Levelling up to Strategic Partnership: Empowering the Learning Function within Organisations

As the world of work continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace, organisations are placing greater emphasis on the importance of learning and development to drive performance and innovation. However, many learning functions struggle to move beyond the traditional role of order takers, creating learning content that is disconnected from the broader strategic objectives of the organisation or simply missing the mark in terms of delivering impact. They wonder why they are not offered a seat at the table, when the true reason is that seat must be earned through demonstration of actual business value.

Empower Internal Learning Functions

At Emergent Learning, we empower learning functions to become true partners of the business and working collaboratively to identify and document the measurable business benefits of learning solutions in order to demonstrate that learning is not just an isolated activity or band aid solution, but rather a critical enabler of business success.

Aligning with Strategic Objectives

Our approach is founded on the EMERGE framework, which aligns learning with the broader strategic objectives of the organisation. This involves understanding the overarching business goals and barriers and working with key stakeholders to develop learning strategies that directly uplift the capability of an organisation to achieve its goals. By building a case that documents the real business impact of a learning intervention, we not only garner support but also maximise its value and outcomes.

Creating Relevant and Context-Specific Learning

One key element of our approach is a focus on creating learning that is highly relevant to the learner's job role and the broader business context. Learners are more likely to engage with learning that is directly applicable to their day-to-day work, and contextual relevance will also enhance the value and impact for the organisation.

Collaborating with Subject Matter Experts

To achieve this, we work with subject matter experts across the business to gain a deep understanding of the skills, knowledge and behaviours required to drive success in different roles. We then develop learning that is tailored to the needs of each role, ensuring that learners have the skills and knowledge they need to perform at their best and contribute to the broader success of the organisation.

Defining and Measuring Success

Another important element of our approach is a focus on measuring the impact of learning. We recognise that learning is only valuable if it delivers tangible benefits to the organisation, so we work with our clients to define clear success metrics to track the impact of learning over time. This supports a continuous improvement cycle of refining and improving our learning solutions.

Overall, our approach is founded on the belief that learning can and should be a strategic enabler of business success. By empowering learning functions to partner with the broader business and align learning with strategic objectives, we can help organisations drive performance and innovation at all levels of the business.

If you're interested in learning more about our approach, please don't hesitate to get in touch.