The 9 benefits of managed learning
In 2018, the principal benefits of managed learning were:
1. Optimising the delivery of learning
2. Improving the learner experience (via personalisation where necessary)
3. Making L&D an enabler in the organisation
4. Adding flexibility
5. Assisting with employee communication challenges
6. Sustaining impact
7. Delivering meaningful data
8. Challenging internal perceptions
9. Continuous improvement
In 2024, these benefits have sharpened and include:
1. Ability to keep in-house teams lean and agile — without impacting effectiveness
For L&D, workloads and expectations are going up. But, sadly, many departments also face in-house cuts. It is a difficult macroeconomic environment after all. Within this context, managed learning provision still enables L&D to deliver by providing access to a wide range of learning services which means the function can deliver on traditional learning goals as well as its wider talent and business remit. The challenge is to do this at speed, flexing and accessing services and consultation as needed.
2. Flexibility
With organisations acutely aware of L&D spending, our study revealing that the ability to outsource scalable learning functionality at speed is a key benefit is hardly surprising. Flexibility in accessing, or choosing not to access, learning services is central to success.
3. Market insight
Today’s organisations are caught on multiple fronts. They need the latest competencies, both for the present and going forward. They need to create better internal synergy between people-focused and business-focused departments. They need a people strategy that engages the workforce in the present and adapts to the future. They also need to get the edge on competitors within hyper-competitive markets. L&D is considered central to this.
Yet CIPD statistics show that in-house L&D are less sure they can deliver than two years ago. As such, it’s clear that many are working in close partnership with managed service providers to be able to get both the market insight and consultation they sorely need to see where to go next, and then are working in tandem, or outsourcing entirely, to deliver in key areas — knowing that they get expert access at every stage of the learning cycle.
4. Helps drive towards business goals
When it feels like both the managed learning provider and business are working together and both focus on business goals, our survey participants noted that this helped work towards successful delivery for the business.
To achieve this, participants advised that the metrics of success should be agreed upon upfront, that they trust the managed learning provider to come up with their own business solutions, and communication between both parties is clear and drives future growth.
5. Innovation
With L&D teams often running lean, it’s managed learning providers that are turned to deliver the latest in learning experiences and technology, to advise on what specialist skills to train, to roadmap complex learning journeys, and to come up with over-arching strategies. As one employer said: ‘I outsource the solution creation part of the process.’ Indeed, accessing an innovative outsourcing partner is the benefit employers want the most.
The best providers will use data to effectively inform new modes of delivery, deliver specialised training for the latest in-demand skills, help the business pivot towards more virtual delivery or guide in how to deploy next-generation learning (personalisation, LXPs).
6. Consultation
With L&D increasingly expected to deliver on agendas outside of the function’s traditional remit, many cite working with managed providers to get consultation on market direction, understanding learning trends in delivery and in-demand skills and get ‘learning-based solutions to business problems’. From how L&D impacts HR strategies and ESG to commercial operations. It’s also about getting This is in order to create strategies that help inform best-in-class learning designs that are bespoke to their organisation.
Having a partner that is both integrated into the organisation and deeply understands the market is also seen as a crucial benefit of a managed learning provider, so they can synthesise over-arching trends into personalised insight. To get the most out of this approach, businesses weren’t just receiving one-way traffic: they were working together, feeding back, and tweaking as they went.
7. Adaptability at speed
High up in the cited benefits of working with an outsourced provider was the flexibility they provide. It’s the ability to handle both peak and fallow periods in training demand (with the associated savings in staff base and system costs) that customers cite as a benefit. This is critical with the pace of business change not slowing down.
8. Digital deployment
Businesses are moving past a move to digital learning as merely a necessary salve during the pandemic. Demand for next-generation digital learning and virtual delivery is growing and businesses are keen to access, via managed learning providers, content libraries, systems and digital learning from multiple vendors (making digital learning cost-effective via careful management and the economies of scale) in order to make good on digital learning goals.
With a trend towards virtual delivery — and with some employers looking at what AR and VR learning can provide and what future digital skill sets will be needed — a clear benefit of partnering with a managed service provider is being able to rely on market insight and expertise to help transform towards this model.
9. Data access
Access to trusted data is seen as a critical benefit of a managed learning provider — as is being able to access a provider's analytic capability or working in tandem with the provider to understand what data is showing.
This is central to evaluating the impact of the learning strategy, engagement in specific programmes or the effectiveness of the technology used to deploy. Not only can firms outsource the creation of integral data (via systems provision and utilisation of data experts) to managed service providers, but they can use it to tweak direction at speed, get business leader support for learning initiatives, or understand which direction to go in next. As one employer explained: ‘It can help bring us to the next level’.
Data also allows both parties to hold the other to account, improving trust and transparency — benefitting the overall learning picture.
What to consider in MLS partnership
We asked our participants for any advice that they’d offer to other organisations that might be considering managed learning. Here’s what they told us:
- Understand your organisation’s exact needs and the needs of customers within the organisation before you engage with proposals from managed learning providers. Do deep research into where the business is going, how employees engage, and what your learning landscape is like. Question if the provider understands where learning will have most impact.
- Consider if a managed learning provider shares the same cultural and business values as yourself. Are they goal-oriented? Are they willing to integrate in a ‘hand-in-glove’ style approach? Will they communicate robustly, transparently and candidly?
- Reflect on what you want, and how you want to manage a relationship with a managed service provider. Do you want a partnership? Is it more transactional? Do you still want to retain central control and oversight? Is MLS right for you?
- Don’t underestimate the power of a service level agreement upfront and then the value of working together and delivering feedback to each other.
- Consider price fairness — not necessarily cheapest — and how it corresponds to the quality and scope of outsourcing. Be specific about your spend.
- Understand that the relationship will evolve so it doesn't need to be perfect straightaway or deliver one single outcome.
- Consider how much internal resources are needed to manage the relationship effectively and make it truly dynamic.
The importance of RFPs
Creating an RFP document that outlines needs and will help you understand the outsourcing services you can access (as well as where) from the managed service market, in an efficient manner, is seen as crucial to engaging the provider right for you.
When it comes to RFP documents, it's worth understanding the different options available and what they showcase to vendors about your learning needs and business priorities. Some versions foreground technical, process or spending requirements, with businesses able to weight these in terms of importance to them; this can allow for easy comparisons between vendors. Simplicity and brevity can be a benefit here to ensure that you don’t receive an unwieldy, and sometimes irrelevant, amount of information.
Businesses could also use a document which provides space for both themselves and vendors to explain their values, partnership methods and needs through an explanation of the method, cultural needs and how they manage relationships. Although this means it is more difficult to compare vendors, it can showcase the qualitative aspects that make an outsourcing relationship successful. It’s important to note that the RFP document is only part of the process, with presentations, discussions and site visits also important options to assess if the partnership is right for you. As such, getting multiple proposals at once so you can digest what works for you is seen as important.
