We are in the process of planning a best practice retreat for our customers. I like to think of a retreat as: The act of withdrawing, as into safety or privacy…a place of refuge, seclusion or privacy…sanctuary, haven, shelter or preserve.
In every sense of the definition you see above, we are going to offer sanctuary for face-to-face peer interaction, and some other opportunities virtually, for practitioners in the learning and organizational effectiveness (LOE) space to compare notes. These participants will be training and development professionals, human resource practitioners, and even line execs that carry responsibility for the growth and development of their staff at large.
We are sorting and designing content now to include best practice examples in ‘LOE Coaching’ (coaching as part of training and development), ‘Small Data Applications’ (mini-surveys we can ALL engage in), ‘Accelerating the On-Board Process’ (especially in sales), ‘Job-DNA Profiling’ (outside of hiring and selection), ‘Cohort Pathways’ and ‘The Case for Compliance in LOE’. We are going to conduct the live portion on campus here at the University of Michigan this fall (‘back to school!’). In the design process of this retreat we’ve spoken with many of our clients, and we’re surprised and maybe overwhelmed at the collective response.
What have we found out? People whose job it is to feed the effectiveness of thehuman side of enterprise – are often starving themselves. Without exception, the response from our customers has been resoundingly positive. They can and willdedicate time and budget – as long as the target benefits are organizational rather than personal. Our discussions with these same practitioners, when centered on apersonal retreat for them…about them – contained far less enthusiasm as measured by commitment to attend.
What conclusions do we draw? Do LOE practitioners lack courage when it comes to practicing what they preach? Absolutely not. Do they believe themselves above or beyond the personal development processes of those in their charge? Again – certainly not. The conclusion we draw is that like their line unit constituencies they too are engaged in ‘drinking the waterfall’ every day (i.e.. They take on the impossible like everybody else). We also conclude that these practitioners just care a great deal about fulfilling their purpose within the enterprise. They care more for the benefit of others than for their own. Like a parent forgoing personal purchases to afford holiday gifts for the kids – their constituencies matter to them. A lot. They take it seriously. In fact, ‘selfless’ is the term that comes to mind…it’s admirable…and it is highly valued.
I do however have a few questions for just the practitioners:
- Who looks out for you then…and could we identify personal stakeholders for peer-coaching opportunities?
- What are the metrics that you use to measure your personal effectiveness…and can we isolate those at the same time?
- Is it possible to assign a priority (it doesn’t have to be first) to your resilience…and can we do it now?
If you consider yourself an LOE practitioner, I would love to hear from you. If you’d like to join us, or if you’re already planning to attend, what is the appropriate ratio of personal to organizational benefit that we should target? You can email me at ‘don@donbrown.org’, let’s make it the best retreat possible!
