Episode #106
What Skills Are Hiding in Plain Sight with David Hayden
Most organisations know what their employees have done at work. They know far less about what those same people learn through hobbies, volunteering and life outside the job. Useful skills can stay hidden until someone thinks to ask. That gap is the subject of Adjacent Learning, a book about recognising the knowledge and skills people gain outside an organisation and bring back into work. Adam Lacey speaks to co-author David Hayden about where that knowledge comes from, why employers miss it and how L&D can make better use of it. David has worked in learning since 1988, with roles at Royal Mail, in manufacturing and at the CIPD. He is also co-author of the fourth and fifth editions of Learning and Development Practice in the Workplace. Through Talent Delivers, he now supports people who are new to organisation design and organisation development. For Adjacent Learning, David and Steve George asked around 40 contributors one question: “What do you do outside of work that makes you a better employee in work?” Only one person said they had consciously made that connection before. Their answers covered rock climbing, fishing, parkrun, a book club and a community of women going through menopause. David argues that the usual workplace systems make this knowledge easy to lose. Recruitment may uncover it, but induction focuses on what the organisation needs the new employee to know. One training coordinator, for example, had built his own website and knew enough about technology to help with a system problem. Nobody had asked him. His advice is to start with conversation, not a company-wide survey. Add “What have you learned this week?” to an existing meeting or training session. Use a World Café for a larger group. Let people choose what they want to share, especially where trust is low. As David puts it, L&D does not own people’s learning. David and Steve also include a framework for L&D teams that want to use Adjacent Learning. It starts by defining the development question they need to answer. From there, they can look for relevant knowledge, decide what might help and work out how to use it. The same questions can help an individual think more broadly about their own development. What you’ll learn: What Adjacent Learning means, and why life outside work can change how someone performs at work The question David and Steve used to uncover skills that contributors had never linked to development How recruitment finds useful experience that a “steamroller induction” can quickly leave behind Why David recommends conversations, meetings and World Cafés instead of another mass survey How the book’s framework helps L&D teams and individuals think beyond formal workplace learning Where organisation development goes beyond L&D, plus four lessons for new practitioners Connect with David via LinkedIn - https://uk.linkedin.com/in/david-hayden-8176919 The Assembly Debrief A short, practical email unpacking the best ideas from each episode, designed for modern learning leaders who want insight without the noise. https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0xWSjW0 Come and connect with us We're always keen to hear what's resonating or what you're seeing in your world. Adam Lacey - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamlacey/ Brigid McCormack - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brigidmccormack/ More from The Assembly & Assemble You Learning that feels more like great content than training. Explore podcast-style lessons, video shorts, and series designed for real work, plus the AI Confidence Method, a workforce AI change programme that measures what your people really think about AI and then changes it. https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0xWSkk0 Privacy & Data This podcast is hosted by Transistor. For more information on how your data is handled, please visit: https://www.transistor.fm/privacy/
