David James is CLO at 360Learning, host of The Learning & Development Podcast and former Director of L&D for The Walt Disney Company.
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As a learning and development leader, do you ever get frustrated that you’re stereotyped as just “the training team”? Does it seem like you only get invited to development conversations after a solution has already been determined, even though you could make a greater impact if you were involved earlier?
For some of us, these frustrations are paralyzing, and I hear it all the time: “I’d love to do more, but my organization isn’t ready for it.” If we heard a phrase like this on a leadership development program, we’d tell participants that they need to lead, have broad shoulders and be the change they want to see. Well, it’s the same for L&D.
But what does this actually mean?
What is reputation management?
Reputation management means intentionally and strategically communicating with stakeholders about greater mutual value. It’s taking ownership of your team’s authentic reputation and amplifying it so stakeholders and key decision makers are aware of your proposition, the value you bring and the expertise your team possesses.
For some, the very thought of this is cringeworthy. Without having reaped the benefits, the idea of meeting with stakeholders to “sell” your team and its efforts may seem degrading or overly ingratiating. When done crudely or without the right intentions, PR for your team can feel like the worst kind of corporate sleaziness—a deal with the devil for very little reward. But when done right, you gain mutual benefit for your team and your stakeholders. It can be as if a light was switched on in a dark room and now everyone can see, whereas before you were working with only partial vision.
Why is reputation management so important?
When an L&D leader fails to consistently position themselves from the perspective of business impact and employee performance, several negative consequences can emerge. They can get pigeon-holed as the training team and treated as the last to know during important development discussions. Sometimes, L&D leaders don’t ever get a seat at the table, and this disconnect can put their teams at risk during tough economic times. Additionally, there’s little scope for role growth and promotion because of the lack of perceived impact.
In the absence of intentional PR, you leave the perception of your team to others to create and maintain—and it’s not always benevolent. For example, when you’re noticeably doing great work, while bosses are pleased, peers and other team leads may become self-conscious and resentful. When overly political players perceive a threat, they may act with sinister intent and try to burst your bubble. But this can be headed off with a strategic PR plan that involves these other players—or at least keeps them on your side.
How can you promote your L&D team with integrity?
The first step in managing the reputation of your team is determining what you’d like to be known for. You need only broad themes for this. For example, when I led L&D teams, I wanted to be known for partnering, doing things that made a planned and demonstrable difference, progress and integrity. I’ve worked in some highly political environments and seen political players ride high and fall far. I knew I could find a place where I was aware, savvy, intentional and honest.
Next comes meeting with stakeholders regularly to showcase your efforts and their impact. In my PR efforts, I recognized those who were most influential and had a disproportionate effect on my team’s success. This included HR business partners and other HR directors. I’d meet with them, learn about their priorities and figure out what I was doing (or could be doing) to make their life easier and make us all look good.
In these stakeholder discussions, it’s vital to talk business, not learning. This ensures you’re talking about what matters to stakeholders, which ultimately matters to you. For example, I offered to partner with them to make the HR support team seem bigger and more connected. I worked closely with my peers in compensation and benefits, recruitment and workforce planning to look for areas where overlapping efforts made sense. I also sought opportunities to put team members in the spotlight to raise their profile and have the team come across as a deep, credible and capable talent pool.
Rather than treating reputation management as an additional activity, L&D leaders must bake it into their work. Tasks like connecting the dots, filling in the blanks, seeking opportunities and profiling efforts should be an active part of your work. Keeping reputation management at the front of your mind may seem exhausting to begin with, but it keeps you honest and focused on delivering value in the right ways.
Doing good work will only get you so far. What people think and how they feel about you and your team is the other piece of the puzzle. If you leave it for others to determine your team’s brand, they won’t need a second invitation to do so. But if you deliberately craft, share and show the reputation you want, then others will learn to trust you and adopt that perception themselves.
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