How can you ensure that your corporate education strategy effectively prepares people to achieve goals and make an impact on business success?
It’s not uncommon for training professionals to focus on improving engagement metrics through gamification and other innovations…
And overlook the essentials: ensuring that the team is trained in the applicable skills that will help achieve the business vision for the future.
What is corporate education and how does it build high-performance teams?
Corporate education is a set of strategies focused on team development, aiming to build the necessary skills to solve challenges, improve efficiency, and enhance competitiveness.
Corporate education strategies can take various training formats, such as:
- Onboarding processes
- An annual budget that employees can use for their training of choice
- Training to improve specific job skills
- Career development programs
- Leadership development training
- Training for well-being, mental health, and personal development
- Training related to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues
In general, corporate education programs tend to have various initiatives within these categories, with a range of methods to engage the team and develop the skills necessary for the organization’s success.
That’s in an ideal world.
The reality is that research shows one in five organizations does not have a well-defined corporate education strategy.
And among the companies that do have a strategy, less than half say the strategy is aligned with business objectives.
Even if supported by technologies that engage people, a corporate education strategy composed of training that is not directly aligned with business objectives has less chance of receiving the necessary interest and value for success.
How can you align corporate education with business objectives?
#1 Develop Close Relationships with Leadership
The most effective L&D strategies are collaborative efforts between the training team and the departments.
To close the gap between corporate education and company performance, it is first necessary to fully understand the future vision of the business, and for that, leadership collaboration is essential.
By developing a close relationship with leaders, you start to understand the intricacies of the organization and the specific characteristics and needs of each team.
This will be important for you to be seen as a business partner and not just a training provider.
Leaders should be able to convey goals to you that can be reflected in the corporate education strategy, such as:
- Increasing productivity in a work process
- Preparing the team for global expansion or mergers
- Increasing brand recognition and attracting new customers in a market
- Successfully adopting a new tool or work system
- Growing business in a specific segment, industry, or region
In the planning phase of initiatives, it’s important to ask the right questions to leaders to identify the skills that need to be developed.
Two powerful questions:
What do you expect the talent to do differently after this training?
More directly: How does this training help us achieve the business vision?
#2 Become increasingly data-driven
A strategic corporate education plan is people-centered and data-driven.
A study conducted by Fortune magazine found that 92% of the largest companies are investing in data-driven initiatives to increase competitiveness.
On the other hand, this research with HR professionals showed that only 41% feel prepared to use data to enhance the effectiveness of their initiatives.
A detailed budget, estimated outcomes (such as increased productivity), and the metrics that will be used to assess the success of the corporate education strategy are essential elements a training plan needs to move forward within the organization.
A custom training program for the HR team to use data (people analytics), which can be immediately incorporated into the training strategies across the organization, could be the starting point for a data-driven HR department with the necessary tech skills for positive impact.
#3 Map and organize the skills the business needs
Maintaining a mapping of the skills required for organizational performance is a massive and ongoing project, with new needs emerging rapidly as technology advances.
In the words of LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky, “skills today are more important than degrees.”
But to hire, train, and promote in a skills-first market, it’s essential to map, categorize, and keep updated the skills needed for each position to perform its tasks – known as a skills taxonomy.
A skills and competencies mapping allows the company to stay ahead of rapid market changes, especially regarding technological skills.
The implementation of a skills taxonomy not only enhances hiring efforts but also shows employees the path to acquire the necessary competencies to grow within the organization.
#4 Don’t leave out soft skills
The demand for soft skills is on the rise: according to Deloitte, two-thirds of jobs will require these skills by 2030, and in a LinkedIn survey, 91% of human development professionals agree that these skills are increasingly essential for professional success.
One of the main reasons for the growing importance of soft skills is precisely the rapid evolution of technical skills: mastery of soft skills is the differentiator that can drive high-level professional performance.
Professionals who combine hard and soft skills stand out because, in addition to excelling in technical tasks, they collaborate effectively, lead teams to bring ideas to life, and quickly adapt to new market demands.
#5 Diversify the formats
The battle for people’s attention is becoming increasingly tough, and a corporate education strategy must leverage resources capable of engaging employees.
