Over the last couple of years, businesses around the world have come to understand the power and urgency of learning. But understanding is one thing. Changing culture to create the right conditions for learning—and allocating the time, resources, and space for this—is another task entirely. How can we make sure our organizations put learning at the core of our strategy? This Field Manual looks at tactics and examples of how to move learning off the sidelines and into the center.

The act of learning is famously difficult to measure. How do we demonstrate the value that we provide to our people and to the business without using a laundry list of skills and capabilities as a proxy for learning? We shift our focus away from inputs and toward the outcomes of learning. This Field Manual highlights how we can effectively show the business impact of employees who are more knowledgeable, connected, and engaged with their work.

The pressure to create personalized learning for individuals, tailored to their career paths and skills needs, has only increased. Yet more and more research shows that people learn best in groups. How do we manage this balance? This Field Manual explores the benefits to learning in cohorts and offers strategies for how to bring those benefits to your organization.

The pandemic has exposed the urgent need for investing in learning and development for more than just senior leaders. How can we help leaders share and model what they’ve learned to the entire organization? What steps can we take to open up learning and development opportunities to everyone? This Field Manual digs into the democratization of learning.

For years, building systems of learning (on-demand, mobile, and in-the-flow-of-work) has been the primary focus of L&D professionals. But the best training in the world won’t solve the business challenges we face––unless we also build a culture of continuous learning in our organizations. Which gives rise to a key question: how can we craft and maintain a real culture of learning? This Field Manual underscores the importance of communities of practice and democratic, bottom-up learning that is embedded in and valued throughout organizations.