Being a strategic partner to the business

- Study after study shows that learning is a key factor in increasing employee engagement as well as attracting and retaining top talent. Organizations that succeed have cultures that encourage and empower every individual to learn from their experiences and grow in their mastery of skills. But the vital role of L&D can be diluted if it's not set up correctly at the beginning. It's very common that in the evolution of organizations that the HR function is brought in first. After all, once the founders hire a few employees, there's a real and pressing need to address compensation and benefits, payroll, and adhere to the ever growing complexity of employment law. And because one of HR's top priorities is risk mitigation, learning often first derives in the form of compliance training. It's followed shortly by some kind of management training, again, to address the problems that have arisen by the actions of some inept managers. If you are not intentional about shifting the role of learning and development to be a strategic partner, it can remain in the service of risk mitigation which is important but ultimately not in the long-term interest of the success of your organization. It's your job to make sure that the learning function takes the lead on maximizing the potential of your talent. Initiate your partnership with leaders and HR professionals, set up the meetings and ask great consulting questions, take a deep dive into what the various functions need and the current state of the employee skills, abilities, and attitudes, be sure you spend time identifying what ideal state looks like too. Explore what the top performers are doing that sets them apart from the rest. As you have these meetings, map your findings to the learning matrix I created, adding notes for current and ideal states. This will give you a very real picture of what is needed and will help you prioritize your learning initiatives. It will also help you engage in meaningful conversations about talent acquisition, management, and development. This becomes the roadmap for programs for your high-potential talent, also called HiPos as well as every employee group and function. It also plays a key role in succession planning, making sure that every vital employee is backed up by a viable successor who's being prepared to step in when needed. This learning strategy or roadmap is something you'll want to share wildly with key stakeholders as it will help you gain support and resources. Over time, you want to continue to drive the execution of your learning strategy, holding yourself accountable for delivering the results that matter in your organization.