What return could a fourfold increase in learning and development deliver?

Emma Weber

According to a case study detailed in AIM’s publication “Management Today”, Luxottica discovered three years ago a significant disconnection between the way customers and employees viewed their organisation. They had a dominant market position and world class brands but a low level of staff engagement and an unacceptably high level of staff turnover. They set about changing this and within 18 months of a 3 year program they had made significant improvements.

Rhonda Brighton, the Group General Manager of Human Resources reported that the successful implementation of a staff engagement program led to an increase in both top and bottom line growth and an increased market share. A fourfold increase in learning and development spending also contributed significantly to an 8% drop in the annual staff attrition rate, a 15% improvement in engagement and a 30% reduction in recruitment costs. In the article by Mark Story, Brighton stresses that simplicity was at the heart of the process.

The September issue of Management Today is a great read. Other AIM (Australian Institute of Management) resources can be found at www.aim.com.au. Enjoy.

Emma Weber is a recognized authority on the transfer of learning. As CEO of Lever–Transfer of Learning, she has helped companies such as Telstra, Oracle and BMW deliver and measure tangible business results from learning. She has also been a guest speaker at learning effectiveness conferences worldwide and authored the hugely successful book “Turning Learning into Action“. Much more detail around the issues and solutions examined in this article are available in the book – please feel free to download a free chapter. Emma and her team also developed Coach M, a coaching chatbot that delivers fully scaleable learning transfer. She is also a co-author of the books Making Change Work, and Designing Virtual Learning for Application and Impact. Her work and approach is also featured in Data and Analytics for Instructional Designers by Megan Torrance (Author), Foundations of People Metrics and Analytics – by Renjini Joseph and an ATD 10-minute case study series – Chatbot Coaching for Learning Transfer.