LEARN Recap: 3 Critical Components for a Successful L&D Program

Learning and development (L&D) has been all the rage since workers’ attitudes shifted following the pandemic. Forty-nine percent of companies planned to increase their L&D budgets in 2022, compared to 41 percent in 2021.

But even with an unpredictable future and industry shifts, L&D should still be a priority for your organization if you want to stay competitive in an ever-evolving market. 

In our first-ever virtual summit, WorkRamp LEARN, WorkRamp’s Instructional Design Manager, Jen Scopo, shared three critical components for L&D teams to succeed in 2023 and beyond. 

Create engaging content

Your learning content must be engaging to keep team members focused. This means using different eLearning content formats like videos, webinars, quizzes, flashcards, and more to appeal to different learning styles. 

Where possible, look for ways to incorporate intentional interaction and social learning. For example:

• Have employees take turns teaching each other to boost retention
• Create a Slack channel where team members can share and ask questions about what they’re learning
• Host knowledge-sharing sessions

You can also make eLearning content engaging by:

• Keeping lessons short: between 3- to 5-minutes
• Breaking up longer sessions into smaller pieces
• Using video
• Adding gamification features like point systems and interactive leaderboards

Creating engaging content can be challenging, especially for rapidly growing teams. With WorkRamp Content, you can combine internal resources with off-the-shelf content from subject matter experts. Employees can learn from relevant industry- and role-based content from industry leaders, and you can use templates to create training content vs. building learning materials from scratch. 

Get company buy-in

A successful L&D program requires adequate resources and funding, so your leadership team must understand the value of learning and development initiatives.

Your leadership team and managers must be sold on the value of your L&D program and understand its impact on the organization. Often, getting buy-in can be challenging, and Jen notes that L&D teams need to communicate the value of learning to the rest of the organization.

“Learning is one of those things that’s quickly pushed to the side when the focus has to turn towards efficiency,” she says. “So it’s your responsibility to ensure you have a seat at the right tables and know how to express the value of your programs.”

Measure the ROI

You can’t understand how impactful your program is if you don’t have a way to measure and track learner adoption, progress, and how your initiatives tie back to overall business goals. 

Some examples of ways to track program effectiveness include:

• Tie learning back to decreased ramp time for sales
• Show how internal mobility has increased due to your programs
• Track employee turnover and retention rates

According to the 2022 Workplace Learning Report, these are the top three ways organizations measure the impact of skill-building programs:

1. Qualitative feedback from employees using online courses
2. Employee engagement survey scores
3. Manager feedback

Consider these recommendations, then decide which metrics to track based on business goals and learning objectives. 

L&D is alive and well in 2023, and vital to continue to upskill and reskill your team members and invest in their continued success. 

Looking for more actionable tips and insights from People, Revenue, and Customer Success leaders? Don’t miss WorkRamp LEARN Spring, March 23rd at 9 am PT. Get your free ticket!