Building Effective L&D Governance with Noah Rabinowitz and Tom Kupetis

A modern L&D practice is a strategic function that contributes to an organization’s growth and survival. Delivering large-scale impact requires governance, yet not every L&D team has an explicit decision-making practice in place.

A must-read report from CLO LIFT (a collaboration of Fortune 500 Chief Learning Officers) highlights the need for governance to ensure that the L&D function is aligned with the business's strategic objectives and needs.

In this third article of a three-part series, with insights from Noah Rabinowitz and Tom Kupetis, we explore why governance is essential for modern L&D departments and the critical elements needed to establish robust governance.

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The essence of governance in L&D

Governance in L&D is aligning learning to the organization’s strategic objectives and needs.

When done consistently, good governance helps L&D professionals demonstrate the value of their function to the organization for its budget investment.

“The essence of governance is a strong C-level sponsor and a commitment to aligning business needs to learning,” says Tom Kupetis.

“The essence of governance is a strong C-level sponsor and a commitment to aligning business needs to learning,” - Tom Kupetis

A governance model will help you address the following common challenges:

A need for more standards
A need for more consistency
Multiple redundant systems
Conflicting brands
Redundant programs
Inefficient vendor management

Stable governance: a solid core with flexible edges

CLO LIFT’s report highlights that frequent shifts in models within an L&D function over a short period of time make it difficult to establish effective governance.

For example, when a new CLO steps into their role, the transition often brings new changes to the operating model, learning management system, vendors, technology stack, and more. However, a governance model should be like the foundation of a house—while you can repaint the walls, if the foundation is weak, the entire structure will collapse.

The report recommends a governance model with a solid core with flexible edges. The solid core includes essential elements like decision-making processes, funding mechanisms, technology systems, and branding, all integrated into the system. The flexible edges allow processes to adapt without becoming overly rigid or bureaucratic.

Three critical elements of successful governance

To implement a solid core with flexible edges model, the report recommends implementing three elements for successful governance.

1. Oversight and decision making

Oversight and decision-making focuses on the entire organization, its strategic priorities, and how to allocate funding within the L&D function.

“Oversight and decision-making is about bringing the collective power of the organization together and ensuring alignment,” says Tom.

“Oversight and decision-making is about bringing the collective power of the organization together and ensuring alignment,” - Tom Kupetis

Governance oversight and decision-making ensure curriculum choices remain aligned with business objectives and prevent the L&D function from becoming siloed from the rest of the organization.

2. Relationships and constituent groups

Governance also includes careful management of your L&D function’s key constituencies and relationships.

“A carefully managed strategy of how you’re going to engage with each of your constituent groups requires governance,” says Noah Rabinowitz.

“A carefully managed strategy of how you’re going to engage with each of your constituent groups requires governance,” - Noah Rabinowitz.

Governance helps you layer, organize, and engage the following constituent groups in a meaningful way:

Executive leadership team
End learners
Frontline managers
Vendors
Partner organizations
Thought leaders
End customers

For example, poor governance can lead to multiple vendors with unclear service roles within your organization. Good governance enables the alignment and consistency in messaging and systems, which are critical for effective vendor management.

3. Mechanisms for continuous improvement

Continuous improvement in L&D focuses on evaluating priorities, new technologies, and skills for effective innovation.

“Continuous improvement is to look around corners and proactively anticipate what your organization is going to need and how you stay strategically aligned to business goals,” says Tom Kupetis.

“Continuous improvement is to look around corners and proactively anticipate what your organization is going to need and how you stay strategically aligned to business goals,” - Tom Kupetis

Key considerations for continuous improvement include selecting appropriate tools and technologies, such as AI, for the learning organization.

Good governance takes time

Implementing good governance can take up to a decade, but this should not dissuade you from starting now because it will elevate your L&D practice.

“Similar to planting a tree, you can put it in place fast, but it takes ten years to take root and be strong enough to weather four seasons of storms,” says Tom.

Proper governance will ensure that your L&D function has the stability required to align with business strategy and create large-scale impact.

A good way to start is with a simple six-week forensic analysis. Most organizations have significant waste and inefficiency. If you can locate those, you can pinpoint where you are burning your budget without getting any impact or return on investment.

Explore further insights on governance and alignment in L&D on the latest episode on The L&D Podcast: Unleashing the Power of L&D Through Governance With Noah Rabinowitz and Tom Kupetis

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