How to Develop Managers as Facilitators of Learning

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The first step on the path to becoming a successful learner-focused organization is to get managers on board. They are the ones who implement your HR policies in practice, so their effectiveness depends on how successfully they do it. They are also the people who are most likely to understand the development needs of their team members and how to help them develop in line with organizational objectives. Here are some practical tips to help you get managers on board and develop their skills as facilitators of learning.

Facilitator Guidance

This methodology is aimed at HR and training managers. It is especially useful for organizations wishing to change the focus of the training function from delivering training to facilitating learning, encouraging managers to take more responsibility for helping their team members to learn and develop.

Get Them on Board

Your managers won’t be likely to implement anything if they don’t buy in to the idea and its benefits. Create a clear and compelling vision and strong business case, and gain high-level management support before you try to sell the idea to line managers across the organization to add weight and credibility to your case.
Explain what’s in it for them. There are many benefits to having a learner-focused approach to management:

They will be able to delegate and allocate work with confidence.
It will help them to develop their own succession plans.
It will improve performance in their team and help to achieve team/organizational objectives.
It may also enhance their career prospects.

Praise success and examples of good practice to show the benefits and rewards that such an approach can bring.

Ensure Understanding of Your Policies

Explain your learning policies clearly to ensure understanding. The way that managers interpret them is crucial to their success or otherwise. Make your policies easily accessible by, for example, publishing them on your organization’s intranet.
Also ensure understanding of the function and responsibilities of the training department, and their own responsibilities in relation to supporting and facilitating learning.

Set Standards

Set standards outlining managers’ responsibilities to help them understand what is expected of them. This will also give you something against which to measure their performance in this area objectively.
Identify champions as role models to demonstrate how managers should be managing people’s learning.
Encourage them to take active responsibility for their own learning to set an example to their team members.
Build these responsibilities and standards into individual’s performance agreements/personal objectives.

Develop Them as Coaches

Encourage them to take on a coaching style of management in their everyday work so that they can provide their team members with plenty of informal learning opportunities on-the-job.
Provide them with the appropriate training and learning activities to help them develop their skills in this area.
Provide them with support
Identify coaches to help managers develop their coaching skills. These could be managers experienced in this style of management, or members of the training department.
Encourage understanding of the training department as a support function, providing them with advice and support in relation to learning whenever necessary.

Give Them a Framework

If you have a competency framework, encourage managers to use it as a means of helping individuals to take responsibility for their own learning. If not, you might want to develop one to help managers and their team members to easily understand what they need to learn and how they need to develop.