Hire the Right Team
Chapter 2
Having the right people in place is crucial for an effective L&D team. This team delivers everything from online courses to in-person instruction, and these deliverables require a variety of skill sets.
To achieve meaningful learning experiences and maximize the value of e-learning software and other tools, leadership must hire individuals with expertise in instruction.
These team members specialize in organizing information in ways that are easy to understand and engaging for learners, and may be trained in the principles of instructional design.
While other content specialties are necessary for representing the business, communicating with customers, and marketing materials, this type of experience is critical when it comes to L&D.
Complete your L&D team's efforts with internal or cross-functional access to these complementary disciplines.
Skill sets to support L&D teams:
Instructional expertise
Graphic design
Accessibility
Facilitation
Remember: This list is only a starting point. A variety of other skills can be necessary to produce high-quality L&D, including performance consulting, project management, consultative skills, and technical know-how.
How can leadership help?
In today's market, getting approval for new hires can be an uphill battle. Therefore, if L&D goals are a priority for your organization, it's important to plan for these disciplines when hiring.
Budget ahead for these skill sets to speed up approvals, avoid bottlenecks, and allow your L&D team to hit the ground running.
Next, let's dive into four of the core disciplines that make up a successful L&D team.
To create courses that truly engage your learners and help them achieve meaningful results, it's key to hire trained instructors.
They may research and write scripts, write assessment questions, QA courses, develop courses in an authoring app, and more.
L&D is highly visual, making graphic design expertise an integral element of your team.
Graphic designers can help ensure visuals reflect your brand, engage without overwhelming, and build on text and other elements.
When L&D is accessible, it's designed for all learners—including those with auditory, visual, mobility, or learning disabilities.
Trained accessibility specialists don't just ensure your courses are legally compliant—they also enable you to reach a much wider audience.
Most organizations don’t just create self-paced learning.
At some point, you’ll need a point person to deliver presentations and facilitate workshops—even if everyone works remotely.
This can also allow your team to analyze campaign results more effectively.
L&D is a vast and varied system made up of multiple disciplines that work together. Ensure those disciplines are represented at your organization, whether they all sit on your L&D team or work closely with those individuals.
And remember, not every L&D pro is going to be an expert on every aspect of the field—no matter how seasoned they are. As a leader, your job is to thoughtfully build a team of people who have different mixes of essential, complementary skills to cover the breadth of expertise needed to succeed.
Next, we'll talk about the tools and software your team may need to bring their courses to life.
Good instructional design helps move the learners through a lot of extraneous information and get right to the important stuff focused on real learning experiences.”
