The main challenges of any Learning and Development (L&D) professional are to help employees see the value of training as well as successfully engage and excite them about the opportunities it offers. Creating a L&D programme will help you overcome these challenges. A structured learning strategy can help employees recognise its importance, meet the challenges of their jobs, progress their careers, and increase productivity.
The strategic role of an L&D programme
An L&D programme is one of the best ways to build an empowering learning culture that will attract great talent and retain skilled employees. Keeping employee turnover low does not only reduce costs but most importantly, prevents an unavoidable disruption inefficiency that comes with losing experienced staff. Moreover, a Learning and Development programme helps develop people’s capabilities. For a business to succeed, employees should have the right skills and knowledge to perform well in their roles, but also have the ability to grow with the business’s needs overtime. A well-thought-out L&D plan also increases employee engagement overall and positively impacts the company’s reputation.
With this in mind, here’s how you can create a successful Learning and Development programme.
Start by assessing your Learning & Development needs
Before you begin writing your L&D strategy, identify your employees’ training needs and capability gaps. Evaluate the performance of each team, look at your business goals and strategy. Only then should you define your Learning and Development goals and KPIs. That way, you can effectively measure the success of your programme.
Get everyone involved
Modern workplace learning is everyone’s responsibility. The success of your business depends on all employees having relevant skills and knowledge, so make sure you involve everyone in your L&D programme.
- Individuals need to take responsibility for their continuous self-improvement and development to perform well at their jobs.
- Managers should encourage their team members to grow their skills as well as share the knowledge and inspire progression.
- L&D Directors need to build, enable, and support the new learning culture and mindset – not just command and control workplace learning.
Avoid a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution
The truth is what works for Jamie in Accounting probably won’t work for Emily in Operations. Take the classic example of being an early bird or a night owl. Some people focus and retain information better in the mornings, others in the evenings. That’s just one of the many reasons you might see a lack of participation during in-person training. You can combat disengagement by providing your employees with great online learning experiences. E-learning allows staff to study when and where it suits them, increasing their chances to take in more information and apply it in their jobs. You can read about more benefits of e-Learning in our previous blog.
Embrace technology
In-person training is neither cost-effective nor time-efficient. The true digital natives (Generation Z) are now entering the workforce and Millennials already comprise more than half of UK workforce.
1 in 2 Gen Zers and Millennials say they don’t know how they’d get through life without video!
To ensure your L&D programme is a success, pick training and development software that offers interactive, media-rich content. Our customisable, interactive courses have compelling graphics and built-in multimedia elements to ensure high engagement and completion rates from all your employees.
Reward top performers
To engage your employees in your programme and eLearning training courses, consider implementing a reward scheme. 32% of workers see incentives and rewards as a motivating factor beyond salary. Increase motivation to complete courses by recognising top performers during company meetings. For high participation, organise a team lunch. Or consider small incentives for individuals, such as hand-written thank-you notes or gift cards. Small gestures can go a long way.
Regularly track progress
No L&D programme is complete without measuring its results. Set up benchmarks to drive motivation and regularly assess what people have learned. Track improvements in your employee performance to evaluate the effectiveness. Get regular employee feedback and review your programme to keep engagement high.
A great Learning and Development programme takes careful consideration, but it can help get your employees excited about learning and self-development. Get in touch to discuss how our engaging eLearning courses can help meet the goals of your programme.
Written by Mara Swann Mara has a passion for promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion across global workplaces and hopes to inspire learners to focus on their own careers with self-directed learning content.
