5 Ways Learning and Development Can Offer Support When Nonprofits Change Their Program Offerings
Let's say you are kicking off 2024 with a new program or service. Are your staff prepared to implement it? Have they had a chance to build the skills and confidence they need? Or will they be struggling to figure things out on the job?
In today’s episode, I’m discussing just how Learning and Development can support your nonprofit as they’re changing program or service offerings. Have a listen to make sure you aren't left wondering whether you should have done more to support your staff during a time of change.
Listen to the episode or scroll down to read the blog post ↓
Key Points:
02:43 Capturing data and listening to experiences and ideas
04:10 Uncovering staff motivation or skepticism related to program changes
05:19 Identifying skills gaps
05:59 Creating trainings
06:28 Creating valuable peer-to-peer connection
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5 Ways Learning and Development Can Offer Support When Nonprofits Change Their Program Offerings
Let's say you are kicking off 2024 with a new program or service.
Are your staff prepared to implement it?
Have they had a chance to build the skills and confidence they need?
Or will they be struggling to figure things out on the job?
While there is some benefit to learning on the job, we want our staff to feel confident and capable in their roles. Because that confidence not only impacts their own well-being and ability to do the job well, but it also impacts the people they are serving. And that's why L&D should be at the table when programs or services are changing.
I've worked with many nonprofits who were testing a new program or a new service and wanted to make sure they were giving their staff the best possible support. And that's why I want to talk about how training can support you when you're changing your program offerings.
In this blog post, we’re covering 5 ways L&D can offer support when nonprofits change their program offerings:
Conduct a Needs Analysis and Provide Input into the Program Design
Uncover Skepticism that Can Inform Change Management Tactics
Identify Skill Gaps through the Instructional Design Process
Facilitate Valuable Team Building and Peer-to-Peer Connections
What is L&D’s role when your nonprofit changes its program or service offerings? How can we support other teams across the organization? Let’s dive into this.
1) Conduct a Needs Analysis and Provide Input into the Program Design
L&D is great at needs analysis.
We can provide support by capturing data about the impacted group and listening to their experiences and ideas. We can identify themes in this data and provide input not just into the training, but also into the design of the program, or the tools and resources that staff will need to use to implement that program.
So here's an example: I was working with a client who created a logic model for their new initiative. When we provided that logic model to staff, they liked it, but they weren't sure how to translate that into action. As I listened to their feedback and learned more and more about their work, I was able to create a job aid that would help them map what they were currently doing to the logic model and then identify the gaps or those changes that they needed to make to implement this new set of services.
So that's a practical way that L&D can help and be a partner inside of the nonprofit when there's a change in the program or services being offered.
2) Uncover Skepticism that Can Inform Change Management Tactics
Learning and Development can then use that needs analysis to uncover staff motivation or skepticism related to that change.
This insight is incredibly valuable if you want your change to be successful, and it's not something we always talk about in L&D.
If you're at the table as your organization is changing these programs or these services, you can use your needs analysis to uncover:
What motivates staff?
Why staff would want to make this change?
What questions, concerns, or lingering thoughts staff have that might prevent them from making the change?
If you can uncover these answers and provide that information back to other teams in your organization that's so valuable.
When we know what motivates our staff we can play into that. When we know what they aren't so sure about or why they aren't sure about the change itself, we can help answer questions they have or provide the supports they need to feel more confident in the direction the new program or service is taking the organization.
3) Identify Skill Gaps through the Instructional Design Process
Another thing that the needs analysis can uncover and a value that L&D can bring when things are changing, is identifying skill gaps.
As staff begin to imagine what it's like to implement this new program or service they may start to realize they don't have all the skills they need to make that change happen. And that can kill their confidence and their buy-in for that change.
Identifying those skill gaps allows us to tailor our training to their specific needs so that we can build confidence as well as those skills.
4) Create Training and Professional Development Opportunities
The next thing L&D can do is a more obvious one, we can create training. And with training, we can make sure that staff have an opportunity to learn and practice those new skills in a safe environment.
How do we do that?
We can provide scenarios for them to discuss or to work through.
We can provide role plays.
We can connect them to resources.
We can connect them to each other.
This leads me to the next opportunity…
5) Facilitate Valuable Team Building and Peer-to-Peer Connections
Learning and Development can create camaraderie.
Staff will know they aren't in it alone. Having your peers to ask questions, talk about things that come up, discuss issues or problems, and help solve those problems and make decisions can be a real motivator when things get tough. And they might get tough because this is a change after all. This program or this service, it's new, and what they're doing might be different. That can get tough. Having those trusting relationships with your peers, with people who are working alongside you, can help reinforce the change.
This is something we don't talk a lot about in L&D either, but it's a huge value add that we bring.
For more information on creating trust within your workforce, check out episode 4 of the podcast, How to Build Trust among Your Nonprofit's Hybrid Workforce.
So when we think about how Learning and Development can offer support when nonprofits change their program offerings, it really goes far beyond just training:
L&D can lead a needs analysis process. We have those skills and we have that experience.
We can uncover staff motivations and skepticism.
We can identify skill gaps.
We can create training, which is kind of what we're known for.
We can facilitate valuable peer-to-peer connections.
All leading to more competent and more capable staff who are ready to deliver that new program or service.
To hear the full conversation I had on the Learning for Good Podcast, scroll all the way up and tune into episode 64.
The Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective
Do you wish you could connect with other nonprofit learning and development leaders?
I know what it feels like to want someone to bounce ideas off of and to learn from, someone who really understands you and your work. Imagine if you could have a simple way to meet people in the field, ask questions, and share information.
That's why I created the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective – so nonprofit L&D, talent management, and DEI leaders can connect with each other quickly and easily in a virtual space.
When you join this community, you will walk away with a new, diverse, and powerful network – and a sounding board for your staff development needs.
So if you're ready to exchange ideas and collaborate with your peers, come join the Nonprofit L&D Collective.
