How to prepare an effective L&D strategy

‘Training’ and ‘development’ are often used interchangeably, but for a strategy to be effective it’s important to understand the distinction between the two.

While training means that your team can use today’s tools effectively, development ensures that your team is equipped to lead the organisation through the next five years. A truly effective L&D strategy balances both: it meets immediate organisational needs while ensuring that there is a pipeline of talent ready for the future of the business.

Many managers fall into the trap of treating training as a ‘tick box’ exercise – sending team members on a course simply because it’s available, rather than because it meets the needs of the organisation. To avoid this, a talent development plan that underpins training must be anchored in commercial reality.

Start with your business plan – not a course catalogue

Before looking at qualifications, consider your 12 month trajectory. If your business plan involves the introduction of new projects, your L&D focus should be on specific project management or business administration. To grow an accounting team, the priority might be to upskill senior members of the team in specific technical financial skills, while using AAT accredited apprenticeships to develop the wider team.

How to conduct a skills gap analysis

You don’t need a complex HR system to identify gaps. A simple, effective approach for smaller teams is to conduct a skills gap analysis based on three pillars:

1. Core competencies: What skills are vital for the organisation to function day-to-day?
2. Single points of failure: Are there critical tasks that only one person knows how to do?
3. Future readiness: What skills will we need in 18 months that we don’t have today?

One of the main reasons why L&D strategies fail isn’t lack of budget – it’s a lack of time. In a lean team, losing a key team member for regular off-site training can stall productivity. Similarly, asking colleagues to dedicate their non-working time such as evenings or weekends to training can be a hard sell.

To overcome these challenges, employers should seek modern approaches to training that are designed around organisational needs.

What are the benefits of blended learning for employers?

Mindful Education’s professional courses and apprenticeships are perfectly packaged in a hybrid, or blended delivery model. This means that learners study online at a time that suits them and their employer, and also attend regular sessions, either online or virtual, with a tutor from one of our partner colleges. By shifting the delivery of professional courses and apprenticeships into a blended format, we are able to provide the ultimate flexibility for both employers and learners.

• Maximising productivity: With media-rich, on-demand video lessons available 24/7, your team can study the theory during quiet periods or at a time that suits the business workflow – removing the need to be away from their desks full days at a time.
• Quality and consistency: Our award-winning virtual learning environment (VLE) ensures that every learner receives a high-quality, consistent experience regardless of their location.
• Practical application: The ‘On Campus’ element of our delivery model ensures that theory isn’t just learned – it’s applied. Regular classroom sessions with tutors at our partner colleges gives learners the opportunity to discuss real-world business challenges and bring solutions back to the office.

A hybrid delivery model means that businesses enjoy the benefits of high-level professional development (such as AAT or CIPD qualifications), with roughly half the time away from the workplace compared to traditional, classroom-only models.

To ensure a cost-effective and sustainable L&D strategy, it is helpful to start with an established framework. The 70:20:10 model is an effective tool for workforce development because it acknowledges that learning doesn’t just happen in a classroom, but also during the natural flow of work.

Originally developed in the 1980s by McCall, Eichinger and Lombardo at the Center for Creative Leadership, the model suggests that individuals obtain 70% of their knowledge from job-related experiences, 20% from interactions with others, and 10% from formal education. By moving the focus from expensive, time-consuming training courses toward a culture of continuous internal growth, employers can concentrate L&D budgets on sustainable workforce development that offers long-term outcomes for the business.

What is the 70:20:10 learning model?

70% experiential learning

The vast majority of professional growth comes from daily tasks, challenges and on-the-job problem solving. For most organisations, this is often the most natural form of development. 

This form of learning can be applied through projects which push people slightly outside their comfort zone, or by involving them in cross-departmental meetings which broaden their understanding of the business.

20% social learning

This represents learning through others – the informal knowledge transfer that happens through coaching, mentoring and collaborative working.

To maximise the benefit of social learning, organisations can encourage a culture of peer-to-peer feedback. This could be something as simple as a ‘lunch and learn’ session where colleagues share new skills, or setting up a formal mentoring programme between senior leaders and junior team members.

10% formal learning 

While it is the smallest percentage of the model, the remaining 10% provides the essential theoretical foundation that supports the other 90%. This is the structure that validates expertise, e.g. accredited training – such as professional courses or apprenticeships 

A common mistake for managers is focusing 100% of their L&D budget on the 10%, whilst ignoring the rest of the model. A successful strategy uses formal qualifications as a catalyst for better on-the-job performance and social sharing.

