How to build a cost-effective people strategy that influences your 2025 business objectives

Corporate learning budgets are shrinking. As L&D teams face further cost cutting, delivering upskilling programs that positively impact business objectives becomes more challenging. But there are ways to provide quality training programs without breaking the bank.

Recently, Lepaya connected with global HR and learning operation managers at a workshop in Munich, Align your upskilling to 2025 business goals, to share insights, explore ideas and look at the year ahead. 

With a focus on taking a strategic approach to driving business impact, the event revealed that learning operations managers and HR professionals across industries share an ambition: Scale people development, boost engagement, and increase retention through corporate learning initiatives aligned with business objectives. 

Creating impact by aligning learning operations with business goals and industry context

Employee development and learner engagement challenges are top concerns for HR Directors. But in every industry, the need for learnops professionals to prove the strategic impact of L&D programs – and show how they support business goals – is a priority. Pharmaceutical HR professionals, for example, mentioned a tendency to determine the effectiveness of people development by scrutinizing several factors:

• Self-reported learner evaluations and apply rates
• Self-reported decisions about whether or not to continue with a specific training program
• Self-reported decisions about whether or not to continue with a specific provider

Though allowing employees to share their thoughts about training initiatives has value, it doesn’t paint a complete picture of their corporate learning experience. Data is what clearly shows impact and connects it to business needs. When learning operations coordinators can access this kind of information, it’s easier for them to demonstrate the importance of people development initiatives and obtain buy-in from senior management. 

Aligning with internal stakeholders to make L&D a strategic driver in the business

To gain support for training and upskilling, L&D leaders need to get internal stakeholders on board with their ambitions. The ability to clearly demonstrate how learning can help organizations reach their goals, backed by data that shows learners are actively applying their new knowledge, is key. 

When stakeholders don’t see the role learning plays in achieving business goals, securing buy-in can be difficult. Representatives from professional services companies mentioned that team leads and managers often deprioritize operational learning and training in favor of having their people spend time on client cases. 

However, L&D leaders are still held accountable for the resulting no-shows. This indicates a need to increase awareness of the value that upskilling can deliver, and making the connection between people development and goals clear. 

“The solution doesn’t lie in just adding another tool, but in lessening the learning operations burden with support for integration and communication...the goal is to match the right training with the right employee need, and show the impact of the training on the business.”

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Patrik Gustavsson, Global Learning & Development Manager at Roxtec Group

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Identifying, analyzing and closing skill gaps before they become business challenges

A major part of demonstrating the potential of corporate learning programs – and their relationship with achieving goals – lies in knowing which skills to focus on. Determining what employees need to learn, and which abilities are crucial for helping them achieve peak performance, is beneficial for any learning operations specialist.

Though needs differ from one organization to the next, and even between teams and divisions, learnops professionals at the Lepaya event emphasized that skills focused on leading change are at the top of their lists. Many people also noted that unclear high-level business goals make it difficult to determine which skills employees need to be trained in. 

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“There’s a difference between my point of view on what makes training impactful, and the business’s point of view. For HR and L&D leads, it’s about delivering the right training, not just a training. It helps to close the expectations gap in regards to training for a specific behavior change by defining what the need actually is.”

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Jule Feller, Systemiq HR Advisor

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To start identifying what your people need to perform, use the Skill Gap Calculator to identify what you need to focus on in under 3 minutes. 

Helping learning operations managers create more impact with smaller budgets

Tight budgets are placing L&D teams under more pressure. But a cost-effective people strategy can put goals within reach, providing the ROI that makes the effort worthwhile. What matters most is how closely it aligns with business strategy.  

Stefan Lülf, Director of Global Manufacturing and Pharma at Lepaya, shared his top observations from the discussion:

• The rising skill gap, in combination with shrinking budgets, puts a lot of pressure on L&D teams who are wondering how they can effectively up-skill employees. The answer in short: Closely align every initiative to business needs and avoid pet projects.

• There is still a long way to go toward bridging the gap between business and L&D teams. On the one hand, everyone focuses on the need to have a seat at the table and serve as a strategic partner. On the other hand, many learnops teams are still measured by the number of no-shows and satisfaction ratings, and aren’t fully trusted. 

To take the next step in developing your cost-effective people strategy, use the Skills Gap Analysis Tool to train the skills that impact business performance.