Creating a Learning and Development Culture

Written by Cheryl Flink, Ph.D.

Human Resources (HR) leaders are tasked with what is arguably the most critical task at any organization: Acquiring, developing, and retaining the talent that will create a competitive edge for their organizations—now and in the future.

A comprehensive learning and development investment strategy creates the road map for accomplishing these goals. The global market size for training and development topped 370.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2019 with an average spend of about $1,280/per employee (Statista Search Department, 2023). Unfortunately, the most tangible way to measure the investment and ROI of building a learning culture focuses on the costs of the material offerings: The skills-based training courses, leadership development programs, and other investments that can be measured and counted. Is this focus on the material offerings an effective way to build learning cultures? We will argue that it is not—and in fact, it is the least important component.

Download the Purple Paper^TM to access findings from our in-house research team, understand the impact of a learning and development culture, and gain access to our latest model which provides a new measure for assessing an organization’s learning and development culture, and more.