Gandz notes that: "On the one side is upgrading of knowledge and skills via shorter, more compressed, efficient delivery systems. On the other, there is a growing focus on developing judgment and much more recognition that context and effective developmental experiences are critical."
Beyond talent management, increasingly professional development is focused on what goes into decision-making. "We spend a lot of time talking about operational, reputational and quantitative risk and the impact of rapid change and turbulent environments on the kinds of business decisions being made in our executive programs," says Gandz. "The time from 2008 to today has seen a lot of uncertainty, so we talk much more about strategic options rather than strategies cast in stone. Certainly there is more humility about being right and greater focus on making good decisions but recognizing that circumstances vary greatly." In other words, he says, judgment is used.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is using a structured, team-based approach to learning on the job. "It’s a way to capture teachable moments as they arise and in the process help accelerate the development of our junior people and reinforce learning on the job," says Kate Hand, learning and development director for national assurance practice at PwC Canada. "Rather than stop and have someone attend a seminar or e-learn session, we now have a structure and specific techniques we can use when an opportunity arises. So we’ve addressed the learning gap and provided feedback and support. As a result, our junior team members have more opportunities to take on more rewarding work. As well, it improves communication across the team because you are coming together to address issues in a real-time, real-life, relevant way."
For example, this fall PwC launched a program dealing with professional skepticism that blends a formal learning component with the team-based learning approach. "How do you teach judgment? By sharing war stories of near misses," says Hand. "Our senior team members have these stories but they might not always think to share them with junior team members. Now, they can come together to talk about what professional skepticism means for the client, how to address it and assess it and what to do when something is unusual. Junior team members might not otherwise have the confidence to question a client."
(The article "Education CONTINUED" on pages 24-31 in the December 2011 CAmagazine is also available online.)
