For those of you who have moved jobs, you know what this feels like. A new team, new prospects – some exciting, others challenging, all coming at you in the same breath! I wanted to share with you what it’s like being new to the Humentum Learning Services (HLS) team, in terms of how it benefits you, as a Humentum client.
But first things first, who is Winnie Mapenzi?
I am a Learning and Development (L&D) practitioner and enthusiast, with an eye towards Monitoring Evaluation Accountability and Learning (MEAL) in the learning process. My love for L&D was sparked in 2008 by developing and delivering content for networks, communities, and government bodies amongst others.
I have worked with various organizations, both national and international. Beyond developing courses and training manuals, I’ve also delivered trainings, workshops, and conferences on various topics including Humanitarian Principles, Program Cycle, MEAL, Resource Mobilization, Food Security and Livelihoods, Cash Voucher Assistance, Leadership and Management, Protection and Safeguarding, Training of Trainers.
All of that adds up to the pleasure of being in a training room as a participant, as a facilitator/trainer and as the program manager or coordinator. I have been where most of our clients are and, true to the Humentum values, I am able to meet you where you are and walk that journey with you.
What are Humentum clients looking for?
As a Learning Success Manager at HLS, my goal is to assist our clients in accessing relevant learning opportunities for their teams, track progress, and identify areas for improvement for both the client and Humentum.
I have had various conversations with different learning management systems (LMS) administrators and key contacts from multiple organizations to understand their learning journey in 2022, what worked well, and what can be improved.
Through these conversations, we have identified several areas of interest that trigger the following questions:
- What do we need to know as an organization to achieve our mission and goals?
- What skills and competencies do we need to be able to achieve our mission and goals?
- How does the organizational and individual context in which we operate affect this?
How will Humentum address those needs?
We, as Humentum, have also been pondering these questions and seek to address them through different interventions, both internally and externally.
Part of these measures is to look at some of the most requested areas of learning support and address them in a series of blogs that will run quarterly over the year 2023. We hope that through ongoing discussions with our clients, we will continue to reflect and project areas of L&D that we can work on together to:
- Improve access to learning for identified learners on our platforms
- Identify relevant learning modules for clients
- Support processes of MEAL to gauge learning
- Promote cross-learning amongst the L&D key contacts
- Facilitate networking
The goals above are ambitious. What makes me, especially as someone new to Humentum, think we can deliver?
#1: Experience with Humentum’s HLS Team
I found a welcoming, supportive team at Humentum who went out of their way to ensure I had access to all the necessary resources to meaningfully support our clients. I quickly realized that client relations and experience was at the core of the team’s work, and that the organization had invested heavily to ensure clients had access to only the best learning services and a smooth learning experience.
#2: Continuous Interaction
The various interactive sessions the HLS team has built for the clients to interact and share ideas within a safe space meant I was still able to have face-to-face interaction with clients, just as I did in my previous roles as a facilitator and trainer. Though the sessions within HLS are conducted remotely, they have built in aspects such as group discussions and brainstorming sessions that allowed learners to interact easily, mimicking physical meetings. This, for me, meant I was able to gather information in real time.
It is during these interactive sessions —such as Drop in Support, Round Tables, and Client Check-in sessions— that I have had the pleasure of meeting with over 100 key contacts. In these sessions, we held immersive discussions on their learning trajectory for 2023, and worked through challenges faced, so that learning occurs within their organizations in an effective and efficient manner.
#3: A Learning Community
Through my interactions with teams from different organizations, I have had the rare opportunity to see the commitment and toil that various L&D teams put in and the genuine concern they have for their learners. I was struck by the level of dedication, innovation, and hard work these teams display to ensure learners have the most up-to-date, and relevant, user-friendly learning journey they could possibly have.
An Example: Last Mile Health
One recent example brings all of this together – the interaction, the listening, the dedication. One of the insightful discussions I had was around enhancing the learning experience for both learners and the wider Humentum community. As a result, Last Mile Health offered to share their experience with Learning Needs Assessment, and we — the HLS Team — organized a Round Table on the topic, where participants shared best practices, concerns, and experiences. We heard, we acted, we connected, and we learned!
Those are just some of the reasons I believe Humentum can deliver on those ambitious goals and vital learning needs of our clients. I always say that striving for what seems unreachable is like shooting for the stars. Unless you shoot for the stars, you might also miss the moon.
I welcome you to walk with me and the HLS team to unpack, discover, and share great ideas we can document for all to benefit from.
Learn more about Humentum Learning Services