Managing Up in L&D

L&D Spotlight

In this episode, we look at how L&D can showcase its value in the business and speak to decision-making stakeholders.
Guest: Lavinia Mehedintu, People Experience Manager at eMAG and co-founder and curator of Offbeat.
Highlights:
* The L&D team typically sits between two business environment extremes. One side is when L&D is entirely disconnected from the business's objectives and metrics. The other one is when L&D is a true business partner and actively contributes to improving these metrics.
* L&D should take specific action to measure the impact and effectiveness of learning programs and find out ways to promote these positive results.
* L&D can invest time and effort into getting closer to the business, understand the language, immerse itself in the operational departments to understand their context.
* Having a separate L&D thread from business objectives like revenue streams or cost optimization is the single most negatively impactful activity for L&D's image.
* Showcasing L&D value to the business is a gradual, slow process, as it has to do with other stakeholders' behavior and perception change - not different from the process of learning itself.
* An excellent L&D professional is brave and assertive in promoting the value of their team and knowledge.
* The essential factor that L&D brings is the deep knowledge and understanding of adult learning principles. L&D is the expert here, and this is where it can make the most significant contribution.
* Doing a premortem analysis before launching a new learning program or technology is the best way to prepare for a conversation with decision-making stakeholders.
* L&Ds must keep their consultant hat on when speaking to business stakeholders, making sure they consistently ask the right questions, then measure the impact of L&D programs and feed it back to the business.
Reasons why the business might not fully understand the value of L&D:
- L&D is not trying enough to prove value by showcasing good examples or metrics to the business.
- L&D is not speaking the business language and does not have common points on which to relate to the business.
- The business does not have a formal learning culture and only relies on informal learning interactions.
To join the conversation or get in touch, reach out to Liz Stefan on LinkedIn or email liz[at]niftylearning.io.