What Is Learning and Development? Overview and Strategy for Business Leaders

Learning and development (L&D) helps employees build the skills they need to succeed today while preparing them for tomorrow’s opportunities. From onboarding new hires to developing future leaders, an L&D strategy helps your business stay competitive and your workforce engaged.

This guide covers what learning and development is, why it matters, the different types of employee training and development programs, the models that guide L&D strategy, how to build and measure a program of your own, and where the function is headed next.

What is learning and development?

Learning and development refers to the structured efforts an organization makes to improve its workforce’s skills, knowledge, and performance, both in their current roles and in roles they may grow into over time. It’s a core human resource (HR) function and a central part of how organizations build and retain talent over time.

L&D is often broken into two halves that describe different things:

• Training is focused, short-term instruction tied to a specific skill or task. It’s typically required, delivered to groups, and aims to produce an immediate improvement in job performance. Examples include hosting an annual harassment-prevention course or onboarding a new hire on a software system.
• Development is broader and longer-term, and focused on helping employees expand their capabilities beyond their current role, often working towards a future promotion or lateral move. Development is typically voluntary and often includes mentoring, coaching, stretch assignments, and leadership programs.

Many businesses use “learning and development” and “training and development” interchangeably, and both are frequently shortened to L&D. Whatever term your organization uses, the goal is to nurture a workforce that’s equipped to do its job well today and adapt as the business changes.

Why learning and development is important

Organizations that invest in L&D consistently outperform others in many ways:

Improves recruiting and retention

Today’s job seekers want to know how an organization supports their long-term growth. Clearly communicating career development opportunities during the hiring process can help employers stand out, while ongoing investment in employees’ skills and careers can encourage them to stay. In fact, a Great Place to Work® poll found that 43% of people cited a lack of growth opportunities as the top reason for leaving their last job.

Closes skills gaps

As technology evolves and business needs shift, employees need new skills to keep pace. 85% of employers plan to prioritize reskilling their workforce. A structured learning and development program enables organizations to proactively close the gap between the skills employees have and the skills the business will need in the near future.

Develops future leaders

Ongoing leadership training and development programs helps build a strong pipeline of internal talent. By preparing high-potential employees for management and leadership roles, businesses can reduce the time and expense of hiring externally (which can range from 50% to 200% of an annual salary), while promoting leaders who already understand the organization’s culture and goals.

Strengthens culture and engagement

When employees receive regular coaching, feedback, and development opportunities, they tend to report higher morale and a stronger connection to their employer. The data backs this up, with Gallup reporting that managers trained on coaching and people development see up to 18% higher team engagement. L&D is also one of the clearest ways for a business to demonstrate that it’s invested in equitable growth opportunities for every employee.

Supports compliance and risk management

Many industries require documented, recurring training on safety, harassment prevention, data privacy, and other regulated topics. A well-managed learning and development function ensures this training happens consistently and is properly tracked, which matters both for protecting employees and for limiting legal exposure.

Main types of L&D programs

Learning and development looks different at every organization, but most programs include a mix of training and enrichment activities. Common types of training and development programs include:

• Onboarding and new hire training: Often the first structured training an employee receives, this covers job-specific skills, company policies, workplace systems, and introductions to the team and company culture.
• Technical and job-specific skills training: Focuses on the specific skills required to perform a particular role, whether that’s learning specialized software or operating machinery safely.
• Soft skills training: Helps employees strengthen workplace skills such as communication, collaboration, problem-solving, adaptability, and emotional intelligence.
• Leadership training and development: These programs prepare current managers and high-potential employees to manage others and navigate organizational responsibilities. They often combine formal coursework with coaching, mentoring, and stretch assignments, and are key for building succession pipelines.
• Compliance and safety training: Required by law in many industries, this includes topics like workplace safety, anti-harassment, data privacy, etc.
• Product and customer-facing training: This training ensures that employees who interact with customers maintain a current understanding of the company’s products or services so they can communicate accurately.
• Diversity and inclusion awareness: Support a more welcoming workplace for employees of all backgrounds by training managers on how to accommodate team members with disabilities, highlighting cultural events on the company intranet, etc.
• Cross-training and interdepartmental collaboration: Teaches employees how to perform responsibilities outside their primary role in order to build coverage for absences and increase workforce flexibility during key moments like product launches.

Businesses typically deliver these learning and development programs using a combination of:

• Instructor-led classroom or virtual sessions
• Self-paced online learning
• On-the-job coaching
• Mentoring
• Job shadowing
• Simulations
• Short “microlearning” modules

Common learning and development models

Organizations use a variety of learning frameworks to design effective training programs and evaluate their impact. While no single model works for every business, these are among the most widely used.

The 70/20/10 model

This model suggests that roughly 70% of workplace learning happens informally through on-the-job experiences; 20% happens through relationships, like mentoring and peer feedback; and 10% happens through formal coursework and training.

Additionally, the 70/20/10 model encourages businesses to think beyond traditional classroom training and create opportunities for employees to learn through everyday work and personal connections.

The ADDIE model

ADDIE is a five-step instructional design process used to build individual training programs and stands for:

• Analyzing the problem or need,
• Designing an outline for the learning experience,
• Developing the educational materials,
• Implementing the training and reviewing expected outcomes (or “inspecting what you expect”), and
• Evaluating how effectively the audience engaged and retained the information

Because it’s structured and repeatable, ADDIE is commonly used to develop both in-person and online learning programs.

