Employers are counting on the Learning and Development (L&D) function to upskill and reskill employees as they grapple with unprecedented change from digitalization, the Coronavirus pandemic, a changing business and social climate, and more.
In light of this, it’s time for Learning to step up as a strategic business function in the organization. For too long, Learning complained about getting a “seat at the table” but failed to bring anything substantial to that table. Learning will be a key element for helping organizations find their way through the COVID-19 pandemic, its aftermath, and whatever comes next.
Alignment Is Essential
The L&D function must partner with the rest of the organization to fully understand and align with the company’s needs to meet its goals now—and in the future. Brandon Hall Group research finds that only 46 percent of organizations have a learning strategy that aligns with their business objectives, and they say L&D’s lack of alignment with business goals keeps them from achieving critical outcomes.
No matter what role a Learning professional has—from instructional designer, trainer, video designer, and performance consultant to Learning manager or director—everyone in Learning must be strategically focused.
Optimizing earning across the organization requires leaders to understand that the learning experience and its outcomes can vary widely among different audiences. Front-line employees need a different emphasis than leaders. Compliance requirements can drive a different experience than personal development. Additionally, learners are typically multigenerational and highly mobile. While looking to get learning into the flow of work, it is critical to understand that the flow is different for different employee groups.
Source: Brandon Hall Group 2020 Learning Strategy Survey (THE GRAPHICS CAN BE DOWNLOADED AT THE END OF THIS ARTICLE)
To remedy this, the Learning function must:
- Align with organizational performance
- Become a center of performance consulting
- Gain an understanding of data integrity and advanced analytics
- Recognize the convergence of learning and performance
- Create learning focused on real outcomes
Think Strategically
In general, Learning must look at the strategic reasons for leveraging people, processes, and technology, always with an eye on how it helps the business. Many organizations are making efforts in this direction, but there is a long way to go.
According to our research:
- Eighty-two percent of organizations said it was highly important for the learning strategy to be aligned with business objectives.
- Only 25 percent of organizations said their learning strategy was effective in helping them achieve their business goals.
- Only 37 percent of organizations said they had a high degree of readiness for developing the skills required by the business in the near future.
Source: Brandon Hall Group 2020 Learning Strategy Survey
Learning Certification
To help foster this transformation of the Learning function, Brandon Hall Group drew from more than 27 years of experience in researching corporate L&D and advising Fortune 1,000 companies to launch the Certified Learning Strategist program.
Learning professionals who earn the CLS designation:
- Are positioned as business leaders with expertise in strategic learning and development
- Develop broad capabilities to assume a variety of roles to leverage learning to improve business outcomes
- Expand their ability to collaborate with a broad group of stakeholders across the enterprise
The CLS program is a learning journey free of ratings or grades. It is focused solely on enabling Learning professionals to learn and apply new competencies to drive business results in their organizations. Busy professionals can complete the certification at their own pace. And it is all done virtually.
The CLS program is not a certification that only benefits individual Learning professionals. It also can have a huge impact on an organization by ensuring the Learning function is filled with agile, strategic professionals who are keenly focused on meeting the needs of the business. There are no prerequisites for the CLS program.
And Brandon Hall Group’s Learning & Development experts, with more than 120 years of collective experience, are available throughout the certification process to answer questions and provide support.
Certification Program Checklist
This checklist helps organizations considering the development of a certification program, whether for internal or extended-enterprise usage. Any company can create a certification program, but if it does not align with business objectives, then it might be a poor investment.
1. Determine business outcomes of program.
- What goals will this help the organization achieve?
2. Determine how the certification program can drive results to a higher level. Specify metrics that will objectively evaluate program performance.
- What metrics align with the business outcomes identified above?
- How often will they be measured?
- Can they be measured with existing technology and staffing levels?
3. Identify target population(s) to be certified.
- How can the specific group(s) benefit from the training/certification?
- Will any groups be excluded? Is there a purpose for limiting the reach?
4. Develop certification level(s) based around specific competencies tied to business outcomes.
- Are multiple levels of certification necessary to differentiate topics, levels of competency, or other delineations?
- If so, how will the various levels be segmented from each other?
5. Select content delivery methods.
- What will be the primary method of instruction?
- Does existing learning technology support selected delivery methods?
- Can the existing learning technology track detail to the level needed to verify training delivery?
6. Determine basis of final certification.
- Will competency be determined by assessment, specific percentage of completed courses, supervisor determination, or other methods?
- Does the existing learning technology have the capability to track, catalog, and accomplish this type of determination?
7. Identify post-certification options for refreshing content and maintaining competency.
- Will post-certification training or refresher courses be required to maintain currency?
- Is it possible to track recertification hours/credits within the existing learning technology?
Click here for information on Brandon Hall Group’s Professional Certification Program
Mike Cooke is chief executive officer and principal human capital management (HCM) analyst at Brandon Hall Group. The firm’s vision is to inspire a better workplace experience, and its mission is to empower excellence in organizations around the world through its research and tools. Brandon Hall Group has five HCM practices and produces the Brandon Hall Group HCM Excellence Awards and the annual HCM Excellence Conference, in West Palm Beach, FL.
