Learning professionals know they have an important role to play but our evidence shows that they struggle to break free from existing paradigms. Getting the buy-in of all concerned to modernise learning has been an uphill struggle. The snapshot of the current status published in "L&D: Where are we now?" reveals a well-resourced, technology-enabled profession, but lacking in some of the essential capabilities they need.

The Top Deck, those in the top 10% of the Towards Maturity index in our study, are continually evolving their learning strategy in line with business needs. Regardless of size or sector, their transformation journey has highlighted common characteristics that we define as the "New Learning Organisation".

New Learning Organisations constantly evolve as they respond to change and this, in turn, enables performance, growth, productivity, and business transformation. Our evidence over the years has shown that the journey towards maturity is not a simple one - getting there is not a single stage process. Indeed, many Top Deck organisations make progress in some areas but not in others. In our new analysis, we revisited our extensive data to explore what is really holding us back and how to break through those barriers.

Covered in this report, The Transformation Curve, a new analysis of the Towards Maturity Index has actually identified a series of transformation curves, four distinct stages that signpost the journey towards organisational learning maturity:

• Stage 1 - Optimising training
• Stage 2 - Taking control
• Stage 3 - Letting go
• Stage 4 - Sharing responsibility

The report explains six key dimensions that shift at each of these stages. In order to move on, a holistic approach is needed across all six dimensions, and attention is focused on the pivot points on the transformation journey that highlight when a step change will be needed. Guidelines are provided to help identify what needs to be done, as well as why and how to make the change.

This report aims to help those in L&D navigate the journey across the four stages of transformation, recognise the counter-intuitive pivot points of change, and take the next step towards effective learning transformation.