Joe Murphy: Supercharge Your Knowledge Base: Must-Have L&D Practices for Organisational Success

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, Learning and Development (L&D) has become a strategic imperative for organisations aiming to stay competitive. Yet, many companies still rely on outdated, generic training that fails to engage or deliver measurable impact. Forward-thinking organisations understand that effective L&D is practical, personalised, and collaborative- aligning with both business objectives and individual career aspirations.

Here’s a look at the best practices that leading organisations are using to future-proof their workforce and how others can follow suit—especially by empowering internal talent to drive collaborative learning.

1. Align L&D with Business and Individual Needs

Why it matters: Generic training often misses the mark because it fails to address real business challenges or support employees’ personal goals. The result? Low engagement and wasted resources.

Best practice: Start with a skills gap analysis to identify both organisational needs (e.g. upskilling for AI adoption) and individual development goals. Survey your workforce regularly to tailor content accordingly. For example, a retail company might invest in e-commerce analytics training while offering leadership pathways for emerging talent. Deloitte exemplifies this approach by blending role-specific training with personalised learning tracks across its learning platforms.

2. Embrace Microlearning: Short, Accessible, and On-Demand

Why it matters: Long, one-size-fits-all training sessions are often inefficient and overwhelming. Today’s employees prefer flexible, bite-sized learning that fits into their day.

Best practice: Adopt microlearning, 5–10-minute modules that can be accessed anytime, anywhere. Platforms like LinkedIn Learning or Degreed are great for this approach. Microsoft leverages microlearning to deliver software tutorials, allowing employees to learn in real-time using mobile devices.

3. Build a Culture of Continuous Learning

Why it matters: Treating L&D as a one-off annual event, such as compliance training, doesn’t support lasting growth. A culture of everyday learning keeps employees agile and engaged.

Best practice: Integrate learning into the daily workflow. Google’s "20% time" policy allows employees to explore new skills, while IBM’s digital badge system gamifies progress. Managers play a vital role here by sharing their own learning journeys, they normalise and champion ongoing development. AT&T’s “Future Ready” programme is another standout example, linking online courses directly to career progression.

4. Prioritise Soft Skills Alongside Technical Training

Why it matters: Technical proficiency alone isn’t enough. According to a 2024 Wall Street Journal survey, 92% of executives consider soft skills equally critical for success.

Best practice: Blend soft skills into your L&D curriculum. PwC’s leadership programmes, for example, combine financial analysis with inclusive decision-making. Use coaching, simulations, and role-playing to teach empathy, communication, and collaboration, vital traits even in highly technical roles.

5. Empower Top Performers to Drive Peer Learning

Why it matters: Traditional top-down training often ignores internal expertise. Empowering top performers to share their knowledge fosters a collaborative learning culture and boosts morale.

Best practice: Launch peer-to-peer initiatives, such as an internal podcast or knowledge-sharing series. This format is accessible, authentic, and scalable. Imagine a monthly podcast featuring top salespeople sharing real client strategies or engineers discussing innovative solutions. Salesforce has pioneered this with internal storytelling platforms that spotlight employee success stories.

Implementation tip: Identify top performers through performance data or manager nominations. Provide easy-to-use recording tools and content guidelines. Promote new episodes via internal channels like Slack, newsletters, or team meetings.

6. Measure Impact and Iterate

Why it matters: If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. Tracking learning outcomes helps refine content, justify budgets, and ensure strategic alignment.

Best practice: Use metrics such as productivity gains, customer satisfaction, or knowledge retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) scores. Siemens, for instance, tracks post-training productivity to assess ROI.

Top tip: Collect real-time feedback through surveys and use the data to iterate. Keep content fresh and relevant.

7. Focus on Systems, Not Just Goals

Why it matters: Lofty training goals can feel unattainable. Sustainable progress comes from well-designed systems that encourage consistent, manageable learning habits.

Best practice: Create structured, repeatable learning systems. For instance, introduce “learning hours” each week and support them with internal wikis or LMS platforms. Companies like Toyota embed continuous improvement (Kaizen) into daily practice—demonstrating that consistent effort builds long-term capability. Encourage employees to build habits like completing one microlearning session daily to drive momentum without burnout.

Joe's Final Thought: Make L&D Practical, Personal, and Collaborative

The most impactful L&D programmes are not flashy, they are functional, flexible, and fuelled by collaboration. By empowering employees to contribute to the learning culture and embedding development into everyday workflows, organisations can unlock new levels of performance and engagement.

Those who neglect these practices risk falling behind. But those who invest in thoughtful, targeted, and collaborative learning systems will enjoy higher retention, stronger performance, and a workforce ready for whatever comes next.

The takeaway? Make learning a habit, not an event and watch your organisation thrive.

Joe Murphy

Learning & Development SME