Corporate learning and development play a considerable role in an efficient and successful organization. Having a well-equipped, knowledgeable, and informed workforce is critical to operations, customer satisfaction, and employee retention. With the increasing importance and rising trend of learning and development, more and more organizations are working towards providing their employees with relevant skills and knowledge, which can enhance their ability to achieve organizational goals.

According to research studies done by Global Human Capital Trends, 85% of organizations believe that learning and development programs are paramount for their success. However, the development process has been an uphill task for many of them. 

Following are some key tips that organizations can utilize to create a learning and development strategy. 

The purpose of every learning opportunity in an organization is to help in achieving its goals and objectives. For this reason, whenever the senior management team of a company is setting up a learning and development strategy, they should keep their eyes on their organizational goals. 

Not doing so is often a common mistake made by designers of these strategies. They tend to let other factors, such as the training methods dictate their decision making. Instead, they should view the company as a professional sports team, where all the players follow a standard game plan to achieve a common goal. Integrating your learning and development strategy with the bigger organizational strategy sets a clear direction for every employee to follow. This should ultimately result in the realization of the company’s vision.

After setting the organizational goals, the next step is identifying the learning needs the staff needs to achieve them. This is the only way the organization manages to link its general performance to the individual performance of its employees. This can be accomplished through a training and development needs analysis. The Learning and Development team, often with the Human Resources, can access the needs of the organization. 

After analyzing the data, the team can identify the gaps that exist, and outline a path forward. By identifying these gaps and working towards their improvement, organizations are able to boost the level of their employees’ competence, personal development, and skills.

Learning and development teams play a significant role to assess and implement an effective training program that meets the needs of the organization as well as employees’ individual personal development.

Training and development programs are effective when instructional design experts develop engaging and informative training that incorporate engaging eLearning technologies.

Many organizations are proactive in providing support for employees at various levels in a company through a training and development program. However, they tend to forget that the team leaders also require the same magnitude of training to polish their leadership skills. Often individuals in leadership positions rise through the ranks in an organization or through their career with little leadership development. Leaders play an integral role in business strategy, operations, and developing others. It’s beneficial if leaders also have access to personal development. 

Leaders who earnestly believe in the personal development of their staff and team members are an asset to an organization. An authentic leader acknowledges the important role they play in helping to develop, encourage, and guide those on their team. There is a skill to being a leader. Yet it is knowledge that can be taught. It often begins with valuing those who report to you.

Global studies indicate that 79% of all employees who quit their jobs often cite lack of appreciation as the primary cause. It’s a no brainer, most of this blame is directed to their line managers and team leaders.

In today’s fast-paced culture work and personal lives are often interwoven. So, it’s important to provide training and development that is available any time on any device.  Technology now creates the opportunity to access learning on a laptop, tablet or phone. Organizations can increase engagement in their learning and development efforts by maximizing its accessibility.

The digital delivery of training, especially the use of an organization’s learning management system, helps employees tackle training in smaller bites of time through microlearning. The shorter content helps learners learn-on-the-go, on their devise of choice, and when it is convenient.

A common characteristic among successful organizations globally is their consistent approach to learning. These corporations convey that company’s success, as well as their personal development, hinges on the acquiring skills and knowledge. 

This mindset compels the workers to enroll in various learning and development programs in their organizations. As a result, the companies benefit from the skyrocketing levels of creativity and innovation of their employees. Some employers tend to argue that the employees would jump to other companies after obtaining the skills. 

While this is partially true, it is a much greater hindrance to the organization to have employees who lack sufficient skills and who feel they do not have an opportunity to grow.

Just like capital, learning is equally an investment. This means that the learning and development strategy should have a measurable return on investment attached to it. This should be used to evaluate the impact of the training programs on both individual and organizational growth. 

There should be clear metrics put in place, which link learning to the bottom line. This is a step in which the line managers and team leaders should play a significant role in ensuring that learning translates to measurable impacts on the business goals and bottom line. However, these metrics should be sector and business-based. 

For instance, the key performance indicators for a retail business should be customer satisfaction. On the other hand, those of an accounting officer should be based on the accuracy of financial reports.

Creating a learning and development strategy is not a walk in the park for many employers. However, the above steps can help you design an effective strategy that would work wonders for any organization. If you are not sure where to begin, or are unfamiliar with the principles of creating an effective learning and development strategy, the professionals at RTG Solutions Group are here. Contact us today and our learning and development experts can help ensure your business is on track for success.