Every HR leader wants to create a learning organization that makes the company a self-sufficient entity in terms of talent, potential, and resources. This continuous learning culture will bring in rewards for decades to come. But, in reality, 53% of HR leaders agree that their learning and development solutions aren’t effective in developing the skills they need internally. There’s pressure from all fronts to make the organization ready for the future, but many hurdles along the way.
This blog will help you demystify L&D, get back to the basics, and help you build a solid system in place.
The importance of L&D
86% of heads of the L&D function feel pressure to transform the L&D function, to meet with organizational changes. This isn’t without reason.
Learning and development can reap a number of benefits, regardless of the size of your organization:
- Customer service improves greatly, and your churn reduces
- People are more productive, and don’t waste time trying to figure out what to do and how to do their tasks
- There’s an increased sense of safety and security in the organization – employees are certain they’re valuable to the company, and the company is secure against the uncertainty of the future
- Increased employee retention. Employees feel cared for and are hopeful their future is secure, and they start going above and beyond their regular job duties.
- Faster growth in comparison to competitors
- You can move from quality control to quality assurance, knowing there won’t be any mistakes for your higher-ups to fix in the company’s throughput process, and your reputation will soar.
- Your organization will be able to gain and maintain a good market share in the industry.
- If everyone is willing to learn and grow, you create a learning organization, which in turn sets high-performance work systems for the entire company
Addressing the Learning Needs of Adults
About 53% of HR leaders agree that their learning and development solutions aren’t effective in developing the skills they need for their organization. When it comes to learning, (real learning and application), the classroom method or other formal routes may not be as effective as on-the-field learning methods. This is because the way adults perceive any new concept, or skill is different from how other learners do.
With all the life experience they’ve gained over the years, adults have a perspective on how they approach different things. Any learning programs or means adults prefer to draw upon or emulate their life experiences, which includes agitating their mistakes and then providing a solution via learning. This is also because adults are most interested in learning subjects that have the most immediate impact on their jobs or personal lives.
25% of adult learners say they don’t have time at work to complete training. This can be solved when you understand there’s an inherent urgency adults feel when they know they are learning a solution to a problem, and ensuring attendance won’t be a problem anymore.
33% of employees, according to a Gartner study say that lack of motivation was a top barrier keeping them from accessing learning programs to the fullest. Adults generally gravitate towards learning that has the most immediate impact or relevance to their job or personal life. For example, if an employee has to learn project management to move to the next level on the job, earn more, and provide a better living for their family, they will. Likewise, if they come across a program that’ll give them tools to better their mental health, or save time on the job so they don’t have to work after hours, they will certainly take part in it.
How does this translate to devising employee learning programs?
When these principles are applied, employee learning programs become a lot more learner-centric, than organization-centric, and tend to involve:
- There’s a fine mix of programs that make the organization agile, and the workforce resilient to changes, thus futureproofing the company’s and the individual’s future. 70% of HR heads say they are responsible for delivering requests from the business for critical skills training.
- A strong emphasis on wellbeing and empowerment of employees with options to opt in, and out of programs, and to choose the ones that appeal the most to them.
- The learning journey of each employee is personalized and close to their heart, and they care about what they learn.
- Programs are co-created, with a marriage between external expertise and internal finesse.
- Programs appeal the most to employees, as they are part of the career development plan they have laid out, along with their managers, to tend to their aspirations and the company’s vision.
L&D methods organizations use
Experiential learning
To uncover true leaders in your workforce, consider an experiential training camp where employees face challenging, high-stakes team activities. These scenarios reveal who can lead, who thinks on their feet, and who the team naturally trusts under pressure. It’s an invaluable opportunity to identify and develop potential leaders and understand the strengths and weaknesses of those on a leadership path. This experience also highlights individual contributors who rise to the occasion, showcasing their potential for future growth.
Stretch assignments to bring out the hidden potential
Stretch assignments push employees to step out of their comfort zones and achieve something extraordinary. These assignments involve taking on responsibilities outside their usual role for a limited time, with the promise of a reward such as a bonus, flexible schedule, promotion, or a fast track to leadership positions. This motivates employees to perform at their highest potential.
Job rotation to help acquire new skills
When employees take on various roles within the same organization, they gain valuable insights into workplace dynamics, improve their problem-solving abilities, and become more proficient in their areas of expertise. To ensure this process is fair and effective, consider implementing an internal talent marketplace. Although only about 1 in 4 organizations use this system, it’s a powerful tool for filling vacancies quickly and efficiently by allowing qualified employees to apply for open positions.
