In the current dynamic business environment, companies are striving to ensure that they attract and retain the top talent who will drive growth and business performance thereby creating competitive business advantages. One of the most significant strategies for retaining the top talent in an organization is by supporting learning and development. Thus, most companies have realized the role of a chief learning officer are important for their success. Companies believe that hiring the right chief learning officer is critical to the retention as well as a consistent engagement of talent, development of leadership skills, planning for succession in leadership, and the optimization of performance (Elkeles & Phillips, 2007). This paper examines the relevance of chief learning officers and some of the critical roles that the chief learning officer plays within an organization.
Is there a need for chief learning officers in organizations today?
Organizations need a chief learning officer due to the following reasons:
Ensuring Engagement and Enhancing Employee Retention
Research has shown that learning and development opportunities can boost ones, retention, and employee loyalty. A chief learning officer must be present in an organization to ensure that the talent development team remains committed to the development of a modern workforce (Elkeles & Phillips, 2007). The current workforce is comprised of young and vibrant individuals who require innovative and mobile human resource experience right from the recruitment to training, and performance management. Thus, there is the need of a chief learning officer to streamline an organization’s commitment towards fulfilling the needs of the modern workforce.
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Building Leadership Capabilities
The number of positions up for grabs in various companies has been increasing with the retirement of the older generation. Therefore, there is the need for a chief learning officer to build leadership and management capacity in the younger generation. Companies are striving to train and retain their best pool of employees with the hope of having the best talent at the helm of their leadership structures. Thus, a chief learning officer prepares the incoming generation for bigger management opportunities thereby facilitating efficient succession of organizational leadership.
Enabling the Consistent Enhancement of Productivity
Most companies believe that learning and development is a driver of employee engagement, loyalty, and the reinforcement of morale hence it greatly impacts on the productivity of employees. Also, it is more realistic to relate an increase in the employee capabilities through learning and with the increased ability to solve conflicts in a creative manner, increased efficiency, improved delivery quality, and the ability to deliver within the timelines (Elkeles & Phillips, 2007). Thus, there is the need for every company to hire a chief learning officer to create a modern as well as an enlightened workforce.
Roles of a Chief Learning Officer
As explained above, the chief learning officer is important to any organization that is striving to attract and retain a top pool of talented workforce. The following are some of the most significant roles of a chief learning officer in an organization:
Align With the Business Vision
As opposed to the previous where the chief learning officer was seen as a support staff in an organization’s management structure, he/she is currently in charge of steering the learning journey in line with the organization’s vision and mission (Phillips, Phillips & Elkeles, 2016). The chief learning officer is not only in charge of driving the employee performance but plays a crucial role in the development of the organizational business strategy. Thus, the chief learning officer aligns learning and development to realize the visions of the organization.
Design a Learning Vision
Another significant role played by the chief learning officer in the organization is the creation of an effective learning vision based on the objectives and goals on an organization. Thus, the chief learning officer ensures that the business goal is drilled down to the employees based on his/her aspirations and learning needs (Elkeles & Phillips, 2007; Phillips, Phillips & Elkeles, 2016). Also, the chief learning officer must ensure that the organization’s business goal is centered on the human capital since it is the most important asset in the modern business environment.
The Identification of Growth Mindset
Since employee growth and learning go hand in hand, there is the need recruit and develop individuals with a growth mindset. Employees with a growth mindset are risk takers, go getters, and always determined to achieve the best. Learning involves embracing change and using creative and innovative means to remain productive in the wake of a dynamic business environment. Therefore, the role of a chief learning officer is to identify employees that have a growth mindset, nurture them, and prepare them to take up higher managerial positions where they can make significant contributions to the organization (Phillips, Phillips & Elkeles, 2016). Thus, it is almost impossible to have a growth mindset with the chief learning officer.
Identify the latest Trends
The chief learning officer is always on the look out to identify the new trends in the market to ensure that the organization is at par with what is happening in the learning and development industry (Phillips, Phillips & Elkeles, 2016). As a result, chief learning officers ensures that the employees are trained using the latest trends, acquire new market oriented skills, and integrate new technology in their daily activities where necessary.
Conclusion
In conclusion, chief learning officers play an important role in the development of the organization’s workforce. The roles of the chief learning officers have continued to gain prominence as companies strive to ensure that they attract and retain the top talent who will drive growth and business performance thereby creating competitive business advantages. To achieve the goals of an organization, the chief learning officers support learning and development and aligns the employees’ mentality with the vision of the organization. Therefore, the chief learning officers are still relevant in the current age.
References
Elkeles, T., & Phillips, J. J. (2007). The chief learning officer: Driving value within a changing organization through learning and development. Routledge.
Phillips, J., Phillips, P., & Elkeles, T. (2016). Chief talent officer: The evolving role of the chief learning officer. Routledge.
