20 Most Important Questions for L&D Managers!

The L&D Manager, usually called the Training and Development Manager, comprises part of an organization’s skill management system and is prepared to align group and personal objectives with the organization’s overall vision. If you are looking forward to becoming a learning and development manager, first, you should understand the position of the L&D Manager in an organization along with its role and responsibilities.

To begin with, knowing the role of L&D needs you to know what skills, qualities, and experience the organization is looking for in an L&D manager. 

Learning and Development (L&D) Manager helps their employees advance their skills and knowledge. In this role, they expect that you, as an L&D Manager, should be passionate about helping people learn and grow. Backed with excellent communication and interpersonal skills, you are required to play the role of a facilitator, coach, creator and exceptional leader. With this new age of e-learning and online training sessions, the company is also looking for individuals with experience in designing e-learning courses and conducting virtual training.

Here are some of the common questions asked by the Interviewers for offering the role of Learning and Development Manager.

Q.1 Describe the term training of employees for a company.

Ans: Training, the employees of a company, means Upskilling employee performance, boosting employee productivity, reducing employee turnover, and improving company culture for better performance and productivity in the organization.

Q.2 What are the major roles and responsibilities of a Learning and Development Manager?

Ans: A learning and development leader is accountable for training, facilitating and improving the performance and conduct of the employees in the organization. L&D manager is responsible for identifying the training and the skills gap and filling them as and when required in the business. Besides, the L&D manager identifies talents and strengths or weaknesses in an employee and helps sharpen those skills.

Q.3 Are Empathy and Humor important for training?

Ans: Yes, Empathy and humour are crucial when we impart any training. Humour helps break the tension and create a positive learning environment, while Empathy helps us be better facilitators and coaches, where we understand the learning needs of the learners.

Q.4 Have you ever faced any negative feedback? If yes, how did you tackle them? If, no how would you tackle any negative feedback?

Ans: Yes, actually, at the beginning of my career, I had received negative feedback many times, and that, I guess, was my motivation to learn and improve my skills. I deal with negative feedback empathetically as well as rationally. When I get any negative feedback, I first analyze the root cause and then work on the improvement and changes to be implemented to prevent negative feedback in the future. Thus, I feel negative feedback has made me more perfect and detail-oriented, and I am always open to take any feedback.

Q.5 What is motivation in training? How do you motivate employees for learning?

Ans: Motivation involves the physical, inspirational, sociable, and mental forces that trigger the behaviour of the individual. Motivation provokes more interest in learning, which directly impacts attentiveness, resulting in more results and productivity. I usually follow a few simple steps like setting clear goals, breaking learning materials into smaller sessions, focusing on quality content, creating open communication channels, rewarding learners for active participation and many more such activities as per the need of the training program.

Q.6 What makes you the most suitable candidate for this JOB?

Ans: Answering this question is similar to your self-introduction. So it would be best if you were very precise about what makes you unique and compatible for this role. It would be best if you uttered about all your achievements and success being an L&D manager in your previous organization.

Sample answer: 

Definitely, yes, I feel I would be the right fit for this role. I would be able to meet the goals and fulfill all the roles and responsibilities of being an L& D manager. To add to my skills, I have proven Experience as an L&D Manager with in-depth knowledge of effective learning and development methods. Besides, I have Familiarity with e-learning platforms and practices and Experience in project management and budgeting. Apart from this, I have hands-on Experience in MS Office and Learning Management Systems (LMS). Furthermore, I have practical communication skills, and also I am a strategic and critical thinker and a good decision-maker. I feel a combination of all these skills and relevant Experience in my past job makes me the most suitable candidate for this job role.

Q.7 What is adult learning?

Ans:   Adult Learning Theory or Andragogy is the notion of analysis of how grown-ups learn. The learning style of adults varies from the way children learn. When it comes to Adult learning, they comprehend anything when there exists a purpose and motivation for learning. The most challenging part of adult training is the unlearning part. 

Adults need equal involvement in the planning and evaluation of their training. Besides, they also need to know “What’s in it for them”.

Adults are considerably interested in learning topics that have immediate applicability and influence their job or personal life.

 Adults are more interested to learn when the training is somewhat related to their previous experiences.

Adult learning is problem-centered. 

Internal motivation is a must for adult learning.

Q.8 What do you mean by a needs analysis and different data collection methods?

Ans: Needs Analysis is identifying and evaluating training that needs to be imparted to an individual or group of employees. Need analyses are “gaps” between the required skills and the necessary skills to perform a task. For this needs analysis, different methods are used, such as surveys, observations, and feedback from trainees. 

Q.9 How will you address underperformance by your subordinates?

Ans: Underperformance is natural by non-experienced subordinates. When it comes to underperforming associates, moreover, I will be very patient, empathetic and understanding toward them. Feedback helps improve underperformance, so it will help them with continuous feedback and monitor their improvements as well.

Q.10 What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in the past training programs?

Ans:I still remember one of my experiences at my previous organization; I had a problem training the number of employees present in training. I had a massive problem managing the number of trainees. I had chosen the lecture method of delivery, which was not beneficial and impactful for the large audience. But with my impulse, I decided to split the employees into groups and create an agenda.

