Overview

The CLO role is gaining power across commercial and governmental enterprises.  Some see the CLO as a people development and talent management function and others see it as a knowledge capacity building function, while others would just let it evolve to whatever the context of the organization desires.

CLO Primary Responsibility

The CLO position evolved to make organizational learning a key business strategy for competitive advantage and growth.  As such, the challenge is to bring to life in a practical sense what organizational learning constitutes for a given organization.  However, before we cover what is involved in organizational learning, the CLO role definitely has partners in driving the strategy of organizational learning.  Though relationships with company functions associated with strategic HR, business communications, strategic planning, and information management are critical to driving organizational learning as a key business strategy, the CLO, as well, is very closely aligned with the profession of organizational development.  

Organizational Learning - What is it?

Peter Senge defined organizational learning as a set of five interdependent personal and social competencies to be developed in an organization.  He included personal mastery, team learning, shared vision, mental models (underlying beliefs) and systems thinking.  It has been difficult to operationalize these competencies so that they make common sense to business executives and they are connected directly to driving business growth.  The CLO plays a strategic role in framing how these competencies are to be applied inter-connectively throughout the organization.  Since organizational learning is social, creating collaborative environments and conversations is another important essential capability for the CLO to evolve if organizational learning is to thrive. 

CLO Core Value

To support organizational learning, the CLO needs to reinforce the principles of new science (human beings are considered as self-organizing and adaptive in nature).  People should not be treated as objects to be manipulated but instead are to be nurtured, enabled and supported as truly self-organizing beings.  As such, treating personnel as people, not objects, requires a major paradigm shift in business where command and control just does not work and understanding and applying new` science principles does - a vital capability the CLO must address.  Otherwise the current mechanistic paradigm of treating people as piece-parts will continue to sub-optimize their future growth, especially where people play the major role in a company or organization.

Visuals are always important in illustrating the meaning of things.  Here we see the role of the CLO evolve at CACI over the past two years.

There are many facets that influence organizational learning in a company.  The CLO should operate as an integrator regarding the seven essential components (shown above) that impact organizational learning.  The following highlights how each element contributes to organizational learning but firstly there are two major strategies for the CLO to follow.

One is energizing the company for transformation by building capacity in people through information for the enterprise.  Transformation like many terms has a unique and distinctive intent.  When we use the term transformation we are talking about a fundamental shift in the way of thinking and doing.  It goes to the core of being what we are personally and organizationally.

• For individuals, this involves changing our mental models (our mindsets, our perceptions, and our attitudes)
• For organizations, this involves changing our strategic, operational & tactical paradigms (assumptions about our rules and rules of engagement)

The second strategy is to guide learning and performance services across a company´s business distinctions and business groups.  While the first strategy is internal and impacts business over time, the second is external and directly influences business growth immediately.  Both are necessary and at times are paced differently within a company dependent upon current executive management´s approach to running a company. It may be necessary to spend more time doing strategy two than strategy one for survival sake until executives can deal with the longer incubation time for strategy one to demonstrate its value.

Critical Elements Table

Given these two strategies as linchpins to everything the CLO does, let´s return to the seven elements that influence organizational learning as a key business strategy. 

Element One: CLO role of building the crafts of the Company

The life blood of any company is building capacity and capability in the technical, professional, functional fields as well as major roles like managerial leadership and project/program management.  To do this requires:

• Establishing a credentialing process
• Applying performance expectations and monitor performance
• Developing, capturing and assessing management metrics
• Conducting competency assessments
• Devising curricula for each level of craft responsibility
• Establishing mentoring & coaching initiatives
• Ensuring career paths and responsibility for promotion
• Developing a people culture

A company focused on building primarily on strengths and decreasing gaps in practices, leveraging best practices, and providing key process improvements produces a connected network.  A company that combines incentives, promotions, and career tracks builds a robust management capability to be a thriving, sustaining company.

Element Two: CLO role of incorporating a virtual-blended university

The learning backbone of any company rests with its ability to effectively use interactive e-learning and blend it with same time, same place experiential learning.  To do this requires:

• Architecting an automated talent management program composed of connecting three facets: (1) workforce productivity (mission related performance management), (2) learning courses through a typical learning management system and (3) the foundation piece is competency modeling
• Establishing a community of practice and centers of excellence that focuses on client and customer products and services
• Developing a learning culture

A company focused on building and investing in human development will always win and is highly recognized by the stock market. A company investing in its people will grow where attaining financial goals becomes a natural by-product of being responsive to its people.

Element Three: CLO role of incubating innovation

The creativity executor of any company is innovation. To do this requires:

• Establishing a discipline approach to innovation management
• Instituting a hub for all technology demonstrations
• Producing a web portal for innovation
• Developing an innovation culture

A company driven on innovation will constantly grow.  A company investing in innovation will accelerate its growth.  A company supporting innovation intercepts and leverages emerging technology.

Element Four:  CLO role of producing knowledge sharing

The conversion of tacit and explicit information into wisdom lies in the ability to establish a knowledge enablement environment.  To do this requires:

• Instituting collaborative WAN, LAN and web based support tools
• Incorporating a "smart based" concept driven search engine
• Initiating a web based knowledge "central" portal
• Developing a knowledge sharing culture
• As a potential sense and respond organization, a company is capable of using the right information in a timely manner and is better positioned for keeping abreast of present and future needs.  A company using knowledge leverages its talent.

Element Five: CLO role of instilling quality

The customer discriminator of a company is its passion for quality.  To do this requires:

• Establishing a standards program based on integrating tenets from Six Sigma, Baldrige, and ISO 9000
• Creating a customer-centric measurement tool that  hears the voice of the customer, often
• Developing a quality culture

A company with a passion for quality delights the customer.  A company that is quality centric surprises the customer.

Element Six:  CLO role of process management

The efficiency energizer of a company is in its process management capability.  To do this requires:

• Putting in place enterprise business architecture tools to support systems thinking
• Establishing a standards program based on the integration of Capability Maturity Model - Integration (CMM-I) and People - Capability Maturity Model (P-CMM)
• Developing a process based culture

A company focused on processes tied to corporate strategy has a winning business solution.  A company emphasizing a process based management culture solidifies efficiencies.

Element Seven: CLO role of enterprise decision support

The infrastructure support mechanism of a company is about enterprise decision support.  To do this requires:

• Instituting a paperless workflow system
• Embedding a decision support tool suite to support dealing with issues, challenges and solution making
• Leveraging e-learning where it makes sense

A company with a rich infrastructure provides a solid foundation for growth.  A company that has a strong infrastructure support system produces an efficient working environment

Summary

The job of the CLO is to use the two aforementioned strategies and capture the seven described elements and realizing their interrelationships.  A common thread weaved throughout is institutionalizing an organizational learning culture that supports and reinforces the integration of these seven elements.  It is important that the CLO be able to operate both internally and externally to the organization in developing learning and performance services.

The formal acknowledge by senior executives that learning is important as a strategic force multiplier for the company, validates the CLO´s strategic role being anointed as authentic and credible for the organization.  Using the framework described in this treatise should demonstrate the value proposition the CLO brings to the executive team of a company.

Dr. David J. Koehn is the Chief Learning Officer of CACI´s National Solution Group focusing his attention on driving organizational learning as a key business strategy for the company.