Hiring from within often outperforms external recruitment. For example, if a project manager role suddenly opens up, and your business analyst has demonstrated strong leadership skills, consider having them apply for the position. Job rotation not only strengthens the credibility of your employees but also helps you effectively mobilize and retain internal talent.
Coaching with the best performance coaches
Climbing the corporate ladder presents unique challenges for everyone. Individual contributors who excel in their technical roles often struggle with management when promoted. They might find it difficult to transition from being a peer to a leader, struggling with setting boundaries or managing without appearing overly authoritative.
These soft skills are crucial for effective management. If an employee on the leadership track lacks these abilities, they may face significant challenges. To address this, consider sponsoring a coaching program with a top industry coach to help them develop into a well-rounded manager.
AR/VR – Immersive learning
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are emerging as powerful tools for achieving these objectives. These immersive technologies offer highly engaging and interactive learning environments that enhance employee training and retention.
By enabling employees to actively engage in realistic scenarios, AR and VR foster deeper learning and better skill retention. They allow for hands-on practice in a risk-free, controlled virtual setting, which is especially beneficial in high-risk fields such as healthcare, manufacturing, and aviation.
Furthermore, once AR/VR training modules are developed, they can be easily scaled across large organizations without the need for additional physical resources or frequent instructor-led sessions.
Reverse mentoring
Reverse mentoring is a process where a junior employee mentors a more senior leader or manager. This approach allows senior leaders to gain fresh perspectives on emerging trends, technology, and current workplace dynamics from younger or less experienced employees. It fosters mutual learning, enhances understanding between different levels of the organization, and helps bridge generational or skill gaps. Reverse mentoring can also empower junior employees by giving them a platform to share their insights and experiences.
Implementing effective L&D programs: A step-by-step process
1. Identifying skill gaps and outcomes for learning programs
Aligning the outcomes different stakeholders need, based on the union of business and employee needs is important. But, this is easier said than done. Different stakeholders (across departments and grades) prioritize different areas, like enterprise strategy, agility, revenue, leadership development, and performance enhancement.
To get an impartial view of the current state, and ascertain what to do next, start with the organizational strategy first – where does the company want to be 3-5 years from now? Presently, how are people applying what they learn? What are the immediate 12-month goals of each business unit? These questions will help you arrive at the overarching priorities.
Next, look at what abilities employees need to work and achieve the aforementioned goals. Are there critical skills that people can’t go without in the current era, and that will put you on the map with your customers? What are some common themes you see in the individual development plans of employees across the board? Do those coincide with your organizational priorities, or complement them? Also, notice who will be impacted the most by these themes.
From here, you can decide what methods to bring in, the frequency of training, and if you can use internal expertise or bring in external trainers to help you with it. You can also determine how you will evaluate the effectiveness of the training, and how employees will apply what they learned to their daily job.
2. Taking the employees’ pulse
Once you figure out which areas to focus on, think about the following questions to ascertain which approach you should take.
- Where could employees learn best?
- When do they learn best?
- How do they learn?
- Who should L&D partner with?
- How should the L&D partnership work?
Take surveys, conduct focus groups, look at employee performance data, take interviews with upper-level managers, mid-level managers, and trainers in the company, and gauge their observations of employee’s learning needs. Diversify learning portfolio, including informal learning, peer learning, new experiences, personalized learning, exclusive feedback, access to advanced learning tools, etc.
3. Designing and delivering programs
Understanding what a person’s learning journey looks like is incredibly useful in designing and delivering learning programs, so you reap the fullest ROI from them. The psychomotor model of Bloom’s Taxonomy explains this beautifully.
