To earn a seat at the business table, L&D leaders are asking their teams to drive business outcomes. This ask requires a new set of skills from instructional designers. Just being able to identify the knowledge and skills of expert performers is no longer enough. Now, instructional designers need to put those skill demands in the context of the overall performance environment in order to deliver business results.
The missing skill set is performance improvement. Instructional designers now need to elicit performance outcomes from their stakeholders, not just wishlists of skills. They then need to work with their subject matter experts to map the barriers to those performance outcomes. Some of those barriers will likely be talent gaps, such as missing knowledge or skills. But instructional designers also need to be conversant in the other key drivers of performance:
- Are there process breakdowns or inconsistent processes that result in defects?
- Are there substandard tools or equipment that make it harder to deliver acceptable results?
- Are there environmental factors that hinder performance, such as poor information, competing priorities, or inadequate time or resources?
- Are there management practices that impair performance, from lack of accountability to unclear expectations?
- Are there deficiencies in the raw materials or process inputs that cause variation in outcomes?
When instructional designers apply a performance improvement mindset to their needs analysis, two outcomes are likely to occur. First, the instructional designers will be more successful in driving business improvements. Because their needs analysis uncovers how the skills connect to the ultimate performance goal, they can design training that is targeted, relevant, and mission-critical.
Second, instructional designers who conduct needs analysis through a performance lens will clearly identify the aspects of job outcomes that are not dependent on training. This is critical to managing the scope of the training, as well as managing expectations from the stakeholders about what training can and cannot do. Performance-focused needs assessment results shared ownership; the business leaders can see what aspects are up to them to improve.
Training that drives business outcomes is no longer nice-to-have. As executives demand to see the impact of training, and learning leaders take their place at the executive table, instructional designers need to bring performance improvement skills to their needs analysis work.