6 Ways Custom Learning Helps Align Business Strategies With Learning Initiatives
Let us see how custom learning helps in aligning personal and professional development with organizational objectives.
- It prioritizes learning through setting up long-term business objectives.
It is only when the employees have a clear understanding of the business objectives that custom learning can help in achieving the overall business goals. In this scenario, the Learning and Development team should work closely with the Business Managers to understand performance-related or skill-related gaps and accordingly bridge it by suggesting effective custom learning solutions. Furthermore, it not only helps in improving the learning impact, but at the same time also adapts to the changing business priorities. - It helps in the calculation of the Return on Investment (ROI).
The objective of every learning activity should be to add real value to the business. The organizations that are heavily inclined towards Learning and Development always calculate the returns on investment from their learning programs and more than often go beyond their means to calculate the actual impact it made to the bottom line. This also gives a clear picture to the management as to how learning is allied with their business objectives and plans and accordingly, gives a push to the learning efforts. - It always focuses on the end results.
It is absolutely necessary for the Learning and Development function to be clear of the specific learning needs and goals of the organization. Therefore, all custom learning solutions designed must bear the end business results in mind. The topmost learning organizations set up business goals for learning interventions and then measure if the goals have effectively been achieved post the learning activities being performed. Further, they also ensure that the skills developed post these learning interventions have been effective put to use during the course of work. - It is never an isolated activity.
Custom learning never takes place in isolation in corporate houses. The Learning and Development team of an organization often makes it a priority to integrate learning activities within the wider talent and performance strategy. In these organizations, learning is closely and carefully enmeshed with proper succession planning, active recruitment drives and successful initiatives for performance management. - It ensures that employees are able to establish a learning culture.
It is essential for the learning to be embedded into the employees’ workflow. It helps to develop a learning culture. They should have the answer to this vital question: “What’s in it for me?” It is very important for the employees to realize how their learning would support the performance of the organization and how their individual performance would contribute to the overall success of the business. - Support from the management serves as icing on the cake.
Proactive support from the senior management in the form of ongoing commitment towards varied learning initiatives serve as a great boost for the employees as well as themselves. The managers have the capacity to influence and motivate the employees much more than what the top learning professionals in the organization can do. Hence, if managers embrace Learning and Development initiatives, the organization can witness a significant increase in the reach as well as impact.
To Sum Up
The modern organizations now successfully implement learning with a thorough understanding of what is important for the business. They can clearly interpret how custom learning solutions can add greater value to their organizations and as a result increase the business value. And it is needless to say that the entire value of the organization increases manifold with a set of well-defined business goals.
