It’s been a pleasure to share the details of our journey and the learnings of building a next-generation experiential learning company. We’ve chronicled our thinking and insights that support our unique soft skill growth guarantee and will close the series with key learnings from each post.
Cliff Notes: If your organization truly believes in a growth mindset, you are ahead.
So many names and so few differences. We realized that our efforts should go into explaining our value and differentiation, not trying to build industry agreement on naming. So we’ll focus on soft skills.
The impact of soft skills. The bottom line, soft skills are foundational. Whether it’s 89 percent of recruiters saying when a hire doesn’t work out, it usually comes down to a lack of soft skills or an industry think tank documenting that 50% of managers in organizations are rated as ineffective, there’s a lot of money spent and not getting a positive return.
The “hard” ROI of soft skills. So the standard way of measuring learning barely gets L&D managers to Level 2 Kirkpatrick measurement. qChange’s experiential learning framework provides a real-time, objective measure of soft skills. With soft skill measurement, L&D managers can connect the dots with their training programs and measure program effectiveness building a more believable ROI.
Crazy idea: connecting the buying cycle with learning theory. We identified that if we viewed learners as consumers of a learning experience, more resources might be put towards providing growth experiences instead of building knowledge through content.
Stumbling into experiential learning. We are part of a broad learning ecosystem where a diversified approach to learning, both in learning delivery and content, will deliver the best results. Our differentiator is that we use continuous skill reinforcement in the flow of work to accelerate and measure soft skill growth.
Measurement. The Achilles heel of leadership and management? It’s interesting to think of soft skills as the atoms of leadership and management. Perhaps if we measured them objectively, we could make progress on crafting the recipes for improving our various company cultures.
Finding a gap in learning delivery; Improving the top-down approach. What if you could provide the effectiveness of blended learning or coaching with the scalability and cost-effectiveness of eLearning? That’s the gap qChange is targeting. We believe everyone should have access to high-retention, soft-skill learning.
Leadership Styles; it’s the skill, not the style. Ultimately, it's important to note that the most effective leaders often possess a combination of these styles and can adapt their leadership style to fit the situation, i.e., the environment, company culture, team dynamic, their passion. It’s not a one size fits all approach, even within the same organization. So let’s go beyond the hype and focus on the skills needed, not the leadership style.
Balance provides motivation. Not every leader/manager has the same needs. However, their personal growth objectives can be achieved while meeting the organization's needs. Allowing personal choice helps learners stay motivated and continue their unique development journey.
Why stop at the start? Assessments have value in understanding where you are…your starting line. But there needs to be more focus on the journey, the climb, the race, the cure. Continuous 360° feedback, connected to a behavioral area and measured over time, will show progress and any needed course corrections.
Nudging without the nudge. qChange delivers managers relevant nudges up to 10 times per week. The average is approximately 4 times or about once per day. As we’ve talked to our users, a surprising psychological change happens to them. Users state that the nudges help them create a habit of thinking about their soft skill development objectives as they go into a meeting, even when they didn’t receive a nudge. We found a hidden benefit that extends well beyond the nudge itself.
Suppose you find your business transformation programs not reaching their potential. If your soft skill development initiatives fall short or possibly retention and engagement rates below expectations, perhaps it’s time to think differently. Only qChange promises a “Growth Guarantee” and can be implemented in days, not weeks, months, or years.
To learn more, email: rbuckingham@qchange.com