Developing Future Leaders: Why Mentoring Matters in Leadership Pipelines
In a fast-changing business landscape, organisations that fail to prepare for leadership transitions risk falling behind.
In a world where businesses must pivot as fast as headlines change, Learning & Development (L&D) is no longer a back-office function, it’s the nervous system that helps the entire organisation sense, respond, and adapt.
The 2024 LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report makes it clear: the most resilient companies treat learning not as an event, but as an infrastructure. It transmits feedback, detects opportunities, and coordinates movement. Without it? The system falters.
Why L&D Is the Brainstem of Business Agility
Just like a body needs signals to move and survive, companies need skilled, curious, and adaptable people. That’s where L&D comes in.
1. Align Learning to Business — or Risk Becoming Disconnected
For the second year running, L&D leaders say their top priority is aligning learning with business outcomes. It’s the equivalent of making sure the brain and limbs are speaking the same language.
- Data-savvy L&D professionals are rising. 54% more now list analytical skills on their profiles than just last year.
- They’re ditching vanity metrics like “training hours completed” in favour of meaningful indicators: retention, productivity, skills gained, and internal moves made.
2. Embrace Data, Not Just Gut Instinct
Learning and Development acts as your business’ internal GPS, constantly recalibrating based on new data, helping teams navigate toward business goals, sensing skills gaps, feeding insight into strategy, and helping your people adapt in real time.
- 36% of L&D Professionals are now tracking productivity increases linked to learning.
- 34% are measuring retention as a direct learning outcome.
- Others monitor KPIs like internal mobility, customer satisfaction, and number of new skills developed per learner.
3. Internal Mobility Starts with Skills Agility
Mobility isn’t a buzzword, it’s how you keep your best talent in motion rather than out the door.
- 87% of L&D Professionals say they can clearly demonstrate business value by helping employees transition internally.
- In nearly half of organisations, internal mobility is still HR-led, but more teams are realising it requires shared ownership across L&D, people managers, and TA teams.
What Smart L&D Looks Like in 2025
To be responsive, you don’t just need good intentions, you need systems that move people.
2024 saw a major uptick in just-in-time learning, with 47% of L&D teams launching microlearning solutions.
Think:
- Two-minute how-to videos
- Embedded walkthroughs in workflows
- Slack threads that deliver one insight per scroll
It’s not about less learning — it’s about more impact per minute.
People power the relational. That’s why interpersonal and soft skills are climbing the charts:
- Interpersonal skills ↑ 73%
- Presentation skills ↑ 64%
- Problem-solving ↑ 57%
- People management ↑ 57%
These aren’t optional, they’re the glue that holds collaboration and leadership together.
As Heineken’s Geraldine Murphy puts it: “L&D Professionals must help employees prioritise three things: the job they do now, the job they want next, and the skills that will serve them for life.”
Think of it as short-term gains, medium-term moves, and long-term muscle.
Learning and Development as Culture, Not Content
The best organisations don’t just run training programs — they run on learning.
L&D is no longer about making employees ready for today’s jobs. It’s about helping them shape tomorrow’s company.
If you want agility, innovation, and retention — don’t wait for a crisis to prioritise learning. Build the system now.
Call today on 1300 406 005 or email us at info@performhr.com.au.
“Learning and Development must help employees prioritise three things: the job they do now, the job they want next, and the skills that will serve them for life.”
