From onboarding to upskilling, providing employees learning and development opportunities has never been more important.
By Debbie Bolla
Learning and development (L&D) programs remain an important attraction asset for organizations today. In fact, according to LinkedIn’s 2024 Workplace Learning Report, seven in 10 people say learning improves their sense of connection to their organization and eight in 10 people say learning adds purpose to their work. Becky Wallace, head of people at LearnUpon, says their L&D initiatives always receive high marks on the company’s annual employee engagement survey. She explains that there have been notable improvements in impact and satisfaction due to increased role-specific development opportunities and the engaging on-demand content on the company’s LMS and LinkedIn Learning library.
This is just one example of LearnUpon’s thought-out strategy around L&D—one that integrates business goals and HR strategy. “It’s essential to ensure that business goals drive the direction of your L&D efforts. Attempting to cover a broad range of topics without focus often diminishes the impact of L&D initiatives,” Wallace explains. “Instead, allowing business goals to structure and guide your work provides a clear path for execution. This alignment ensures that the L&D strategy is purpose-driven and results-oriented.”
She says that LearnUpon has a results strategy that specifically maps out how learning activities contribute to achieving business outcomes. Clearly identifying the results that drive success will help show which programming is both relevant and impactful. In the last three years, the organization has put a strong focus on designing an L&D foundation built on sales training, manager development, and skills training. They also have implemented a new hire onboarding program that’s a mix of live sessions and on-demand e-learning.
“With these basics now in place, our current focus is on scaling our efforts and delivering more targeted learning experiences to meet the evolving needs of our workforce,” Wallace notes.
Helping with these new efforts is AI. “Our employees seek relevant and targeted training that aligns with their roles, career goals, and current capabilities. However, managers often struggle to find the time to develop personalized plans with their team members, so we’re currently testing AI to help us create personalized learning plans at scale, and the initial results have been promising,” she explains. “We are focusing on how we can automate time-consuming processes with AI, enabling us to dedicate more time to engaging directly with our learners.”
Another area of importance is upskilling employees. The company designed a global framework around the company’s three values.
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Act Like an Owner
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Deliver Quality
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Lead with Curiosity
Within each of the three values are three competencies that are considered critical to all roles. For example, under “Act like an Owner,” the competencies are accountability, initiative, and personal development. Content that supports growth in these areas is available on demand through LinkedIn Learning on the company’s LMS.
Upskilling continues to be a priority for many organizations. It’s one of the top five areas of focus for L&D in 2024, according to LinkedIn’s report, alongside aligning learning programs to business goals; creating a culture of learning; helping employees develop their careers; and improving employee retention.
The following is a list of providers that can help organizations looking to build or expand their L&D offerings.
Absorb
www.absorblms.com
Services: Learning management software, online courses, instructor-led training, dashboards, reporting and analytics.
AllenComm
www.allencomm.com
Services: Instructor-led and virtual training, e-learning, gamification, leadership training, and sales enablement.
Atlantic Training
https://www.atlantictraining.com
Services: Instructor-led and virtual training, e-learning, gamification, leadership training, and sales enablement.
Brainier
www.brainier.com
Services: Enterprise learning platform, e-learning, reporting and analytics, personalization, and video coaching.
Cornerstone OnDemand
www.cornerstoneondemand.com
Services: Learning management software; seamless connection between recruiting, learning, performance, and native talent management solutions; customized learning strategies; analytics and predictive insights; and curated content.
CrossKnowledge
www.crossknowledge.com
Services: Learning experience platform, learning and APIs, mobile learning, e-learning, and analytics and reporting.
Docebo
www.docebo.com
Services: Learning management system, mobile learning, social learning, and analytics and reporting.
D2L
www.d2l.com
Services: Customized learning platform; customer, employee, and partner training; and analytics and reporting.
ELB Learning
www.elblearning.com
Services: Learning strategy, custom learning, gamification, virtual reality, and authoring tools.
eloomi, a Dayforce company
https://eloomi.com/
Services: Learning management system, instructor-led learning, custom learning, content curation, reporting and analytics, upskilling and reskilling, and employee communication.
ETU
www.etu.co
Services: Immersive simulations, strategic advisory services, and measurement and analysis of data.
ExpertusONE
Expertusone.com
Services: Learning management system, mobile and e-learning, gamification, reporting and analytics, certification, and custom learning.
GP Strategies Corporation
www.gpstrategies.com
Services: Content curation and design, DEI, enterprise technology adoption, leadership development, and technical training.
Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning
www.harvardbusiness.org
Services: On-demand personalized learning, cohort-based, live virtual learning, onsite sessions, flexible on-demand digital platforms, and leadership development.
Institute for Mindful Leadership
instituteformindfulleadership.org
Services: Learning management system, HRIS, reporting and analytics, employee lifecycle management, e-learning, custom learning, content curation, and gamification.
Kallidus
https://www.kallidus.com
Services: Learning management system, HRIS, reporting and analytics, employee lifecycle management, e-learning, custom learning, content curation, and gamification.
Kineo
https://kineo.com/en-us
Services: Learning management system, e-learning, custom learning, learning and development strategy, instructor-based learning, and curated content.
Learning Pool
https://learningpool.com
Services: Learning management system, learning experience platform, e-learning, custom content, instructor-based learning, reporting and analytics, and curated online learning modules.
LearnUpon
www.learnupon.com
Services: Learning management system, social learning, gamification, assessment and certification, and analytics and reporting.
NIIT
www.niit.com/en/learning-outsourcing
Services: Managed training services, content and curriculum design, learning administration, learning delivery, and strategic sourcing and vendor management.
Schoox, Inc.
www.schoox.com
Services: Learning management system, blended learning, e-learning, instructor-led training, and content curation.
Skillsoft
https://www.skillsoft.com
Services: One-on-one and group coaching, custom leadership development, instructor-led learning, personalized technology training, and e-learning.
SweetRush
www.sweetrush.com
Services: Business strategy consulting, mobile and e-learning, instructor-led training, gamification and simulations, and video, audio, and animation.
TalentLMS
talentlms.com
Services: Learning management system, custom learning, e-learning, gamification, analytics and reporting, content curation, video, audio, and embedded artificial intelligence tools.
Thrive Learning
www.thrivelearning.com
Services: Learning management system, learning experience platform, content curation, user-generated content, gamification, e-learning, instructor-led learning, and reporting and analytics.
Wharton Executive Education
executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu
Services: Action learning, applied learning, teaching tools, in-person learning forums, and self-assessment and coaching.
