An effective learning and development strategy is an essential development tool for any successful organisation . It engages, motivates and captivates your workforce which creates growth and a positive organisational culture.
This article looks at what a strategy is, how to implement it, and the benefits. Let’s jump in:
A learning and development (L&D) strategy outlines the skills, knowledge, training, best practices and competencies that your workforce needs. It also identifies how these need to be improved and developed to guarantee successful growth of your organisation.
The job market is ever-changing and fast paced. Employees are putting L&D opportunities higher up their list of must-haves when job seeking. 59% of job seekers now class it as extremely important. To get the best new hires, you need a robust, forward-thinking and engaging L&D strategy.
Strategies have to embody your business goals and have a long-term targets that need to be achieved. Ultimately if employees are developed correctly, the organisation will hit its target growth, financial aspirations and recruitment goals.
For example, L&D strategies might focus on the top performers within your organisation. You are building them up through senior management training, mentoring, project training and extra e Learning. Organisations can also take a broader approach and develop the bulk of their employees through various programs.
With an overwhelming 87% of all employees believing that learning and development programs are an essential part of any organisation. We now know how important it is from an employee perspective. But what exactly are the benefits of an l&d strategy for employers? Let's have a look:
Employees usually look for the ‘next step’ in their career while job hunting. They value what they will learn in an organisation and how that knowledge will help them progress in the future. Having an effective L&D strategy shows that you are investing in your employees and value their development. Top talent is responsive to this. Hence a great strategy equals great talent.
We all know the old saying, it’s a lot more expensive to find a new employee than keep an existing one. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently revealed that workers have 12 jobs between the age of 18 and 50. Generally due to wages, company culture, learning and development and career development.
Showing a lack of opportunity lowers retention. Showing growth opportunities does exactly the opposite. Growing your employees through L&D makes them feel valued, boosts employee engagement and creates a better business environment.
94% of employees feel they would stay at a company longer if the company invested in their future. This ultimately lowers employee turnover.
Research has shown that employees who are consistently learning throughout their careers are generally happier. Likewise, they are engaged with the organisation's goals and targets. Increased engagement leads to more productivity which as a result helps your bottom line.
In the 21st century, branding is everything. Without it organisations are often left behind. Showcasing yourself as a champion of learning and development brands you as a top employer in the job market. The best promoters of this are always your employees.
‘One size fits all’ doesn’t apply to L&D strategies. Each organisation is different, so are employees. However there are crucial components that you need to know. Let’s look at 6 of them below:
If you don’t adapt and change in the modern age, you can easily be left behind. The same applies to L&D strategies. You need to be able to adjust to market conditions and adapt to new technologies. Ultimately, keeping your system relevant and up to date. This is done through constant analysis and having a development plan.
An L&D strategy should be high up your list of priorities. It needs to have buy-in from higher-ups within your organisation who can effectively convey the importance of following the strategy.
The HR or L&D team need to set out clear goals and landmarks. These need to be formulated in a way that fits in with the long term aspirations of the organisation. Building in key performance indicators (KPIs) can help to convey the importance of a strategy.
Your L&D strategy needs to link back to your organisation's goals. If set to broad, an L&D strategy won’t feel tailored to your employees. For example, if your focus is delivering the best customer service, your strategy needs to be built around that.
Creating a tailored approach is essential to a successful L&D strategy. Everyone has different training needs and learns differently. Catering towards this increases employee satisfaction. If you want to learn more about the different learning styles, check out our blog here.
Roles within your organisation have different learning requirements. Senior staff will need more comprehensive L&D whilst general employees on the other end of the spectrum. A great L&D course caters to everyone's needs and delivers them the engaging training they need.
It’s easy to create an L&D strategy, but the most diffiuclt part is making it engaging.. Most likely, you’ve experienced an out of the box strategy at some point in your career. These can be dull and not particularly useful.
One way to drastically increase engagement is by surveying your employees. Getting feedback can be valuable and showcase areas that need improvement. It helps you stay relevant and adapt to an ever-changing environment. This can be achieved with the aid of Learning Management Software.
Making sure you have enough resources allocated to an L&D strategy is pivotal to its success. This must include administrators to analyse, deliver and curate learning. Likewise the budget must allow for enough learning material to cater to all learning styles by providing different learning formats.
Learning platforms can help to bring the overall cost down by automating your strategy delivery and management. This saves your corporate training team valuable time.
Now we know what a great L&D strategy should encompass, but how exactly do you implement it? Every organisation will ultimately be different, but there are some broad outlines that you can follow.
You need to state the long-term organisation's goals and the metrics that need to be achieved if followed. Check your current training catalogue and see how this can be utilised. Using a learning management system (LMS) can be very beneficial as they constantly update training to keep it relevant and engaging.
The next step is to consult with the executive management team to see which area’s of the organisation need improvement. This will lead to a ‘training needs’ assessment where you analyse data to see how existing training is being received. LMS solutions can facilitate this step as they gather a treasure trove of data which can be analysed and accessed in real-time customisable reports.
It's important to assess the gap between your current L&D strategy and where it needs to be. You can find opportunity by expanding different types of training programs and increasing budget allocation to meet the demand.
Next is finding a way to deliver, track, and control the strategy effectively. This can all be achieved through software. LMS solutions allow you to easily deliver, schedule, manage and track training both online and offline.
If you have made it to this stage, you’re ready to implement and deliver your L&D strategy.. Keep in mind that constant analysis and updating are needed to ensure the effectiveness of your strategy.
myAko is a powerful and intuitive system that enables you to easily formulate, deliver and control a successful L&D strategy. It provides over 2000+ engaging and up to date employee training courses that can be distributed quickly across your organisation.
Its comprehensive reporting and real-time data capabilities mean you can analyse for areas of upskilling and improve training content. It also features customisable and adaptable learning pathways ensuring that every employee gets the correct training for there needs.
Whilst myAko is predominately online-focused, the system helps you schedule and send out invitations for employee reviews, training events, mentoring programs and more. You can easily get feedback from your programs with automated polls and questionnaires to gauge your L&D strategy's effectiveness.
The system is easily customisable, meaning you can pivot your strategy seamlessly. Get in touch with one of our team today here to get hands-on with this powerful system.
One of the team is ready to show you how everything works and answer any questions you might have!
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