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Effective learning and development (L&D) deeply impact the overall workplace culture. It plays a huge role in employee skilling and retention. In a way, L&D is a strong backbone of the HR process. It empowers employees to thrive in their roles and contribute to the overall success of the organization.
If you are wondering how to leverage a solid L&D program as an HR professional to ensure your team’s growth, you are in the right place. This blog tells you exactly that!
Understanding Learning & Development
Learning and Development in the workplace, also known as L&D, refers to any efforts aimed at encouraging employees (the biggest asset of any organization) to refine their skills and grow. The focus is to help both individuals as well the organization to move towards success.
There are various forms of corporate learning and development methods, right from online courses to in-person training sessions and employee mentorship programs. The best learning and development practices typically focus on the 70:20:10 approach that is a good framework for effective learning and development activities.
Are Learning & Development and HR the Same?
Technically, the answer to the question is no!
While HR handles the overall management of employees, learning and development is a more specialized function within a company.
HR departments play an all-pervasive role in the employee lifecycle. They handle several functions. They frequently act as troubleshooters and are tasked with duties ranging from payroll to employee relations management to recruitment efforts.
In contrast, learning and development teams exclusively concentrate on the professional growth and skill enhancement of employees. Their focus lies on L&D operations that cover employee training, addressing skill gaps and evaluating employee progress.
However, there is likely to be some commonalities in the L&D and HR function. In some organizations (especially smaller ones), it is likely that the HR department is the one that handles the learning and development.
There is some overlay between L&D and HR responsibilities, particularly in areas such as onboarding and induction training, performance management, appraisals and change management.
Are Separate Learning & Development Departments Mandatory?
Most often, the size of a company determines whether there will be a different L&D department. The composition and strategy of the L&D team also hinges on the organization’s size. In smaller firms, the Chief Operating Officer may be handling L&D. Larger corporations often maintain dedicated L&D departments tasked with corporate learning and development.
In larger companies, L&D function generally adopts a more formal structure. It offers a broader range of training programs tailored for senior staff members and managers, given their larger presence.
In smaller companies, L&D often takes on a more informal tone. They are more collaborative and close-knit. For instance, they may emphasize simple social learning activities rather than relying heavily on formalized in-person training sessions.
How Learning & Development Plays a Key Role in Workplace Development?
Learning and development is every organization’s key to create the best performing workforce. Here’s why:
1. It Develops a Strong Workplace Culture
Focusing on learning and development in the workplace is proof of your dedication to employees’ long-term growth. Once they see this, they feel valued, empowered and supported. This cultivates a collaborative and adaptable environment.
In fact, as many as 64% of employees see learning as something that enhances their ability to adapt to change.
2. It Reduces Employee Turnover
If you are battling escalating attrition, improving your L&D activities and internal mobility can help. Companies excelling in employee training experience a reduction in attrition. Training existing employees is more cost-effective than hiring new ones.
3. It Brings Employees & Company on Same Page
Modern employees seek organizations that prioritize their wellness. They want companies that embody their mission statements and create positive workplace changes. For most professionals, working for a values-driven company ranks as their top career aspiration. Many even look at career development as a critical job offer component.
4. It Enhances Employee Performance
Organizations that prioritize employee L&D are likelier to achieve their performance targets. They can boast teams that are abreast of industry trends and have better skill sets & confidence levels.
Almost 83% Gen Z workers actively seek skill improvement to improve their current role performance.
5. It Improves Employee Engagement
Lifelong learning correlates with overall happiness. It energizes employees through new skill acquisition, career advancement and learning mastery. Incorporating community-based learning into L&D is a good learning and development best practice. It enhances employee engagement and motivation. Many even say it enhances their workplace belonging.
6. It Makes Sure Your Brand Stands Out
Robust learning and development activities position companies as industry leaders. They give them a competitive edge and improve their brand reputation. Investing in employees equates to investing in business success which strengthens brand identity and market positioning.
How to Ensure a Solid L&D Strategy as Part of HR Activities
An effective L&D strategy is the cornerstone of employee engagement. But how do you ensure that you have the right approach?
Here are a few ways:
1. Focusing on Right Objectives & Metrics
For starters, ensure that you are defining your goals and metrics clearly. This helps your L&D strategy to align with your organization’s broader objectives. As HR, you need to collaborate with leadership and stakeholders to ensure alignment between goals and L&D initiatives. You should be able to offer better clarity on budget, type of courses, relevant timelines and employee needs.
2. Having a Good Assessment of Learning Resources
Step 2 is to evaluate your current inventory of learning and development materials. This will help you identify areas for improvement. It will also enable you to restructure or add/remove what isn’t relevant. You can organize resources by course name, type, delivery date, objective etc.
