The L&D Gap: Perception or reality?
UK productivity has been highlighted as an economic weakness for over a decade, yet hope is on the horizon. The CBI argues that the adoption of key technologies and management practices would add an additional £100bn to the UK economy.
However, this study raises the question of whether the UK economy is prepared to capitalise on the forthcoming technological advances, both for the benefit of staff, businesses and UK PLC as a whole. One thing is for sure – things can’t stay the same when it comes to learning and development.
The world of learning and development is in a state of constant flux with multiple forces at play. There are changing demographics, work environments and cultures, the rapid adoption of digital technology and all the data that comes with that, and of course the pandemic is a crosswind that affects all this too. Navigating a landscape with all these competing forces is difficult, for learners, managers and L&D leaders alike. But there are lights in the dark and this report is one of those.
Looking at the present day, there appears to be a mismatch between how HR decision makers (DMs) and employees perceive how frequently good quality learning and development opportunities are delivered today. In fact, around 75% of HR DMs believe they’re delivering learning on each of the top 10 skills of 2025 (according to the World Economic Forum2) across their organisation regularly, whereas only 50% of employees believe this to be true. Across the board in areas such as complex problem-solving, technology use, leadership and resilience, this mismatch is clear, with more than seven in ten HR DMs believing employees are receiving adequate training in each area at least once a month, while less than half of employees believe that to be the case.
It’s not just the amount of training that HR DMs and employees disagree on, but the quality of it too. While most HR DMs believe their organisation provides learning opportunities that can be practically applied to roles, such as
2World Economic Forum, 2020, https://www.weforum.org/agenda
multi-disciplinary skills training, continuous development, engaging content, meaningful activities, and an integrated, tech-enabled learning and development experience, less than half of employees would be inclined to agree.
This gap between what HR DMs believe they’re offering and what employees actually feel they receive highlights a worrying trend. If the key decision makers in organisations across the country feel they’re providing not only adequate training but high-quality L&D opportunities on a regular basis, and employees are not seeing that, it becomes difficult to address the issue.
Obviously, the most important part of an L&D strategy is the outcome. There needs to be a benefit for the employee and the employer too; more Learning & Development means more skilled members of staff. Interestingly, both HR DMs and employees believe the current effect of learning experiences is not sufficient. This demonstrates that for both employers and their workforce, the long-term benefits of learning and development, however it is delivered, are not being felt by either party.
The findings from this research further emphasise the sizeable problem all industries are facing around measuring the impact of learning and development. By implementing smart solutions utilising the very thing employers are trying to encourage their staff to learn about (technology), organisations will be much better equipped to provide more efficient and effective training.
