Insight: L&D fails to get to grips with learning technologies
L&D leaders increasingly invest in learning technology but struggle to use it effectively. While 90% want to modernize learning, only 30% achieve their business objectives, according to the 2014 Towards Maturity Benchmark Study of 600 L&D professionals. The research reveals gaps in instructional design and digital skills are hindering success.
Has running a business from home become easier?
Running a business from home has become increasingly easier in the UK, driven by internet accessibility and supportive government legislation. With nearly 2.9 million home businesses operating in 2014 and contributing £300 billion to the economy, digital tools, social media, and simplified company registration have lowered barriers to entrepreneurship.
Perception versus reality in L&D [INFOGRAPHIC]
The GoodPractice Learning Trends report reveals key gaps between perception and reality in UK L&D practice. This infographic summarizes five critical findings from senior learning professionals, offering essential insights into current challenges and strategic questions every L&D department should address.
Turning data into insight and insight into action
Towards Maturity’s latest research reveals how top learning companies use technology to drive business performance and deliver results. This four-part series explores delivering business impact, building skills and talent, technology strategy, and overcoming change barriers to help L&D teams gain competitive advantage.
Lessons for L&D: How we’ve forgotten the essentials pt2
Many L&D functions lack excellence due to poor instructional design practices. This article explores three key areas—content analysis, cognitive load management, and subject matter expertise—that can significantly improve learner engagement and performance outcomes.
Lessons for L&D: How we’ve forgotten the essentials pt1
L&D professionals often lose sight of learning’s core purpose—enabling people to know or do something new—by obsessing over systems and tools instead of measuring actual performance improvements. This first part explores why organizations undervalue training and how the profession can refocus on delivering measurable results.
Learning is the key to successful OD
Organizational development succeeds when people are motivated and equipped to learn new behaviors and skills. Paul Matthews argues that effective leadership and learning opportunities are essential components of any change initiative, as people are central to implementing organizational transformation.
Continual learning + talent pipeline = organisational development
Leaders play a crucial role in developing internal talent pipelines through continual learning and development. Research shows only 55% of managerial vacancies are filled internally, with senior roles particularly affected. Building capability and identifying adaptable managers ready for advancement are essential for organizational success.
Are organisations still learning?
Most organisations struggle to maintain genuine learning cultures, especially during crises. Effective organisational learning doesn’t require complex initiatives but relies on applying insights strategically and learning from external factors first, which can significantly improve resilience and decision-making.
The future will not turn out as planned
Organisational development must inspire collective action toward the future rather than impose predetermined plans. Effective leaders, like science-fiction writers, create compelling visions grounded in present realities while recognizing that future projections often reflect our current anxieties and mistakes as much as our hopes.
The most successful organisation in the universe
Stephen Walker examines how organizations function as systems that transform inputs into outputs, comparing them to microscopic organisms. He argues that people, processes, and procedures determine organizational effectiveness, and that systems must evolve rapidly to match environmental changes, using viruses as an example of the most successful organizational design.
What if… a sales mindset was embedded across the entire business?
Embedding a sales mindset across an organization could transform workplace communication and performance. Sales professionals excel at clear communication, target-driven focus, and healthy competition—qualities that finance, HR, and other departments could adopt to improve efficiency and employee engagement company-wide.
OD is a systems issue pt2
Organizational development requires managers to shift from being “Doers-in-Chief” to “System Stewards” who can see the bigger picture. Because managers operate within systems, they often can’t observe the dysfunctional patterns they’re part of, making it essential to focus on changing values and culture rather than just tasks.
OD is a systems issue
Organizational development isn’t just about individual behavior—it’s rooted in systemic issues. John Wenger explores how people make poor decisions not because they’re incompetent, but because they operate within flawed systems that incentivize wrong choices and prioritize survival over ethical action.
The missing link between e-revolution and learning in a global workplace
Global organizations must bridge the gap between advanced e-learning systems and actual training implementation to improve talent management and career development. A strategic, flexible approach that combines virtual classrooms, mobile learning, and elearning—tailored to multilingual and multicultural workplace needs—enables organizations to maximize the value of their technology investments.
360 Degree Feedback Tools: Then, now and the future
Explore the evolution of 360-degree feedback tools from paper-based assessments in the 1970s to today’s automated platforms. Learn how modern solutions offer flexible customization, user-friendly reports, and multi-language support, while discovering their key applications in performance coaching and leadership development.
Trainer’s Tip: Masterclass – getting 360 right
Learn how to successfully implement 360-degree feedback in your organization. This guide covers essential principles for laying strong foundations, designing effective questionnaires, and maximizing the developmental impact of feedback programs.
Three components to successful organisational development
Successful organisational development requires three core components: measuring overall and individual performance, using automated tools to manage the process efficiently, and fostering a culture of communication and collaboration. These elements ensure employees become more effective and aligned with business goals.
When does leadership development become organisational development?
Leadership development and organisational development are interconnected: improving leadership quality directly enhances an organisation’s overall performance and capability. While leadership development alone isn’t sufficient for OD, developing leaders at scale drives performance improvements across the entire organisation.
Review: the CIPD’s organisation development conference
Jon Ingham reviews the CIPD’s organisation development conference and explores how L&D practitioners can apply OD principles. Key insights include viewing organisations as living systems and shifting L&D focus from individual learning to enable collective learning across groups, teams, and entire organisations.