Why innovation? And why now? In a world where forces like the Great Resignation continue to disrupt the economy<\/a>, pressure to continually develop workers, fill skill gaps and make your company more resilient can seem relentless. It\u2019s imperative to think strategically about how you can do more to support key business initiatives and grow revenue like a box office sensation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Degreed LENS 2021 was a chance to explain our latest product innovations, announce the launch of Degreed Intelligence<\/a>, and hold our annual flagship conference in person for the first time in two years. As we gathered this week in Los Angeles with Tinseltown as a backdrop, learning pros were challenged to greenlight their next big production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With presenter after presenter focused on a common theme \u2014 how to make L&D the hero of a meaningful adventure \u2014 Degreed CEO Dan Levin set the scene: \u201cWe live in a world of change. We live in a world of evolution. We live in a world where we all have to be lifetime learners if we\u2019re going to succeed. And we live in a world where the classic education\u2026 will never be enough to sustain us through our careers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And with that, let\u2019s roll. In this close-up, we\u2019ll take a look at how to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elevating the importance of L&D as a business enabler starts with understanding your company\u2019s business objectives and asking a key question: what workforce skill gaps are getting in the way of success?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd then, in those gaps, \u2018Where is learning a solution?\u2019\u201d said Molly Nagler, CLO at PepsiCo. \u201cI think learning professionals will increase their own credibility if they admit that learning is not an answer to every problem. Maybe you need to hire people. Maybe you need to acquire a new technology\u2026 Once you decide, then you can design to that.\u201d In addition, set goals and track progress. Success metrics are important, and it\u2019s imperative to tie learning metrics to business metrics. In one example, learning teams at PepsiCo analyzed a development program that connected people during the pandemic. How? By measuring growth in their online networks. In another instance, L&D tracked the rate of one-on-one meetings between managers and workers to gauge the success of diversity and inclusion training focused on improving mentorship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t forget to share qualitative and anecdotal impacts too. Sometimes, they steal the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor our big leadership programs,\u201d Nagler said, \u201cwe always have participants meet with senior executives after the program to share what they learned and what the program meant to them. Those testimonials are just priceless. We talk so much about, you know, \u2018follow the data.\u2019 And that\u2019s really important. But there\u2019s no substituting for that personal story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stories open people to new ideas. They engage our senses, bring us closer, promote empathy, bring catharsis and attach us to a brand or culture, said storytelling expert and keynote speaker Nancy Duarte, CEO of Duarte, Inc<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTelling your story is going to be the first step in you changing the world,\u201d she said. \u201cYou\u2019ll have people follow you to this place in the future where you\u2019re trying to drive positive change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n From creating better learning content to presenting L&D success metrics, understanding how a well-told story is constructed can make you and your team more influential<\/a>. \u201cThere\u2019s always a lesson,\u201d Duarte said, adding this gives audience members permission to admit their own flaws. From there, they can overcome obstacles too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A similar story structure applied to L&D analytics can be equally influential. To better communicate your data and findings, first describe your business problem or opportunity, Duarte said. Second, share whether the data supporting that is positive or negative. Third, make the action that needs to be taken crystal clear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBy structuring it in the shape of a story, your decision will be made quicker. It\u2019ll move your decision making from \u2018Let me think about it\u2019 to \u2018Let\u2019s do something about it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Urging L&D leaders to think like story-telling marketers, keynote speaker and marketing consultant Neil Bedwell, Partner at LOCAL<\/a>, said workers want to belong and feel valued. Creating positive narratives about your company, he said, can sway people toward positive employee experiences that in turn drive successful customer experiences. \u201cYour employees are an audience worth winning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019ve got a choice. The red pill perpetuates the status quo. The blue pill brings change, a chance to accelerate skill growth and give your people new capabilities the world needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you opt for the latter, understand people learn by practicing \u2014 and that experiential learning can create the right conditions<\/a> for applying new knowledge on the job. You can enable it by connecting workers to stretch assignments, gigs, mentorships and more based on their skill-building goals. An online opportunity marketplace<\/a> can help. And remember: experiential learning doesn\u2019t need to lead to promotions. The growth can be lateral and incremental.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For L&D to solve the problems of tomorrow, it needs workers to be confident in skill building \u2014 and experiential learning can instill that determination by engaging people and their sense of belonging while simultaneously supporting business imperatives, said Haylee Metzner, Senior Human Resources Programs Specialist at Synopsys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like PepsiCo, Synopsis L&D accounts for corporate strategy, using company objectives reaching one, two, three years into the future as a starting point for determining how experiential learning can help advance the organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These days, more and more of those learning experiences happen online. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRecently, I partnered with our applications engineering group,\u201d Metzner said. \u201cPrior to the pandemic, they would bring everybody globally to one city, one space, one hotel, eight hours a day, five days for a week to upskill on our new products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe had to look for alternative ways to create those experiences,\u201d she said, adding technology has played a big role and opened opportunities to a wider audience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese would have been experiences that only a small group or maybe a small cohort would have had access to,\u201d Metzner said. \u201cBut now\u2026 we\u2019re able to open those opportunities to others within the organization and be more inclusive, right? To drive home that belonging.