At SEA, we recognise the importance of Learning and Development for our people. Our Learning Development Coordinator Chloe Condliffe plays a key role in helping our people grow. We spoke with her to find out more about her role.
Thank you for joining us, Chloe, could you tell us a bit more about what you do?
One part of my role is Learning and Development, ensuring employees are up to date with their mandatory training and finding and booking external courses. I help Managers identify training needs in their teams and map out career trajectories, including advising on formal qualifications, training to develop soft skills or internal learning opportunities.
The other part is Emerging Talent, being a point of contact for schools, colleges and universities to build our STEM engagement, attending Career and STEM events, coordinating work experience placements and recruiting Graduates and Apprentices.
What made you want to go into learning and development?
In 2017, I did an apprenticeship as an HR and Training Assistant, and my career ended up going down the HR route before I came to SEA. I’ve been studying my CIPD and a Level 5 CMI in Leadership and Management, which has shaped my career development. I’ve always been passionate about helping people unlock their potential, and I enjoy partnering with Leaders to help them get the best out of their people. I’m also passionate about education in STEM related careers; it’s important to engage with local schools to teach children about opportunities in STEM.
How can we ensure an effective learning culture?
Based on my prior experience, psychological safety is a key element. It’s so important that employees feel safe to ask questions, challenge ideas, feedback constructively and admit mistakes, because this opens deeper learning and innovation opportunities. Another key element is ensuring that learning is embedded in our daily work. It’s easy to get caught up in thinking that learning only comes from studying a formal qualification, but there are so many ways to learn!
‘Every day’s a learning day.’ We can learn so much through our daily work when we collaborate with other people, just through being curious and sharing knowledge. There are a lot of knowledgeable, talented and experienced people at SEA, so we should all learn from each other.
What are some of the biggest challenges in Learning and Development?
Tailoring learning and development to suit individual learning styles can be a challenge, but this can be addressed by offering varied methods of delivery, such as visuals, audio, text and activities. By offering the choice, people can learn in a way that suits them. It’s important that learners understand their preferred learning styles, so they can share their preferred learning style with their manager and colleagues, helping them to get the most out of their training.
How do you see learning and development evolving in the next few years, especially with new technologies and hybrid working?
We’re already seeing a huge shift with AI, and it’s important that we understand how we can use it to our advantage. It can help with varied content creation, data-driven decision making and tailoring learning path. Some platforms are also developing AI-driven coaching bots to support employees develop their soft skills, which I think is quite exciting!
Learning & Development has already evolved a lot over the last five years, a lot of training is now delivered via a hybrid approach of online and in person, allowing for more flexibility. We should always be considering how we can make learning more inclusive.
Thank you, Chloe