3. Looking at Employee Evaluations
Your employees need to be ready and willing to engage with the learning and development activities you provide them. For this, the best way is to conduct assessments by comparing job requirements against individual capabilities. Design tailored L&D activities to address identified knowledge gaps and support skill development.
4. Ensuring a Strong Curriculum
Design a comprehensive curriculum tailored to achieve necessary goals. Define specific learning objectives. Don’t forget to anticipate and take into account potential challenges employees may encounter. You can tailor curricula to meet the diverse needs of different roles or departments.
5. Customizing Delivery Processes
Consider the timing and integration of L&D programs within the employee experience, workload, and career progression trajectory. Align L&D initiatives with onboarding processes and employee schedules for more engagement and effectiveness.
6. Personalizing Learning Programs
Empower employees to drive their own L&D by offering personalized learning journeys. Incorporate diverse learning methods. Make sure you include online courses, social learning, instructor-led training or blended learning. These will help accommodate varied learning styles and individual preferences to maximize engagement.
7. Picking the Right Learning Platform Provider
Choose a suitable Learning Management System (LMS) or Learning Experience Platform (LXP) vendor that aligns with your budget and needs. Consider solutions and L&D tools that streamline workforce management and support various stages of the employee lifecycle.
8. Having Strong Review Mechanisms
Regularly review and update L&D programs to adapt to evolving business goals and industry trends. Assess the effectiveness of L&D initiatives in improving employee performance and behaviour. This will help you evaluate the resource allocation to gain maximum ROI.
Learning and Development Best Practices to Adopt
Several approaches exist for corporate learning and development activities. To optimize outcomes, it is important to select the type of L&D initiative that effectively delivers the courses materials, resonates with employees and aligns with your organizational goals.
Here are some suggested approaches that could work well:
1. Tailored Learning Plans
Every employee is unique. When it comes to L&D, a one-size-fits-all approach no more works. Different employees have different ways of learning. Some respond to the visual approach, while some may understand better with the verbal approach.
It helps to empower employees the right way by offering them personalized development plans. These should be aligned with their individual goals, roles and learning preferences.
2. Interactive Online Learning
Interactive online training typically demands minimal intervention from trainers. There is also hardly any need for specialized expertise in instructional technologies.
Primarily, it involves a basic understanding of desktop computer and mobile phone usage. But it opens a world of possibilities in learning and development activities.
Online learning platforms and L&D tools offer an array of resources, including videos, webinars, chatrooms and so on. Incorporating gamification elements such as quizzes and leaderboards enhances engagement and motivation. It also enhances knowledge retention. What’s more, employees have the flexibility to go through modules at their preferred pace.
3. Just-In-Time Training
Just-in-time learning grants employees’ immediate access to L&D resources. They get them precisely when required, eliminating the need to wait for scheduled events like annual training sessions. This approach delivers learning content and activities on-demand. It prevents learners from being overwhelmed with information they may not presently require.
On-demand training also delivers immediate support when employees require it most. This can be done through microlearning in the form of video tutorials that employees can use before critical tasks like sales calls or product demonstrations.
Just-in-time training is useful for all employees, but particularly beneficial to employees who are on the field like sales reps.
4. Mentorship Initiatives
Mentorship, a proven practice, uses experience and interpersonal connections to facilitate employee learning and development. Sidestepping traditional hierarchical structures, mentors offer guidance and encouragement to protégés. An effective corporate learning and development practice, this helps in new skills, knowledge and capabilities.
More than just a tradition, mentorship is integral to creating a resilient workforce. The knowledge exchange it encourages gives significant results. It also is the most organic form of learning, resulting in better retention of information.
When employees can relate their learning to real-life examples with the help of mentorship, they are more likely to effectively grow in their roles. Pairing junior and senior employees is a great way towards experiential learning. It also cultivates a supportive workplace culture through collaboration.
5. Cross-Departmental Learning
Also known as social learning, this learning and development activity enables employees to interact with their peers and understand better. Social Learning embodies our most effective learning methods: observing and learning while receiving feedback from others. In a professional setting, it means employees can collaboratively tackle challenges. They can brainstorm ideas and devise strategies to enhance their skill sets.
As an L&D tool, social learning creates a culture of continuous learning and leads to more visible outcomes. It contributes to the development of a solid learning algorithm that is tailored to the organization’s unique culture. It also encourages communication across teams.
In Conclusion
As HR or L&D, your job is to empower employees to go above and beyond in their roles. It is all about creating a customized, team-oriented L&D strategy that works best for your organization. It is always better to choose a complete HCM suite that offers everything you need to streamline and empower your workforce. What other L&D strategies or practices do you have in mind? Let us know in the comment section!
