Take Your Lagging Learning Strategy to the Next Level with these 3 Essential Insights

• 4 min read

3 Key Insights to Combat Lagging Learning Strategies

If you want to improve learning outcomes across your business, it is important to establish a comprehensive learning and development (L&D) strategy. Sounds easy, but different organizations are at different stages of L&D strategy maturity, and in all cases it can be challenging to create, improve or completely revise an approach. As seen in the following visual from the Brandon Hall Group Report, State of Learning and Development 2016: Ready to Evolve, some very young companies haven’t established a strategy at all while a few others have built a formalized learning strategy with deep links to business performance.

Additionally, even among the companies that have established a learning strategy, many haven’t updated their strategy on an ongoing basis and defined clear links to overall business performance in their existing strategies.

As we discussed in a recent post, learning strategies need to be revisited and refreshed on an ongoing basis in order to ensure their integrity and effectiveness, though too many companies lag in this regard. With that, we’re outlining three essential insights on learning strategies from the Brandon Hall Group report that can help companies learn to build better, more effective strategies that get actual results.

1. Having a Learning Strategy Alone is Not Good Enough

We know there are different stages of maturity for learning models, and as we can see from the earlier graphic, the majority of businesses surveyed have established some form of a learning strategy. In most cases, the strategy is loosely defined and only uses a limited variety of available tools and technologies. Only a small percentage of businesses (9 per cent) have a formally defined strategy that uses an array of modalities and technologies, and is linked clearly to business objectives. “When we look a little closer at the maturity of the various L&D strategies in place,” the report notes, “we see that there are relatively few companies working with a robust strategy behind them.”

This points us to the fact that, while most businesses have implemented either a loosely or clearly defined learning strategy, they haven’t built a framework that ensures their strategies are fresh, relevant, and progressive. If you want to demonstrate a measureable impact of your learning programs on company performance, simply having a learning strategy isn’t good enough. It is tempting to define and implement a strategy then and call it a day, but the simple fact is, companies that don’t strive for continual improvement and progression in their learning strategies simply won’t be able to achieve or demonstrate results.

2. L&D Strategies Must be Linked to Business Outcomes

Leaders in L&D often find themselves in an ongoing battle to create and implement the learning programs they know are essential to employee and business performance while also provably demonstrating that the strategies are effective and vital to the organization’s long-term effectiveness. This is far more challenging to accomplish when L&D strategies are developed ad hoc or with a limited scope, as opposed to when they are defined with clear ties to already-established business goals in mind.

As seen below, most organizations surveyed in the Brandon Hall Group report acknowledged improved organizational performance ranked was the most important outcome of learning programs (93 per cent). And yet, less than half of companies say they have effectively aligned learning and business objectives.

In order to both prove the value of a learning strategy and achieve actual, measureable business performance objectives, businesses need to embed business performance goals directly into their learning strategies, ideally at the onset.

3. Blended Learning Gets Better Results

In addition to looking at the what and why of L&D approaches, it is also important to look at how learning strategies are being executed. The most basic learning strategies tend to use more traditional learning environments and tools (e.g. instructor-led, classroom-based learning) while more mature, innovative learning strategies use a variety of tools and modalities (i.e. blended learning) in their approach.

As we’ve recently discussed, blended learning approaches use traditional learning methods and tools, but do not end training at the classroom door, instead extending it across more informal tools and modalities, as well as through online, virtual tools and experiential environments.

As seen in the chart below, companies that do use blended learning approaches (Yes) consistently see better results than those who do not (No). This includes reduced error rates and accidents, better employee engagement and, yes, even improved organizational performance.

If these three takeaways have sparked your interest, download the full report! Now exclusively available here.