One aspect of becoming a partner and consultant to the business is ensuring stakeholders understand the true value L&D brings.

As leaders of learning, we are experts in learning strategy design, development, and performance. Part of the practice of consulting is grounding yourself in your craft, knowing the organizational expectations, and asking good questions that lead stakeholders to their own conclusions about how you can work together to improve their business results.

While experience alone should garner acceptance for our program designs, myths often crop up that are barriers to training execution.

The 40-hour expert

Malcolm Gladwell explains in Outliers that it takes 10,000 hours to get to expert level, and sadly, that is a myth. Even the best-performing trainee is still a learner after a 40-hour course.

Studies by K. Anders Ericsson and colleagues and Fernand Gobet and Guillermo Campitelli as well as meta-analyses by Case Western Reserve University show that while practice is important to expertise, time spent practicing is not the single measure of success.

A better approach is to gather information on how well the stakeholder expects trainees to be able to perform at certain intervals (for example, by the end of training and in the periods post-training). Translate that into an observable metric and create a rubric to help the stakeholder with post-training performance management.

Training without a defined process

If no defined process exists, people will likely create their own.

Sit down with the stakeholder and ask questions about role expectations and what they need from their team. Help them craft a vision for training based on the problem at hand.

When you listen well, gain perspective, and speak the stakeholder’s language, the discussion yields better outcomes. Their insights will help guide the development of the training program’s vision, purpose, and direction.

Next, engage relevant teams to assist with process mapping existing workflows to identify the key steps, roles, interactions, and expectations involved in various processes. Surfacing patterns of work and identifying moments of need is the gold nugget of a great training program.

From there, begin a scoping process, which includes gathering baseline data and materials, crafting learning and performance objectives, and identifying critical roles and skills.

One-and-done learning

Avoid the pressure to complete all the training at once by overwhelming learners with content, which leads to cognitive overload and reduced retention.

Learning is an ongoing process, as are learning experiences. While onboarding and workshops provide foundational knowledge, continuous development through reinforcement, practice, and application is crucial for long-term success.

Remember that learning does not only happen in formal settings. Cohorts, knowledge-sharing groups, and book clubs all enhance a culture of learning. Consider incorporating learning into daily tasks and projects rather than pigeon holing instructor-led or web-based training programs.

Training solves performance problems

Training is not the solution for all performance problems. Consider systems, tools, environments, resources, and leadership capabilities before jumping to creating a training program.

What got you here won’t get you there

Now that we have covered the myths, let’s work on the practice and what you need to stop, start, and continue doing. If you are stuck in the hamster wheel of design-deliver-smile-repeat, stop and take a breath. That method is not sustainable.

As an L&D professional, you are not a seat at the table, you are the table. Everything L&D does is connected to a piece of the business and affects business results.

Complete the following reflective exercises to enhance your value proposition.

Write down (in 10 words or fewer) what you do as if you were telling one of your stakeholders. For example: We elevate colleague performance and proficiency.

Refine your narrative and run it by peers until it is satisfying and sustainable. Start using that language to introduce yourself and what you do.

What would happen if neither you nor your department existed? What effect would it have on employees and the broader organization? For example: Without an L&D team, colleagues will miss skill development opportunities, which could make organizations less competitive or innovative. Employee engagement will be affected. New hires would not receive the necessary onboarding and training to become productive.

If you cannot express your value using the language of the business, how will stakeholders trust your ability to help the business achieve theirs?

Write down the skills you have that make you a good consultant. Some skills that may come to mind include relationship building, trust, understanding business needs and values, and curiosity.

The list will look different based on where you sit in the learning space.

Write down what you think the business needs from you in terms of results. Start by thinking about business results, key performance indicator discussions, and learning measurements. The goal of any business is based in the numbers.

To help create rubrics for what success looks like at every stage of employee growth, ask how your company measures performance at the end of the year. Reverse engineer those metrics into great objectives and measurement strategies.

Remember that you are a businessperson, and the project is a collaboration. Without the business, there is no L&D. Understanding goals and objectives from a business perspective helps you respond to a company’s needs more effectively.

As you design learning outcomes, consider the effectiveness of the programs by optimizing them and ensuring you have the right solution for the right reason at the right time for the right audience.

To reflect on all the information you have written down and align your L&D efforts with business objectives, use the acronym PROFIT:

• Prioritize business alignment. Gain a deep understanding of the organization’s short- and long-term goals. What are the strategic objectives and KPIs?

• Respond to stakeholder needs. Listen actively and engage in open communication; gather information to create a data-informed baseline of their needs. Include surveys, focus groups, and interviews.

• Optimize learning outcomes. Ensure the objectives for learning are clear and measurable. Conduct a thorough discovery process to understand the current learning preferences, barriers, and enhancements.

• Foster strategic partnerships. Build relationships and communicate the value of the L&D partnership (based on the above exercise). Demonstrate your business acumen and build trust by fulfilling promises.

• Innovate with impact-making solutions. Confirm understanding of any problem you are solving, and analyze data prior to building or suggesting solutions. Leverage technology and integrate it where it will elevate, not distract, from the experience.

• Track and measure results. Ensure measurement tactics align to objectives, and put systems in place to collect relevant data (such as surveys, assessments, and rubrics).

Continuously track the results to KPIs. Compare results to industry benchmarks and establish a feedback loop. Celebrate successes, learn from data, and iterate.

Grow consultative stakeholder relationships

My favorite way to make a commitment is to solidify guiding principles, which are agreed-upon values or nonnegotiables of your team’s practice.

Here are a few to get you started (use “we will” statements):

• Strategic alignment. We will align projects to organizational goals and highlight their contribution to performance.

• Stakeholder engagement. We will involve stakeholders from start to finish, valuing their input for success.

• Consulting focus. We will adopt a consulting approach, asking powerful questions, fostering dialogue, and managing expectations.

• Project planning. We will develop detailed plans encompassing objectives, responsibilities, timelines, milestones, communications, change control, risk assessment, and mitigation.

• Growth mindset. We will cultivate a flexible, collaborative environment that embraces curiosity and adaptability as projects evolve.

• Accountability. We will ensure quality delivery and measure results effectively.

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