If your company is going to rise above the competition in today’s turbulent world of work landscape, it’s time to invest in your next learning and development program. It’s time to stop with the excuses, identify where you could reap the most benefit, and add urgency to creating a culture of learning for ultimate success.
In the final part of our Designing Learning & Development Programs for Impact – Best Practices, Tips, & Tricks Blog Series, we’re wrapping it all up for you. Where you need to start, all the way through to how you create lasting change for your organization.
L&D Program Pre-Planning
Ideation of a learning and development program is always exciting. The opportunities to develop your team are endless, and you can customize a program that can truly elevate your business to the next level.
Here are the steps you must take in this phase to be successful:
- Pitch & nurture the management team – their buy-in is the most important step to take in the beginning
- Do a skills gap analysis to see where learning and development could be most powerful
- Identify business goals that can be impacted by learning and development
- Design objectives, & KPIs for the program to fulfill those business goals
- Choose a program format (self-directed learning, coaching/mentoring, group coaching)
- Create a detailed strategy for execution
- Choose your pilot participants
- Assemble your team of L&D champions
- Create staffing plans, timelines, and logistics to fully support your participants and their teams while they invest this time
This is a simplified version that can take weeks to months depending on the resources you have at hand. Just as an example, typically this process will take 2-6 weeks when working with our team depending on the layers of the organization. Whereas businesses that go at it alone take much longer to actually strategize and implement!
To make this stage easier, NimblyWise offers Talent Development Strategy Deep Dives to help management design a path forward with data-driven actions. It’s a lot of work, time, and energy, and this seamless process takes you from data collection to actionable insights with minimal effort on the part of the organization!
L&D Program Execution
Next up, the activation phase. The execution that will allow you to see all of your hard work and foundation building surge into action.
- Offer accountability & check-in’s weekly
- Ensure proper application through coaching
The important thing to remember is that these programs aren’t static. They need to be engaging, ever evolving, and inspirational. It’s up to managers and coaches to keep that spirit alive while employees work through their challenges for ultimate growth. Providing support throughout this chapter is paramount!
Post-L&D Program Management
Too often we see organizations without a follow-up strategy. It’s proven that in order for our skills to become solid, it takes repetition and follow-through. This is especially true of programs like this. You want to analyze what worked, what didn’t work, create a plan for the next roll-out, but you can’t forget to ensure you’re supporting those participants who have just completed this transformational experience and ensure they’re applying what they’ve learned long-term.
- Analyze the metrics
- Create a strategy for the next roll-out
- Offer monthly check-ins with coaches or managers to ensure long-term success
One of our NimblyWise Coaches, Leslie Mizerak emphasizes, “The sustaining program is just as important than the program itself, whether on-going coaching, refreshers, or mind-ticklers.”
Your investment is important. Ensuring that your strategy is solid and well thought out is the first step to organizational transformation!
P.S. Missed any part of our Designing Learning & Development Programs for Impact – Best Practices, Tips, & Tricks Blog Series? Find them here for extra detail on each step outlined in this wrap-up!
Part One: Potential for Impact | Part Two: Laying the Foundation | Part Three: Choosing Pilot Participants | Part Four: Management Buy In
Let NimblyWise Help Guide Your Team to a More Profitable Future with Personalized Employee Development Solutions
When it comes to effective learning and development programs, there is so much time, effort, research, and testing required to work out the kinks and figure out what really works. You don’t have to undertake such a large investment of resources blindly on your own. At NimblyWise, we’ve spent years developing customizable learning and development programs that are data-driven, scientifically backed, and expert-led. Our real-time learning framework infuses the top soft skills needed to excel in today’s world of work and the programs are ready to roll out, to reduce the legwork needed on your side.
Let’s chat about how we can help your company and people grow. Schedule a time today!
