Why Learning and Development Should Be Part of Your Business Strategy, Not Just Your Solutions

L&D is often seen as a solution to solving problems in the workplace — whether it’s a skill, knowledge, or confidence gap. In this article, Milly Gladstone shares why L&D functions should be a part of your business strategy instead.

Learning and Development, as we know, is the secret weapon of high performing organisations. Lurking in the shadows, we design and facilitate the sessions and build the learning content that helps upskill the people in our business. Like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible, rarely do we receive accolades — because it’s the people that we help that we do it for — and often just continue on to the next mission, should we choose to accept it.

It is this pattern that results in many L&D functions and professionals being seen as problem solvers. If the business has a performance issue, if there’s a skill gap that needs addressing, we are the trusted advisors they turn to in order to resolve these problems. It’s a great position to be in. But could we have more influence?

Slowly but surely, there’s a shift happening. One that aims to make L&D part of the strategy conversations, rather than a byproduct of them. Instead of reacting to the needs of the business, can we be more proactive and identify the needs ourselves?

It may well be that this is something you’re already doing. We have clients who are sitting in meetings with the key decision makers and C-suite to see how learning can deliver growth and be a crucial part of strategy . However, if you’re reading this thinking how do I become part of those conversations? You’re in the right place.

So, how can we be more strategic and position ourselves as business partners rather than problem solvers?

1. Data

Like all good strategists, we need the data to back us up. As L&Ders, we are uniquely positioned to gather data — feedback at the end of workshops or eLearnings, skills surveys, confidence self-assessments, the list goes on — and we can use this to our advantage. Being able to spot trends, find the gaps ourselves, and bring this to C-suite stakeholders automatically puts us into a strategic category.

2. Learning

We have to practice what we preach. As learning professionals, we, too, need to stay ahead of the curve and engage in our own learning pursuits. Research papers, newsletters, networking events, lectures, and reading or listening to podcasts can all help to bolster our knowledge and put us in the prime position to identify key and relevant trends for our organisation.

3. Critical Thinking

This is the key part. Researching the latest trends is all well and good but, if you can’t apply them to the context of your organisation, the impact won’t land. AI is swiftly becoming a classic example — many businesses are implementing knowledge training around how to use AI, without thinking how it best serves their people or how to evaluate the output it produces. Thinking holistically about the learning we’re recommending and the skills we’ll need now and next is the ticket to demonstrate our role as strategic forces and business partners.

Interested in rethinking your business strategy with L&D at the forefront? Get in touch, we'd love to discuss how we can support your team.