Focus on Performance

If you’re focused on training, you’re missing the big picture. Shifting the conversation to performance instead of training is going to help you as a learning or enablement professional in at least three major ways:

Alignment

If you want to be a truly consultative partner, you must align with your stakeholder(s) on performance objectives, not learning. Speak their language (think KPIs instead of Learning Objectives) and involve them in the process. Be a chef, not a server.

Efficiency

Guess what? Things change. By focusing on performance, you drastically improve the ability to pivot for 2 reasons: (1) you can prioritize more quickly  because you know what’s truly critical and (2) you can make decisions (or obtain sign-off) more quickly because you’ve aligned with your partner on the main thing being the main thing… namely, performance! 

Results

You’re more likely to hit something if you aim for it. By focusing on performance, you may actually end up doing less training but still driving up results. When you can connect your solutions to the end result (performance), you are earning your right to be trusted again. (BONUS: You also get to share your impact story in language your stakeholder understands!)

What are you focused on? How can you shift your conversations to performance instead of training? How else has a focus on performance benefited you?