What older workers need to know about self development and workplace learning

An interview with Ajay Pangarkar

Ajay Pangarkar is President of CentralKnowledge Inc., leaders in strategic employee performance and innovative assessment systems. Combining his finance, strategy, and adult education background Fortune 500 organizations such as Apple, Pfizer, and IATA seek out his knowledge and experience. CentralKnowledge was recognized for the Learning Content Management Project of the year 2008 with Training Magazine’s Technology in Action award for its assessment management implementation with Apple Inc.

Ajay effectively combines his educational background and professional experience in both adult learning principles and business/financial knowledge in delivering successful outcomes for his clients. His focus is to ensure organizational training investments deliver tangible business results. As a result, Ajay has become a world renowned workplace performance strategist and foremost authority on integrating employee performance strategies into the Balanced Scorecard. He develops the business acumen skills for trainers and is a sought after industry-recognized speaker on strategic employee development and employee assessment.

Ajay, along with his partner Teresa Kirkwood, are published authors with John Wiley & Sons recently publishing their third book titled, “The Trainers Balanced Scorecard: A Complete Resource for Linking Learning and Growth to Organizational Strategy" (March 2009). Other recent books include “The Trainers Portable Mentor” (June 2008) and "Building Business Acumen for Trainers: Skills to Empower the Learning Function" (2006) (John Wiley & Sons).

Ajay is actively involved in the workplace learning community currently serving as the Vice Chair for the Canadian Society for Training and Development’s National Board of Directors. Contact Ajay at ajayp@centralknowledge.com.

Dr. Frank: As a specialist in training and development within the business organization, you have written much about the importance of intellectual capital and knowledge in today's workplace. How do you define self-development?

As recognized experts in the areas of workplace learning and employee development, we are regularly asked to provide a quick and easy answer, especially to those in corporate decision-making positions, regarding self-development. The reality is that there isn’t one. As idealistic as this may sound, every person is unique in how they learn, what they require to satisfy their needs (referring to Maslow and other experts about this topic) and how they need to achieve their personal objectives.

Self-development is a personal philosophy and an individual’s development choice is inline with their personal need or desire. In my mind, self-development is an objective and honest self assessment – essentially asking yourself where you’ve been, what you’ve done, and what you need to help you arrive at your destination. A person must be able to objectively assess what they’ve done to realize what they need to improve for the future. I say to people that rather than trying to do what others expect of you… be true to yourself and do what’s best for you... everything else will fall into place.

Dr. Frank: Constant change has become the reality of the workplace. How can older workers or learners like myself - those in the 45-65 age range - better face the challenge of constant self development?

What the “older” or mature workers must realize is that they hold a wealth of knowledge and experience. The guidance I give to mature workers developing their personal development plan is to include one or two new items. Change can be overwhelming and trying to keep up with all of it is impossible, even for the savviest of individuals. Rather, focus on the few items of change occurring within your environment either personal or professional.

Not too long ago we were working with a photographer. He was from a generation that worked with film and darkrooms. His business was dying and he did not understand why except that he cursed the introduction of digital technology and did not understand it at all. This was a major change in his business model. We explained that as an experienced photographer he possessed skills that other, younger “digital” photographers did not. We encouraged him to pursue learning digital photography skills and reinvest in appropriate digital equipment. Today, he is thriving and is now embracing developing online photographic portfolios for his clients.

Change is good. Change provides the impetus for moving forward and for improvement. In the words of Stephen Covey, begin with the end in mind…identify what you require to achieve your objectives and the fill in the gaps by addressing one development item at a time. You will succeed.

Dr. Frank: We are living in the knowledge economy, and the structure of knowledge itself is changing. In the past knowledge was hierarchical, linear and formal. Today, knowledge is chaotic, random and infinite given the ubiquity of the Internet. Within this new context, what specific things can older workers or learners do to deal with this and to stay motivated?

You are correct…albeit, I believe the structure of knowledge and how we acquire it has always been non-linear. The difference is that in the past there were fewer avenues to acquire the knowledge resulting in our society managing knowledge more effectively. In today’s environment knowledge has many access points in reaching individuals. Our processing filters just need to become more selective without being myopic.

It doesn’t matter how the knowledge arrives to us we first need to discover what we don’t know and then acquire the lacking information. The times we live in are a blessing such that we have access to more information than ever before. This increasing access allows us to obtain what we need or want to learn at times more conveniently and faster. The caveat is that our processing filters need to be strong and selective since there is little control over the quality of the information we access.

Also, as we look to learning new knowledge we also have an opportunity to learn how to acquire it through new medium like the Internet – another skill that you may not have before the journey. The tips I would provide to remain motivated and not be overwhelmed are:

• Remain focused on your goal: As long as you are able to identify what knowledge you require finding and accessing the information will become simpler.

• Don’t be too focused on the goal: Although it may contradict the previous point there is as much to be gained in the journey to your goal as the goal itself. Don’t miss out on knowledge that may compliment, accentuate, or even contradict the knowledge you seek. In the end it will make you a wiser individual.

