7 Reasons Learning & Development is Not Considered Strategic

1. One of the most powerful ways to move learning and development (L&D) from tactical to strategic is removing the short term focus that often accompanies investment of resources in learning. If your organisation approaches learning from a purely compliance based approach, then you are likely reacting to requirements to meet legislative, professional and other compliance requirements. These are necessary but if they are the primary focus then other longer term benefits of learning and development such as improved competitiveness, productivity, engagement, retention and other benefits are unlikely to be achieved.
2. A ‘one size fits all’ model is applied to learning and development in the organisation. There is little or no regard for different role based or individual learning needs. This may be motivated for different reasons, one being an egalitarian approach with lack of focus on how different roles contribute in different ways and degrees to the organisation’s success.
3. It has been my experience that some senior leaders of organisations do not understand the strategic value of L&D. This lack of understanding is often compounded by a perception that L&D is a cost rather than an investment. The L&D function is not directly generating revenue so in some mindsets this automatically relegates L&D to a secondary status to other business drivers.
4. Smaller organisations may struggle to allocate resources to L&D and this may perpetuate a perception that L&D is a luxury as opposed to a necessity to long term competitive sustainability. I have worked with many small to medium businesses that have adapted to resource constraints by applying some innovation to their approach to learning and development.
5. An organisation’s culture will always impact the viability of learning and development either in whole or part. There are workplace cultures that may have factors contributing to a lack of focus on L&D, these can include a transient workforce, no allocation of L&D responsibilities, perspectives of business ownership, among others. There are plenty of war stories among learning and development professionals fighting cultural impediments to advancing L&D and most do not have happy endings.
6. Demonstrating return on investment in learning and development can be a bit more problematic that with other business inputs. In some ways this barrier to lifting L&D to a strategic level is related to all of the factors I have listed here. If you are working in an organisation that lacks or refuses to accept a broader perspective on investment returns outside of dollars and cents, you are likely facing serious headwinds. Some of the benefits from L&D do not suddenly appear at the end of a project so are less easy to measure in the short term.
7. Siloed organisations are a swamp for L&D professionals. If learning and development is not integrated in the broader organisation it will struggle to achieve and sustain relevance in the organisation’s strategy.

These are just 7 impediments to learning and development achieving strategic importance and influence in an organisation. There are others and I would welcome some ideas and experiences that can contribute to my work assisting leaders and organisations drive strategy execution with a highly effective learning and development operation.