An effective way to boost engagement is to diversify formats, combining digital platform training with in-person events, alternating between microlearning with short lessons and longer live classes, and mixing technical training with role-playing sessions.
Given the demands of professionals’ already fast-paced schedules, diversification makes training more flexible and accessible, allowing employees to learn at their own pace and as needed, resulting in a team better equipped to face market challenges more efficiently.
#6 Reflect L&D trends and benchmarking
A strategic HR professional always keeps an eye on trends and what other companies are practicing, filtering what makes sense for the business and adapting what is possible to the company’s reality and needs.
The strategic focus on the many opportunities trends reveal lies precisely in filtering and prioritizing what is most critical and has the greatest potential to bring the company closer to its goals.
#7 Prepare leadership for the present and the future
Managers have a profound impact on workers, influencing their motivation, mental health, satisfaction, and even the likelihood of leaving their job. In a study conducted with U.S. workers, seven out of ten people said they would leave a job because of a bad boss.
In another FlexJobs survey with more than 8,400 professionals, 87% of respondents reported having worked with at least one toxic manager.
Cited behaviors include passive-aggressiveness, lack of encouragement for growth, rudeness, sarcasm, and condescension, with related symptoms being increased anxiety and mental fatigue.
These numbers highlight the importance of including leadership development programs in corporate education, addressing the necessary soft skills to effectively communicate the business vision throughout the organization and foster a healthier work environment.
#8 Prioritize solutions that fit the work context
Incorporate into your corporate education strategy training that includes one of the top T&D trends: learning in the flow of work, or LIFOW, a term coined by HR consultant Josh Bersin, meaning learning integrated into the workflow.
Some skills can be worked on together with others, such as language training using content related to the employee’s field, like a sales team member learning English in a lesson based on a sales call, for example.
#9 Boost program promotion
Even if the training team and leadership understand and are engaged with the corporate education plan and know how it fits into the bigger picture, it can’t be assumed that everyone has the same level of understanding, so the T&D team needs to wear a marketing hat to ensure that communication and corporate education attract people.
Check out 23 ideas to promote training to employees
It’s very common for employees not to know why they are participating in certain training, so it’s important to clearly explain the skills that leadership expects them to develop and how this fits into the organization’s business vision.
When employees understand how they personally contribute to the company’s success, they feel more committed to making a significant contribution to the business’s success.
#10 Scale with accessibility
Scaling up and improving the training ROI is another way to align corporate education with business objectives. Implementing digital accessibility resources in web pages, apps, platforms, and digital content ensures they can be used and understood by everyone.
#11 Include lifelong learning in the company values
The lack of learning opportunities is one of the main reasons people leave their jobs. Investing in lifelong learning keeps teams engaged and helps the company stand out in the market.
Promoting training and personal development fosters a culture of learning agility, bringing numerous benefits: more adaptable teams, quick problem-solving, and a broader understanding of the business. Valuing learning also increases engagement, which, according to a Gallup report, can boost profitability by up to 21%.
#12 Leverage the benefits of personalization
In addition to fitting the context, training needs to be flexible enough to fit into each participant’s schedule and be customizable to their interests and roles, which is why virtual training is gaining more ground.
When learning is aligned with people’s preferences, they become more engaged and apply what they learn to their work.
But how can you personalize training for large teams? The answer lies in AI-driven personalization, which tailors the learning experience based on each individual’s needs and preferences.
Corporate Education: Examples Aligned with Business Objectives
Here are some examples of initiatives and training programs that can form a training and development ecosystem focused on corporate education and aligned with the business’s growth needs:
- Language programs focused on global communication and market expansion
- Mentoring programs to promote employees’ personal and professional development
- Training to improve negotiation and deal-closing skills
- Project management courses to enhance planning and execution
- Onboarding programs to ensure quick adaptation for new employees
- Training to raise the quality of customer service and improve customer experience
- Cross-cultural training to prepare teams to work in global and diverse environments
Implementing programs that are truly relevant to the company not only makes the L&D professional an important business partner but also positions them as an authority in corporate education.
Voxy is a language platform focused on the business needs of teams and organizations, with certified instructors specializing in work-related skills, offering short lessons accessible from any device. Schedule 15 minutes with Voxy to discuss your team’s needs.
