Father of Modern HR Dave Ulrich on Future of L&D Transformation

Dave Ulrich is the Rensis Likert Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan and a partner at the RBL Group. He has published over 200 articles and book chapters and 30 books.

He edited Human Resource Management for ten years, served on the editorial board of four other journals and on the Board of Directors for Herman Miller (16 years), has spoken to large audiences in 90 countries, performed workshops for over half of the Fortune 200, received numerous lifetime achievement awards, and is a Distinguished Fellow in the National Academy of Human Resources.

He posts weekly and comments daily on LinkedIn. His work creates ideas with impact about how to deliver stakeholder value through human capability (talent + organization + leadership + HR).

Q- Over the decades, how has the fundamental purpose of L&D changed in shaping organizational capability and competitive advantage?

Learning matters more than ever in today’s volatile, changing, uncertain business world —and this has a major impact on all stakeholders. With the increasing pace of social, technological, economic, political, environmental, and demographic changes, organizations and individuals have to disrupt (drastically change) themselves to stay current.

Over our thirty-five-year study and eight rounds of HR competencies, my colleagues and I find that approximately 30 to 40 percent of the required skills needed to be successful are new competencies emerging every four or five years.

In my personal training, I seek about 20 to 25 percent new material every two years to respond to the pace of change. To enable this type of disruption, an organization’s learning agenda should be not only about what is taught but also about the impact of what is taught.

The desired outcome of learning is to access ideas with impact, to discover innovative and fresh approaches to emerging opportunities, and to ensure that change happens—all to increase stakeholder value.

Q-In your view, what distinguishes organizations that truly embed learning into their culture from those that treat L&D as a transactional function?

Learning as a culture is less about what is taught and more about the value it creates for stakeholders who are taught.

An organization’s stakeholders are the “humans” who receive value from learning, including employees, customers, investors, and communities. When learning is about value created for stakeholders, it becomes a central part of an organization’s success.

Q-How should business leaders rethink leadership development in an era defined by uncertainty, disruption, and constant reinvention?

To improve leadership, it is easy to get overwhelmed with leadership competencies, assessments, frameworks, research findings, best practices, and cases.

Before diving into leadership content, current business leaders or L&D professionals help future leaders reflect on their personal purpose by answering three questions.

Why do I want to lead? Being a leader who influences others and shapes a future is an honor and a demanding stewardship. Being clear about one’s personal purpose helps maintain energy and passion when inevitable leadership challenges arrive. Being clear about purpose also defines personal success, which may not be the same for others.

What do I want to be known for as a leader? An identity shapes how a leader sees oneself, what a leader stands for, and what others can expect from a leader. When an identity is clear and consistent, credibility increases. These answers often come from core values, heritage, mentors, and work setting.

How am I doing? Candid self-reflection enables progress. Knowing strengths and weaknesses as seen by self and others helps determine where to focus to improve. Since we judge ourselves by our intent and others judge us by our actions, getting candid feedback from a 360 helps determine progress to date and requirements to accomplish personal purpose.

Q-What role does Learning & Development play in building not only workforce skills, but also organizational identity, values, and long-term resilience?

L&D specialists are like architects who build blueprints for a house—they create the learning plan. Line managers are the contractors who build a house—they have the responsibility to make learning happen.

But the ultimate accountability for learning rests with the individual employee—they reside in the house. Encouraging personal agency and accountability for learning becomes critical.

Q-Looking ahead, what enduring principles should guide HR and L&D leaders as they prepare organizations for the future of work?

Let me suggest five trends that may shape L&D to deliver stakeholder value.

Learn from multiple settings- We have found that 50 percent of learning occurs through on-the-job experience (job assignments, projects, coaching, mentoring); 30 percent of learning comes from training where participants are guests of the business and not just tourists; and 20 percent of learning occurs through experiences outside of work (parenting, volunteer service, life experience). Learning across these settings helps people grow in all parts of their lives.

Invite multiple audiences to attend and teach– Who attends training determines who gets value. Formal learning experiences can be intended for the individual participant but could also benefit all stakeholders listed in Figure 2: a team, customers, investors, or communities. Who delivers training impacts how it is received. Delivery may be self-taught (e.g., through technology), by experts (e.g., faculty), by line managers, or by external stakeholders (e.g., customers or investors).

Define learning outcomes- Learning outcomes can be individual-focused (how I improve) or organization-focused (how we improve). In our research reported in Victory Through Organization, we found that organization-focused learning (e.g., improve the culture, capabilities, or systems) has four times the impact on business results than individual-focused learning (e.g., improve personal skills). Learning that mixes personal and organizational will have the most impact.

Focus pedagogy on learning solutions- An evolution of learning pedagogy flows from presentations to case studies of other companies to facilitated discussions to action learning to learning solutions. Ultimately, learning solutions start with the challenges a learner faces and offer the learner insights on how to respond. Increasingly, sustained change requires learning solutions where the focus is less on what teachers know and more on what their audience specifically needs to know to improve. Learning solutions assumes that since value is defined by the receiver more than the giver, when teaching, facilitating, or coaching leadership, the goal is to less about sharing what one knows and more on how to help others learn what they need to know to make progress, or to create their own story.

Leverage technology- In today’s world, technology enables learning, particularly genAI that brilliantly synthesizes the past. But a pervasive trap is to just use technology as an efficient learning tool; rather, technology should also be used to create learning communities where learners share insights and experiences. Social learning networks move learning beyond classrooms to work settings. Blended learning increases the impact of what is taught. Self-paced learning tailors the learning to each individual.

We have worked to implement these insights into our Global HR Leadership Experience (GHRLE) program for next-generation HR leaders. We have had enormous success in building future leaders who create their personal story, demonstrate executive presence as a leader, deliver stakeholder HR to their organization, and advance the HR profession. For those interested, please consider attending a future session: https://www.mooreexeced.com/ghrle-program/

Thank you, Dave Ulrich!