Analysis | How L&D can create value: Role of line managers in supporting skills development

Driving engagement and critical role of the line manager

One of the challenges L&D faces in driving value has always been engagement which is consistently reported by L&D as a barrier to achieving their goals.  Encouragingly, manager and senior leader support for learning and development is improving, albeit slowly. The CIPD Learning and skills at work 2020 report highlighted that 29% of L&D leaders cited lack of manager support as a barrier to L&D success, this dropped to 23% in 2021 and 19% in 2023. But manager support is still fourth in the list of barriers that stand in the way of L&D progress, beaten only by lack of learner time, lack of engagement and limited budget – all of which could be seen as under the influence of the managers in our organisations.

Managers are pivotal to L&D success. A 2022 YouGov study of over 2000 workplace learners highlighted that in the modern hybrid workplace, employees are more likely to find out about workplace learning opportunities from their managers (38%) than from anywhere else - including L&D (18%). But managers' influence extends beyond increasing awareness of learning opportunities. In the same study, three quarters of employees found that support from their manager was useful when dealing with task and role challenges. Employees that feel supported by their manager and their organisation are more proactive in terms of learning. Workers stated that “lack of support, advice and encouragement from my manager” was the second largest barrier to learning at work for remote employees and third for in-person employees. 

We often look to improve manager buy-in to release people, time and funding however manager buy-in goes much deeper - providing motivation, direction, permission, and opportunity not only to learn but to ensure that new learning is applied back into the workplace on an ongoing basis.  

The latest CIPD Learning at work research findings highlighted when business leaders recognise the value of learning, managers are more likely to be engaged with actively supporting learning in the workplace and creating an environment where learning can flourish (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Impact of business leaders recognising L&D value

^{SOURCE: CIPD Learning at work 2023 report}

When managers make space for their teams to grow and learn, it makes a positive impact on business performance and growth. They create a climate in which learning and behavioural change take place.

So how can we support line managers to encourage and support learning in the workplace?

Reimagine management buy-in

The L&D value spectrum (Figure 2) outlines the range of ways that L&D talk about their value to business. The position that we take on this spectrum not only determines the tracking and reporting dashboards that we use to talk about L&D impact but it also determines how we define engagement and gain buy-in.

Figure 2: The L&D value spectrum

L&D teams who define their value at the learning value end of the spectrum will prioritise metrics and create dashboards to measure attendance, money saved, user satisfaction and net promoter scores. For those operating at this end of the spectrum, we are looking for managers to buy into individuals’ goals rather than their own. Successful manager engagement is likely to be limited to supporting attendance sign ups and completions. At the business value end of the spectrum, L&D teams are more likely to define their success around outcomes relevant to the business such as:

• performance (eg how fast we can get a team member up and running on a new product or system?)
• talent (eg how do I ensure that I have the right skills in my team to achieve the team’s priority goals for the year?) or
• culture (eg how do we ensure that our organisation becomes more agile, customer aware or innovative?)

Critically, L&D professionals defining their value at the business value end of the spectrum recognise that their goals are defined by the goals of the managers and leaders in the business. Manager buy-in to their own goals becomes less of an issue and good manager engagement shifts to exploring ways of working together. 

The Learning at work 2023 report provides us with some insight into how we can improve buy-in from line managers by prioritising business value. Figure 1 highlights that learning doesn’t stop when the training programme does -managers create the opportunity and climate for individuals to continue to learn outside of the remit of L&D, to apply their learning to new situations and adapt as circumstances change.

So how do we support managers to do this within the context of their own role rather than expecting them to take on an additional role of L&D manager? How do we equip managers to co-create business value together?

How to get manager buy-in to co-create value

1. Become a familiar face – In lean manufacturing practices, Gemba refers to the place where value is created. L&D professionals can also ‘go to Gemba’. Spend time with managers and their teams to observe challenges and opportunities firsthand, to understand the language, immerse yourself in small ways in the world of work of their team.
2. Be relevant - Find out what your manager’s priorities are, analyse the problem together, define agreed outcomes together and then respond in a timely way.
3. Communicate clearly – Those operating at the business value end of the L&D value spectrum (Figure 2) are already better equipped to talk about the business outcomes of working smarter together with line managers. But it does not end there. In addition to communicating shared goals, clearly communicate the process by which you will achieve those goals together, the expectations for each of the stakeholders and the purpose and timing of feedback to keep on track.
4. Make it easy – Create simple tools and frameworks for line managers to conduct a regular check in session with their own team - a ‘meeting in a box’ that can be built into the rhythm and routine of regular team life. Conducting a ‘power hour’ is a simple tool for helping managers encourage reflection and create opportunities for continued growth.
5. Model what works – Teaching managers about psychological safety is different to them experiencing what it means within their own personal growth. Teaching managers about the importance of reflection and learning from mistakes is irrelevant unless they can experience the impact in their own lives. When line managers are working with us on their own skills, it creates space and opportunity to help them experience the importance of reflection, of collaboration and psychological safety while they are ‘under our roof’.

Next steps for engaging managers

The line manager is an essential part of the wider learning ecosystem but L&D has more opportunities to co-create value with line managers when we work on shared business outcomes rather than gaining line manager buy-in to the goals of the L&D team. Our role is to ensure that managers are equipped and ready to help their teams to reflect, practice, adapt and build habits. The more we can simplify how they can incorporate those principles into the rhythm and routine of running their team, the more successful we will all be in achieving our business goals.

What now?

• Let’s stop… 
  - expecting managers to prioritise your learning objectives, instead prioritise their business needs. 
• Let’s start… 
  - equipping managers to take advantage of team learning by introducing simple tools and job aids that help them seamlessly embed new ideas into everyday practice.
• Let’s continue… 
  - to build proactive relationships with managers at every opportunity – through clear jargon free communication, modelling great community and skills transfer opportunities in their own learning experiences and meeting them, literally, at their point of need.

About the author

Laura Overton is an award-winning learning analyst with a 30-year career focused on learning innovation and business impact. For the past 10 years, Laura has been an Academic Fellow of the CIPD, playing an active role in its L&D research. She is the author of the CIPD Learning at work 2023 report.