Learning and development is no longer just a once-in-a-while activity. It has become a business-critical priority for increasing skills, staying competitive and improving employee engagement.

Employees expect their organizations to invest in their development and provide them with the skills they need to succeed. Without a commitment to developing their employees, companies risk losing key talent and not having the skills they need to compete.

Learning and development encompasses a wide range of activities designed to improve the capabilities of people.

Capabilities comprise not only the technical skills and knowledge people have, but also their attributes, attitudes and behaviours. Learning and development activities can be designed to deliver specific skills in a short period of time to meet an immediate need, or designed to achieve broader requirements over a longer period.

Creating a competency framework is an effective method to assess, maintain, and monitor the knowledge, skills, and attributes of people in your organization. The framework allows you to measure current competency levels to make sure your employees have the expertise needed to add value to the business. It also helps managers make informed decisions about talent recruitment, retention, and succession strategies. And, by identifying the specific behaviors and skills needed for each role, it enables you to budget and plan for the training and development your company really needs.

Activities to enable people to acquire new capabilities can include on-the-job training, development opportunities, such as special projects, conferences, secondments, and mentoring, as well as formal classroom training.