Building strong relationships at work and taking on cross-departmental responsibility can yield serious results for L&D. In this Business Goal Alignment post, we’ll discuss how taking on extra responsibility provides visibility for your team and an opportunity to learn more about how other departments perceive and measure the organization’s success.
How to pay it forward at work
As an L&D practitioner, you’re charged with many responsibilities. Your learning programs need to build employees’ knowledge and help them meet their objectives while also impacting overall business goal alignment and organizational priorities.
But remember, you can’t impact what you can’t define. That means you need to find out what must be addressed in the other areas of your organization before developing or adjusting L&D’s approach.
“View your stakeholders and internal learners as clients,” says Amy S. Rouse, a senior learning technologist. “Once you understand their needs and goals, both large and small, you can begin to align your department goals and strategies that align with the company’s goals and your client’s needs.”
And one of the best ways to accomplish this task is simply lending a hand and promoting teamwork in the workplace. Look for opportunities where L&D can support other departments or teams reach their goals. Consider how those people can benefit from your help, and what resources you already have that can support their efforts. This approach offers several benefits:
1) It’s not every man for himself.
When you take extra responsibility and offer to help another department, the L&D team gains visibility within the organization while also being seen in a positive light.
2) Expand your horizons.
This an opportunity to work with new people, make connections across the organization, and gain new perspectives. And some of these relationships will become important resources for your future endeavors and vice versa.
3) What goes around comes around.
When you take time out of your day to help your coworkers, they’ll remember it—and they’ll be more inclined to lend a hand when you need something.
4) Their success is L&D’s success.
Seeing your team’s hard work and contributions in action and helping others can provide an enhanced sense of purpose and job satisfaction for the entire L&D team.
Recommended Resources
No one likes a flaky coworker
When offering to lend a hand, it’s important to ask questions so you understand what’s expected when it comes to the amount of time and type of work that’s needed.
The more you know about the project, the more likely you’ll be to promise and deliver exactly what’s needed—which also means your coworkers are more likely to help you in the future.
And once you commit to helping your coworkers, be a team player, and stick to your promise and follow through until the project is complete. Most of us have experienced unexpected events, either professional or personal, that can affect our availability.
So, think ahead and determine who will fill your place if needed. After all, there’s a reason why actors have understudies, right?
Up Next: How to gain internal support for L&D
Once you’ve identified who and how you’re going to help, it’s time to understand what’s critical for their success. The more you know about what’s valuable to them, the better you’ll be able to help them.
Join us for our next post, as we explain how to provide help to other teams that may need assistance on training or data services you create. And be sure to sign up for Watershed Insights to have the next post sent right to your inbox.
About the author
Lizelle Holstein is passionate about using insights from data and analytics to help change the world of corporate learning and development.
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