Learning and development is an integral part of an organization's evolution. Based on an article shared by Newrow.com, 93% of employees said they will stay longer at a company when the management invests in their career development.
The field of learning and development is the alignment of employee goals and performance with that of the organization. Among other points on the list, those responsible for this chapter of the business must identify skills gaps among employees and teams and then develop training to bridge those gaps.
In some companies, the learning and development function is part of human resources, and it is sometimes referred to as training and development. Typically, the learning and development teams are led by an L&D manager. The first episode of the Femme Lead Podcast focuses on learning and development, with Alina Buteica.
Alina Cristina Buteica is a professional with years of experience in the learning and development space, having built the department for Africa's first billion-dollar company, Jumia.
Alina Buteica is a graduate of 3 business schools and has lived in 17 countries on 3 continents. With such a fantastic life story, Alina will focus on her journey into learning and development and how she stepped into a deeper level of personal growth, how to live a sustainable life, and leave an imprint in the organization and teams you work with.
Her journey started with an internship at Nissan in the human resources department and organizational development. As you will hear during the podcast, she wants to normalize the idea of going with your gut feeling and developing your own journey.
Alina started her career in Africa as a trainer for a large shipping and logistic provider. For one year, she was training employees on standardizing their new identity and processes across the organization.
The Learning and Development Manager is responsible for an array of tasks such as developing and implementing learning strategies and programs to meet business needs. The role also includes tasks such as managing and procuring technologies to facilitate learning, as well as the management of learning initiatives. Another part of the experience is designing e-learning courses or other training content and implementing effective training methods.
Finally, the evaluation of organizational success and employee development is a constant addition to the job description.
As Alina progressed in her career, she has exciting milestones to share, as you will hear in the podcast.
Career Path section starting at 11'
Stay humble and grounded.
How to relate to different countries: Be open to conversations and show trust.
Have a mindset of "everybody has an interesting story to share."
"Go towards where the challenge is." This is an effective learning method.
"The ones who work the hardest get to have the most incredible experiences" but they also get more on their plate.
It is possible to research, design, test, and develop a project on your own, but it is essential to stop and reflect on what you did.
It's good to learn to say "yes, and" e.g., "yes, and I also need this level of support" to accomplish a task.
Invest in your personal development so you can build a profile that supports all aspects of your life.
Lastly, my favorite part of the interview is the advice section. Alina is a great communicator who ads a natural flair to her speech. Let's take a closer look.
Advice section starting at 38'
Start from where you are.
"Start from where you are." Yes! Circling back to the idea of "Having to" or "having that," I love the fact that Alina focuses on sharing the fact that you do not need to be an expert or have done 1000 projects before starting over or getting started altogether.
"It is important to take the path that you enjoy, not necessarily the path that we thought is safe." Another piece of advice that I love, expanding on the idea of "getting out of your comfort zone" and trying things out. The fear of failure is often the reason for stagnating, and I think you should listen to the podcast, so you understand how Alina points out the importance of fulfilling your path and not giving in on your fear demons.
"Nurture: There are periods of contractions and expansion for the universe, such as seasons or cycles of our body. Give it time to rest and restore." This is a great concept that I started to look more into. Taking time off to recover is often shared as the key to success, but to what extent do you reflect on all the tasks you have finished and give yourself a pat on the back? Let's start today.
Alina is now focusing on career and mindset coaching and holistic leadership working with executives to build transformational leadership programs for large organizations through her own company, Growth Hives: https://growthhives.com/.
She expanded her portfolio towards personal development, including energy healing & activation programs, and life coaching.
You can follow Alina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alinacbuteica/
Resources from Alina
Leaders to follow: Tony Roberts, Liza Nichols
Link to the book co-written by Alina from the "Ignite" series : https://www.amazon.com/Ignite-Your-Female-Leadership-Thirty-five-ebook/dp/B07TW9MQPJ
Go listen to the episode on all major platforms or here on the website. :)
Sending good vibes,
Alexandra