From cost center to business driver: How to reposition L&D for strategic impact

L&D's struggle for strategic positioning

In many organizations, L&D teams struggle with a persistent challenge: being viewed as an expense rather than an investment. When financial pressures mount, learning initiatives often get scaled back. 

Yet, while organizations need L&D expertise more than ever to navigate skills gaps, executives often fail to see the direct connection between learning and business results.

So how can L&D shift from a support function to a strategic, revenue-driving force? Our recent webinar explored this critical transformation, bringing together industry experts to share insights and strategies on repositioning L&D as a business enabler.

Industry leaders shaping the role of L&D

To discover how the L&D function can evolve from a support role to a true strategic partner, we talked to three industry leaders who are shaping the future of learning:

• Caner Akova – Learning and Development Manager at Olympus EMEA. With extensive experience across L&D, HR, and organizational development, Caner specializes in connecting business needs with human potential. His approach focuses on uncovering the root causes of performance challenges rather than defaulting to standard training solutions.
• Lavinia Mehedințu – Co-founder at Offbeat. As a learning architect with nine years of experience in corporate and higher education environments, Lavinia designs experiences that foster connection and collaboration. She brings together social learning, behavior change principles, and technology to drive innovation in the L&D space.
• Sara Guagnini-Wilbers – Senior Learning Specialist at Exact. Sara brings a unique blend of research, facilitation, and strategic design thinking to L&D challenges. Her people-centered methodology helps organizations create environments where individuals can perform at their best while aligning with business objectives

Becoming a strategic partner: What's standing in the way?

We  surveyed a group of L&D leaders about the main challenges preventing L&D from becoming a true strategic partner. The results were clear -   their top responses highlighted making L&D a business priority (43%) and securing stakeholder buy-in (29%) as key obstacles. Additionally, measuring impact (14%) and the lack of clear goals (29%) were cited as significant barriers too. 

These findings underscore that no single challenge stands alone- L&D teams must navigate multiple barriers simultaneously to drive real business impact. Without stakeholder support, clear priorities, measurable outcomes, and well-defined goals, L&D struggles to secure its place as a key driver of business success.

“L&D needs to stop waiting for permission to be strategic. We have to proactively align with business priorities and demonstrate our value in terms leadership understands.” - Lavinia Mehedințu, Co-founder at Offbeat. 

Turning stakeholder resistance into buy-in

Many L&D teams struggle to demonstrate tangible business impact, making it difficult to secure leadership support. Budget constraints and competing priorities often push L&D initiatives to the sidelines. The key to overcoming this is shifting from being perceived as a cost center to a business enabler.

“Executives care about numbers. If we want buy-in, we need to link L&D programs directly to revenue, productivity, and retention.” - Caner Akova,  Learning and Development Manager at Olympus EMEA

Caner Akova emphasized the importance of using data-driven narratives to influence leadership decisions. “To shift perceptions, L&D must provide hard evidence of its impact, using business KPIs and workforce performance metrics to tell a compelling story.”

How to gain executive buy-in:

• Speak the language of the business (use metrics that matter to leadership)
• Move beyond completion rates and satisfaction surveys to performance analytics, skills mapping, and business KPIs
• Demonstrate ROI with data-driven success stories

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Linking business needs with learning needs

A major challenge in aligning L&D with business goals is the lack of clear objectives from leadership. Without defined business priorities, learning initiatives risk missing the mark.

“L&D needs to work closely with business leaders to ensure learning programs address real challenges. If we don’t, we risk investing in initiatives that don’t move the needle.” - Sara Guagnini-Wilbers, Senior Learning Specialist at Exact

Strategies for better alignment:

• Establish shared success metrics between L&D and business leaders
• Use AI and analytics to assess skill gaps and forecast talent needs
• Integrate learning initiatives with workforce planning

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How to present L&D results effectively

For L&D to be seen as a business driver, it must effectively showcase its impact. Many organizations lack structured analytics, making it difficult to drive data-informed decisions.

Key approaches to presenting impact:

• Use data visualization to tell compelling stories
• Highlight how L&D contributes to productivity, retention, and revenue growth
• Apply marketing strategies such as storytelling and behavioral insights to drive engagement

“If we want L&D to be taken seriously, we need to stop speaking in terms of learning outcomes and start speaking in terms of business outcomes.” - Lavinia Mehedințu

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Conclusion: The future of L&D as a business driver

To reposition L&D as a strategic function, leaders must:

• Leverage data and analytics to influence decision-making
• Speak the language of the C-suite
• Shift from execution to strategy, aligning learning initiatives with company goals
• Adopt marketing techniques to drive engagement and demonstrate impact

By making these shifts, L&D can move beyond compliance-driven learning and establish itself as a critical business enabler. Organizations that embrace this transformation will not only future-proof their workforce but also gain a competitive edge in an increasingly complex world.

To secure a strategic role, L&D professionals must move beyond compliance-driven learning and position themselves as business enablers. This means speaking the language of leadership, leveraging data to influence decisions, and crafting learning solutions that directly impact business outcomes. The organizations that embrace this shift will not only future-proof their workforce but also strengthen their competitive edge in an increasingly complex world.

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Key takeaways for L&D leaders

• Leverage data for influence: Strong analytics and clear impact measurement are crucial to securing buy-in from leadership and proving L&D’s value.
• Adopt a business-first mindset: Speak the language of the C-suite, focus on solving business problems, and position L&D as a driver of performance.
• Shift from execution to strategy: L&D must go beyond delivering training and actively shape business strategy by aligning learning initiatives with company goals.
• Apply marketing strategies: Use engagement tactics such as storytelling, behavioral insights, and segmentation to increase adoption and impact.