The ‘learning and development’ issue

There are many things that are likely at the forefront of HR professionals’ minds at the moment. Keeping hold of top talent amid the ‘Great Resignation’, competing to attract new employees into the business, and ensuring that the organisation has the skills needed to navigate the future of work. A lot of these areas that sit within HR’s remit – retaining and attracting talent and getting the right skills – can be helped with a well-considered approach to L&D.

A wealth of research has pointed towards the various benefits to the business that L&D can bring. For starters, data has found that investment in L&D could encourage staff retention. In fact, data published in LinkedIn’s 2018 Workforce Learning Report found that 94% of staff would stay longer if their employer invested in their career. Additionally, separate statistics from Bookboon Learning found that 92% of L&D experts feel that a firm’s learning solution is key to commercial success.

This is why in this issue, and with L&D likely to play a central role in navigating 2022, we quizzed our advisory board experts to find out the top considerations for HR when it comes to rolling out L&D. We also interviewed Openreach’s HR Director to find out more about how he delivers L&D for staff, as well as his key aims for the year ahead. For this month’s cover story, we spoke to Greggs’ People Director to find out about the vast learning and development opportunities that the bakery chain has on offer and why L&D can play a crucial role in meeting ambitious goals.

As ever, we hope that you find this content useful when navigating HR best practice going forwards.