Learning And Development Strategy: Definition, Purpose And Importance

What is meant by strategic planning?

The learning and development in simple words can be defined as the procedure by which the employees are trained and even empowered tis om extent in order to improve their performance in general which would help in improving the overall performance in the business (Ricaurte & Viloria, 2020). The learning and development strategies mainly focuses on outlining the development of any given organisation’s workforce in terms of their skills, capabilities and even their competencies that ultimately leads the way to remain successful. This strategy is mainly employed to form an understanding about the sustainability of any given organisation along with the success of the company. The effective formation of the learning and development strategy would ensure that there is a stable professional development that takes place thus enabling a pipeline that brings the best talent to the floor.

Strategic planning in simple words is an activity of organisational management which is put to use mainly in order to ascertain priorities, resources, focuses of energy, strengthening of the operations that are working on the floor, the certainty that all the stakeholder as well as the employees work towards attaining a goal that is common to all (Malunga, 2020). It is also used to ensure that there is mutual and common agreement among the participants towards achieving the desired result. It also works towards bringing about all the important and required changes which is useful for the creation of a responsive environment within the organisation. Here the efforts are mostly disciplined and it gives way to making decisions that are fundamental and all the actions are mostly focussed at shaping the organisation and its purpose as well as the activities that it indulges in.

The main purpose of Strategic planning is to put forward the overall goals for any given business and at the same time it focuses on the development of the plans to be acted upon. Strategic planning in simple words is planning out strategically the activities of the business that would effectively give the company a direction. The first purpose that a strategic plan seeks to serve is determining the mission of the business (Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission, 2018). The implementation of the plan brings to the surface the mission that the company seeks to achieve in the due course of time. The second purpose that it seeks to fulfill is it clearly brings forth the vision of the company and there is a clear understanding about what the business is seeking to achieve in the nearing future. The last purpose is to provide a clear plan. In other words, it clearly talks about the way the goals can be achieved. 

What is the purpose of a strategic plan?

The term ‘strategic management’ is mainly the procedure by which the goals of a company or a business is set and it also goes on to provide a process by which any given organisation can be made competitive by setting certain set off goals and the objective for the same (Bindra, Parameswar & Dhir, 2019). The aspect of strategic management goes on to deploy effectively the staff as well as all the available resources in order to achieve the already determined goals in general. The idea of strategic management goes on to encompass aspects like strategic evaluation and analysis of the internal organisation. Strategic execution on the other hand, stands to mean the implementation of the strategic plan that is generally put to use in order to achieve the goals of any given organisation. 

The four phases of strategic management and execution are as follows:

1) Formulation of plan- The first step is to formulate a definite plan and this phase is centred around the choosing the most successful and effective way of acting in order to ensure success (Zerfass et al., 2018). In this phase the objectives are set and a number of ways are identified in order to achieve the desired goal in general.

2) Implementation of strategies- This phase is mainly focussed at implementing as well as the execution of the important strategies in order to successfully achieve the objectives.

3) Evaluation- This phase involves the evaluation of the strategies that is out to use in this phase in order to provide feedbacks on the performance. One of the strategies that is put to use in this case involves gap analysis.

Learning plan in simple words is the term that is used to explain the documents that are put to use in order to develop learning over a span of time. This plan is generally comprehensive and is customized as per the needs of the organisation or the people (Syamsudin & Supriyanto, 2019). The multi-day plan that is used for providing instructions and to carry out assessment is meant by the term ‘learning plan’. The main point is that the creator of the leaning plan has to formulate the plan based on the learning outcomes and the acceptability of the leaners in general. It mainly outlines the learning activity that is required for attaining success and at the same time it sheds light on the developmental activities that are part of the overall success of the subject in question.

What is strategic management and execution?

Organisation learning and development in simple words is the process that is used for the retaining of the knowledge as well as the creation of knowledge within the boundaries of the organisation (Antonacopoulou, 2018). The transferring of knowledge also falls under this domain in general. Experience plays a significantly huge part in the gaining of knowledge which is why the organisation’s knowledge improves significantly as it goes on to become more and more experienced in general. The aspect of organisation learning and development has the main aim to drive the aspect of strategic management and development by rigorous and effective solutions that allows different individuals and teams as well as the overall organisation to attain good results. The organisation therefor goes on to adapt themselves for achieving the goals that are already set.

