How has Learning & Development changed?

At Sundial Group we have been asking ourselves how L&D will change following the global financial crisis.

A friend in IACC (International Association of Conference Centres) pointed me in the direction of an excellent piece of research by Duke Corporate Education, 'Learning and Development in 2011, A Focus on the Future'.

The report points to a general reassessment of business strategy to drive efficiency and management focus. The researchers found;

• Values and goals of the business will drive the L&D activities more than ever
• Focus on the capabilities required to succeed
• L&D joining forces with HR and talent development
• Investment targeted at groups who are strategically connected to the company's goals
• Preparing leaders for a more connected and challenging world.

At the same time all business costs are under the microscope and Learning & Development is not immune. Budget cuts require L&D to be done with significantly fewer resources. Travel restrictions contribute additional impetus to finding new ways to enable employees to learn. Improvements in technology, for so long an unfulfilled promise, seem to be offering new, cost-effective methods of achieving learning.

However, the strategic shift from individual competency to organisational capabilities has resulted in a team centred approach which is hard to fit into the new, lower costs, less travel, more technology drivers.

The "Perfect Storm" of 2008/2009 will be remembered as a difficult and challenging time. The results will be long-lasting and the L&D profession will not go back to the old patterns and habits. To quote from the Duke study -

"These difficulties may have done L&D a great favour by focusing us on organisational capabilities that matter, by clarifying how and when we demonstrate value, by re-energising our search for achieving learning in the workplace, by opening our eyes to what learning technology can accomplish today, and by demanding so much more of how we think about our strategies and the learning activities that they produce."

So how might this affect Sundial?

Team working is already with us. Many organisations are capitalising on the technology that enables remote working, knowledge sharing and talent pooling. The rules of behaviour, sharing of values and goals and development of team spirit will be key competencies of successful teams - real or virtual. Organisations will need to develop leadership at every level as we move away from the traditional structures of management and control.

In my view only some of the technology can be used for team based learning and leadership development because human nature demands 'real' interaction to cement experience and build trust.

When team based learning and leadership development does take place there will be heightened awareness of the effect of the learning environment. The ability of a venue to add value will be critical and organisations will demand a far deeper level of understanding from their host. I believe we are ready to rise to this challenge.

Sundial Group is also responding to these changes by developing a division to deliver cost effective experiential learning which enables successful team dynamics and leadership using our well established Teamscapes activities. Indeed for one of our key clients we will be delivering Teamscapes away from our own venues for the first time as part of their national team and leadership development. Its exciting times.

Please do contact me if you would like more information. I would also welcome your comments.

Rate discounting

I am thrilled for our team at Sundial that we achieved the number one venue group in the definitive UK hotels and meeting venues benchmarking for 2009. We also retained our top spot for value for money and it is this result which left me a little puzzled.

2009 was dominated by a trend to cut rates with some of the biggest operators creating a mad scramble to generate revenue. We are not big enough to ignore these market forces and we knew that, as night follows day, expectations would demand we follow suit.

Avoiding the excesses of discounting was a brave strategy and we had to wave good bye to some great customers; their procurement colleagues demanded they take advantage of the deals. Most though stayed loyal and resisted the temptations.

I was pretty sure that we would come under pressure as the market leader for value for money. Strange to tell - we held our UK #1 value for money spot for the year with a final quarter customer approval rating 17% above the industry average. I bet the big boys are puzzled by that. Perhaps they don't realise that most people can tell the difference between unsustainable discounting and real value for money; or maybe buyers just didn't like what they found when they bought cheap?

Meetings Architecture - the future of meetings?

A new movement has been established, named Meetings Architecture, I recommend it's manifesto if you are interested in the future of meetings, http://www.eventroi.org/themeetingarchitecturemanifesto.pdf.

The thinking stems from the understanding that meetings are more than logistics and hospitality. Those of us who depend on this sector must understand that value is only added as a result of the outcomes of the meeting.

So how does that affect organisations who supply services and facilities to meetings? We need to take a holistic approach to any meeting and realise that its success is dependant on an array of factors. Understanding those factors and how to influence them is the new task in our industry.

Interestingly for me I see this development as an expression our own strategy and reflects the steps we have been taking in Sundial over the past 12 years.

We have always recognised that the environment we have created is more than a hoteliers simple approach to hospitality. Understanding our clients and their objectives has been central to our success. Responding to that understanding has set the agenda for our development and resulted in initiatives such as The Sundial Virtual Conference Centre - an online venue established well before web 2.0 to enable 'meeting' and interaction before and after the physical meeting (or indeed instead of). Ahead of its time, our online venue has now been superseded by the many online communities and corporate intranets but I believe it did help show the way.

Our innovative and responsive strategies have also produced initiatives which are now central to the Sundial goal to become 'The Perfect Partner for Meeting Planners'. Listening to our clients objectives for their meetings has produced simple ideas such as our unique 'Sunetic Walls' as well as full service solutions such as Teamscapes team building and SOS meetings management.

I guess you could say that we at Sundial Group are evolving into Meetings Architects.

What is it about Sundial?

Subjective customer feedback is difficult to benchmark so industry reports all too often miss the gems that can be found in the free text fields of satisfaction surveys.

We often come out top in the benchmarking 'numbers game' but its the personal comments that say the most. Below, I have picked out a small number of recent examples that I think demonstrate the Sundial Team's attitude.

"It is an outstanding venue, not because of any particular feature or factor, it just provides probably the best 'fit for purpose and value', matched by excellent customer service that I have come across. I stay at or use 50 - 100 venues per year and in this respect, Woodside is unparallelled."

"The Barnett Hill staff are great! Their winning formula is a high-class yet homely (non-corporate) environment combined with friendly yet professional service. Thanks all!"

"Whilst I have said ~"met expectations" this is misleading because these expectations are already very high because of past experiences at Highgate House. There is a sense of "team" and everybody ....catering, gardeners, reception all being a part of a team ethic. Little touches like offering to carry over materials to the room are appreciated. Also a "Good morning" and a smile go a long way so well done!

Why strong values provide resilience in difficult times

This week I attended a thought provoking workshop on personal and organisational resilience. I came away with the view that we can learn a great deal from Darwin's views on the survival of the fittest. Contrary to popular belief, fittest in this case is not necessarily the strongest or toughest. The traditionally British qualities of a stiff upper lip and bloodymindedness may not always serve us well when the rules of the game change. Flexibility and a good peripheral vision are key attributes when learning how to cope with new circumstances.

However, this is also a time when our compass, guided by strong values, is needed to ensure we gain the strength of knowing 'where we are going' and 'how to get there'.

When we formed the Sundial Group some 12 years ago we spent time setting out what we wanted to look and feel like by pinning down our values based on our family business at Highgate House. As we now look at ways to adapt our business in response to a massive swing in the supply-demand ratio in the meetings and venues business its very powerful to know that we are not constrained by our values in formulating our strategies. Indeed, by going back to our values of Professionalism, Experience, Respect and Quality we have the tools to assess the market and seek out the opportunities made possible by the trust we have established with our customers.

At a time when venues fight for occupancy by driving down rate we are focusing even more on the people aspects of hospitality and finding new, exciting and innovative ways to evolve Sundial Group based on the excellent resources (both individuals and facilities) we have assembled. I have just been watching a large group of guests at Woodside working on Teamscapes Canape Challenge under the supervision of Sundial people. The energy and fun were coming through because of the buzz from people working together.

Resilience is about how people react to their environment. I believe that by using our values to keep creating the best possible environment, Sundial will always enable learning and creativity to thrive.