The Kirkpatrick model

The most widely used framework for evaluating training effectiveness, this model measures results across four factors:

• Participants’ reaction to the training
• The learning they retained
• Changes in their on-the-job behavior
• The ultimate business impact or results

Some organizations use an expanded version of the Kirkpatrick model, called the Phillips model, which adds a fifth level focused on return on investment.

How to create a learning and development strategy

A learning and development strategy connects individual training programs to the business’s broader goals, so L&D investments produce tangible, relevant results. Here are the key steps to build one:

• Start with business goals: Before selecting a specific training program, take a step back and consider where the business is headed. Questions to ask include:
  • What capabilities will we need in one, three, and five years?
  • How are changes in technology, the market, or customer expectations likely to affect the business?
  • What capabilities will help support future growth?
• Assess current skills and identify gaps: Once you’ve identified where the business is headed, evaluate your workforce’s current capabilities. A skills audit helps identify the knowledge and experience employees already possess, while a skills gap analysis highlights where additional training or development is needed.
• Get input from various leaders: Department leaders and managers have firsthand insight into their team’s strengths and challenges. Involving them early in the planning process helps identify development opportunities and builds support for the strategy before it’s rolled out.
• Design learning paths for key roles: Rather than building a one-size-fits-all training, map out learning paths that reflect different roles and career stages. Consider the skills employees need to succeed, how they prefer to learn, and which delivery methods fit best into their day-to-day work.
• Build a business case and secure budget: Every initiative should have a clear purpose, a defined budget for tools like a learning management system (LMS), if applicable, and a description of the expected return (e.g., retention, productivity, safety, or revenue). Outlining the desired outcome helps secure buy-in and shows the value of the investment.
• Pilot before you scale: Before rolling out a new program organization-wide, test it with a smaller group. A pilot program can uncover content gaps and logistical issues before they affect the entire workforce.
• Measure results and adjust: L&D should not be a one-time initiative. Regularly reviewing completion rates, assessment results, and business outcomes tells you what’s working and where to tweak your approach.

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How to measure ROI in learning and development

Measuring the return on learning and development isn’t always straightforward, but tracking the right metrics can help demonstrate its value and identify opportunities to improve future programs. If your organization uses an LMS, it can help gauge these metrics.

Track participation and completion metrics

Enrollment, attendance, completion, and pass rates are fairly simple to gather and offer a baseline look at if employees are engaging with a program.

Measure knowledge and behavioral changes

Pre- and post-training assessments show how much participants absorbed the material, while manager observations and performance data indicate whether the education translated into different on-the-job behavior.

Connect training to business outcomes

The best ROI cases link a specific training initiative to a measurable shift in a business metric. This could look like:

• Reduced workplace safety incidents
• Faster ramp time for roles
• Improved customer satisfaction scores
• Stronger retention among trained employees versus untrained peers
• Increased sales or productivity

Calculate a cost-benefit ratio where possible

For programs with a quantifiable outcome, you can produce a clear ROI figure by comparing the monetary value of the improvement to the cost of the program (e.g., design, delivery, and employee time). While not every initiative will have a direct financial return, calculating ROI where possible can help prioritize future investments.

How to improve learning and development in the workplace

Even organizations with established learning programs can improve employee engagement and learning outcomes. These best practices can help make training more effective and encourage continuous development.

• Tie content directly to real scenarios: Employees retain more when training feels relevant to their actual work.
• Embrace microlearning: Shorter, more frequent learning moments tend to fit better into busy schedules than long, infrequent training events.
• Involve managers: Employees are more likely to apply what they’ve learned when their manager reinforces it, checks in on progress, and models the behavior themselves.
• Commit to ongoing learning: Encourage continuous growth through regular development conversations, updated learning resources, coaching opportunities, and continuous feedback. When learning becomes part of everyday work, employees are better equipped to adapt as business needs change.

Trends shaping learning and development

The way companies approach professional development continues to shift. A few trends worth watching:

• AI-powered personalization: Many learning platforms now use employee data, such as role, performance, and past training to recommend relevant courses, rather than assigning the same curriculum to everyone.
• Skills-based development: Instead of focusing solely on job titles, more organizations are building learning programs around the specific skills employees need to succeed. This approach helps businesses respond more quickly to changing workforce demands while giving employees clearer opportunities for growth.
• Microlearning and on-demand formats: Short, targeted modules continue to gain popularity because they fit more easily into employees’ schedules. On-demand learning also gives employees the flexibility to access training when they need it, making it easier to reinforce skills over time.
• Blended and experiential learning: Many businesses are combining formal coursework with coaching, mentoring, simulations, and stretch assignments.
• Generative AI as a training tool: In addition to personalizing learning, generative AI is being used to help L&D teams design courses, draft training materials, and summarize source content faster than manual development allows.

Who owns learning and development in a business?

Responsibility for learning and development varies depending on an organization’s size and structure.

Larger organizations often have dedicated learning and development teams or training managers who oversee strategy, budgets, vendor relationships, and program design. Managers then play an important role in reinforcing learning through coaching, feedback, and day-to-day employee development.

In small and mid-sized businesses, these responsibilities are frequently spread across HR professionals, department leaders, and managers. Without a dedicated L&D team, SMBs may also partner with outside experts to expand their capabilities.

This is one of the areas where working with an HR outsourcing provider, like a professional employer organization (PEO), can help smaller companies access additional learning and development support without building a full L&D function internally.

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