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Embracing analytics can change how your learning team thinks about maximizing its investments. It\u2019s an especially logical next step if you have established L&D programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUsing skill data to improve our organizations isn\u2019t just a pipe dream,\u201d said Isabel Sapriel, Director of Embedded Product at Visier, a Degreed partner. \u201cIf we do this right, we can really transform L&D from a cost center to a true driver of revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Skill data is the measurement of what your people can do<\/a>. One example is data on how people self rate their current capabilities. Another example is the skills they\u2019ve identified as those they\u2019d like to learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To use skill data, start by understanding your company\u2019s goals and priorities then consider the capabilities it needs to achieve them, Sapriel said. \u201cApply skill analytics to say, \u2018What are the skills I have in my organization today? How is that similar or different from what I need in the future? And how can I think about filling those gaps strategically?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This leads to more questions: Should you build needed skills in house? Hire new people? How far will each approach get you? How long would each take? How much will it cost?<\/p>\n\n\n\n With those questions answered, \u201cthen we can start applying this across the employee lifecycle to see what interventions we need at each stage \u2014 to make sure we\u2019re implementing this cohesively.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Insights gleaned from skill data can inform things like future job descriptions and candidate interview questions, Sapriel said. \u201cIt could be unstructured learning. It could be growth opportunities or stretch assignments. We can really think creatively about how we get this done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keynote speaker and business advisor Stedman Graham<\/a> urged attendees to be the best leaders they can be. How you help your learning group do that is largely a question of investment. Investment in technology, internal marketing, design, measurement, your L&D workforce as a whole and its relationships, said Holly Travis, L&D Strategy and Enablement Director at Intel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To get it right, it\u2019s important to be agile and ask questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Intel, L&D tech investments start with trials of numerous new solutions at a small scale, Travis said. \u201cThis allows us to \u2026 fail, learn fast, move toward the things that are really successful and make those investments richer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n To market learning to workers, Intel L&D often explores new channels. Leaders there ask: How do we bring people along? How do we alert them to opportunities? How do we let them know learning in the flow of life is how you keep developing as an adult?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Investments in the L&D design team are increasingly dictated by how much content is built versus bought in addition to the realities of creating and managing learning remotely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Measurement brings its own challenges, Travis said. \u201cHow do we connect it to our HR data to drive insights that tell us how learning is helping the bottom line?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Overall spend on the L&D workforce is largely about skill set acquisition \u2014 through training and hiring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd then finally,\u201d Travis said, \u201cwe\u2019re looking at \u2018How do we create business unit relationships?\u2019 Because our goal is to move from softer skills at the enterprise level to more hard skills. We\u2019re going to be hiring up to 30,000 new engineers at Intel over the next couple of years. We need to upskill them technically\u2026 We need to be really creating great relationships with our business unit partners, who are those subject matter experts, so we can pair their expertise with our learning expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As your unique 2022 L&D plot line goes from good to epic, recall the words of our closing keynote speaker Sebastian Terry, Founder of 100things<\/a>, who emphasized that being passionate and believing in what you do can make a huge difference in what you\u2019re able to accomplish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe become infinitely more creative, more motivated, more resilient, more collaborative,\u201d he said. \u201cWe become unstoppable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you missed Degreed LENS, you still have a chance to catch its best scenes. We\u2019ll be writing more about its compelling sessions in the weeks ahead. And keep an eye out for session recordings available on Degreed on Demand<\/a> soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did LENS help you get your groove back? Keep rockin\u2019 out to our California-themed conference playlist: <\/p>\n\n\n\nMake Learning a Business Imperative<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
When learning is part of the solution, partnering with key stakeholders is important for guiding development toward the right priorities. To secure that support, Nagler recommends L&D frame learning as a platform for senior leaders\u2019 agendas.<\/p>\n\n\n\nInfluence Through Storytelling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Stories often have three acts. In the first, we typically meet and like a flawed hero who has a goal, Duarte said. In the second act, an incident occurs. Hardship creates roadblocks, and we root for the hero to overcome obstacles. In the third act, the hero emerges transformed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\""Your](\"https:\/\/explore.degreed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DEG-LENS_Live_On-Demand_Blog-Graphic_Pullquote_1280x720-O2@2x-1024x576.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nEmbrace Experiential Learning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Use Skill Data for Good<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Reimagine Your L&D Team<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou have a chance to transform people\u2019s lives based on the work you do every single day,\u201d said the Chairman and CEO of S. Graham and Associates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\""You](\"https:\/\/explore.degreed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DEG-LENS_Live_On-Demand_Blog-Graphic_Pullquote_1280x720-O1@2x-1024x576.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a Wrap<\/h2>\n\n\n\n