How to Align L&D Strategies With Employee Needs

THE DISCONNECT IS GROWING: Talent wants career development, companies want speed. I've had a front row seat for many years now, listening to the growing tensions of both talent and organizations. Here's the reality; ➡️ Talent is asking for real career growth, clearer advancement paths, and relevant skill development. ➡️ Companies are chasing increasingly aggressive business targets, often without slowing down to invest in internal learning infrastructure. L&D and internal career development teams know how vital their work is. I've been there building, iterating, and refining processes. But, with the increased pressure HR departments face, many teams are under-resourced, over-tasked, and constantly having to justify ROI in a system that rewards short-term gains. THE RESULT? A disconnect that leaves employees and prospective employees frustrated and many organizations underprepared, especially in industries evolving too quickly for traditional workforce training methods to keep up. SO, WHERE EXACTLY ARE THE DISCONNECTS? From a practitioner's perspective (currently 3rd party, myself), L&D has always been seen as a “nice-to-have,” instead of a strategic function. 1.) Without direct ROI correlation, it gets deprioritized. 2.) Career pathing is vague or nonexistent; employees want to see HOW they can grow and what specific skills they need to get there. 3.) Training is still too centralized or one-size-fits-all; it can’t scale fast enough or meet the needs of fast-evolving roles. 4.) Skills training isn’t embedded into the flow of work; when learning happens outside of everyday tasks, it’s often ignored. REAL SOLUTIONS; ✔️ Smarter, faster, more agile on-the-job learning models; think social learning, peer mentoring, cross-functional job shadowing, and internal micro-learning platforms. People learn better while doing, especially when it’s embedded into daily workflows. My friend Mark Britz taught me about social learning, and I have integrating it effectively in my classrooms! It works. ✔️ Redefine ROI in L&D; frame learning as a tool for improving retention, productivity, and innovation. Even small upskilling investments can reduce costly turnover. ✔️ Modular, technical skills training that flexes with business needs; smaller, high-impact sprints of training, aligned to actual tools and job functions are more effective than long-form, generic, lecture-based training programs. ✔️ Give frontline managers ownership of their team's growth; equip leaders to have better career conversations. It’s not just HR’s job. We need to build workforce learning systems that readily evolve as fast as business goals, and position career development not as a perk, but as a business-critical function. Leaders-if your talent is your competitive advantage. It’s time to invest like that’s true. Let's build tomorrow's workforce, today. #CareerDevelopment #TalentStrategy #talentretention #WorkforceDevelopment #LearningCulture

Develop your employees, grow your company… It’s that simple. Many managers fail to identify development needs. This leads to stalled growth and disengaged employees. Without development, teams stagnate and disengage. You risk losing top talent and falling behind. Here’s how to get it right: 1. Create Individual Development Plans (IDPs): Self-assessed goals boost engagement by 50%. 2. Foster a learning culture: Encourage knowledge-sharing to build resilience. 3. Recognize and reward growth: Celebrate milestones—34% higher retention follows. 4. Align with company goals: Tie individual growth to organizational objectives. 5. Measure and evaluate results: Track skill gains to show tangible progress. 6. Set SMART goals: Clear, measurable goals drive focus and outcomes. 7. Involve employees in planning: Align aspirations with company needs—70% prefer this. 8. Set regular check-ins: Frequent feedback improves engagement by 30%. 9. Choose the right methods: Tailor development activities to close skill gaps. 10. Allocate resources wisely: Invest in budgets that grow future leaders. To unlock your team’s potential, take deliberate action. Development isn’t just a need; it’s a leadership priority. These 10 steps create real, measurable growth: ☑ Provides professional development opportunities ☑ Aligns individual goals with company objectives ☑ Sets SMART goals for clarity and accountability ☑ Involves employees in their own growth ☑ Allocates resources for development ☑ Regular check-ins to track progress ☑ Enhances overall productivity ☑ Recognizes achievements ☑ Fosters a learning culture ☑ Increases retention rates Organizations that invest in people invest in success. Found this useful? Follow Jonathan Raynor. Reshare to help others build thriving teams.

Good people leaving hurts Here’s how we tripled retention in 2 years (and it wasn’t about raising salaries) I read 97% of staff would stay longer if their company had invested in Learning & Development (Source: LinkedIn survey) In 2021, our retention rate was average. The Covid market for dev talent was crazy  So we asked the question: 👉“What would make Cloud Employee the kind of place people never want to leave?” Not just for a year. But stay long-term. Here’s what we did: → We hired a full-time L&D Officer (ex-Atlassian) Arni Yabut (We went for ‘who’ not ‘how’) → We gave every developer $1,000 annually for external mentors, conferences & certs (AWS, Scrum certs, Leadership, Devcon – up to them and their manager) → Arni and her team built a tailored real world program for each dev – not generic off the shelf stuff → We created internal peer groups (Devs from different teams / clients meet monthly to experience share and learn from each other in a private space) → We built a learning culture Made ‘curiosity’ a core value and became super intentional about personal growth Today: Retention is over 3 years on average (Industry av: 1.2 years) L&D budget is $200,000+ per year Feels a lot but it works People stay And that makes life easier My take - I used to think L&D was a box ticking exercise It has to be very custom to the individual and real world applicable We only executed properly once we had a dedicated expert (Arni) It took around a year to see a true return on investment