We’ve all experienced the dread of tick-box learning and development programmes. Typically, it’s training that seems to slow-down time, numb the brain and have the reliable ability to make us imagine an infinite number of places we’d rather be.

If you’re running a company with enough employees that your team need to roll out L&D initiatives on a regular basis, whether that’s for compliance reasons or because you have a genuine ambition to improve the skills and knowledge of your workforce, you may be wondering why your provision isn’t always landing well with those it’s meant to benefit the most.

As the biggest learning and development provider in the UK, training more than 30,000 people every year in a wide range of disciplines, our first contact with organisations is often when they’ve experienced this lack of engagement in their previous training. In our experience, it’s usually because of one or more of the following reasons.

• The training isn’t relevant. It may sound obvious but it’s surprising how often training that is needed only by a certain group of people is rolled out across an entire company or division. Sectors that have a requirement to provide advanced levels of safety training might, for instance, think they are doing well by providing it to every member of the workforce. The reality is that if the training you’re providing isn’t relevant to the individual or their role, it’s going to have limited value and you’re likely to find engagement a challenge to maintain.

• It's not in line with your strategy. If your L&D programme isn’t aligned with your business strategy and goals, it’s going to be difficult for your people to see the value of it to them, their progression and the company as a whole. Be ruthless in ensuring your L&D is closely aligned with your medium and long-term business goals so that everyone can see the reasoning behind this decision-making.

• No one knows why they’re there. It’s vital to take your people with you when you put together an L&D programme. If learners are unsure why they’re participating in training, or they’re unaware of their individual importance to the long-term success of the company, they’re unlikely to buy-in to the need for them to engage.

• L&D isn’t supported by your internal culture. It’s great to say you support ongoing learning and development as an organisation. But if this isn’t properly supported from the ground up with adequate resources, healthy and effective two-way communication with your people and solid reasons for the training in the first place, it’s unlikely to have the impact you’re desiring.

• The training just isn’t very good! Training that is dry, boring and lacks inspiration needs to be a thing of the past. From immersive to scenario-driven and competitive programmes that make the most of individual and group strengths, the range of good quality options now available makes sub-standard or boring training simply inexcusable. Putting together the right L&D programme for your team will prove inspiring for them and be a crucial tool in building a healthy internal culture.

A well designed and effective L&D programme is essential for any organisation’s success. Without it, businesses will struggle to thrive in increasingly competitive environments; will experience challenges with employee retention; and see overall performance drop. As we’ve seen time and again with our clients, good quality learning and development is one of the quickest and most effective ways for your employees to know and understand that you value them while at the same time adding huge amounts of value to your company, enabling it to move forward, grow and thrive for the future.