Learning & Development

1. Learning and Development

2. What Is Learning and Development? Learning and development (L&D) is a function within an organization that is responsible for empowering employees’ growth and developing their knowledge, skills, and capabilities to drive better business performance. The function may be organized centrally, either independently or sitting under human resources (HR); decentralized throughout different business units; or be a hybrid (sometimes referred to as federated) structure. The term, learning and development, encompasses any professional development a business provides to its employees. It is considered to be a core area of human resources management, and may sometimes be referred to as training and development, learning and performance, or talent development (TD). On boarding and new hire programs, career development, ongoing training, corporate universities, leadership development programs, skills training, talent strategy and management, and required courses such as compliance training, are all initiatives a learning and development team or department might provide.

3. Learning and development jobs • L&D specialist- The L&D specialist often occupies an operational role, focusing on analyzing learning needs, specifying role competencies, L&D budget distribution, and providing learning advice to employees. • L&D manager- The Learning and Development Manager has a more tactical role, focusing on analyzing learning needs at a higher level, specifying core organizational competencies, L&D budget allocation, and distribution between departments and teams. • L&D director- The L&D director has a strategic role, focusing on analyzing organizational needs for development, aligning L&D activities with organizational strategy, drafting the L&D strategy, and ensuring budget to execute this strategy. • L&D consultant- The L&D consultant does all of the above in a consulting capacity. Depending on the role and seniority of the consultant, these activities can be operational or strategic.

4. The benefits of Learning & Development A good L&D strategy has benefits for every kind of business – but arguably, it's at smaller companies where it's true value really comes to the fore. Giving your team members access to development opportunities allows them to learn new skills – skills that they then bring to work with every day they stay with you. In a small company, great team members are your competitive advantage. They are the cutting edge that you can use to take on bigger companies with their larger budgets. What's more, there is now a great deal of evidence that links a learning & development culture to strong employee engagement. A PWC study, for example, found that millennials considered professional development moreimportantthan financial reward at work. If they feel that they are learning, they are more likely to commit to their work and go the extra mile. Strong employee engagement has other benefits too. Having highly engaged team members is also linked to good employee retention rates – so not only will your people work more effectively, but they'll also stick around longer too. In corporate-speak, this might be called talent management or talent development – but in a nutshell, it's about making sure your best people stay in the room. So – implementing an effective L&D strategy at your company can help attract potential hires, motivate your current team and also retain them for longer. When viewed through this lens, Learning and Development can be about far more than just improving the specific skills your employees use on a day-to-day basis: it can be considered more like a benefit, and one of the key incentives to join and stay at your company.