Create a pull for your content
Employees aren’t waiting for L&D to assign them a course. They’re learning on their own terms. They’re watching YouTube tutorials on data visualization, Googling how to write a better prompt for ChatGPT, and joining community-driven courses to level up.
Corporate Learning & Development must reinvent itself—not to control learning, but to enable it.
And yes, stop mandating training completion. Using push and even incentives to upskill is a bad idea. People are naturally curious. They want content that is interesting enough to stop me from scrolling past. Your sole measure of success is to create a pull for the training you do.
1. Your Real Competition Is YouTube (And It’s Winning)
Employees choose platforms that offer immediate answers, variety, and engaging delivery. Most corporate LMS platforms? Not so much.
What to do: Design learning like your audience expects: short, visual, modular, and binge-worthy. Ask yourself: would someone watch this voluntarily? For example here is how you can teach Excel… and become a millionaire at 29
2. Market Your Learning Like a Product Launch
We launch a $5 soap with million-dollar campaigns. Why not do the same for a course that could change behavior and strategy?
What to do: Give your L&D team a marketing budget. Use trailers, teasers, testimonials, countdowns, and nudges. A learning campaign should be as exciting as a product drop.
3. Partner with Content Creators and Influencers
Influencers know what makes content work. Invite them to design versions of your courses. Let employees decide which they prefer.
What to do: Run A/B tests with 3–5 influencer-created modules. The one with highest engagement and performance gets the next contract.
4. Stop Measuring Completions. Start Measuring Career Impact.
Clicking through slides isn’t learning. It’s digital attendance.
What to do: Track:
- Performance improvements
- Promotions or internal mobility
- Peer referrals and completion after referral
- Real-life application stories
5. Create Shareable Learning Moments
If a course is great, people will talk about it. Make it easy for them to do so.
What to do: Encourage LinkedIn posts, team discussions, shoutouts in meetings. Track your internal “learning virality.” Who’s talking about what?
6. Make Curiosity Your Core KPI
Mandatory training tracks compliance. Voluntary learning reveals culture.
What to do: Reward curiosity. Recognize employees who:
- Learn outside their roles
- Launch peer learning sessions
- Recommend resources
- Create content
7. Leverage AI for Spotify-Like Learning Personalization
AI can curate playlists. Why not learning paths?
What to do: Use AI to:
- Curate personalized content
- Send timely nudges
- Flag performance-aligned modules
- Summarize content into digestible bits
The Bottom Line: Outlearn to Outperform
L&D isn’t a support function. It’s your strategic engine. Organizations that can learn faster than the rate of change will always outperform the competition.
Make learning a pull. Make it personal. And make it powerful.
Further Exploration
Books:
- Brave New Words – Sal Khan
- Telling Ain’t Training – Stolovitch & Keeps
- Hooked – Nir Eyal
🔁 If this sparked a new idea or helped reframe how you view corporate learning, share it with your team. Or better yet—your L&D leader.
💬 I’d love to hear from you: What unconventional change have YOU made to drive learning adoption? Email me:
