Bridging the Gap: Why You Need to Align Your L&D with Your Business Strategy

I am sure this is a conversation we have all had, whether you are in L&D, or you’re a supplier of learning content:?

• L&D Partner: “Can you help me? I have been asked to source a world-class prospecting course and I have been recommended to speak to you.”?

• Vendor: “That’s great. Can you tell me a little more about what you are trying to achieve?”?

• L&D Partner: “Of course. We have 120 sales reps who need to be better at prospecting and we want a 2-day course to be run by the end of the next quarter. How much will it cost?”?

• Vendor: “Do you have a definition of what you mean by ‘prospecting’? Obviously that word covers a wide area.”?

• L&D Partner: “Well, I was told you had a great prospecting course—I’m not really sure I can tell you more at this stage. Will you please send me a budgetary cost so I can start some internal discussions?”?

There are many conversations taking place similar to this, whether that is for people development or the latest in enablement technology. The driver for this is the classic human emotion that causes us all issues: panic. Now that may sound bold, and you may challenge my assertion that there is panic in the sales world, but just look at the data that is coming out from all the research companies:

• Shrinking pipeline coverage
• Fewer people achieving target?
• Increased churn in sales teams, and
• A general confusion as to what to do?

So, as all human beings do when they panic, we reach out to tactical activities—at least that way we look busy.?

After all, if this is a battle for survival we do not have to be the best, we just need to be better than at least one of our competitors.?

Unsurprisingly, I think we can do better than that.?

It all starts with how we should deal with panic.?

Let’s take the NHS guidance as to what we should do in the case of a panic attack:?

1. Stay where you are, if possible
2. Breathe slowly and deeply
3. Remind yourself that the attack will pass?
4. Focus on positive, peaceful and relaxing images
5. Remember it's not life threatening?

So, what has that got to do with our challenge??

1. Stay where you are, if possible. Do not knee-jerk into doing something reactive.?
2. Breathe slowly and deeply. Take the time to reflect on the reality of the situation. What are we trying to do??
3. Remind yourself that the attack will pass.? You do not need a tactical response. You need to look forward and provide a strategic one.?
4. Focus on positive, peaceful and relaxing images. You know that change takes time and L&D are at the core of delivering change. You can help. Take control.?
5. Remember it's not life threatening.? You are there as the expert in L&D trust your instincts. Success will come your way. Do not let the panic of others drive you to make bad decisions.

How do we achieve all of the above? We align what L&D delivers to the business’s objectives. The best L&D organizations deliver business change by ensuring that the people have the right knowledge, skills and behaviors to drive the activities that will support the outcomes the business is focused on.?

How to align L&D’s activities with your business’s objectives?

1. Start by translating business objectives into actionable outcomes that people can deliver. If the business objective is to grow the business by 30%, then there needs to be a discussion as to what this means in terms of what people do and the outcomes they drive. Is it about finding new business? Is it about growing existing accounts? Is it about increasing margin? These actions need to be identified and agreed upon.
2. Turn these outcomes into competency requirements for your team. They need the following [x] knowledge, skills and behaviors to achieve this, and they will be supported by the following [y] processes and tools.?
3. Identify the current competency levels. Is there a skills/knowledge gap? Or is there an execution gap? This will help you work out if the solution is about initial learning or about ongoing coaching.?
4. Be prepared to continually measure competence to show the link between competent people and achieving business objectives.?

How do you ensure you are aligned??

1. Make the business’s leaders part of the solution. Think of everything as a change program, not a learning program. The aim is to ensure that competent people are doing the right things at the right time to deliver the outcome. This is about behavior and behaviors are driven from the top.??
2. Focus on an agile approach that will allow for easy course correction. Whilst the appropriate knowledge and skills may remain consistent the focus of activities may need to change. A strong coaching program will provide agility, and ensure you remain aligned.?
3. Remember, this is not a quick fix thing; it’s going to require a multi-year effort to see the full impact. The business’s objectives are multi-year so your solution should also be. Incremental improvements should be the target.?

How do you avoid knee-jerk reactions to panic attacks??

1. Consistently refer back to the business’s objectives and the required competencies. If someone is asking you to address an issue that is not aligned to the business’s objectives you need to challenge and find out why. I am not saying don’t help, but firstly, try and understand what the issue is they are trying to address.?
2. Have a clearly articulated strategy as to the required competencies to deliver the business outcomes, and how you are going to develop the people accordingly.?
3. At the risk of overstepping the mark, I would also add that you should have confidence in your plan, so that if someone in sales does knee jerk, you can help identify if there is a correlation between the request and the required competencies.?

The harsh reality is where L&D reacts to panic-driven requests, they behave in the same way as the doctor providing a prescription without any form of examination. As the old saying goes: “prescription without diagnosis may be considered medical malpractice”.?

In my utopian world, the conversation outlined at the beginning should go:?

Before reaching out to a vendor, the conversation between L&D partner and sales leader should be:??

• L&D Partner: Before I start to identify solutions and vendors, can we validate what we are trying to get our sales people to do??

• Sales Leader: I just want them to close more business and that is why I want them to negotiate better because we are giving away too much margin.?

• L&D Partner: I believe that most of our growth is coming from increasing share of wallet and that net new names is not the priority this year.?

• Sales Leader: That’s correct. We have to sell more to new customers and I do not want the sales people just giving away margin by selling on price.?

• L&D Partner: Pardon my naivety, but is the issue about negotiation or about finding more opportunities in existing accounts??

• Sales Leader: Well of course we have to get them to prospect in existing accounts to find more opportunity.?

• L&D Partner: In your opinion, do we have enough pipeline being created from existing accounts?

• Sales Leader: No, it is a real issue. That is why the team is so desperate to close what they have; hence they reduce the price.?

• L&D Partner: If we were to focus on building pipeline by better prospecting in existing accounts, would this have a better long-term impact than talking about negotiation??

• Sales Leader: You make a great point there. I know based on experience that the greater the pipeline coverage we have the less sales people become desperate. Let’s do that.?

Now, here is the updated vendor conversation:?

• L&D Partner: “Can you help me? We require a prospecting program and I have been recommended to speak to you.”?

• Vendor: “That’s great. Can you tell me a little more about what you are trying to achieve?”?

• L&D Partner: “Of course. We have identified that in order to achieve our growth targets we have to increase the share of wallet in existing clients, and to a lesser extent identify net new names. The initial program is to increase Share of Wallet whilst we review our lead generation process and internally agree what new business prospecting really looks like for us,”?

• Vendor: “That is really clear, Can we meet up to discuss the detail of what you are trying to achieve so we can agree the specific requirements? Ideally, it would be great if we include your sales leader in this discussion.”?

• L&D Partner: “I have my Sales Partner involved already and they will be there. Can we meet up next week, say Thursday at 16:00, via Teams?”?

• Vendor: “Awesome I will send out an invite.”?

If this goes as I would hope, now L&D will deliver a business solution that can show demonstrable value: More effective prospecting, leading to increased pipeline coverage allowing the sales people to focus on increasing share-of-wallet without resorting to buying the business.