Your people are your biggest asset. And in this tight, post-pandemic talent landscape where demand for skills outstrips supply? Cultivating a learning culture could be your greatest competitive advantage. 

Investing in your employees is key to creating positive business outcomes, like improving productivity and profit, employee engagement and retention. And with many employees now pursuing learning opportunities outside of their official workplace training, ‘the message to employers is clear: if you don’t offer vibrant learning and development (L&D), employees will seek it elsewhere.’ 

Here are three ways you can invest in L&D for maximum impact.

1. Design customised and inclusive learning programs 

We’re working in the most multi-generational, diverse and dispersed workplace ever, each of us with unique needs, traits, and learning styles. That means you’ll need to throw the traditional, one-size-fits-all training approach out the virtual window and design L&D initiatives that are useful and accessible for everyone.

You’ll need to get better at figuring out what individuals know and what they don’t, where their growth is stunted, and what learning opportunity is the best fit for need. Some ideas to inspire you: 

• Introduce a formal sponsorship program for people identifying from diverse backgrounds. 
• Incorporate a mix of learning opportunities, like external qualifications, in-person lunch-and-learns, in-person team training, on-the-job training, online courses via a user-friendly Learning Management System (LMS), conferences and industry memberships, and microlearning. 
• Tailor learning initiatives and career pathways to the individual to meet them where they’re at, so that the information received is relevant and useful (and not repetitive!). 

2. Make L&D a regular part of the employee experience 

Instead of offering L&D as a one-off, annual, or hard-earned reward, make it a regular part of the employee experience from onboarding to exiting. Because when training and learning is a consistent part of your culture, your employees can consistently and organically grow with you as your needs evolve. 

Some ideas to inspire you: 

• Include a micro course during preboarding to boost soft skills in graduates or prepare new hires for a multi-generational/remote workforce. 
• Include annual job rotations and/or shadowing for every role. 
• Provide ongoing feedback and professional development check-ins between manager and employee (not just annually when compliance obligates it). 
• Encourage formal and informal mentoring and coaching opportunities. 
• Provide people management training for every person appointed to a manager’s role. 

3. Include L&D initiatives in your employee benefits 

Nothing says ‘We’re committed to your growth and success’ like putting hard money where your mouth is. Consider including specific L&D branded benefits in your total compensation package.

Some ideas to inspire you: 

• Provide formal career planning and coaching through your benefits provider. You could even take a holistic view of development and include wellbeing and life skills for whole-person support. 
• Offer study assistance, by contributing to external course costs and supplying study leave. 
• Give all employees an L&D ‘budget’ to spend on their preferred initiatives and programs. 

Use these ideas to start cultivating a robust learning and development culture that stands you out in a competitive talent market. You should see improved employee engagement, brand loyalty and reputation, making you an irresistible employer of choice! 

Need help positioning your employer brand in a competitive market? Get in touch with our team!