Most Organizations Need to Improve "Ineffective" Strategies
Toronto (CA), September 2016 - Most businesses question the effectiveness of their learning-and-development (L&D) strategies in actually meeting business goals according to a new study by Brandon Hall Group (BHG) on the current state of L&D. The report, State of Learning and Development 2016: Ready to Evolve, surveyed nearly 500 small, medium, and large organizations in 22 countries and across 35 industries to develop a clear picture on the strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and opportunities for businesses from an L&D perspective.
Among its key findings, the report reveals that organizations around the globe are struggling when it comes to developing a robust L&D strategy that has a genuine impact on business performance. In addition to finding that two thirds of companies doubt the actual effectiveness of their L&D strategies, the study also reveals that nearly 15 per cent of businesses surveyed have no L&D strategy to speak of at all.
"This challenge leaves many companies without the guidance necessary to design, develop, and deliver effective learning programs that boost not only individual performance, but organizational performance as well," David Wentworth, the report’s author and Principal Learning Analyst with BHG, writes in the document.
In its sweeping analysis of L&D trends in 2016, the report also covers
- what businesses consider to be the most critical learning initiatives for achieving business goals
- what actions and approaches high-performing organizations take to build the best, most effective learning programs
- a lack of confidence among a majority of companies that their learning strategies are effective
- how blended-learning approaches consistently achieve better learning and business outcomes for organizations
- why 93% of organizations view improving organizational performance as the most critical learning outcome for their business - and why so many fail to link learning and business objectives.
"For us the report provides a strong validation of what we have been trying to communicate all along, and what we have tried to embed into our offering: that an effective, robust learning-and-development plan of attack needs to incorporate both formal and informal learning approaches that go above and beyond traditional classroom-based learning and truly engage learners for long-term results," says Docebo CEO and Founder Claudio Erba.
Additionally, the report covers the fact that most companies have learning strategies that are simply ineffective at delivering an actual impact on business performance. "For these companies, a lot of the time, money, and energy spent designing and delivering learning is for nothing," the report’s author explains. "As organizations continue to struggle with determining the ROI for learning, this is a troubling sign."
