Strong Learning Organizations, Strong Leadership is the 12th edition of the Learning and Development Outlook (LDO). The report summarizes the results of the Learning and Development Outlook survey sent between April and June, 2013 to learning and development professionals who are primarily responsibility for the learning and development function within their organization. Representatives from 198 organizations completed the survey. A key finding that emerged from the responses is that organizations with strong learning cultures invest more in their learning and development and are realizing greater returns for their investment. Largely, they are guided by strong leadership that places a high priority on employee engagement and communication. Overall, these organizations have superior employee performance; higher levels of customer satisfaction; and provide higher quality products and services to their customers.

Executive Summary

Résumé

Chapter 1—Introduction

Chapter 2—Organizational Learning Culture

• What Contributes to Learning Culture?
• Canada’s Performance Decline
• How Strong Are Learning Cultures in Canadian Organizations?
• Leadership Support and Learning Culture
• Overall Organizational Effectiveness
• Learning Culture and Organizational Performance

Chapter 3—Expenditures on Learning and Development

• Learning and Development Expenditures
• Challenging Business Environments
• Two Important Metrics: Learning and Development Expenditures as a Proportion of Payroll and of Revenue
• Hours of Learning
• Hours of Learning by Job Level
• The Spending Decline
• Canada–U.S. Comparisons
• Spending Allocations for L&D
• Satisfaction With L&D Budgets
• Impact of L&D Investment on Organizational Performance
• Will Investment in L&D Rebound?

Chapter 4—Diversity of Learning Delivery

• Learning Is Still in the Classroom
• The Evolution of E-learning—Where Does It Stand?
• Informal Learning
• Declining Trends in Learning Delivery
• Learning Program Offerings
• Distribution of Formal Learning Content

Chapter 5—Organizational Learning Support

• The Structure of the L&D Function
• Learning Team Size
• Systems for Managing Learning Data
• Learning Resources

Chapter 6—Learning Evaluation and Organizational Strategy

• Top Strategic Goals
• Learning Metrics
• The Evaluation Dilemma
• Measuring Learning Efficiency
• Transfer of Training
• Performance Appraisal
• Learning Accountability

Chapter 7—Leadership Development

• Recognizing and Nurturing Internal Talent
• Leadership Development Practices Offered to Employees
• Effectiveness of Leadership Development
• Good Leadership Development Means Good Business
• Leadership Development Practices at Middle Management and Senior Levels
• The Impact of Leadership on Organizational Performance

Appendix A—Survey Methodology and Respondent Profile

Appendix B—Responding Organizations

Appendix C—Expenditures by Organization Type, Number of Employees, and Level of Unionization

Appendix D—Bibliography