Benchmarking the changing role of L&D in achieving business success
2023 Learning & Development Impact Survey
2022 was about moving past the chaos of the early pandemic moments. It was about reviewing reactionary technology purchases, assessing the need for, and then implementing, agile learning strategies, tweaking development operations so they better delivered against new talent and business goals — as well as overcoming cultural reticence to change — and starting to grapple with growing the soft skills needed to support organisational success.
The main challenges facing L&D over the past 12 months
This year, practitioners are facing uncertainties around budgets, understanding what the right balance of learning delivery methods for long-term hybrid work looks like, and then what this means for communication of, and engagement in, learning. They also need to deliver against even greater demand for soft skills, and better showcase how learning activities deliver against business needs.
On top of that, there are other big challenges to overcome: finances, learner fatigue, newly prioritised skillsets, the return of in-person learning, the rise of interest in next-generation learning technologies, and functional struggles with implementing agile learning and measuring the impact of learning activities all present L&D hurdles.
What will accelerate the impact of your learning strategy on business success over the next 12 months?
Positively, the function appears to understand how to overcome these challenges. Here, becoming better aligned to the business, delivering better learning experience (well-communicated, data-informed, in-the-flow of work, in the way that learners want, whether that is digital, curated or in-person) that are constantly assessed for effectiveness, as part of an agile learning culture which delivers the skills the business needs, are widely seen as the way to make learning deliver.
In fact, with the world more hybrid and businesses keen to build workforce skillsets of leadership, management and good communication, if L&D evolves once more it can rise to the challenge of delivering the connectedness needed in today’s work environment.
