Good or bad? Positive or toxic? Powerful or incongruent? Culture plays a huge part in our working lives. In L&D we ignore culture at our peril. But what does it mean to understand and change organisational culture? In this episode, former Deloitte Management Consultant, Lily Woi, unpacks this for us and provides insight and guidance on how we can change culture in our organisations.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Culture is about more than behaviour and working practices. Structure and governance both have a significant impact.
• Don´t overcomplicate things, a simpler approach is easier to follow and iterate.
• Keep improving. Change should be ongoing and happen quickly.
• Understanding your culture is the key to shaping it.
• Instead of assuming you understand the culture, observe how people actually behave.
• What is your data telling you about your culture?
• Using consultants helps to overcome not being able to see the wood for the trees and can cut through a lot of internal politics.
• Collective decision-making works best.
• Involve employees in the design phase.
• Using the 4 pillars - mindset, abilities, process, and structure leads to sustainable change.
• Measure the change.
• What has worked in one project is not necessarily going to work for another project. You have to tailor your approach.

BEST MOMENTS

'In my experience, the simplest approaches are more often the most effective.'

'Removing culture from an aspect of L&D is like trying to remove the egg from a cake.'

'I tend to ask a lot of annoying questions… to understand why, what´s really going on.'

'The approach that I use for one company would not work for my next company or client.'

Lily Woi Bio

Lily is a former Deloitte Management Consultant, focused on Organisation Transformation and Culture, Leadership & OD Lead at Next Pensions. On both sides of the table (in-company and consultancy), Lily has built deep and rich experience of organisation culture change.

As a Culture Change Catalyst, Lily now helps leaders and teams drive transformative change, unlock their full potential, and ignite a high-performance, collaborative culture. Over the past eight years, she has worked with global leaders and businesses to shift behaviours, unlock potential, transform careers, and develop courageous cultures. She has coached and trained clients working in multinationals such as Hello Fresh, Nike, Pureaffinity, and the British Film Institute.

You can connect with Lily and follow her work via:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lilywoi/

Website: https://lilywoicoaching.com/

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523

L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

ABOUT THE HOST

David James

David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.

As well as being the Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D.

CONTACT METHOD

• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/
• L&D Collective: https://360learning.com/the-l-and-d-collective/
• Blog: https://360learning.com/blog/
• L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

Learning communities transform organisations through sharing knowledge, spearheading practice, solving problems, seeding innovation, and supercharging development. So how can you develop a culture of learning in your organisation? In this episode, Andy Lancaster addresses this question - and many more.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• From the very start of humankind people have learned from each other, often in groups. Animals do it too.
• Learning from friends and colleagues is seen by practically everyone as being the most effective way to learn.
• People like human connection and want to feel they belong, so peer connection is powerful.
• The best learning takes place in context.
• Learning communities can be just a few people.
• We need to empower different types of learning communities.
• Learning communities share knowledge, spearhead practice, solve problems, seed innovation, and supercharge development.
• What the group does needs to be structured to a degree.
• Encourage people to work aloud to ensure everyone is actively involved.
• Reward the subject experts.

BEST MOMENTS

'The social context in which we learn is really important.'

'I think reflective practice ought to be embedded in all learning and development.'

'Subject experts play a vital role in communities in terms of coaching, mentoring and supporting.'

'Communities are a way of validating skills, which maybe organizations overlook. '

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523

L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

Andy Lancaster Bio

Andy Lancaster is the Chief Learning Officer at Reimagine People Development consultancy, specializing in supporting, coaching and mentoring learning leaders and teams to create impactful development strategies and solutions, transform learning cultures and empower socialized learning communities. The former Head of Learning at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), Andy is a trusted thinker, commentator and inspiring speaker, renowned for his insights that have helped reshape the organizational learning landscape globally. His book Driving Performance Through Learning gained a Business Book Award.

You can follow and connect with Andy via:

Twitter: @AndyLancasterUK

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-lancaster-ab995418/

Book: https://www.koganpage.com/hr-learning-development/organizational-learning-communities-9781398615496

ABOUT THE HOST

David James

David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.

As well as being the Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D.

CONTACT METHOD

• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/
• L&D Collective: https://360learning.com/the-l-and-d-collective/
• Blog: https://360learning.com/blog/
• L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

A new report, published by 360Learning, illustrates how far online has come in recent years: from poor relation to classroom training to expected and respected and recognised for helping learners bridge their skills gaps. But is that enough? In this episode, Alice and Ross join David to explore the findings and what this tells us about our ability to scale L&D today.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Both employers and employees have finally become more comfortable with digital learning.
• Employees now honestly believe that online learning is going to help them to do a better job while upskilling.
• Online learning works well in both big and small organizations. But it is smaller firms that are more receptive and are adopting AI and digital learning faster.
• For large organizations scalability is still a big challenge.
• Learning from their peers and colleagues, followed by their line managers is still preferred by most employees.
• A combination of face-to-face and digital learning works well.
• Tech is making it easier for people to share their knowledge, L&D can better tap into and benefit from this.
• Demonstrating to employees how the training can benefit them greatly improves the level of engagement.
• Clearly identify the skills people need to progress and share that knowledge with them.

BEST MOMENTS

'People now expect some respect, online learning,'

'In a smaller company, it is just a bit more dynamic.'

'You can capture SME knowledge that's valuable to the entire organization.'

'Capitalize on people's primary reasons for wanting to engage and develop their skills.'

EPISODE RESOURCES

Link to 2024 State of Online Learning Report: https://360learning.com/guide/2024-state-of-online-learning-report/2024-report-introduction/

Alice Thompson Bio

Alice is a Development Partner for Marks & Spencer and is passionate about designing performance training, data-driven decision-making, measuring impact and creating a continuous learning culture. Prior to M&S, Alice played key roles in the L&D teams at ASOS, Monzo and Butternut Box.

You can follow and connect with Alice via:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-thompson-849154b8/

Ross Stevenson Bio

Ross is Chief Learning Strategist and founder of Steal These Thoughts, an independent L&D think tank. He’s spent 16 years leading L&D teams, strategies, and tools within global organisations. Ross is also at the forefront of exploring the potential of generative AI in L&D.

You can follow and connect with Ross via:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rstevensonuk/

Twitter: @_Rsvenson

Website: www.stealthesethoughts.com

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523

L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/

ABOUT THE HOST

David James

David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.

As well as being the Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D.

CONTACT METHOD

• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/
• L&D Collective: https://360learning.com/the-l-and-d-collective/
• Blog: https://360learning.com/blog/
• L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home/