According to The 2018 State of Leadership Development Report published by Harvard Business, organizations that view learning and development initiatives as critical to business success are continuing to perform higher than their peers on crucial metrics such as revenue, market position, and future growth.
Particularly during a time of unprecedented change in the modern business world, it can be easy for companies to fall behind in adequately prioritizing training programs for employees. The report also points out that 86% of respondents said their organization has recent experience with transformation - with 54% currently undergoing transformation. As these transformations alter workplace dynamics and the skills needed to stay competitive in an evolving market, leaders are turning to L&D teams for answers, realizing their power to drive change.
As BenchPrep partners with world-class organizations to help build and improve learner engagement, we have seen this trend come to fruition first-hand and believe it is a sign of all good things to come for L&D teams. Organizations that make L&D a true strategic partner are seeing higher success rates in their ability to drive transformation. Is your organization prepared to make the following changes to support L&D in their sprint to drive results?
Sufficient Growth
It is predicted that one in four organizations will increase their L&D budgets over the next year. Tasked with more responsibility and a higher stake in the business, headcount is on the rise too. In fact, L&D professionals are expected to grow by 35% in the next year, resulting in the fastest headcount growth within HR functions.
L&D for L&D
New specialized roles, processes, functions, and employee desire for lifelong learning undoubtedly adds complexity for L&D teams. In order for development programs to be sticky, L&D professionals need to consider their own pulse on the market to propel effective learning forward. As pressure mounts to lead transformation, understanding which innovative tools will best accelerate engagement through blended learning is key.
A Faster Track to Innovation
Since Harvard Business’ last State of Leadership Development Report in 2017, the percentage of respondents who agree their development programs lack innovation has increased from 75 to 80%.
Employees have seen little to no improvement in the transformation of one-size-fits-all programs, compared to those that allow learners to be in the driver’s seat of their development experiences. The need for digital transformation will only increase faster as millennials and Gen Z workers’ natural desire for immediacy and and autonomy shift expectations of learning.
Equipping L&D departments with the necessary resources to cultivate a strong learning culture for learner success will reap long-term benefits.
We’d love to share further insights that we’ve gathered from enterprise-level executives on how and why they are turning to learner success platforms, such as BenchPrep, to transform their learning programs.
Curious to learn how BenchPrep helped McGraw Hill Education take their traditional learning methods into a digital stratosphere? Check out our case study, McGraw Hill Education Case Study, to learn more.
