Exclusive Q&A | BT's head of leadership & learning on the importance of L&D

Learning & development opportunities can have a tremendous influence on an employee’s decision to stay with a company, or head for pastures new.

Data shows that as many as 94% of employees say that they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their learning and development, according to LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report 2019.

Taking this data into account, coupled with the findings of a 2021 survey by Randstad UK, which revealed that one in five have left or are considering quitting their job in the coming months (with reasons ranging from burnout to new work-life balance priorities), it’s becoming increasingly clear that offering something more enticing than rival businesses, such as a solid L&D plan, could be a crucial way to retain and attract new employees from a highly saturated talent pool.

Couple these statistics with further research from LinkedIn’s 2021 Workplace Learning Report, which found that 64% of professionals said that learning and development is now a “need to have”, and it seems that many employers have already taken notice of the importance of L&D in the fight to retain staff.