Organisation learning is the process in which the organisation indulges to gain good amount of knowledge with respect to the functions that needs to be performed by them and also lays emphasis on making use of the newly acquired knowledge simply for adapting to the new changes that takes place in the environment which helps in increasing the efficiency of the overall organisation in general (Namada, 2018). The entire organisation in this case has to go through a drastic change or adaptation process in order to acquire success in the long term. Therefore, organisational learning mainly is the process of creating, retaining as well as the transferring of the knowledge within any given organisation. This sort of learning goes on to push the acceptability of the given organisation and even the response to changes that takes place internally or externally. 

The meaning of formal learning in simple words is something that takes place as envisioned within the formally created or formally established institutions of education like for instance schools, training centres, colleges and other such establishments (Lecat, Beausaert & Raemdonck, 2018). The main idea is to gain knowledge in places that are constructed mainly to derive knowledge in general. The formal learning can be done in a number of forms like through academic books and syllabus that is provided for making the learning process smooth. Formal learning takes place mainly in the organisation that are based mainly on training like classrooms, online portals, mobile devices, workplace and even online platforms directed towards providing formal education. The learning in this case is mainly based on the grounds of lifelong learning and even practical learning is given due place and benefits in general.  

List the four (4) phases of strategic management and execution.

The aspect of organisation learning is mainly the learning process that is carried out within any organisation that involves or includes the interaction of collective levels, that includes groups, inter-organisational levels and organisational level, and individual of analysis that further leads to attaining of the organisation’s goal in general (Mitchell & Larry, 2021). In other words, it can be said that the aspect of organisational learning is mainly the skill of the organisation to create, acquire and even transfer any set of knowledge and modify the behaviour of the organisation in order to reflect new insights and knowledge in general. In this case, there is a constant need for the organisation to adapt itself to the given situation and to spread the knowledge within the organisation’s boundary to derive maximum number of results in general.

To prepare the approach of organisational learning and development, it is important to create a collaborative environment where the transfer of knowledge is smooth among the individuals (Antonacopoulou, 2018). In addition to that, the approach should avoid formation of any sort of mental blocks and must be based on intentions to experiment. The approach also goes on to include a number of ways like socialization, externalization, internalization and lastly combination. This sort of approach is enormously helpful in being able to transfer tacit and explicit knowledge in the context of the organisation.

The evaluation of organisational learning and development can be managed with the help of metrics-based mechanism where the individuals would be considered as successful when they clear the success factor or metrics.

The main purpose to have organisational learning strategy is to ensure the creation of vision and also provide a clear direction to the entire organisation in general (Lau et al., 2019). It is important for any organisation to have clearly defined goals which are easily achievable as well. This is exactly what organisational learning strategy helps in achieving. The clearly put forward strategies allows the company to have a clear understanding of the goals that needs to be achieved in general and this is the purpose that is sufficed by organisational learning strategy. This strategy also targets at ensuring that the organisation does not by any means let to losing clarity of vision and direction to achieving the desired goal. The organisational learning strategy helps in creating a dynamic as well as supportive culture towards learning within the boundaries of an organisation. 

What is a learning plan?

The ecosystem of learning and performance main purpose is to make sure that the effectiveness of any given individual within the organisation is enhanced to a great extent (Ingvaldsdóttir & Sundin, 2021). It not only focuses its attention to individual effectiveness only but it further goes on to take into consideration the organisational effectiveness within the organisation. The way of doing so that is adopted here is connecting a number of people and even providing them with good amount of support with the help of a huge range of process as well as content. It also makes use of technology to do so. This kind of ecosystem seeks to prepare any given organisation for being able to withstand the situation of crisis in general.  It also gives way to benefits in the long run by giving way to creativity and good amount of innovation which can lead to an impact on the services provided to customers in general.

Flexible organisational strategies in simple words are the ability that is held by any given organisation to be bale to respond to issues or changes in any environment in the most effective time and also in the most appropriate mannerism with regards to the forces that are competitive within the market space (Shalender & Yadav, 2019). The flexibility strategies in any organisation are thus the different strategies that are out to use in order to ensure this kind of flexibility without much issues. This flexibility that is being discussed is achieved by any organization with the use of a number of ways that would typically include both internal and external ways in genera. These strategies are directed towards ensuring benefits from flexible work schedules in general. It also goes on to mean the extent to which there is a possibility for new and alternative decisions in general and this is enabled through strategic planning. 

