Aligning Learning to Business Goals - Leveraging a Learning Management System

Aligning learning to business goals is L&D’s top focus area for the second year in a row in 2024

According to the LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report 2024, aligning learning to business goals continues to be a top priority. Leveraging a Learning Management System that makes those direct connections between learning and business goals will:

• expedite that process of learning and business goal alignment more efficiently and effectively.
• provide more positive benefits for your organisation and your employees.

Business Goals through the filter of team objectives

Business goals provide direction and focus to make informed decisions and ensure ongoing growth and success.? Without business goals, most businesses and organisations will eventually fail.? Business goals belong to the entire organisation.

Business goals are typically developed through a strategic planning process and are influenced by numerous stakeholders within an organisation, such as the executive team, board of directors, managers, shareholders and employees.

The first step in aligning learning to business goals is for the goals to be visible throughout the organisation.

Business goals belong to the entire organisation. L&D professionals should have a strategic role in the process of defining the business goals.

Some common strategic business goals may include:

In order for businesses to achieve their goals, employees need to have clear visibility of the business goals and know what they need to do to achieve them.? Reaching your business goals is a team effort and team objectives play a critical role in translating broader business goals into specific, actionable, and measurable tasks.

Team objectives are fundamental in ensuring that the strategic vision of an organisation is implemented effectively on the ground, making sure that every team’s efforts are coordinated and contribute positively to the organisation’s success.

Here is an example of one of the business goals, “Achieve operational excellence and efficiency” with some sample team objectives and the typical responsible teams in an organisation:

This cascading approach provides employees visibility of how their team objectives contribute to the business goals.? Some teams may have shared objectives as in the example above.

The next step is for the teams to identify the learning, projects or knowledge-sharing activities to meet those team objectives.?

L&D professionals can have meaningful conversations with team managers about the learning needed to help their team members achieve the team objectives.? Rather than directing all of the learning required, it is an opportunity for L&D professional to enable team managers to be responsible for creating, delivering and monitoring the learning with their team members.? ?L&D departments that empower team managers to take an active role in the learning required to achieve team objectives strengthen the alignment of learning to business goals.? ?Of course, there are learning programs and services that are the responsibility of L&D departments, which are usually aligned their own L&D team objectives.

By mapping the relationships from business goals to team objectives and teams and then to the learning or knowledge-sharing, there is the alignment of learning to business goals.

Here is an example of the mapping of a New Managers Team showing the progress to one team objective and the connected learning courses and modules.

The process of alignment is straightforward, but not without effort. Acknowledging the positive impacts to the business and to employees highlights the value of aligning learning to business goals. These positive impacts make that effort worthwhile.

The Positive Impacts of Aligning Learning to Business Goals

There are positive impacts for employees and organisations when learning is aligned to business goals.

Here are three positive impacts for employees when they can see the direct link of their learning activities to business goals within an LMS:

• Increased Engagement and Motivation: When employees understand how their learning and development efforts align with the organisation’s goals, they are more likely to be engaged and motivated. This understanding fosters a sense of purpose and can make learning activities feel more relevant and rewarding.
• Greater Job Satisfaction: Knowing that their skills and knowledge contribute directly to the success of the business will increase job satisfaction. Employees who see a clear link between their learning and the organisation’s achievements are more likely to feel valued and part of the team.
• Enhanced Career Development: Visibility into how specific learning objectives tie into broader business goals can help employees see the potential for personal growth and career advancement within the company. This can lead to increased investment in their own development and enthusiasm for taking on new challenges.

Here are three positive impacts for organisations when there is a direct link between learning and business goals:

• Improved Alignment of Efforts: When employees understand the business goals, they can better align their learning and daily activities towards these objectives. This alignment ensures that efforts across the organisation are cohesive and strategically focused, leading to more efficient and effective achievement of goals.
• Enhanced Organisational Agility: With a workforce that understands and is trained in key areas aligned with business objectives, organisations can adapt more quickly to changes in the market or industry. Employees who are well-informed and aligned with company goals can help the organisation pivot more effectively when necessary.
• Stronger Culture of Continuous Improvement: When the connection between learning and business outcomes is clear, it can foster a culture that values continuous improvement and lifelong learning. This can lead to ongoing enhancements in processes, products, and services, driven by a workforce that is continually developing relevant skills and knowledge.

In order to achieve these positive impacts, organisations need to ensure that all employees are informed and understand the organisation’s business goals and their specific team objectives and how it relates to learning they undertake.? This visibility of the connections between business goals, team objectives and learning provides clarity and enhances alignment, increases engagement, and drives better results across the organisation.

That is where the right LMS will leverage these benefits of aligning learning to business goals:

• an LMS that shows the direct links from business goals to team objectives and from the team to the required learning or knowledge-sharing activities
• an LMS that enable team managers or subject matter experts to create and deliver the learning and coaching

Leveraging an LMS that aligns learning to business goals

Here are just a few of the ways you can leverage an LMS that aligns learning to business goals and team objectives:

1. An LMS to hold or be the repository for business goals, team objectives, teams and learning/knowledge sharing – visible to all employees.
2. An LMS to deliver learning and knowledge sharing aligned to business goals.
3. The LMS to provide real-time analytics and reporting of the alignment of learning to business goals.
4. The LMS to facilitate team collaboration and coaching spaces to empower team managers and subject matter experts to align learning to the team objectives that lead to the business goals.

By aligning learning to business goals directly within an LMS, organisations can enhance employee engagement and productivity that will lead to an overall organisational success. Here is more information on this process.

I would love to hear your examples and scenarios of how you are aligning learning to team objectives and business goals. ?