Despite workers citing that development opportunities are a decisive factor when choosing an employer, many businesses in the UK are struggling to produce a culture that prioritises learning and development. Many are also failing to measure the impact of learning on business performance.
Leading companies put L&D at the heart of their business strategy ensuring that it is flexible to meet the demands of a rapidly changing environment. The overarching business strategy should be reflected in the L&D strategy. It should recognise the capabilities and skills of the workforce and identify any skills gaps that need to be addressed. Employees need to not only understand the business goals of the company but also how what they do directly contributes to these goals. There is often a disconnect between an employee's learning and the goals of the organisation, these need to be intrinsically linked.
Research finds that L&D is critical to the success of a company, and results in higher turnover and increased retention of staff. Employees are more likely to have job satisfaction in organisations that prioritise L&D and businesses are more competitive in the market place.
In contrast organisations that have decreased turnover, are twice as likely to not have prioritised learning. They are also failing to address skills gaps, hinder innovation and competitiveness and have a higher employee turnover.
Do you blame budget constraints for poor investment in learning and development?
When revenues are down employers and managers are often quick to cut training budgets, this can seem like a quick fix but in the long-term is not best practice.
Investing in L&D can be challenging but being innovative and developing training that is suited to your business needs will increase the effectiveness and return on investment. More traditional learning methods of classroom-based learning can be expensive, and people want to control how and when they learn. These factors have led to organisations to use technology, blended learning and on the job learning to ensure staff are receiving the required L&D opportunities.
Apprenticeships can be a good method to close any skill gaps that a business may have and a great investment in your current staff who are eligible for an apprenticeship, or they can open-up an opportunity for new home-grown talent. Smaller businesses don’t have to pay the apprenticeship levy, so this could also be an attractive and positive way to address any skills gaps.
Measuring the impact of learning and development on business performance
Employers may recognise the importance of learning and development and its positive impact on business performance, but many are not putting in place the right tools to achieve a good level of L&D in their workplace.
Expenditure on L&D is sometimes only encouraged when it is easily measured to the bottom line. With some types of L&D it can be easily measured in this way but not all types of training and learning can be, especially with the move away from more traditional training methods into more sociable learning spaces. Even when evaluation can be difficult to assess on the impact of the learning and its effect on business success, it does not mean less tangible methods should be ignored.
Employees are eager to learn and develop skills, organisations need to keep up with their employees’ hunger to learn. They need to provide effective and measurable L&D programmes to be competitive in the market and to create an engaged and productive workforce. Effective L&D strategy provides a vision that supports the business strategy, manages change and drives employee engagement. With a strong learning culture organisations can increase turnover, retention and attract new talent.