Thought Leadership
We're here to transform how you approach HR solutions, ensuring your organisation is always future-fit and ready to tackle whatever challenges come your way.
A little over two weeks ago, it was a privilege to attend the Learning & Development Symposium with so many L&D experts, thought leaders, and innovators across so many different industries.
We’re in a unique position at Sprouta. As a sponsor, we love attending frontier events like these to meet potential solution partners, connect with our amazing client community, and take a deeper look at the challenges and opportunities across the board.
As we listened to the conversations and shared experiences, three key observations emerged that we see are currently shaping the future of L&D. We want to take a moment to unpack them. These insights can help you, as a Chief People Officer or HR Leader, stay ahead as workplace learning undergoes some pretty significant transformation.
Observation One - L&D Teams Have to Do More with Less
We’re hearing it again and again across every aspect of organisational life—do more with less. L&D teams are no exception, facing the challenge of delivering impactful learning experiences with leaner teams and tighter budgets. However, necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention, and this pressure drives innovation in how we approach learning.
One of the most promising trends is emphasising "learning in the flow of work." Instead of pulling employees away from their tasks for training, L&D specialists are finding creative ways to embed learning moments into everyday work processes. This approach maximises productivity and increases motivation and the relevance and retention of new skills.
Adaptive learning is also key here, with a shift from a linear approach (time-boxed) to a learner receiving personalised content based on their proficiency.
Technology is playing a crucial role in this shift. We know that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is emerging as a game-changer, helping to design learner-specific content, map skills across the organisation, and provide adaptive learning experiences. We're also seeing increased interest in immersive technologies like Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). Our incredible partner, Start Beyond, is at the forefront of this exciting technology, providing high-impact immersive training experiences in a safe, controlled environment which increases speed to proficiency.
Another strategy gaining traction is strategic outsourcing. Many organisations are re-evaluating what can be effectively managed by external partners, allowing internal teams to focus on core strategic initiatives. We always advise our client community that factors like time, quality, budget, and internal capacity all come into play when considering outsourcing.
As CPOs and HR leaders, you can support your L&D teams in doing more with less by:
1. Encouraging the integration of learning into daily workflows
2. Investing in AI and immersive learning technologies
3. Exploring external partnering to leverage deep expertise
4. Implementing adaptive learning systems that personalise the learning experience
Observation Two - L&D Needs to Be Elevated Within the Organisation
While there's widespread agreement that learning is crucial for organisational success, many L&D practitioners still struggle to secure a seat at the strategic table. The symposium highlighted the need for L&D to be a critical driver of organisational resilience and success.
A key theme that emerged was the concept of L&D as a "co-pilot" for organisational success. This means moving beyond traditional learning roles and becoming true strategic partners in shaping your organisation's future. To achieve this, L&D need to align closely with the overall business strategy and understand the priorities of the C-suite. In other words, “Care about what your CEO cares about.”
One powerful way to elevate L&D's position is to focus on capability building for strategy execution. By identifying the skills needed to execute your organisation's strategy and developing programs to build those capabilities, L&D can demonstrate its direct impact on business outcomes.
We’re seeing Strategic Workforce Planning coming into its own here, and our strategic partner eQ8 is leading the way as the only dedicated end-to-end platform for strategic workforce planning so organisations can prepare their workforce for any future.
As CPOs and HR Leaders, you can help elevate the role of L&D by:
1. Involving L&D leaders in strategic planning discussions
2. Encouraging L&D to align its initiatives with strategy execution and key business metrics
3. Supporting L&D in building relationships with other business leaders
4. Advocating for L&D's role in building critical organisational capabilities
Observation Three - There is Huge Value in Community and collective problem solving
The symposium itself was a testament to the power of community in the L&D world.
Coming together to share experiences and challenges creates an incredibly rich environment for learning and innovation. There's real value in connecting with people who face similar challenges. It helps to share knowledge and get different perspectives on common problems. This is a core tenant of the work we do here at Sprouta.
When you talk to people who are also going through the same thing, competition fades into the background, and instead, you focus entirely on “falling in love with the problem” and co-building skills for the future.
This is also where we see the old adage, “A Problem Shared is a problem halved”. We see huge value in creating a space that gives everybody an opportunity to share their challenges and get different perspectives and collective wisdom.
As CPOs and HR Leaders, you can harness the power of community by:
1. Creating platforms for knowledge sharing within your organisation
2. Encouraging cross-departmental collaboration on learning initiatives
3. Supporting employee-led learning initiatives
4. Lean on your external partners, attend industry events and forums to stay connected with L&D trends
As we wrestle with the impact of this new frontier, remember the goal remains the same. Build an agile, skilled workforce ready to tackle tomorrow's challenges.
By embracing these trends – doing more with less, elevating L&D's strategic role, and harnessing the power of community – you can position your organisation at the forefront of learning innovation.
Transforming workforces is complicated. Choosing Sprouta mitigates your risks, as we leverage our wealth of experience, diverse perspectives and expertise to navigate clients towards optimal solutions ensuring better performance and outcomes.
And as always, we’re here to help. Whether it’s a problem-centred learning challenge you need to solve or you’re ready to push the status quo – our Sprouta Ecosystem is ready and waiting for you.
Sprouta is the Future at Work. We make tomorrow’s solution’s todays’ business.
Reach out today if you want to know more. Collaboration is key so here’s to shaping the Future at Work, together!