In today’s fast-paced and ever-changing business landscape, the role of L&D leaders has become increasingly critical in fostering organizational growth and success. However, many L&D professionals face significant challenges in aligning their initiatives with overall organizational strategies. That lack of alignment fuels the perception of HR doing “HR things” and “operating in the HR silo” without contributing to the business. Continued misalignment may lead to:

• Decreased commitment to L&D initiatives

• Declining influence with senior leadership

• Cuts to L&D budgets and headcount

• No seat at the table

Strategic alignment is the process and the result of linking an organization’s structure and resources with its strategy. For an organization to be successful, each department must row in the same direction. When achieved, strategic alignment leads to better decision making, increased operational efficiency, a higher likelihood of achieving strategic goals, and the ability to achieve synergistic results.

Misalignment

Consider the process of organizational goal setting. When choosing annual strategic goals, HR leaders develop goals that are HR-centric and improve HR core processes and programs. While those goals may be critical for overall HR improvement and success, they do not resonate with the CEO and business unit leaders because there is no clear linkage to business goals.

For example, the CEO may wish to improve sales by 15 percent; launch a product in a new geography; improve the leadership score on the engagement survey by 10 points; and improve diversity, equity, and inclusion-based hiring by 3 percent. In contrast, the chief HR officer may advocate for a new HR information system; for the launch of a career framework initiative; to increase the company’s score on Glassdoor; and to create two new employee resource groups. Then, the L&D executive suggests priorities such as a training plan for compliance, sales, and customer service as well as training support for HR’s career framework initiative. None of those align.

Instead, both HR and L&D should work together to develop goals that drive the organization’s more important priorities. For example, the CEO’s goal is to launch a product in a new geography. Therefore, L&D leaders should conduct conversations with stakeholders and analyze insights to generate an aligned goal to develop training programs for customer service employees and sales representatives who will support the product launch.

Or, regarding the CEO’s goal to improve the leadership score on the engagement survey by 10 points, L&D should review the landscape of leadership challenges. Then, the team can suggest a corresponding goal to develop and roll out leadership development programs to provide the essential leadership skills required to increase employee engagement.

Steps forward

A six-part alignment process will help L&D leaders discover and comprehend the organization’s objectives and then develop appropriate goals.

Identify key organizational or business unit goals. Meet with the CEO or business unit leader to gain a high-level understanding of the company’s goals and their importance. What are the highest priorities for the year? Which goals are the most critical? For each critical goal, L&D leaders must also determine which senior leader is accountable for the goal, as in the goal sponsor.

Meet with sponsors to gain a deeper understanding of the goals. Specifically, what are the key objectives and desired outcomes? What are the goals’ success measures? What is the timeline? Who are the key stakeholders? What are the potential challenges and risks? What things must employees do differently to achieve the goals?

Analyze the information and assess how to support the goals. What is the performance gap between the current and future state? Is training and development or performance consulting the right solution?

Draft a recommendation for the sponsor. Begin detailed planning to determine programmatic details such as budget, type and number of learners, locations, and timelines.

Discuss recommendations with the sponsor and agree to a plan. Demonstrate L&D’s ability to be a strategic business partner by aligning departmental tools with sponsor needs; outlining measures of success; setting expectations; and agreeing on roles and responsibilities, timelines, and resources. Address communication methods (such as reports, dashboards, and meetings) and their frequency (such as daily, weekly, or monthly).

Execute the plan. L&D leaders must not only deliver but also measure their performance and communicate progress to sponsors via regular updates on the program’s performance, including whether the program is on or off plan. If the program is off plan, provide additional information as to the reasoning for deviation and recommendations for getting the program back on track. By communicating results, L&D leaders can demonstrate alignment and accountability.

With that simple and effective approach, L&D leaders can work toward changing perceptions and showcasing the value of L&D. Aligning with organizational goals enables leaders to demonstrate the impact of L&D on the company’s overall success. Alignment helps to make L&D initiatives more relevant and effective, ultimately leading to greater support and investment in L&D from senior leaders while earning and maintaining our seat at the table.

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