Building Knowledge Management Through a Learning and Development Architecture in Organisations

Bitter or sweet, investing in employee learning and development is an important leadership decision in every organisation and triggers intense discussions from an opportunity costs perspective. In good or bad times, there is always a debate in leadership on the need to prioritise and invest in employee learning and development initiatives. This study examines how a global organisation designed and built a learning and development architecture to drive employee and organisational capability, which was integrated into its talent and succession management initiatives. The study proposes a framework to design and implement a learning and development architecture anchored on andragogy, values and behaviors, leadership commitment, knowledge centre, operational excellence and employee engagement. It concludes that there is a relationship between a well-designed learning and development architecture and other HR outcomes, including talent and succession management. Article visualizations: