Why is building a learning and development program important? What benefits does an L&D program provide your business? 

It’s pivotal for talent retention, skill development, and organizational growth – many organizations work hard to recruit talent for their teams and then send the talent into the wild without investing in their development. 

One of the main reasons people leave organizations is for career development – research shows the leading reason that people leave organizations is a lack of career development, and 94% of workers say they would stay at a company longer if their employer invested in their careers and skill development.

It creates a culture of continuous learning – investing in L&D is an investment in enhancing employee performance, agility, and adaptability, and ultimately, it’s an investment in your company’s success and competitiveness in the marketplace. 

Setting it up

When should you start to spend on L&D? What are good guidelines for an appropriate L&D budget?

Start spending on L&D right away – you want to be as proactive as possible rather than reactive. Employee retention data is bleak, so you have to plug any potential leaks as soon as possible so that employees feel they’re being invested in. 

Some organizations allocate a fixed dollar amount (a few hundred to a few thousand) per employee – role, tenure, and responsibilities often determine how much individual employees get in L&D dispensations. For example, employees in technical or leadership roles might have a larger L&D budget than those in entry-level positions. Sometimes organizations will base it on tenure and unlocking of funds.

Some organizations allocate 1-3% of total payroll costs to L&D – so, if a startup’s average annual payroll per employee is $60,000, they might allocate $600 to $1,800 per employee per year for L&D.  The specific amount is determined by the company’s industry, size, stage of growth, and specific L&D needs.

At what stage/scale should you invest in a dedicated training person/team, and what are their key responsibilities?

Most companies invest in dedicated L&D post-Series B funding – many companies consider investing in L&D resources after securing significant funding, often at the Series B stage (and around 50+ employees). At this point, they’ll likely have a larger team with diverse training needs and it becomes challenging to manage training and development needs on an ad-hoc basis. 

This might be pushed up if you have high turnover or fast growth – if your startup is experiencing rapid growth or has a higher turnover rate, investing in L&D becomes crucial. L&D professionals can help onboard new employees efficiently and address skill gaps.

Key responsibilities include: 

• Training Needs Analysis – identify skill gaps and development needs within the organization.
• Curriculum Development & Instructional Design – create structured training curricula aligned with company goals and employee development needs.
• Training Facilitation –  – organize and conduct training sessions, workshops, and programs using various methods.
• Own Onboarding – develop and manage effective onboarding programs for new hires.
• Evaluation and Assessment – measure training program effectiveness through assessments, feedback, and KPIs.
• Learning Technology – evaluate, select, and implement learning management systems (LMS) and other tech solutions.
• Compliance and Legal Considerations – ensure training programs comply with relevant laws and regulations, especially industry-specific compliance, sexual harassment prevention,  and data privacy.
• Budget Management – efficiently manage the L&D budget to maximize the impact of training initiatives.
• Continuous Learning Design and Partnering with Internal Clients – working with internal client groups to support ongoing training needs per business function

When should you hold your own training vs. reimburse for employees to pursue training on their own? If you offer L&D reimbursement as a benefit, what’s a standard amount?

Hold in-house training for critical company-specific knowledge and onboarding – although you might bring someone in to help structure the onboarding program. Reimburse for specialized expertise and career development. Standard reimbursement varies but ranges from $500 to $2,000 annually per employee, depending on industry and role.

If you’re going to reimburse, have employees apply for L&D reimbursements – usually that range is between $500-$2000 per employee—they should have to apply so that you have some accountability for where that money goes.

Holding Trainings 

How do you decide whether training should be owned by managers or by a training team?

Training and coaching should be in alignment – coaching is on a 1-to-1 ratio, while training is 1-to-many. Both methods of conveying information to employees should be closely aligned. Managers should be continuously coaching during one-on-ones, as well as providing training during team meetings.

Take your time to nail everything down and then execute as a cohesive unit – as a lean team, this is how you’ll get the most bang for your buck in training and driving behaviors through your management staff.

How can you make sure the training you’re providing gets applied?

Involve the managers in training creation – if your training team is designing a training, involve the managers. This not only will ensure that both parties are aligned, but will ensure you don’t have duplication of efforts. Align on:

• Tone 
• Topics 
• Action plans

Tailor the message to the audience – “narrow cast”, don’t broadcast. 

Show them why it’s important and what good looks like – Whether it’s client-facing or other facets of the business, remind them and make it clear 

• Whether you’re training new hires or launching a new product to a company, getting leadership on the same page regarding tone, topics, and action plans is pivotal to the success of any training program. 
• Trainers, managers, and senior leadership should hold a joint work session to determine training goals. Only when all are in full agreement can a training program cause the intended impact within the organization.
• Tailoring the message to each audience is also important. Whether training client-facing roles, such as sales or customer success, or other facets of the business, making sure they know how to immediately apply it to their day-to-day job will increase adoption.

How can you construct training sessions that are engaging for employees?

Good training isn’t “Death by PowerPoint.” – surprise trainees by making every effort to provide a fun, engaging, exciting classroom environment. That’s when they’re learning, retaining, and reaching learning objectives without even realizing it. 

Three strategies to make training more engaging: 

• Interactivity: Include interactive elements like quizzes, discussions, and group activities to engage participants actively.
• Gamification: Incorporate game elements such as points, badges, and challenges to make training sessions fun and competitive. Ask yourself, “How can I tie the selected game to a learning objective?” The classroom energy should promote both competition and fun during learning assessments, Consider tools like:
  • Whiteboard tools in Zoom
  • Annotations in Zoom – with each person’s name listed 
  • Mentimeter 
  • Miro
  • Twine – Visual breakouts (topically) & speed networking (auto rotate to new person)
  • Kahoot!
  • Breakout rooms
  • Chat & Polls
  • Play music 
• Real-World Scenarios: Use case studies and real-world examples that directly relate to employees’ roles to make the content more engaging and practical. Give the learner space to create their own scenario—research shows that adult learners retain more when asked to apply learnings to their world. 

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough” – applying this logic, trainees should be able to briefly explain what they’ve just learned. Be creative in how you check for trainee comprehension and retention. For example, pop culture games can be used to make learning both dynamic and fun.

How do you get managers aligned with training, so they provide coaching of the same skills outside the classroom?

Three things can help you overcome this:

1. Roll out changes and updates to managers first. Get their buy-in regarding whatever is changing and/or being trained to their employees. Let them ask questions and poke holes.
2. Once training is complete, provide managers with action steps and a guide – so as to be prescriptive. For example, if you’re rolling out a product change, provide them with a quick reference guide they can use during their next team meeting. It should offer a quick overview of the change(s) and an engaging assessment of understanding. For example, it is effective to provide questions managers can use to facilitate an informed discussion among their team. A good approach specifically for a sales team, is to share a list of common objections they may encounter and an activity aligned with overcoming said objections.
3. Conduct a live, follow-up Q/A session with managers and employees –  – depending on the magnitude of the training, you can have a predetermined time shortly after training rollout for a brief follow-up. This helps straighten out any residual kinks.

How does training differ between functional areas within the organization differ? 

The 80/20 rule applies to content building for specific vs. broad applicability – for example, for new hire training, 80% of what is learned should be learned by all employees and is foundational for all departments.  The 20% is the tailored approach to the training which answers, “What should I do with this information in my specific role?”

Specifically, you want to focus on: 

• Content Relevance – training content should align with the specific skills and knowledge required for each functional area, such as technical skills for engineering and sales techniques for sales teams.
• Delivery Methods – tailor training delivery methods to suit the needs of each area, whether it’s hands-on workshops for engineering or role-playing exercises for sales.
• Performance Metrics – define unique performance metrics and goals for each functional area to measure the effectiveness of training and ensure it aligns with departmental objectives.
  • Example engineering:
    • Adoption of new skill/tool/change/increased productivity
    • Technical Proficiency: Measure improvements in technical skills and knowledge relevant to engineering tasks.
    • Problem-Solving: Assess the ability to apply newly acquired knowledge to real engineering challenges effectively.
    • Error Reduction: Track a decrease in errors, defects, or rework in engineering projects as a result of the training.
  • Examples sales:
    • Adoption of new skill/tool/change/increased productivity
    • Sales Revenue: Measure the increase in sales revenue generated by sales teams post-training.
    • Conversion Rates: Evaluate improvements in conversion rates, such as leads to sales or prospects to customers.
    • Customer Satisfaction: Gauge customer satisfaction scores to ensure that the training positively impacts the customer experience and relationships.

What are the most important things to get right?

Conduct needs analysis – start by identifying specific skill gaps and aligning training with organizational goals. Think, “What is needed and how can we fill that need with learning value?”

Create engaging, relevant content with various formats and interactive elements – your trainings will be maximally impactful when they resonate with employees. 

Know when to build trainings yourself and when to hire a vendor – if you have the capability to conduct trainings internally, do so. If you don’t have the expertise or time, you need to hire someone who does. Take your time in vetting the right vendor for you.

Measurement – establish clear metrics to evaluate the program’s effectiveness and make data-driven improvements. You can do this by starting with learning outcomes per each training and aligning as a leadership function. Proactively answer what success looks like.

What are common pitfalls? 

Lack of Alignment – failing to align L&D programs with organizational goals and needs can lead to inefficiencies and ineffectiveness.

One-Size-Fits-All Approach – neglecting to tailor training to individual learner needs can result in disengagement and limited impact.

Inadequate Evaluation – not measuring the impact of L&D efforts and failing to adapt based on feedback can hinder program success.