What in the World is

In 1999, ASTD began using the phrase

workplace learning and performance to
describe the field and profession it represents. In almost all ASTD content, WLP
now replaces t&d or training and development. What do we mean when we say
WLP?

Defining workplace
Workplace specifies the context in which
we address learning and performance.
The W in WLP also acknowledges the
role of workplace variablessuch as
goals, systems, resources, and incentives
in the selection and success of learning
solutions. Variations in workplace contexts influence our decisions and actions
as WLP professionals.
Defining learning
Learning is, in part, a surrogate for the old
term, training and development. Learning shifts the focus from external activities
to what is happening in the individuals
who are trained and developed. Using the
term learning broadens the scope of the
professions responsibilities to include all
opportunities, formal and informal,
planned and unplanned, that lead individuals to learn and develop new knowledge and skills.
The definition of learning in WLP goes
beyond individuals learning to encompass
organizational learning. Organizational
learning is the collective wisdom or human

WLP?

capital that an organization gains from the

learning of its individuals. Organizational
learning manifests itself in process and
product improvements. In WLP, learning
is defined as a transformational agent that
drives organizational performance through
the development of individual and organizational knowledge and expertise.

Defining performance
Like learning, performance has multiple
meanings in WLP. First, performance is
the outcome of learning and can be
viewed at three levels: individual, group,
and organizational. Second, performance
is a perspective or mindset that leads one
to see learning as only one of many interacting variables that influence individual,
group, and organizational performance.
Nonlearning variables that influence performance include processes, resources,
and incentives, as well as characteristics
of individuals such as intelligence, personality, and motivation. A performance
mindset leads to analysis of performance
gaps and prescription of solutions that go
beyond learning.

By Brenda Sugrue,
Tony ODriscoll,
and Daniel Blair

What do we mean
when we say WLP?

Connecting the dots

The beauty of WLP as a descriptor for the
field and profession represented by ASTD
is that it explicitly connects learning
and all of the activities that support learning
to the improvement of individual,
group, and organizational performance.

TDJanuary 2005 51

WLP

ASTD Workplace Learning and Performance Value Chain

Performance

Learning
Organizational
Goals

Formal
Learning

Individual
Productivity

Group

Organizational
Outcomes

Human
Capital
Revenue
Costs

Organizational
Talent

Informal
Learning

Growth
Retention

Workplace

Readiness
Customer
Satisfaction
Processes &
Systems
Organizational
Knowledge

Incentives

Motivation

,1 Source/ ASTD, 2004

WLP acknowledges performance improvement as the goal of the profession
and locates learning in a value chain where
workplace variables determine learning
needs, strategies, and practices, which in
turn drive performance. The above diagram of such a value chain shows the
scope and complexity of the landscape in
which WLP professionals now operate.

tions to maximize performance. The new

learning organization focuses its analysis
and measurement activities on performance. The new learning organization has
at least shifted from training delivery to
learning opportunity management and
has, at best, become an integrated learning
and performance function seen as critical
to organizational transformation.

The role of the learning

organization
The shift from t&d to WLP redefines the
role of the learning organization within an
enterprise. The new learning organization
manages, aligns, designs, deploys, monitors, and reports on all of the processes, resources, and systems that promote and
support learning and its conversion to performance. The new learning organization
integrates learning and nonlearning solu-

The significance of the shift

Some might say, a rose by any other
name would smell as sweet, or t&d,
HRD, HPT, WLP, its all the same once
you get past the letters.
However, having a descriptor that conveys more precisely the spirit of our mission helps communicate that mission and
its value. If business executives refer to
what we do as WLP, then they are more
likely to see us as the source of learning and

52

TDJanuary 2005

performance solutions, rather than the

source of learning solutions alone. If they
refer to our departments and functions as
learning rather than training departments, then they are more likely to support, and indeed expect recommendations
of, activities that include nontraditional
learning opportunities as well as traditional
ones. If we refer to ourselves as WLP professionals, we are more likely to think and
act like people concerned about learning
and performance, and add more value to
our organizations. TD
Brenda Sugrue is ASTDs senior director of
research; bsugrue@astd.org. Tony ODriscoll
is a learning strategist with IBMs On Demand
Learning Organization; odriscol@us.ibm.com.
Daniel Blair is strategy and business planning
manager for HPs Certified Professional
Program; daniel.blair@hp.com.