Workplace Stories by RedThread Research L&D’s Identity Crisis: Why Supporting the Business Isn’t Enough Anymore, with Al Dea
Apr 2, 2025
Al Dea, founder of Edge of Work and host of the Edge of Work podcast, redefines the role of Learning and Development (L&D) within organizations. He argues that L&D shouldn't just be a support function but rather a strategic partner in business transformation. Al emphasizes the importance of embedding learning into business strategies, leveraging skills data, and adopting agile methodologies. He addresses the identity crisis L&D faces and encourages leaders to shift their focus from merely delivering training to solving pressing business challenges.
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L&D's Limited Role
- Many L&D teams are seen as support functions, creating programs and responding to requests.
- In a changing business landscape, this limited role may not suffice.
Focus on Business Problems
- Focus on solving business problems, not just learning problems.
- Understand the work that needs to be done to gain credibility and influence.
L&D and Employee Engagement
- Al Dea shares an example of an L&D director who also took on employee engagement.
- This allowed them to use employee engagement data to demonstrate learning impact.