Mondragon University and TeamLabs launch a program that prepares students to be a “Chief Learning Officer” (clo): a new type of executive that is key in business

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Mondragon University and TeamLabs launch a program that prepares students to be a “Chief Learning Officer” (clo): a new type of executive that is key in business

SPECIALIST DIPLOMA

Mondragon University and TeamLabs launch a program that prepares students to be a “Chief Learning Officer” (clo): a new type of executive that is key in business

The blended learning 30-ECTS Specialist Diploma in Chief Learning Officer is the first official qualification for facilitating learning processes and innovation in corporations.

2019·10·18

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Professionals live in environments that change constantly and generate challenges that mean a need to learn about everything at all times and to adapt quickly to those challenges. Thus, it is becoming more and more essential for businesses to have a manager of learning facilitation, someone who is able to lead processes of change, of digital transformation, of learning and of innovation in an uncertain environment.

This new type of executive is known as Chief Learning Officer (CLO), and it is a profile now in demand in both public limited companies and cooperative companies; companies like Telefónica, Correos and Mapfre, among others, already include this position. In the United States as well, a large number of businesses already have such an executive. Facebook, PwC and EY have invested up to 140,000 dollars a year on CLOs for their organizations.

In this new context, Mondragon University and the TeamLabs learning laboratory have together designed a new disruptive program: the first Specialist Diploma in Chief Learning Officer (CLO). The program consists of 30 ECTS and will begin on November 4 with a limited number of spaces. It was created to respond to the need to create and establish this emerging profession that focuses on facilitating learning and innovation processes in corporate settings.

It is aimed at professionals from any discipline who wish to turn their career around and learn new experiences and methodologies regarding learning facilitation and innovation. It is also appropriate for professionals in the areas of Innovation, Human Resources, Talent and Training in corporations, start-ups and/or third-sector organizations.

The content is cultivated through online advanced-content modules together with six face-to-face workshops in Bilbao and Madrid, sessions with experts, and contrast phases with mentors and in pairs.

The experts involved in the program include Elizabeth Pastor, co-founder of Humantific in New York and expert in sensemaking and innovation; Marta Lago, expert in Human Centric Innovation and current Customer Experience Lead in Europe for Amgen, one of the largest biotechnology companies in the world; Antonio Rodríguez de las Heras, expert in Lifelong Learning and professor of Humanities at Charles III University of Madrid (emeritus since 2019); Daniel Suárez, co-founder and CEO of Zapiens Technologies and researcher on knowledge management in the business world; and Antonio Lafuente, scientific researcher at the Center for Human and Social Sciences (member of CSIC), where he researches the relationship between technology and the commons, among other topics.

A HIGH-LEVEL POSITION IN THE STRUCTURE OF THE COMPANY

The position of CLO arose from the position of Learning Advisor, as a training manager responsible for the educational organization of a corporation. He or she develops the learning process of the company at all levels, supervising lines of knowledge and keeping up to date on new technologies in order to be able to apply them in his or her strategy, according to an article by the Randstad company. Specifically, the CLO is a facilitator within the company, who ensures that the professionals around him or her have both the toolbox necessary to carry out their work and new adaptation skills. Businesses have therefore started demanding this new position to ensure collaborative learning.

According to a study by LinkedIn, 35% of companies with more than 1,000 employees and 44% of those with fewer than 1,000 employees have training programs whose objectives is to help their employees acquire new skills. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, “one of the managerial positions held by the greatest percentage of women in the United States is that of CLO, at 45%.”

Regarding this matter, Spanish philosopher, essayist and educator José Antonio Marina Torres notes that the CLO “holds a high position in the hierarchical structure of large companies” and has the mission of “managing learning in the organization, and directing strategy so that employees learn what they need to, in accordance with corporate projects.” For Marina, this is a “difficult” position, because “it requires very varied skills,” and the CLO must be very familiar with “the abilities of the company, must be up to date on how the environment is shifting, and must identify the skills needed to compete.”

Along these lines, General Electric CEO Jack Welch emphasizes that “every corporation needs a CLO,” highlighting the need for companies to include this new position.

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