{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"#7: Dana Hariton McQuade on the Lessons of Launching a New Leadership Development Initiative","description":"\u201cPeople loved it.\u201d  These were the words Dana Hariton McQuade used to summarize her organization\u2019s reaction to launching a new global leadership development framework for different leader levels (new, emerging and accelerated). She delved into the details of launching this new initiative on episode seven of the Learning and Development Stories Podcast. It necessitated bringing together three teams \u2013 L&D, organizational development and HR analytics \u2013 to create experiential learning programs that ultimately touch thousands of employees.  \u201cWhen we announced the whole pathway around this, we could not offer enough classes soon enough,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople were so hungry for it. Everyone came out feeling stretched and grateful for the opportunity.\u201d Dana currently is the Director of Development at Prism Brain Mapping for North America and previously held learning roles for Lenovo and Morgan Stanley. Here are other insights she shared during the interview. Engagement Dana noted that in general, data is lagging when conducting employee engagement surveys. It is also a one-way conversation as employees fill out the survey and then often times the dialogue ends there. With the rollout of the new leadership development initiative, Dana felt the organization took big strides to improve engagement. \u201cEmployees felt their voices were heard,\u201d she said. \u201cThere was satisfaction in that they knew the organization took the time to develop them. Employees want to know better approaches to do their work and many want to know about how they can advance. Showing we took time to develop people was an important engagement point.\u201d Linking learning to business objectives There were two key ways in which this new initiative linked to key business objectives: 1. It addressed succession planning. 2. It connected the dots to what the company says about itself and what that actually means. Lessons from mistakes Anyone who ever takes on a new initiative will surely look back and think about doing things differently the next time around. If not, that could be quite problematic! For Dana, she would approach relationship building with key HR stakeholders in a different way the next time she launches a big new initiative. \u201cThis culture was fast moving, sometimes firing first then aiming,\u201d she explained. \u201cI had my head down a little too much working and I didn\u2019t feel like I had a seat at the table. I didn\u2019t understand the why until much later on. This hurt me. Going forward, I will articulate what I need to be successful.\u201d Communicating the impact Dana had particularly interesting insights to share around mobilizing learning communities in which attendees of a program share insights, both during and after a program. Key to this process is moderation. She also stressed the importance of communicating key L&D initiatives during new employees\u2019 on-boarding process. Knowledge transfer While travelling for work in Asia, Dana noticed that many people were doing professional development using WeChat, the Chinese multi-purpose messaging, social media and mobile payment app. \u201cPeople are learning in different ways that we are not capturing. If the interface isn\u2019t easy, people will get learning where it is easy and relevant. We need to make learning accessible.\u201d Recommended tools and resources Dana sees great opportunities for organizations to leverage immersive learning in part because going through experiences leads to higher retention.  This could play out in various ways. One such example would be enabling new hires to go through an immersive experience in which they might actually be able to see and experience the organization\u2019s corporate headquarters located in another part of the world. \u201cThis is completely different than watching a video,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you can see touch and smell, you will be a better ambassador.\u201d Dana recommends that others in the L&D space refer to content from Josh Bersin and David Rock. A piece we particularly discussed was Rock\u2019s article on why learning needs to be effortful in order to be effective.  You can connect with Dana on LinkedIn.     ","author_name":"Learning & Development Stories Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/landdstories.libsyn.com\/website","html":"