We talk with our colleagues about their background in learning and development, the Xprtise projects that make them proud and their vision on the biggest challenges in learning & development in the coming years. This time it is consultant Peter van Overbruggen‘s turn. Peter has a background in healthcare, where he has been active in learning and development for the past 20 years. He started his own business three years ago and now works as a consultant, delivering with Marco Tiemersma, the 5 Moments of Need™ training programs.

Who? Peter van Overbruggen.
What? Consultant at Xprtise since March 2018.
Where? Xprtise NL, ’s Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands.

“I find the people-focused side of supporting employees to do their job better very interesting. And even better when it benefits the organization.”

I was originally a nurse. I did this for a number of years, until I became a manager in the healthcare sector.  A few years later I became fully involved in learning and developing for healthcare organizations as a Training & Education Staff Officer. I find the people-focused side of supporting employees to do their work better very interesting. And even better when it benefits the organization. For the last 20 years I have worked in learning and development, and three years ago I started working for myself as a Learning and Performance Consultant. I wanted to give more substance to my own development so that’s why I took the step to work as a consultant for different projects. My two girls left home a long time ago, I am now a grandfather of three, and have more space and time to be able to do this. For someone who has always worked in a fixed setting it is of course quite a transition, but a good choice!

What gives you the most energy? What is your passion?

I have a great passion for healthcare, which must be contagious as my wife and my children all work in healthcare too. I get the most satisfaction from performance-oriented learning in the workflow. It makes for a stronger company, and more importantly employees become motivated, happy, knowing that they are contributing. That’s why I love working on the 5 Moments of Need™ training program. I’ve always been looking for solutions that bring learning closer to the point-of-work. The 5 Moments of Need™ methodology really does that. When I met Alfred Remmits CEO of Xprtise a few years ago on one of Xprtise’s Performance Journey, I started to think more about workflow learning in the context of the homecare organization where I worked at the time. Working in homecare is a solitary job, which is why support in the workflow is the answer. It takes less time for an employee to look something up than to ask a colleague. I also believe that it is not possible to communicate changes to people only by means of online courses and classroom training. The knowledge gained is often largely forgotten. The 5 Moments of Need™ is a great method to manage this problem effectively.

What do you think is Xprtise’s distinguishing characteristic?

For many organizations workflow learning is still an unexplored area. They may have heard of it before but don’t know exactly what it means, or what kind of positive effect it can have on their organization. There is still a lot of evangelizing to be done. What distinguishes Xprtise is that the methodology always comes first before technology. While other companies often focus on the software side, the technical side of Performance Support, Xprtise focuses on the application of the methodology. That is why it is so good that Xprtise, together with the 5 Moments of Need™ Academy Europe, offer a unique training program where we can share our knowledge and the methodology, and companies can get to work with workflow learning themselves.

“What distinguishes Xprtise is that the 5 Moments of Need™ methodology always comes first, not the technology.”

Which project are you most proud of?

I am proud to be able to deliver the 5 Moments of Need™ training program. As well as learning a lot from it myself, I can help experts in the field of L&D understand how they can bring learning to a higher level and actually make a greater contribution to the performance of their organization. I love to see how participants experience the change from the old approach to the new approach. They no longer think in terms of learning objectives, but in terms of performance objectives, making the return on learning immediately measurable.

Together with my colleague Marco Tiemersma, I have now delivered three rounds of the program. You can see that the methodology is an eye-opener for many because it really gives them a different mindset on learning in their organization. It’s not a methodololgy you buy and get a ready-made, instant solution at the end. The implementation takes a bit of time and so does the new way of learning. Our customer Alrijne Healthcare Group is a great example doing this well. They didn’t opt for a short-term solution, but fully integrated 5 Moments of Need™ into their organization and gave their employees the opportunity to learn and follow the training program. They are making great strides. In February 2020, we will start a new round of training again. I look forward to supporting this new group.

What do you think the greatest challenges will be in L&D in the coming years?

Even though we’ve made great advancements in this digital era, artificial intelligence (AI) is in its infancy. We can see how AI solutions are progressing rapidly and almost all sectors are taking up the challenge. In the healthcare sector, the shortage of personnel is so great they keep having to do more with less people. A different way of working is needed to meet this problem. Using the 5 Moments of Need™ methodology in healthcare, data can be captured that will form the basis for an intelligent Performance Support technology in the near future. By this I mean Performance Support that actively thinks alongside the healthcare worker. With AI and Intelligent Process Automation (IPA), a digital assistant for the healthcare worker can recognize situations and actively provide the right information and knowledge. With intelligent technologies, a person can receive fast, relevant and effective support allowing them to do their job better, strengthening the quality of care and saving time. I see a multitude of possibilities in this.

Of course, it is not only the healthcare sector that is struggling with staff shortages, other sectors face this challenge too. With intelligent AI performance solutions you can solve some of the problems. A human element will always be needed, but you can strengthen it with AI. Adaptive Learning is another example.  This makes learning fully personal, the learner is given exactly what they need at that right moment. Great developments. I can’t wait for us to get there!

Want to know more about Peter van Overbruggen? Check his LinkedIn profile or send an email to: p.vanoverbruggen@xprtise.com