Learning and Development Strategies that put your people first

What impact does a good learning and development programme have on employee attraction, engagement, and retention?

Most organisations will have some form of learning and development strategy in place. However, day-long workshops and traditional courses are becoming antiquated, and it is a more contemporary culture of constant learning that employees really value.

To attract, engage and retain high calibre staff, a well-articulated and targeted learning program is key. 

But it’s not just the programme itself that is important. How the programme is cascaded through the business and communicated will also impact on how the programme lands with the business.

Tailoring your development and learning programme to your employees is crucial, especially with the growth in hybrid working practises and how teams now connect, engage with each other, and stay in touch. One size training programmes do not fit all in the modern working environment.

However, the performance and wellbeing rewards a business can reap from tailoring a learning a development programme to upskill and engage its employees is well worth the effort and investment.

What happens if an organisation doesn’t focus on learning and development?

The risk of an organization without a learning culture is the negative impact it will have on employee retention. A survey from Total Jobs in 2018 showed that 2 in 3 employees would leave their job due to lack of training and development opportunities. 

It isn’t just their personal development either. Learning and Development has a systemic impact on all areas of an organisation. From personal upskilling opportunities, to how line managers are trained to do their jobs. Put simply, without training your line managers to do their jobs effectively and without opportunities to upskill and develop in their roles, people will leave. 

A positive learning culture isn’t just nice to have, it's compulsory to any business. Harvard Business School found that learning and development not only decreased employee turnover, but also increased profit and sales. 

So how do businesses create a successful learning and development programme?

Caburn Hope has created and provided several learning and development programmes for our clients - not just the programmes themselves, but how to communicate them effectively internally. 

A number of considerations are necessary before a learning and development programme is launched.  The learning and development courses must, of course, be relevant and useful to employees from the get-go - so understanding their needs and their career pathing requirements at design stage is key.

Branding and marketing of the platform is also key to engage and excite employees of the value it’s going to bring them.

Tactically, often redesigning the learning tools and platforms themselves to ensure their training sessions are succinct and engaging, can be the difference between a motivated team and a bored one. 

In our recent work to develop a culture of learning within L’Oréal, we began with workshops that allowed us to create an identity that would allow the brand to effectively communicate a flagship learning week event. 

What resulted was a toolkit of communications to launch the L’Oréal Learning Week event. Pre-launch teaser materials and a communication guide to ensure ongoing consistency were a leading contributor to the success of the launch.

What are FIVE key tactics organisations can implement for more impactful learning and development programs

1. Adopt a thorough marketing approach - your employees are your internal marketplace - so invest in ‘selling’ the training programme and its benefits into your employees in the same way you would approach the launch of a product to market
2. Make it personal to the needs of your talent
3. Show the benefits to them and the organisation as a whole
4. Make it accessible and actionable
5. Onboard champions from your leadership team to share their experiences

In Summary

To make a successful learning and development initiative, it’s crucial to express why the organisation cares. A learning culture not only provides your employees with the skills they need for their current and future roles with the business, but it also reflects the company as a whole.

Explain where the company is going and how this strategy contributes to the growth of the business. 

If your company values innovation and is looking to develop a more agile approach, then your training should also express that through its content and messaging. To fully onboard your team, they need to know why their contribution matters. 

Looking for support in creating a learning and development culture?  That’s what we’re here for.

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