Q.11 How do you relate to working in a team of L&D professionals?

Ans: I believe that the L&D department needs core teamwork, and working as an L&D manager, I have been a strong team player rather than only being a manager. Additionally, I have powerful communication, collaboration, active listening, and problem-solving skills, which makes me a good team player and leader. I have been managing my team with Trainers, LMS managers, Content writers, Instructional designers and Graphic designers. I called the task of delegation and effective project management, delivering the projects on time. My job was to delegate and get the work done on time and contribute when and where needed. I feel I was an integral part of my team’s performance.

Q.12 How do you prioritize L&D related tasks?

Ans: I feel I am good at managing my time well at work and in my personal life. When it comes to L & D related tasks, I am adept at selecting, scheduling, and sequencing tasks according to their relevance, urgency, cost, and resource availability. Thus the application of these basics has always helped me in managing and prioritizing my L&D related tasks.

Q.13 What are Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction

Ans:  Gagne’s proposed the circumstances that are associated with and addressed the mental conditions for learning. First, he speaks about gaining the attention of the learners; second is to inform trainees of the objectives third is to stimulate. Recall prior learning, later present the content and provide learning guidance. Further, Elicit performance (practice), Provide constructive feedback, Assess performance and lastly, enhance retention and transfer.

Q.14 What is KirkPatrick Model?

Ans: The KirkPatrick is the most used and the best-known model for analyzing and evaluating the results of training programs. There are four levels of the KirkPatrick Model: reaction, learning, behaviour, and results. It considers any informal and formal training style to determine aptitude based on four criteria levels. Modern trainers frequently use the Kirkpatrick model backwards by first displaying the results they want to see and then creating the training that is the most potential to deliver them. This reverse sequencing helps prioritize the training purposes and construct them more productive.

Q.15 If you have to address last-minute changes to a training program, how will you tackle it?

Ans: “Welcome changing requirements, even late in development.” is the principle behind the Agile Manifesto, and this is the principle I follow. Last-minute change is inevitable in any training nowadays. Maybe the requirement of business or the trainees is essential to keep space for changes even in the late stages of project execution. I usually follow the Agile method of developing training programs. Due to the character of Agile’s iterative process, teams shouldn’t have difficulty responding to those shifts conveniently.

Q.16 Do you enjoy being a ‘People’ Person?

Ans:  Of course, yes, I love being with people and being for people. Moreover, I am an excellent listener, and as an L&D manager, I am always helpful to my subordinates. I like to help and see them grow in their career path, which has made me a good leader while I have been adored in all my previous organizations. So, I would always love to be the same people person throughout my career.

Q.17 Why are you interested in the role of L & D manager?

Ans: First of all, I love facilitating and helping people learn new skills. Further, I am very passionate about service delivery and interaction with people. Moreover, I have worked with several companies and dealt with diverse individuals. I have worked with a team of more than 25 trainers and subordinates and worked for more than 300+ training modules in my training career. Therefore, I believe that I have the required skills for being an L&D manager, which will help me further develop my people and interpersonal skills.

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Q.18 What are the biggest drawbacks of being an L&D manager? What makes your role challenging?

Ans:  Honestly, I enjoy my role a lot. I can see the impact training brings on the business and individual employees. But, being an L&D manager is a job that comes with a lot of responsibilities and requires a lot of passion, dedication and attention to detail. Our training plans and execution directly impact the performance of the employees. Although sometimes, while playing this crucial role, I work too much that I fail to maintain a social life, I have slowly managed to manage my personal and work life. Sometimes I am so engrossed in the work that I fail to notice things around me. But again, I am working on it and learning to be mindful and manage such situations. 

Q.19 What all did you like about your last job

And: I loved my job, and I am grateful for the learning opportunities that I have gained from my last job. My previous workplace had a helping work condition where everyone got an equal opportunity to grow. They treated employees with respect, and everybody was free to contribute to the team. The work culture encouraged a lot of teamwork and exchange programs, which I found worthy.

Q.20  If you join our organization, what would be your management style being an L& D manager?

Ans:  I have a simple style of management. I religiously follow the basics of management principles: planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. Apart from that, I am very patient and an active listener, which has helped me become a people person. I always believe that the best way to help employees deliver to their best ability is by being a coach and leader rather than being a manager. I do not follow the old school definition of management, where the manager was defined as a person who gets the task done by others. Being a leader rather than a manager has always paid off over time. I remember how I managed a small team to grow with all fresher and helped them learn and climb the success ladder.

Conclusion:

Finally, you must have a clear idea of what kind of questions is asked in the interview. However, we request you to refer to these questions and modify them as per your situation, examples, and previous work experiences. Make sure you prepare your questions a day before your interview day, direct them to your CV, and map your unique strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately, as Learning and Development Manager, you will help the company succeed by training and developing its people. You will directly impact the performance of the individuals and eventually the organization’s profits with productivity growth. If you are passionate about training and delivery, you must check out the certification of CLDP, which will add on the required skills to become an extraordinary L&D manager.