Before designing new learning solutions, it’s critical to understand the starting point. Think of this step as a reality check and needs analysis. By assessing the current state of L&D in your organization, you can identify what’s working, what’s missing, and how far you need to go to reach the goals set in Step 2.
Key actions in this step include:
- Conduct a Skills Gap Analysis: This is a systematic process to evaluate the competencies of your employees against the desired competencies needed to achieve your business and L&D goals. Working with managers and subject matter experts, list the key skills and knowledge areas required for each role or for critical roles related to your strategic objectives. Then assess employees’ current proficiency in those areas. This can be done through methods like employee assessments or tests, performance reviews, manager evaluations, or self-assessment surveys. The outcome will highlight gaps - for example, you might discover that your IT team lacks sufficient cloud computing skills for an upcoming tech initiative, or that there’s a leadership pipeline gap because few mid-level managers have experience in strategic planning. Focus on the critical skill gaps that align with your business priorities: those are the ones your L&D strategy should address first.
- Inventory Existing L&D Programs and Tools: Catalog all the training programs, workshops, e-learning courses, and development initiatives your organization currently has. Which departments or skill areas already have training coverage, and which do not? Also review the quality and effectiveness of current offerings: look at training attendance, completion rates, test scores, and any available performance data to judge what has worked well and what hasn’t. For example, perhaps you have a robust onboarding program for new hires but little ongoing development for seasoned employees; or your sales training content might be outdated; or you have an Learning Management System (LMS) in place but it’s underutilized. Understanding the current state helps avoid reinventing the wheel - you might find resources to build upon, as well as gaps to fill.
- Evaluate Operational Factors and Constraints: Take into account practical considerations that will influence your strategy implementation. This includes your budget for L&D, the size and expertise of your L&D team, time constraints, and any technology infrastructure available (or lacking) for training delivery. For instance, do you already have an LMS or learning platform? Are there internal trainers or will you rely on external vendors? How much time can employees realistically dedicate to learning amid their work? Also consider your workforce distribution and culture: if you have multiple locations or remote employees, digital learning will be essential (we’ll plan for that in the next steps). If your company culture hasn’t historically emphasized learning, you may need to design programs that start gradually and build buy-in. Essentially, identify any roadblocks or enablers in your current environment - these will shape the design of your L&D interventions.
- Analyze External Benchmarks (if available): It can be useful to compare your L&D status with industry benchmarks or best practices. For example, if only 50% of your employees completed any training last year, how does that stack up against industry averages? External data isn’t always readily available, but industry reports or case studies (even some examples of other companies’ L&D strategies) can provide insight into where you stand and inspire ideas to close the gaps.
After this assessment, you should have a clear picture of the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Document the key findings: the most important skill gaps to address, the programs that need to be developed or updated, and any limitations to plan around. This will directly inform the design of your learning solutions in the next step. By basing your strategy on real data and analysis, you ensure that your L&D efforts will target the right areas - those with the highest impact on performance. Remember, a strategy grounded in facts (workforce data and business needs) is far more likely to gain support and deliver results than one based on assumptions. You’re essentially creating a “learning needs diagnosis” for your organization that justifies the interventions to come.