Josh Cardoz, Chief Creative and Learning Officer at Sponge, and Myles Runham, Senior Analyst at the Fosway Group, are set to discuss some the challenges set out in the Digital Learning Realities 2024 Fosway Group report, and its implications for L&D as a strategically essential corporate function. The analysis will address the long-standing pain point of L&D being perceived as a non-strategic function and comes at a critical time when organisations are increasingly tightening budgets around investments.

The conversation between Cardoz and Runham is set to include a guide for the key conditions required to elevate L&D from a traditional training deployment centre into a true strategic partner in driving business performance. "L&D is under no illusion as to the existence, scale, or pressure of this challenge," says Cardoz.

"However, there is a misconception that connecting L&D directly to business impact in a meaningful way is nearly impossible. In these cases, we need to focus on incremental gains: L&D can, and must, start to address this long-standing problem more effectively as organisations become ever more scrutinising about this area of spend. It's all about momentum - strategic momentum!"  

The approach laid out in the webinar provides L&D professionals with a practical roadmap to demonstrate their strategic value and contribute to solving meaningful business problems beyond the design of training experiences, focusing on   

• analysis of the L&D landscape and its potential for strategic influence
• strategies for building partnering relationships across organisations
• Sponge's "3Es" methodology for aligning L&D with business goals
• techniques for quantifying and communicating L&D's strategic value

To provide L&D professionals with access to these insights, Sponge will host a free webinar, 16 October 2024, at 14:00 BST. During this 45-minute session, Josh and Myles will discuss the challenges facing L&D teams, strategies for demonstrating strategic value, and practical approaches to aligning L&D with business goals.