• Find new ways to acquire the information: Above a certain generation we are told to read books, go to the library, and take course to learn new things. Break this habit. Attend webinars (online seminars), take virtual courses from your desk, join blogs (an online diary of an expert), if you are an expert write a blog, mentor or be mentored. These are just some of many ways to acquire knowledge in new ways.

Dr. Frank: What are some of the fundamental competencies that older workers should be developing in order to keep up in the knowledge-oriented workplace?

I may sound like many others out there but I strongly believe the mature workers must be in tune with technology. Being involved with the Internet and its related technologies/applications will help them to maintain relevance in a quickly changing environment. You don’t have to be an expert in this stuff but just know what it is, how it is used, what it is used for, and how to use it yourself.

Other competencies include simply being aware of the external environment around them. So much happens everyday and being current facilitates interaction and discussion with others, especially younger generations. Just wield this awareness carefully, you don’t want to look foolish by saying or doing things like others but use it to be current and smart with the information you possess.

Dr. Frank: In your opinion, do older workers lack any particular skills, and if so, how can they improve them?

I don’t believe that mature workers lack the skills other than what I mentioned earlier. I do believe that mature workers have much to share with their younger counterparts. I even tell the younger workforce to learn from experience and experience comes from mature workers. With a knowledge and leadership gap in the workforce expected in the coming years mature workers have an opportunity to become mentors.

But it is a two-way street. Mature workers must also recognize that they can learn more about innovation from their younger counterparts. Learning happens for everyone, all the time…it is only a matter of recognizing it as it happens.

Dr. Frank: Team work has become a crucial element in educational and workplace learning. Do you think that older workers are individualistic in their approach to work and learning. What suggestions do you have for older workers to become better at team work?

Team work is something that is always important especially now more than ever before. No one individual can do everything on their own. Complexity is the common denominator and access to information lies in the hands of many. Individualism is something of a past concept in the knowledge, innovation driven age.

What mature workers can quickly recognize is to leverage their years of experience, identify the strengths of individuals in a team and maximize these individuals’ abilities and capabilities. This is a mature worker’s strength in a team environment over and above the expertise they bring to a team project. The key aspects a mature worker can look to further develop is to become a facilitator to the team process, capitalizing on the strengths of others, and allowing other team members to do what they need to do.

The experience of a mature worker is to maintain perspective on the bigger or longer-term goal and assist their team members to accomplish the objectives to achieve this overall goal.

Dr. Frank: Lifelong learning is another important requirement of modern life. What kinds of new tools or media should older workers or learners be aware of?

I am not sure that people should chase learning something new for the sake that it is new (or trendy). Earlier I mentioned some of the areas that mature workers consider in their competency development. That being said, there are two things for mature workers, for that matter anyone, to consider and that is 1) learn things that you are passionate about and 2) be current on things happening around them and in the general environment.

Regarding point one, passion is one of the greatest motivators to learning. If you have a passion for something it will be a joy to learn and then to do. As for point 2, it is important to be aware of your environment and the world. My father was an intelligent man and knowledgeable in his field of telecommunications…for his time.

One thing that got in his way is his arrogance of ignoring what he did not know and believing he knew it all. Don’t let this arrogance get in the way in your search for knowledge. Learning occurs everywhere, anytime, all the time; you just need to recognize it.

Dr. Frank: From a self development perspective, what advice would you give older workers who are looking to change jobs or start entirely new careers?

This is a difficult point to address. Mature workers have much to offer and many in organizations often say the same. These same decision-makers, however, also frown upon hiring mature workers always striving to look towards the youth as they equate them with innovation. Before making a change I would strongly suggest that mature workers cultivate their network of people.

Begin slowly by surrounding yourself with people that you trust will be honest and objective with you. Extend your thoughts of change to others in your network by “blue skying” the idea of change and harvest their thoughts and opinions. Then once you’ve sifted through all of the feedback then take the next step by approaching those you believe will support you in your endeavour. Be cautious and careful but don’t second guess yourself too much, it may also hold you back.

Dr. Frank: What in your view contributes to older workers/learners being happy within the context of career, work and learning?

If you have not thought about it already, our life values change as we progress through different stages of our lives. When we are younger our focus is on wealth and recognition. As we grow older our values shift towards more internal aspects. In the context of work and career I believe mature workers focus on achievement of relevant responsibilities. That means they want to make a difference. The work they want to do and will excel at, even if it is not their preferred work, is something that is going to make a difference and has meaning.

Younger workers generally do not have the same values and will do what is needed as long as there is a monetary gain. To add, the word career has a different meaning to a mature worker compared to a younger worker. Mature workers look at careers as a long-term endeavour. If they are to enjoy their “career” mature workers need shift their perception of career from static to dynamic as their younger counterparts do.

In an age of constant change, careers also change and shift quickly. While the underlying expertise remains the same the application and use of skills and knowledge changes so mature workers need to revise their perception in this respect. As for learning, as mentioned earlier, it must occur regularly. Focus on your passion and be aware of external environmental changes. This will allow you to be a happy learner and a valued resource.

Dr. Fred & Dr. Frank on Midlife Career Change