Resource management in simple words is the acquiring of resources. It is also goes on to include the allocation and management of the resources like the management of individuals and the skills of the individuals (Ghobaei-Arani, Souri & Rahmanian, 2020). In addition, it goes on to include finances and the technology that is already available to them. The materials, natural resources and machinery that is required for the given project. The management of the resources includes the management of both the resources, that is, the internal resources and the external resources. In simple words, here the focus is on managing the resources that are available to the company in order to derive maximum amount of result. The management of time is also extremely important in this case. Resource management thus plays a key part in ensuring that the company is able to derive maximum usage of the resources that are available to them.

What is organisational learning and development?

Recognition of prior learning is extremely important for the personal assessment reason which would further help in planning of an individual’s career and in addition to that it also goes on to facilitate writing of resume of an individual for the purpose of marketing one’s own self (Guimarães & Mikulec, 2020). It also helps in preparing the individual for any interview and also to create a portfolio in general. It helps greatly in identification of the personal strengths and skills of an individual in general and it also help in tapping the already possessed knowledge of the individual. This also helps in the creation of a number of tools which gives way for self-marketing and it can also give way to new choices and options in general. A recognition is formed with respect to a need for effective training in general.

Strategic change management is the process by which management of the changes is carried out in the most structured manner and at the same time after having effectively though about the same so as to ensure that the previously set organizational goals are met with utmost efficiency (Dzwigol et al., 2019). It also helps in meeting the desired missions and objectives in general. There is a constant necessity for the organizations to undergo certain changes and these changes hold importance with respect to the fact that it allows the organization to survive in competition and also meet the required demands that surface in the market. These changes when managed with utmost efficiency can end up in allowing a number of gains for the organization in general. Thus, these changes are brought about after charting out an effective plan and thus leasing to gains at the end of the day.

The Kirkpatrick’s four stages of evaluation is one of the most recognized and celebrated method of evaluation with respect to the results of the programs of learning and training in general (Johnston, Coyer & Nash, 2018). It goes on to use both the ways of training method, that is, formal training method and informal training method and then goes on to mark them based on the four set levels of criteria namely reaction, learning, behaviour and lastly the results that are derived. The first level, reaction, is mainly focused at the reaction of the students and the thoughts that these groups of students have on the experience of training. The second level, learning, this level is focussed at the resultant learning of the students and the increase in the available knowledge of the students from the experience of training. The third level, behaviour, takes into consideration the behavioural changes as well as improvement in the behaviour after having applied the different skills. The fourth level, result, is the ultimate level that is based on the tangible results.

Briefly explain the concept of organisational learning.

Performance gap analysis in simple words goes on to determine which aspects are missing or have been lacking in the performance of the employees that have been working in the company in general (Allard, Olofsson & Nair, 2018). This aspect is also influenced by the position that is held by the employees within the company as compared to that of the competitors. In all of these conditions the performance is measured or evaluated by carrying out a comparison with the pre-established standards with the benchmark of the acceptable standards in general. In simple words, the term ‘performance gap’ goes on to mean the gap that exists between the actual performance and the expected performance in general. This could take place at any given level within the organization and there maybe a number of factors influencing the same.

The personnel that may be involved in the need with respect to the notice of a recommendation for change would involve those individuals who  would be impacted by the any changes in the company’s position. Thus, the first set of people that needs to eb mentioned are the investors as they would invest greatly in the company and thus have to ensure that the position of the company improves on the positive front. The second set of people would involve the stakeholders because they are directly involved with the functioning of the company and can thus make note of the required changes and could highlight the same. The next set of people would include the management and especially the line managers who need to have a keen eye on the changes that are to be made and also ensure that the changes are made effectively thus initiating positive effect. The change initiators also need a mention here because they while not being involved with the company directly they are still bringing about change after recognizing the need for change. 

Assume that you are working as project manager in ABC construction company. Your company has given you the opportunity to lead one project in regional area. You are required to evaluate methods of learning and development against organisational requirements

Question 1: What are the different strategies you will use to evaluate methods of learning and development against organisational requirements?

One of the strategies that can be used in this case is the Anderson’s Model of Learning Evaluation which comprises of three stages (Šuntajs, Prosen & Vidmar,2021). The first stage is evaluation of the program with respect training that is employed at the present time. The second stage is the measurement stage where the amount of contribution that is made by the training towards the strategic business results is measured. The final stage would involve the recognition of the most relevant approaches for the company in question and then make a decision on the effectiveness of the ROI. The next strategy is the Kirkpatrick Taxonomy Model which is divided into four stages. The first stage is the reaction of the learners towards the learning process. The second is the learning stage where the effective learning aspect is tapped. The third is behaviour or the impact that the training has had on the leaner’s behaviour and lastly the result from the learning. 

