5 Ways L&D Professionals Can Be Strategic Visionaries

Amid rapid technological growth and increasing automation, many professions, including learning and development (L&D), are starting to face substantial challenges to stay relevant. Across the board, professionals are stepping up their game to move into higher value-adding roles with adjacent responsibilities. L&D professionals are no exception.

A new report indicates that individuals need to start taking charge of their career choices and growth. Those who remain static risk marginalization. Consequently, L&D professionals need evolve to become strategic partners to add value to their position as digital innovation takes over many of their lower level responsibilities.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has five recommendations for L&D professionals to take their careers to the next level.

5 Ways L&D Professionals Can Be Strategic Partners

1. Recognize the shift from providing to curating training content

• Develop strategies that leverage a wide-range of training solutions.
• Identify what you can give employees in more flexible mediums, such as mobile and eLearning.
• Provide support and guidance for learners to get the most out of developmental programs.

2. Understand how learning functions in developing talent and achieving strategic goals

• Shift from being order takers to active strategic partners by offering solutions and input.
• Focus on strategic talent development that adds value to consumers.

3. Elevate Learning Design and Focus on Personalization

• Understand that traditional learning designs for generic audiences are becoming obsolete.
• Determine how your learning strategies can shift to support more individualized learning paths.
• Focus on how to support rather than control the 70% (knowledge from job-related experience) and 20% (knowledge from interaction with others) of the 70-20-10 learner journey model.

4. Revamp strategy to reflect shifts in learning consumption

• Develop a technological learning strategy.
• Figure out how to maximize returns on existing learning management systems.
• Use data from learning environments to create personalized learning paths.
• Consider how to use and create technology strategies that support social learning and focus on the learner experiences.

5. Support development into individuals’ next role rather than only their current one

• Consider how the “borrowing” resourcing model plays into your training program.
• Understand that the learning experience’s quality is critical for attracting top talent when looking to “borrow” resources.