Learning and development professionals are naturally curious. We love to investigate new models, explore innovative ideas and consider the latest developments to support our organisations to get where they want to go. 

When new ideas are highlighted in our professional journals, we can often see the potential benefits and want to share them far and wide.

We get enthusiastic. We want to share our enthusiasm. We want to experiment. We want to see how the latest ideas will impact individuals, teams and organisations. 

So we start a project. We launch an initiative. We work really hard to bring others along with us.

So often, however, we see learning and development initiatives arrive, be welcomed and heralded as ‘game-changing’ only to be quickly forgotten as the pressures of ‘business as usual’ take hold.

What can we do to ensure that our initiatives actually become business as usual?

Maybe one of the things we can try is to make sure that they are delivered in the language of the business.

The semantics of business

Let’s start with some of the basics.

For example, to what extent do our organisations ever really use the words ‘learning’ or ‘development’?

What I hear managers talking about are issues that they have with ensuring that their team is delivering. I also hear managers bemoaning situations with individual team members with questions such as “why don’t they just do what I’m asking them to do?”

Instead of talking about learning and development, try discussing ways of improving knowledge and skills

With this in mind, should we be talking more about performance improvement? Or getting the job done? Or problem solving?

Here are some suggestions for ways in which we might modify our language so that it feels more relatable to all those around us, not just our L&D colleagues.

Use diagnostic questions

When a manager asks us to get some training for their problem team member, ask questions such as:

1. What specifically have you observed that you see as problematic?

2. What do you know about this team member and their circumstances?

3. What has been done already to help the person improve? What conversations have you had with the employee?
4. How do you know that this is a training issue?

5. What do you anticipate will be different after the training? What do you hope to observe then?


Align learning with outcomes 

Instead of talking about learning and development, try discussing ways of improving knowledge and skills that are specifically relevant to the problem scenario or to current and future organisational goals.

As L&D professionals, we know that learning transfer is vital, but this is a very niche term. 

Think in terms of skills

As a way to encourage colleagues to move away from suggesting training and consider other learning methods, we can talk about “skill building” or “building skills”.

If we find that managers and colleagues don’t relate when we talk about ‘knowledge and skills’, we can discuss “developing understanding” and “becoming more able to…” 

Give practical examples

When we see someone glazing over as we talk about different learning methods, we could try giving examples of different approaches without calling them learning methods.

Every team has shared language and picking up on this will help you to ensure that you are speaking the language of your audience. 


Discuss how they’ll practice and share skills

As L&D professionals, we know that learning transfer is vital, but this is a very niche term. To help colleagues and managers understand the principles of learning transfer we can discuss the opportunities that individuals will have to apply their skills in practice. We can also explore how fellow team members can support each other as they try out new skills.

Celebrate and recognise individuals and their skills

Within the people professions, we talk about talent and talent management. Often ‘talent’ is seen as synonymous with ‘high performers’. When we want managers to look at how they use the talents of their team members, we can discuss what individuals do well. We can delve into examples where teams and individuals have achieved great success. We can also help managers to consider what particular abilities have come to the fore which could be applied elsewhere. 

By identifying the voice and tone, you will be able to adapt your communication to suit your specific setting.


Three ways to align your language with the organisation 

These are some generic examples of how we might change our language. To ensure that you are using the language of the organisation that you are working with or for, here are some top tips:

1. Listen, listen, listen: When you are in meetings or working in a shared space, keep your ears open for the words and phrases that are used within different functions and teams. Every team has shared language and picking up on this will help you to ensure that you are speaking the language of your audience. 

    
2. Do your research: Read internal documents to discover your organisation’s ‘voice’ and look for the underlying tone which is used throughout. By identifying the voice and tone, you will be able to adapt your communication to suit your specific setting.

    
3. Examine your organisational culture: Look at the external facing communication as well as internal communication to find out how best to align your own language so that your messages are more likely to land positively.


In summary, as an L&D professional, don’t lose your curiosity or enthusiasm. Channel your energies and focus your communication so that you can translate the L&D-specific language into the language of the business. That way you will be more likely to be heard and therefore make the impact that you want to achieve. 

If you enjoyed this, read: Why it's time to reconnect with the fundamentals of L&D.