What is a learning strategy?
It’s a valid question. I write a lot on LinkedIn about the various ways we can create a learning strategy, and there are lots of good writers in our space who discuss how to create a learning strategy.
My approach to designing and creating a learning strategy is based on my 18 years in learning and development. I have worked across multiple industries, sectors, business sizes and organisation types. I have had budget control, team management experience, lead on organisational initiatives, designed and delivered learning programmes and implemented learning technology solutions. I’ve supported teams, individuals, leaders through learning solutions. I have been speaking at conferences for 9 years, and created a known voice for myself in the learning industry. I write a lot about the learning space, and the various things at play. So, although the strategy template I have created may not be research based, it certainly is borne of not just my experience, but that of many others in our space.
So, What is a Learning Strategy?
To my mind, a learning strategy is one part of how an organisation delivers on its organisational objectives. When an organisation established what it wants to achieve, many things have to become aligned and set in motion. Finance will have to decide how budgets can be best used. Operations will have to ensure the workforce is set up to deliver as required. Technology have to ensure they’re providing the right kind of technology for success. Within all of that, learning will naturally take place. The question becomes - how will the learning function enable and facilitate those teams to deliver against the organisational objectives?
The traditional learning approach used to be about designing training courses or e-learning to provide upskilling in specific areas as determined by the learning team. But, these days (and not just a result of the pandemic), we have to look more closely at what people are needing, and importantly how are they working. Observation of how a person/team/department is working reveals a lot of insight. There are likely to be a range of needs from individual performance improvements, team performance discussions, process improvements, technology adoption, inter-team collaboration, leadership needs, product or service development, and so many more things. Just with that range of potential needs, we can’t just design learning solutions as the way we solve for the challenges these things are raising.
This is where in recent years we’ve been hearing more about performance consultancy and business partnering. Through these kinds of approaches we’re better able to provide stronger thinking for our organisations. Through performance consultancy, we’re able to highlight what learning solutions we can provide, as well as providing thinking on what is needed for performance across the team/department to be improved/raised, and what individuals/teams/departments can do for themselves.
As a useful frame, systems thinking has been around for decades, and is highly insightful as a way of facilitating higher quality thinking about solution adoption and implementation. If a new product or service is being developed, it makes sense for all parts of the system to be involved through its development cycle, as opposed to traditional waterfall methods of project management where you hand off from one team to another and hope your debrief / handover is effective.
A learning strategy has to take into account the system its working in, and what people are both already doing, and where they need to be influenced. The five components I have outlined in the strategy template, are key in having high quality conversations. When we miss having these kinds of conversations, we result in being order takers of learning solutions, and never really being part of the solution or being strategic. If your learning strategy is focused on operational and tactical solutions, then you’re not likely to be influencing senior leaders because you’re not resolving their actual needs, but low level problems.
The benefit of a learning strategy is that it outlines an ambition for what you want the organisation to achieve through a well-thought out approach. However you develop a learning strategy, it has to be able to describe in some way how it’s going to achieve the organisational objectives. It has to set out its stall for what kind of learning solutions are required, and what the expectations are on the business itself. It has to help people understand that by following the learning strategy, they’re going to be in a better / more progressive place than they were otherwise.
The learning strategy template I’ve designed is free to download as a resource for you to use immediately. It’s a framework to work within, adapt and change as you need. What’s important for me is that L&Ders have a solid starting point. The questions on the template are varied and considered. That’s because a learning strategy cannot and should not be something you devise quickly, in isolation, or without evidence. So if you’re reading some of the questions and thinking “that’s a lot of work”, yes it is, and yes it should be.
