The Secret to Thriving Teams: Bold Strategies for Employee Engagement and Retention.

Why Learning & Development Is the Strategic Engine of Modern Workplaces

In an era defined by rapid change, shifting employee expectations, and fierce competition for talent, organisations must rethink what truly drives engagement and retention. Spoiler alert: it’s not just about pay. As explored in our recent Totara webinar, The Secret to Thriving Teams, the key lies in creating a culture where employees feel valued, supported, and inspired to grow.

For HR, L&D, and people management professionals, this means embracing bold strategies that align personal aspirations with organisational goals, and doing so with purpose, precision, and empathy.

Learning: The Heartbeat of Employee Experience

The pandemic was a wake-up call. Employees didn’t just leave jobs for better pay, they left due to a lack of growth, purpose, and learning. Research from Brandon Hall Group shows that 56% of employees now prioritise investment in training and development as a critical factor in their experience. Another 46% cite opportunities for growth as essential.

Learning and Development is no longer a support function, it’s a strategic driver. When organisations offer personalised, lifelong learning aligned with career aspirations, they foster commitment, motivation, and performance.

From Compliance to Career Progression

Traditional learning models – generic, top-down, and compliance focused, fail to engage today’s workforce. Employees want clear pathways to advancement, tailored to their unique goals and starting points. That’s where outcome-based learning comes in.

This approach involves:

• Defining career or performance outcomes first
• Identifying individual skill gaps
• Designing personalised learning journeys to close those gaps

Despite its effectiveness, only 10–15% of organisations currently have fully developed outcome-based programmes. The opportunity for transformation is enormous.

HR + L&D: Breaking Down Silos

One of the most compelling insights from the webinar was the need for strategic collaboration between HR and L&D. When these functions operate in isolation; HR managing performance reviews, L&D handling compliance, the result is fragmented efforts and missed opportunities.

Instead, organisations must build a unified strategy that synchronises:

• Performance management
• Learning delivery
• Continuous feedback
• Career development

Think of it not as laying bricks, but building a cathedral – a cohesive vision where every initiative contributes to a greater purpose.

The “Fine Dining” Learning Experience

Forget the buffet of endless, irrelevant content. Today’s learners crave quality over quantity. The “fine dining” approach means:

• Fewer, highly relevant options
• Seamless, engaging technology platforms
• Recognition and rewards (badges, certifications) that motivate and celebrate progress

Yet a study cited in the webinar found that 70% of employees prefer to work around their current HR and learning systems rather than use them. This highlights a major disconnect between platform design and user expectations.

To reverse this trend, learning technology must be immersive, intuitive, and reflective of the organisation’s brand and values.

Generational Shifts and the Rise of the “Zigzaggers”

Younger employees are rewriting the rules of career progression. The webinar introduced the concept of “zigzaggers”- talented individuals who move frequently between roles in search of growth, alignment, and purpose.

To retain this generation, organisations must:

• Align brand and mission with personal values
• Offer rapid, visible development opportunities
• Provide modern, intuitive learning technology

Failing to do so risks losing top talent to competitors who better understand the evolving employee value proposition.

Measuring What Matters

Completion rates and satisfaction scores (Level 1 Kirkpatrick) are no longer enough. True engagement must be measured by:

• Performance outcomes
• Business impact
• Sense of belonging and wellbeing
• Alignment with personal and professional motivation

Business stakeholders want to see learning initiatives drive metrics like customer satisfaction, revenue growth, and talent readiness, not just activity logs.

Feedback Loops and Strategic Alignment

To embed learning into the organisation, HR and L&D must create continuous feedback loops between learning and performance management. This ensures that learning translates into measurable improvements and career progression.

Key strategies include:

• Aligning business, talent, and learning goals
• Sharing success stories to build cultural momentum
• Recognising achievements to motivate learners

The case study from Charles River Laboratories showcased how outcome-based learning can be directly linked to financial and operational success, proof that learning is a business-critical function.

The Employer-Employee Value Proposition Handshake

At the heart of all these strategies is a simple but powerful idea: learning must serve both the organisation and the individual. When employer-driven needs are balanced with personal goals, a genuine value exchange occurs – one that fosters loyalty, motivation, and high performance.

Leaders must resist the urge to flood employees with content and instead focus on:

• Strategic relevance
• Personalisation
• Cultural integration

Final Reflections: Building the Learning Organisation of Tomorrow

The future belongs to organisations that treat learning as a strategic imperative. By investing in personalised experiences, aligning values and mission, leveraging technology effectively, and measuring impact through performance outcomes, businesses can build thriving teams that stay, grow, and succeed.

For HR, L&D, and people management professionals, the message is clear: it’s time to move beyond compliance and content volume. It’s time to build cathedrals.

This insightful session was led by Michael Rochelle, Chief Strategy Officer and Principal Analyst at Brandon Hall Group, and proudly hosted by Totara. Watch the full webinar recording: The Secret to Thriving Teams

Ready to elevate your learning strategy and empower your workforce? Explore how Totara and Think Learning can transform your LMS into a dynamic, personalised learning ecosystem. Request a demo today and start building a culture of growth and engagement.