How does blended learning support the 70:20:10 model?

By its nature, blended learning – such as Mindful Education’s Online and On Campus approach – supports all three aspects of the 70:20:10 model, making it a practical solution for modern businesses:

• Supporting the 70%: Traditional training often leads to ‘knowledge decay’ – the process of forgetting information or losing proficiency over time when it isn’t actively used or reinforced. With 24/7 access to the Mindful Education VLE, course content can quickly be revisited in the workplace to solve real-world tasks. By acting as a performance support tool, the VLE can help to reinforce learning directly in the flow of work.
• Supporting the 20%: Because Mindful Education delivers training through ‘flipped blended’ learning, whereby learners study theory online, they can then use classroom sessions to discuss challenges with their peers and expert tutors. Detailed analytics give line managers and tutors a clear framework to coach learners effectively.
• Supporting the 10%: The delivery of core theory through high-quality digital content created by subject experts ensures that the ‘formal’ element of the model is efficient and consistent. This minimises time away from the workplace while providing accredited qualification.

To ensure the best use of resources, an L&D strategy needs to justify the investment of time and money. Many businesses show this through post-course surveys, and while these track learner satisfaction, they do not measure business results. To truly understand the ROI, managers should instead focus on performance KPIs.

Using data to refine your strategy

Analysing data allows managers to move from guessing what their team needs, to knowing where the impact of L&D investment is highest.

The Mindful Education VLE gives employers a level of transparency that traditional off-site courses cannot provide. This information allows managers to:

• Identify ‘high potential’ talent: Analytics reveal which team members are most engaged and proactive with their development, which can be valuable when considering who is ready for a promotion or leadership role.
• Build a succession pipeline: By tracking progress through full qualifications, senior leaders can map the organisation’s future. You can see at a glance who has obtained certification, as well as those nearing completion – allowing managers to address any ‘single points of failure’ by preparing internal candidates to step into key roles as the business evolves. Roll-on, roll-off qualifications mean that managers can enrol their team onto training according to business needs, rather than being dictated by annual start dates.
• Maximise future budgets: Data that shows direct correlation between VLE engagement and strategic metrics makes it easier to understand where training budgets will have maximum impact.

Building business resilience through talent retention

Investing in professional qualifications shows a tangible commitment to a team member’s future, resulting in a significant reduction in turnover. The LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report indicates that 94% of the workforce would stay at a company longer if it invested in their career development. But retention isn’t just staying in a role, but also staying engaged. By implementing the 70:20:10 model, organisations ensure that their people feel challenged and competent in a varied role, rather than stagnant. 

Becoming a ‘talent magnet’

Workplace review platforms such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn, which allow team members to post live, verified insights into their employers mean that an organisation with a strong development programme can become a ‘talent magnet’. This can reduce future recruitment costs because high-quality candidates will actively seek out these organisations because of the growth opportunities. Using a flexible, blended learning model, such as Mindful Education’s Online and On Campus platform, also demonstrates an employer’s commitment to a sustainable work-life balance, allowing individuals to achieve professional excellence without compromising their personal priorities. 

Building an effective L&D strategy is not about having the largest budget, it’s about an intentional approach to make the most of what you have. By shifting from ad-hoc training to a structured development plan, supported by the flexibility of blended learning, businesses can protect themselves against skills shortages while fostering a culture of high engagement.

When you align professional development with your commercial goals, you contribute to building a resilient, agile and loyal organisation. In a turbulent economy, the businesses that thrive are those that approach learning not as an occasional event, but as a continuous strategic advantage.

Your quick-start checklist:

1. Map your goals: Identify your top three businesses challenges for the next 12 months
2. Bridge the gaps: Identify existing or potential ‘single points of failure’ across the business and plan to train successors
3. Conduct a skills audit: Establish which professional qualifications (such as AAT, CMI or CIPD) address core technical or leadership needs
4. Find the right provider: Seek training providers who can meet the needs of your business – blended learning can ensure that development happens without sacrificing daily productivity
5. Measure the outcomes: Identify the most appropriate strategic metric to track before and after training to demonstrate ROI

At Mindful Education, we specialise in partnering with employers and colleges across the UK to deliver award-winning, flexible professional qualifications that fit the pace of modern business.

Whether you are looking to utilise the Growth and Skills Levy or take advantage of government apprenticeship funding for SMEs by upskilling your administration, management, HR, legal and finance teams, we are here to help you build a strategy that delivers results.

Get in touch to find out more

Contact our Employer Engagement team to discuss how we can support your business growth.