Talking to the business about L&D: L&D's biggest pain points | Learning Pool

When we consider the challenges faced by L&D as a function, we often think of the overall goals they are trying to achieve for their organization. This could be ensuring their business is meeting all industry compliance and regulatory standards. Or improving the onboarding process for new employees and reducing employee turnover. What most of us fail to see, are the specific challenges L&D faces in building a strategy and implementing the tools and procedures to get their organization to where it wants to be. Let’s look at some of L&D’s biggest pain points and how to overcome them.

Challenge: Lack of budget, time and resources –

The  2022 LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report, highlights that 91% of employees worldwide say that it is important for managers to inspire learning. Yet, when a business as a whole fails to see the value of L&D it quickly becomes a function that is neglected in terms of investment – be that money, time or resources. 

Solution: Off-the-shelf content

Creating something bespoke or from scratch – whether that’s in-house or with the help of a vendor – is typically more time-consuming and more costly than off-the-shelf solutions. Implementing ready-made collections from a trusted supplier can be advantageous in many ways: 

• Content choices are expansive – Hundreds, if not thousands, of topics are at your disposal at the click of a button. Off-the-shelf collections can include hard and soft skills training, talent development, upskilling, health and safety, sector-specific regulatory standards and compliance training. Content can also come in a variety of formats – including elearning courses, blogs, videos and quizzes – so you can feel satisfied that your learning needs will be met. 

• Accelerate time to learning – With ready-made libraries, you can be up and running in a matter of minutes. Collections are available for ‘plug-and-play’ so that they seamlessly integrate with your existing learning platform and are compatible across multiple devices to suit the modern learner. 
• Effective communication – No matter your learning needs or the sector within which you operate, off-the-shelf content ensures you can effectively communicate new concepts, procedures, and even regulations with collections that are kept up-to-date and relevant by your content provider, taking the burden off of your internal L&D team. OTS content is a cost-effective way of supplementing your own resources but they can also be customized allowing an organization to tailor it to their own brand and needs. 

Challenge: Increasing learner engagement 

Perhaps one of L&D’s most nefarious challenges is the disengaged learner. According to Gallup, companies with high employee engagement are 21% more profitable yet a lot still has to be done to change attitudes to learning when day-to-day tasks and responsibilities take precedence. Learning is proven to increase engagement, and learners are more likely to feel engaged when offered interactive and social learning experiences that fit into their work routine.

Solution: Embedding learning in the workflow 

Improving the scope, quality, and relevance of learning makes it more effective and helps learners see its relevance to their jobs and career development. Adopting digital learning improves access to content, delivers personalization, and brings training into the workplace. By enjoying open access to learning resources, employees can take charge of their own development, which can improve morale and engagement. Making learning continuous involves a commitment to engaging learners and inspiring them to perform better.

Download our ‘Talking to the Business’ eBook to discover some tried and tested strategies for changing attitudes to L&D across your organization.