| Stage | Significance | Tips to motivate learners |
| Perception | Initially, learners recognize patterns and make sense of different stimuli before taking action. | Small rewards for continued participation |
| Set | The learner is engaged in the program and is mentally, emotionally, and physically ready to do what it takes to acquire the skill. | All resources required to equip oneself, 1:1 coaching or peer mentoring to clarify doubts |
| Guided Response | The learner starts following directions, and instructions and makes sense of concepts from examples. They thrive with external help. | Creating a community to stay motivated, and certificates to acknowledge participation |
| Mechanism | The learner starts applying what they learn, with confidence and efficiency. Their task begins to be carried out with more consistency and less conscious effort. | Rewards for consistent practice, recognition events, or personal note from managers appreciating their efforts |
| Complex overt response | The learner is slowly making the newly learned concept/skill a part of their regular workflow/lifestyle, and they can do it smoothly, and handle complex situations. | Complex assignments that require the learner to use the skill completely |
| Adaptation | The learner is so confident now that they’re able to modify or adapt their skills to suit new or challenging situations and adjust strategy to meet new demands. | Leadership roles to mentor beginners in their learning journey |
| Origination | The learner is a master of the skill now and has creative techniques or patterns they use without conscious thought to get the results they want. | Career advancement opportunities, special projects, and long-term recognition |
4. Ensuring active participation
Learning and development executives need to conduct regular performance check-ins with line managers and get access to how their reports apply what they learn real-time, and use their capabilities. Meet with line managers regularly to uncover and communicate underlying issues.
All through the learning journey, they get in touch with the areas of discontent between the business and learning and solve any friction between the two. Measure the percentage of employees making progress against their individual plans.
A supportive work environment is necessary for employees to be motivated, to participate in learning activities, to use what they learn on the job, and to share their knowledge with others. Psychological support from managers and peers is essential for employees to start and continue learning.
5. Gathering and analyzing feedback
Most organizations measure what is most accessible to them, or what the competitor measures. Determine what specific insights you need from feedback to improve L&D initiatives (e.g., content relevance, training effectiveness). Encourage honest feedback by assuring participants that their responses will remain anonymous and confidential. As you did for data collection, use multiple channels to collect feedback on a continuous basis – surveys, focus groups, one-on-one interviews, and digital platforms.
Implement tools that allow participants to provide feedback during and immediately after learning sessions. Establish continuous feedback loops rather than one-time evaluations to adjust strategies as needed. Regularly review feedback, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions to improve L&D programs. Let participants know how their feedback has influenced L&D strategies to build trust and encourage future participation.
When it comes to the impact of the learning program, look at:
- What can be observed?
- What can be felt?
- What can be captured?
- What can be celebrated?
Common challenges HRs face when implementing L&D programs
Minimal investment
The biggest one is investment. A Gartner survey found that 1 in 3 CEOs and CFOs say that they will cut workforce and talent investments first if the budget has to be optimized. Even today, learning is thought of as something that is on the employee to take accountability for and not the organization. That’s partially true, but it’s the organization that can set the stage for it, and allow the right environment to implement what the employees learn. But, 54% of HRs say their leadership doesn’t view L&D as an investment.
No visibility of the real learning needs in a department
Learning specialists who understand employee behavior the best have the least exposure to regular performance data, to identify what goes on on the field. They only access the data that comes from line managers. If no real application goes on in the department and the managers report it does so out of obligation, you wouldn’t know. There’s a good chance that data may be manipulated to avoid being put in the spotlight.
The long-term impact of learning is hard to measure
The surveys you take after the program are short-lived. Even if performance improves, it’s hard to attribute it to the impact learning has caused. Since learning in itself is subjective, direct correlation is difficult, unless and until the program has crystal-clear objectives and data is measured before vs after learning.
Line managers don’t get to the root of performance issues
If a customer care executive is unable to handle difficult customers, often it’s attributed to their personality or a lack of communication skills, when in fact, the employee might only need assertiveness training or a boost of conflict resolution skills. There’s a stark difference between how these different skills play out in the workplace. If it’s not identified right, no amount of training will fix the performance issue.
Everyone has a subjective definition of learning and performance
Defining competency requirements for each position, and having clear expectations is crucial. Without it, no two people would be on the same page with respect to standards, there would be no clear basis for comparison, judgment, or decision-making. You wouldn’t be able to discern if a particular training delivery method or a partner is worth the investment or not.
How can PeopleStrong help?
PeopleStrong offers a built-in LMS that enables organizations to manage, deliver, and track employee training programs. This ensures all L&D activities are streamlined and accessible from a single platform.
The platform allows organizations to create tailored learning paths based on individual roles, skills, and career aspirations. This customization ensures that employees receive relevant training aligned with their personal and professional development goals. The tool facilitates real-time feedback collection from training participants and managers, enabling continuous improvement of L&D initiatives. It also supports various assessment formats to evaluate learning outcomes and effectiveness.
The seamless integration of L&D with other HR functions, such as talent management, performance reviews, and succession planning, ensures a holistic approach to employee development. Contact us today, to schedule a free demo and get a headstart on your learning and development initiative.
