Gone are the days when learning and development departments were about compliance training and providing a course in response to an “ask” by an organizational business. Nowadays, the L&D team is about strategy, data, and big-picture thinking. How would you begin to address those elements if you were setting up a new L&D department? In “Successfully Build an Essential L&D Department,” David Macon, CPTD, shares from his wealth of experience about how to start an L&D department from the ground up and scale the L&D team.

Internal and External Factors to Consider

First, ensure you have a clear understanding of the current organizational objectives, advises Macon. Oftentimes your company will have approved the creation of the new L&D department with a clear goal in mind. “Failing to understand how your team is expected to contribute to those objectives,” continues Macon, “can create immediate friction and raise concerns about the department’s necessity.”

Who will be on your team before, during, and after the launch? Will you be loaned a staffer from another organizational department to help your team get off the ground? Will it make sense to “borrow” talent (that is, use freelancers as you build your own department’s skills)? And what skill sets do you need in the first place? Will your team be doing a lot of e-learning and thus require strong instructional design, gamification, and microlearning skills; or will your team be expected to conduct several in-person courses for which you will need many facilitators? Do you need a data specialist to collect and convey learning’s impact?

Apart from talent, consider the resources you may already have at your fingertips. Is there a repository of knowledge and information already in place? That is nearly always the case even if it’s nothing formal. Consider job aids, notes, documents, and websites—anything that might be useful to develop and train staff. Some of these resources may come from outside the organization, such as material and training that you may be able to obtain via vendors.

Creating Department Objectives

Look to your organization’s strategic objectives as a guide when beginning to develop the L&D team’s objectives and goals. Prioritize long-, medium-, and short-range goals, with its long-term objectives “most closely tied to your overall vision for your department,” according to Macon. Your analysis of internal and external factors will help point you in the right direction of your greatest talent development opportunities.

As you work your way through this process of defining department objectives, how would you answer these questions:

• Why have you developed these goals?

• What do you want to achieve from each of them?

• Why does it matter?

• How will you accomplish each objective?

Based on your objectives, formulate a plan of action that includes benchmarks and milestones and realize that organizational strategy and vision will change, so you’ll need to be somewhat flexible in your objectives and prioritization.

Tap Strategic Partnerships

Internal and external partners will be critical to your new department’s success. Cultivate relationships and listen to entry-level employees and frontline managers as well as supervisors and senior leaders. These individuals will have far different perspectives, with the former likely to have a better sense of the challenges that are facing employees on the ground and whether those challenges may be aided by training solutions or require a culture shift. Listen, too, to employees and stakeholders who appear to be contrarians. They may help you correct a snag in a solution before you move it too far along, potentially saving you time, money, and reputation.

External partners such as printing and shipping companies, learning software purveyors, and other L&D professionals can provide keen insights or put in a rush order in a pinch. You may not need them today or tomorrow, but you undoubtedly will at some point.

Maximize Impact

No matter the size of your L&D team, it’s imperative to locate ways to save, whether in your budget or on time. Some simple ways to do so include reusing and recycling content, creating templates, and delegating where possible.

Don’t take shortcuts when it comes to developing standard nomenclature when saving files and make sure you make note of your systems. It may seem like an extra step when you’re doing this work, but as your department grows, it will be an invaluable asset for others.

As your L&D team grows, take time to reassess the landscape. Constantly evaluating and adapting to changes will keep you, your team, and your organizational talent on the right track.