The Role of L&D in a S.E.A of Change: A Southeast Asian Perspective

Pandemic or not, Asia has been a bright spot in the global economy for years now. The pace of change here, especially in the culturally diverse, economically emergent Southeast Asian region, can either be a boon or bane for Learning & Development (L&D) professionals. I’d like to think that most of us enjoy the challenge. We are eager to thrive through change but not all of us have already landed on a winning strategy.

At LinkedIn Learning and Glint, we figured that learning from the L&D pioneers who have succeeded in transforming their own organizations would be a great place to start. So, we identified the 10% of organizations that have been most successful at embedding a learning culture and studied what their L&D teams are doing right. We uncovered a treasure trove of insights, including this little gem:  

“HR VPs are crucial. I know some people who are quite good at coming up with L&D programs but they never talk to the HR VPs. Of course, they don’t survive long in this job.”
- Automotive, Asia

We summarized all our findings into a report called the Handbook for L&D Pioneers, which is now available for free download.

Being based in Singapore, I’m reading the Southeast Asian edition of the report and I noticed one important commonality: in all these organizations, L&D is no longer regarded as a back-office support function; it has become a leadership priority and a mainstay of the boardroom agenda. The big question, of course, is how to achieve that.

I find that the report does a good job of outlining key principles that we can all apply to our own organizations, particularly:

• The 5 consistent characteristics of L&D pioneers
• Ideas to cement learning as the key to managing change and digital transformation
• Proven strategies for earning influence at C-suite level
• An implementation playbook to embed learning at all levels
• Tactics and techniques to build learning momentum that pays off

I hope you get a copy of the Handbook for L&D Pioneers, read it, be inspired, and become part of the second wave of L&D pioneers transforming learning organizations in Southeast Asia!