6 Strategies of Building Partnerships for L&D Professionals

One of the main challenges of L&D practitioners is to get the buy-in of senior management and other departments on the learning initiatives planned for the organization. We have heard the cliché that HR and L&D are strategic partners to the business, but in practice, they don’t necessarily translate.

One way of looking at this is that it is the fault of the C-level for not prioritizing the organizational learning function. Maybe. Another opinion argues that the HR and L&D has to earn their place to be seen as a strategic partner to the business.

We can play this blame game forever but L&D needs to start somewhere that is within its control. That is to take the proactive approach of building partnership with its stakeholders. Here are 6 strategies that have been used and gathered from other practitioners that can help nudge the buy-in from stakeholders in taking L&D seriously.

1) Communicate the business value of learning.

This means asking a very honest question: “How does this learning outcome relate to the business objective?” L&D is no amateur when it comes to writing objective statements and articulating the end goal of learning. But who cares how well it is articulated if they don’t serve the business outcome. Bridging that gap is vital. Once the learning outcome directly relates to business goals, communicate this to the businesses. Show them how the learning is targeted to their day-to-day operation success.

2) Building relationships with business units

Strong relationships with stakeholders across departments and levels can ease the acceptance. Things happen smoothly when we gain trust. Rapport is the key, and the initiative should come from the one who is ‘selling’. Take time to understand the business. Sit through their department meetings to just learn their jargon and lingo. Ask them why some challenges happen, why some individuals are better and what they expect their team to do.???

3) Speak in data and evidence

The language of senior management is numbers. These can be financial or other metrics related to productivity. Use data and metrics to demonstrate the impact of learning and development programs, and provide evidence of how they have helped to improve performance, productivity, and business results. This may require the additional step of tracking based on available data such as attendance records, medical, employee retention, cost of wastage, number of complaints or rejects, etc. Later see if there are correlations versus control groups. This will also give insights into the business operation and make us understand the business better.?

4) Listen and consult

L&D is the internal consultant to the business. Be open to feedback and listen to their challenges in embarking on L&D initiatives. If necessary adapt learning initiatives to meet the specific needs of different departments and stakeholders. We may need to break old molds to cast a new approach. Just because we have an LMS, don’t expect people to log in, let alone learn.??

5) Partner with trusted learning vendors

Gone are the days of asking for programs based on titles. It is crucial to find vendors that are willing to listen and provide customized approaches. Licensed programs are still good but ensure that they fit into the scheme of the organization and most importantly, business outcome. Share the business challenges with trusted partners and ask them how will their solution bridge their performance gap. Instead of throwing words like ROI which doesn’t mean much if you don’t understand your business; ask how can the improvement be measured. Communicate this to the stakeholder and work as a team.

6) Explore learning innovation

Get educated on what is latest and feasible. There are modern innovative and engaging learning methods developed within the space of microlearning, gamification, virtual reality, augmented reality, and simulations to make learning more engaging and effective for employees.

These are just a few ideas that will move L&D into a position of business importance. We may not be fully successful in all these 6 steps but attempting them will definitely place L&D in a better place.?