What is meant by formal learning?

As you have evaluated methods of learning and development against organisational requirements in this project, discuss the steps and procedures you will implement to examine and review options for deploying quality policies and processes in organisational learning.

In the step of maintain the quality policies and processes the focus in the strategy employing the Anderson’s Model of Learning Evaluation would be on ensuring that the quality of the services that is delivered to the customers is improved by a percentage of roughly twenty percent based on the existing margin of quality that is provide to the customers (Šuntajs, Prosen & Vidmar, 2021). This will be incorporated in the stage of measurement where a comparison would be made based on the benchmark percent of quality and the new percent. In the strategy employed in Kirkpatrick Taxonomy Model the learning stage would include the training provided to reduce carbon footprints by an average of five percent in the span of six months. 

As you will ensure workplace learning opportunities are used by teams and individuals. What are the appropriate methods and strategies that you will implement to construct and present plans for improving organisational learning strategy? 

Learning ecosystem would be created in order to ensure that the process of learning is easier and in doing so formal educational system would be created (Guimarães & Mikulec, 2020). The focus would remain on educating the people about the changes that needs to be bought. Organizational learning is mainly encouraged where the learning process is carried out within the organization. 

Answer may vary but student must address the questions according to the following resources:

• Learner Guide
• Triner’s lecture - notes
• PowerPoint presentation
• Self-study Guide
• Live Training sessions and discussions with trainers/assessors 

Allard, I., Olofsson, T., & Nair, G. (2018, August). Energy evaluation of residential buildings: Performance gap analysis incorporating uncertainties in the evaluation methods. In Building Simulation (Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 725-737). Tsinghua University Press.

Antonacopoulou, E. (2018). Organisational learning for and with VUCA: learning leadership revisited. Teoria e Prática em Administração, 8(2), 10-32.

Bindra, S., Parameswar, N., & Dhir, S. (2019). Strategic management: The evolution of the field. Strategic Change, 28(6), 469-478.

Dzwigol, H., Shcherbak, S., Semikina, M., Vinichenko, O., & Vasiuta, V. (2019). Formation of strategic change management system at an enterprise. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 18, 1-8.

Ghobaei-Arani, M., Souri, A., & Rahmanian, A. A. (2020). Resource management approaches in fog computing: a comprehensive review. Journal of Grid Computing, 18(1), 1-42.

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Ingvaldsdóttir, E., & Sundin, M. (2021). Learning Ecosystem: A framework for large manufacturing firms based on practical and theoretical insights.

Johnston, S., Coyer, F. M., & Nash, R. (2018). Kirkpatrick's evaluation of simulation and debriefing in health care education: A systematic review. Journal of Nursing Education, 57(7), 393-398.

Lau, K. W., Lee, P. Y., & Chung, Y. Y. (2019). A collective organizational learning model for organizational development. Leadership & Organization Development Journal.

Lecat, A., Beausaert, S., & Raemdonck, I. (2018). On the relation between teachers’(in) formal learning and innovative working behavior: the mediating role of employability. Vocations and Learning, 11(3), 529-554.

Malunga, C. (2020). Strategic planning: The cultivation of organizational beauty. In NGO Management (pp. 175-187). Routledge. 

Mitchell, C., & Larry, S. (2021). Learning about organizational learning. In Organizational learning in schools (pp. 177-199). Taylor & Francis.

Namada, J. M. (2018). Organizational learning and competitive advantage. In Handbook of research on knowledge management for contemporary business environments (pp. 86-104). IGI Global.

Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission. (2018). Strategic Plan.

Ricaurte, M., & Viloria, A. (2020). Project-based learning as a strategy for multi-level training applied to undergraduate engineering students. Education for Chemical Engineers, 33, 102-111.

Shalender, K., & Yadav, R. K. (2019). Strategic flexibility, manager personality, and firm performance: The case of Indian Automobile Industry. Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, 20(1), 77-90.

Šuntajs, J., Prosen, T., & Vidmar, L. (2021). Spectral properties of three-dimensional Anderson model. Annals of Physics, 435, 168469.

Syamsudin, S., & Supriyanto, A. (2019). Konsep Individual Learning Plan. Proceeding of The URECOL, 160-165.

Zerfass, A., Ver?i?, D., Nothhaft, H., & Werder, K. P. (2018). Strategic communication: Defining the field and its contribution to research and practice. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 12(4), 487-505.