People are a global asset; the environment, conditions, application, organization norms all vary. What a GREAT opportunity to spend time with others from within and also beyond your home territories. With 25% of attendees from overseas, from over 100 countries, you have such a remarkable chance to network, research, explore similarities and differences; a chance to learn what is done by whom. With speakers from all over the globe it is a truly unique conference. From the last 17 years I can say just how much I have learnt from my industry friends in Brazil and Latin America… and how much fun they bring to the event!
It is said that over 1,000 applications are received every year from professionals around the globe who want to share (by speaking) their field experiences (trends, real cases, implementations, results, etc), but we know that the conference (even being the largest in the world) comprises the best 200 sessions. What were the committee searching in terms of trends and/or “industry pillars” that lead to select this group of sessions? This is very true, we had more than ever this year and with a deft change to the scheduling we now have an extra 40 sessions from previous years. The committee are all established industry figures from around the world and they work well as a team to meet a number of requirements. They look for sessions that will add value, that have been really well considered in terms of how their application can change the workplace for their audience. We take into account feedback from previous sessions, we examine the numbers from last year in terms of demand and overlay new trends, and we look for depth, for expertise, for difference and for quality. We have 25% new speakers and all first time speakers also had to submit a video.
About Alfredo Castro, President – MOT Training and Development, Inc (Brazil, USA) Neville Pritchard said: “From Brazil, in 2015, we will have Alfredo Castro speaking again about strategic storytelling and management development. Alfredo is value in himself! With so many considerations, with unique challenges faced every day, the real chance is the ability to find others in similar positions and to see what they are doing or have done. It is often seeing three different presentations that an idea of what to do back in Brazil will spring to mind. This is a conference where you get a chance to be creative, have time to reflect on your strategic challenges and see new approaches from Brazil, from Latin America and from the wider global talent, learning and development community. I am looking forward to meeting everyone and to a great value conference and expo. (Over 360 exhibitors) ….. I look forward to the newly branded ATD building on the strengths of ASTD and helping the global world of talent, learning and development professionals to be perceived not just as necessary or valuable but advancing to being valuable, to bring their expert contribution full and center to organization performance”.
April 2015
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Interview to Neville Pritchard, 
Neville Pritchard: I believe the biggest single trend will be the responsiveness to need and the swing to genuine business appreciation from Talent and L&D professionals. This will impact the perception of time spent learning by others in the business. At certain levels in the business a depth of applied mastery is needed by all. I see people within the learning industry realizing they are in the industry of their organization and they provide value through people performance improvement expertise. For other business leaders to appreciate the value of that expertise the Talent, Learning & Development people need to complete a journey to a changed mind‐set and focus. Within this shift a number of steps will be taken: