The role of Learning & Development (L&D) professionals has changed significantly in today’s fast-paced business environment. No longer are L&D teams confined to traditional training tasks; they have emerged as strategic business partners, critical to aligning learning initiatives with organizational goals, ensuring L&D initiatives translate into learning for employees and ROI for the organization.
In this series of blog posts, Human Development (HD) consultants and internal experts share their insights on the contemporary L&D role. Here’s what leading experts like Jill Sniekers, Marie Clémençon, Nico De Neve, and Laura Evenepoel have to say about translating L&D efforts into learning.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. How do you translate L&D efforts into learning?
Why put so much effort in L&D in the first place?
Laura Evenepoel, Care Manager, explains, "It's very simple: enabling employees to learn and develop makes both them and the company future-proof.” This isn't just about long-term gains; even in the short term, consider the advantages for flexible internal mobility for example, when there's room to strategically manage your inhouse talent.
Moreover, integrating continuous learning into your company’s DNA encourages growth and can even become a key selling point.
Marie Clémençon, Project Consultant, adds: "The government understood this as well. In October 2022, the latest labor deal specified a specific number of days that should be dedicated to individual learning. For companies, it's no longer optional anymore; they now must now find answers to the questions 'how' and 'what'."
It's very simple: enabling employees to learn and develop makes both them and the company future-proof.
What holds people back from learning?
Several symptoms can indicate a lack of engagement in learning.
For starters, practical objections often form significant barriers, such as scarcity of time and resources, or the impact on productivity when removing employees from their posts. Marie notes: "The classic workload excuse can also be a frequent argument. Teams that are understaffed or overloaded with work often suffer from the chronic crisis management syndrome, making training or workshops seem like badly-timed luxuries."
But when resources are in fact available, a lack of intrinsic motivation can be another barrier. “Learning needs to be useful above all else,” says Laura Evenepoel, Care Manager. “Think about the infamous mandatory GDPR training—what do you really remember from that?”
Nico De Neve, Business Consultant L&D, adds: “Yes, please make that kind of training applicable to the specific work context instead of using an off-the-shelf e-learning. This way, people are not only more motivated but also more skilled at applying the rules.”
“Some employers even link rewards to completing training, but this doesn’t tap into the intrinsic motivation needed to optimize learning transfer. Ultimately, we want to see learning reflected in performance, right?”, remarks Laura.
“In addition, let’s emphasize once again the importance of leading by example: both leaders and peers can actively contribute to a development culture by setting a good example. If this is systematically undermined, interesting or good-intended learning initiatives will eventually dwindle. And while the labor deal clearly stipulates the legal minimum of training days per employee, this measure unfortunately focuses more on quantity than quality, in my opinion“, says Marie.
To structurally enhance motivation and the desire to grow, you should embed L&D into your business processes.
How to jump the hurdles
First, to overcome practical objections, companies must be willing to invest.
Addressing workload arguments requires convincing employees and their managers of the value of learning. For example, knowledge sharing on efficient use of certain applications or training on meeting skills can already result in time savings in the short term.
“But to structurally enhance motivation and the desire to grow, you should embed this into your business processes,” says Jill Sniekers, Project Consultant. By making employees and leaders responsible, and providing frameworks for mapping competencies, setting goals, detecting gaps, and discussing development opportunities, you can put them in the driver’s seat.
The result should be a personalized development plan, a tailored document listing actions for the coming year. This plan serves as a basis for follow-up by employees, their managers, and potentially career coaches and mentors. “One of the benefits is that it involves the business, not just HR,” says Nico.
These development actions can take various forms. At TriHD, it’s our mission to match our consultants with projects aligned with their ambitions, giving them opportunities to step out of their comfort zones and grow. “Besides challenging job roles and classic classroom training, there are many other ways to boost learning that respond to different moments of need", Marie adds, referencing Bob Mosher's concept of the 5 Moments of Need. Think of learning communities, Lunch & Learns, book clubs, content libraries, chat groups, job aids, and more.
Lastly, measurement is key. If you can map how well your learning offerings align with the business realities, you can make adjustments as needed. However, the measurement of ROI on L&D can be a hurdle on itself.
The question remains how we can continue to commit to five annual learning days. It cannot be just about meeting legal requirements but should instead be about creating meaningful, applicable learning experiences.
Remaining questions and reservations
Despite our conviction about the importance of employee development, a few concerns remain. For instance, how to continually invest up to five days a year in very senior profiles of employees with static job assignments? What to do with less ambitious colleagues? “Not everyone is interested in continuous development. For some, simply staying up-to-date with the necessary skills seems sufficient enough”, says Nico.
Marie agrees, adding, “At TriHD, we focus not only on technical skills but also on developing soft skills and methodologies. However, once a large portion of the workforce is trained in these areas, the demand for intensive training decreases significantly. We address this with learning opportunities in the form of mentoring, coaching, intervisions, updates, or tracks aimed at more experienced profiles. Still, the question remains how we can continue to commit to those five annual learning days in the future, because it cannot be just about meeting legal requirements but should instead be about creating meaningful, applicable learning experiences.”
Conclusion - Sustaining a learning culture: beyond the basics
The success of L&D initiatives hinges on their relevance, practicality, and alignment with business needs. Moving beyond mere compliance, we must ensure that learning efforts genuinely contribute to employee growth and organizational resilience. The journey to sustained learning engagement may be challenging, but the benefits are invaluable—empowered employees, adaptable teams, and a future-proof organization. In the end, it's about creating an environment where learning isn't an obligation but a shared commitment to growth.
Content session L&D - blog series
