Learning and Development in action

Seth Johnson at LearnUpon explains why L&D initiatives have such a high business payoff and describes how to demonstrate this

Over the past couple of years, there’s been a shift in how businesses view learning and development (L&D). Driven by dramatic changes in working culture and the realisation of its impact, the profile of L&D and its value have grown significantly to the point where it is increasingly represented at an executive level.

We can really see this shift when we look at spending habits. Recent industry research revealed that over 60% of learning leaders had a larger budget in 2023 than in previous years. This highlights that senior executives increasingly recognise the strategic importance of learning and are willing to invest more heavily as a result.

However, this vote of confidence also brings increased expectations. Now L&D teams must demonstrate a quantifiable return on investment. In fact, over three-quarters of L&D leaders say one of their top three priorities is “demonstrating the impact of learning programs on business goals and growth expectations.”

Bridging the gap

The big question here, of course, is how? How do L&D teams bridge the gap between learning and business impact? Plus, What strategies and processes can L&D teams employ to achieve this?

Although this may seem like a daunting task, in truth, it’s something that every L&D team can do. It’s just about learning the skills and frameworks to get there. 

For many, the starting point should be clarifying the goals of their L&D strategy. For example, when a member of staff completes a learning program, what do they know that they didn’t before, and what can they do that they couldn’t before? How is their performance expected to change, and when measured as part of a wider group, how do their collective efforts positively impact business performance?

Armed with this insight, learning leaders can then build a ‘logic bridge’, a process that illustrates what employees will learn, what they will be able to do as a result, how performance will improve when they apply their new knowledge and skills, and what the aggregate effect of improved performance will be.

This is an important process because it can translate ideas and objectives into a formal, measurable strategy and a framework that can be shared with other stakeholders to promote understanding.

Finding useful data

The planning, implementation, and measurement of learning and development depends heavily on the effective use of data. To demonstrate the connection between learning strategy and business results, the logic bridge can also be used as a guide. For instance, what are the desired outcomes, and what data points are available that can be used to assess how each component of the bridge has performed?

It’s tempting to assume that the data collection process is likely to be extremely complex and must reach research-level quality to be useful. In reality, the typical organisation doesn’t need to build statistical models or conduct complex analyses on massive pools of data to demonstrate the impact of learning. In many circumstances, this information is already being collected for L&D purposes or can be sourced from existing processes. And the standard to aim for is “reasonable correlation” rather than “definitive causation.”

Where it’s not immediately available, it’s critical to start gathering information instead of waiting for funding to buy a new tool, however simple it may be. For example, using a survey tool with data collated into spreadsheets can be a useful way to get started.

Telling the story

At this point, it’s vital for L&D leaders to draw on their communication skills to demonstrate the impact and value of their learning strategy to each stakeholder in a way that is meaningful to them. 

At its heart, this is an exercise in effective storytelling. For example, for those in leadership, the story needs to highlight how a learning journey helps solve real problems for them and the wider organisation.  

Good storytelling depends on an ability to talk about themes and characters, backed by an understanding of the audience. Built around a cohesive narrative, it helps employees understand why the learning strategy matters to them and how it can help them grow.

Done well, everyone from executives and line managers to individual contributors can bring the story elements together. And remember: new chapters can always be added as the story develops further. At every stage, it’s important to acknowledge the effort made by everyone involved and illustrate that L&D is fully focused on business results.

As many organisations will appreciate, measuring and communicating the actual impact of an L&D strategy is no easy task. But, with the benefit of a logic bridge to help connect strategy with outcomes, it becomes much more practical for learning and development to focus on supporting business objectives and demonstrate the positive impact its efforts are delivering. 

Seth Johnson is VP Customer Experience at LearnUpon

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and pcess609