U.K. L&D professionals report on their employee learning budgets, their biggest challenges, and more
Employee learning is a key element in nurturing talent and driving organisations forward. That’s why we surveyed over 180 HR and L&D professionals from the U.K. to learn how their organisations are investing in talent, how they measure their impact, and what attitudes different levels in the organisation hold about corporate learning.
We collected survey results through our member database as well as through our partnership with the Campaign for Learning and only included responses from professionals managing or directing learning initiatives in their organisation. In order to better understand the relationship between L&D and company growth, we added an additional layer of analysis by segmenting companies with increased turnover in the past financial year.
Our goal in sharing this survey is to help you benchmark your L&D department and organisation against others in the nation and shed light on the challenges and trends that will shape 2018.
Learn about:
- Budget outlooks, number of training days and employee training budgets of organisations across the UK
- How employee retention, satisfaction scores, and overall company revenue are correlated with L&D initiatives
- The most popular training mediums and topics of 2018
- The most common challenges L&D professionals face
Key Takeaways of the 2018 L&D Survey
1. Measuring the impact of L&D is crucial to success
Measuring the ROI of corporate learning initiatives is strongly tied to executive buy-in, increased learning budgets, a staff that prioritises learning, and the belief that their department is competitive in the industry.
2. Learning culture impacts the entire organisation
Strong learning cultures go hand-in-hand with senior leadership taking an active or supportive role in workplace learning, and is linked with a higher employee satisfaction level.
3. Investing in talent development is key
Organisations who offered employees a below-average number of training days and had lower training budgets are more likely to report shorter employee retention and lower levels of employee satisfaction.
4. Leadership and management development are top-of-mind
Regardless of industry, leadership and management development are the most popular areas of employee development. This trend was even stronger amongst companies who have grown in the last financial year as they look towards the future and invest in leadership.
5. Lack of resources remain a top concern
L&D professionals cite limited resources – budget and small team size – as the top challenge they face in their department. Even the majority of companies with positive financial growth and departments expecting budget increases in 2018 are no exception.
This survey is a part of the U.K. L&D Report 2018: Benchmark Your Workplace Learning Strategy.
#1. How many employees work in your organisation?
#2. Which industry best describes your organisation?
#3. How do you think your L&D department performs in comparison to your competitors?
#4. How do you predict your L&D budget will change in 2018?
#5. What is your annual training budget per employee?
#6. How many days of training does an average staff member receive per year?
#7. What is the average retention rate of your staff?
#8. How satisfied is your staff according to your latest employee satisfaction survey?
63% of companies with increased turnover in the last year rated leadership and management development as their top priority.
#9. What subject is your top training and development priority?
#10. What training method does your company use to train senior - mid - and entry-level employees?
#11. What is the biggest challenge your L&D department faces?
31% of companies which had grown in the last year used external coaching for senior leadership. That’s twice the average.
#12. Would you describe your organisation as having a learning culture?
Companies with decreased turnover were 2x more likely to say their staff does not prioritise learning.
#13. How do you assess the impact of L&D on staff?
#14. How much does your L&D department contribute to your organisation?
#15. How does the top management of your organisation value L&D?
94% of L&D professionals from companies with an increased turnover in the last year said their department was critical to organisational success.
Download the full report below:
What's included?
- The employee training budgets, training topics, and training methods of organisations in 2018.
- Practical advice from L&D leaders to help you adopt new technologies, nurture a learning culture, get the most from the apprenticeship levy and measure and promote the value of workplace learning.
- How learning professionals rate the executive engagement in learning, assess the impact of training and more!
This article is sponsored by BPP Professional Education
