Extending learning beyond the workforce

In the beautiful game, you need the whole football team to work together and understand their respective roles in winning the game. If one player doesn’t pull their weight, the entire team cannot meet their full potential. The same applies to all businesses and their extended networks of graduates, contractors, freelancers, partners, vendors, alumni and more. To work together effectively, everyone needs a baseline understanding of what you’re selling, your USPs, your culture, and more. That’s where learning comes in, and more specifically, extending your upskilling programme beyond just employees to include potential recruits and graduates, non-permanent talent, and partners or vendors. 

Introducing the extended enterprise

It’s known as extended enterprise learning — a way of providing L&D opportunities to anyone who uses or sells your products or services. The idea is that if all of your vendors, customers, clients and other non-employee partners are trained using the same playbook and have the same knowledge as someone who works at your company, your business will be more successful in the long run.

Indeed, a recent Brandon Hall study found that 58 percent of companies feel extended enterprise learning has reduced their training costs, 55 percent say it has improved customer relations, and 41 percent report it helps maximize customer retention. 

Small investment for significant gains

The best thing about it is the investment involved. For companies that have an established L&D programme, it can be as simple as opening up your learning platform to include extended enterprise groups. The same Brandon Hall study found that extended enterprise learning takes up a relatively small chunk of companies’ L&D budgets (60 percent of companies say it accounts for less than 10 percent), while delivering benefits to the brand, customer relationships, and revenue generation. 

Who should be involved?

There are a lot of people involved in a business’ ultimate success. Equipping them with the same knowledge and skills as your employees do when it comes to your mission, values and products/service means your messaging, positioning and brand are a lot more consistent when others are talking about your business. 

Suppliers and partners need a baseline level of knowledge around your products and best practices so that they can be a trusted proxy when doing business on your behalf. Graduates and those in the recruitment pipeline will benefit from an easier onboarding process. They will join your organization with an existing understanding of your processes and culture. It can also serve as a powerful recruitment tool and a boost for your employer brand. After all, what better way to show your commitment to someone’s career development than upskilling them before they join your organization?

Likewise, alumni can be nurtured over time and encouraged to return to the organization at a later stage — either as consultants or contractors, or in more senior roles. And if they do, they’ll have the up-to-date skills needed to jump right back into their role. 

You might even want to consider upskilling your customers, as a unique selling point or as part of a wider societal commitment to ESG or other global challenges. For example, Alexander Forbes, a large financial institution within South Africa, found that their customers tended to make poor financial decisions impacting their long-term well-being. In response, it created a customer-facing training program to promote financial health. The goal is to help customers expand their financial knowledge and, as a result, increase customer retention, investments and satisfaction. 

5 tips to get started

With this in mind, what’s the best way to get started with your extended enterprise programme?

1. Start with your goals. Like all new initiatives, start by aligning with your business goals. Identify the people in your extended enterprise who are crucial to your business strategy and long-term success. Then, look at how you can build their skills (and what skills) to fulfil your business objectives.

2. Get leadership buy-in. The idea of reskilling and upskilling people outside of your organization may initially seem excessive to your leadership team. Make your case by showing them data that illustrates the power of extended learning andthe  expected returns. A trial can help to build the business case for extended enterprise learning. 

3. Make it personal. Like any good learning plan, the content included in your extended enterprise program should be personalized based on each audience’s needs, interests and preferences. If your suppliers and partners have their own L&D teams, make sure they are involved in the set-up process. Similarly, you can consult with groups of alumni, recruits, or graduates to understand their unique needs before rolling the programme out further.  
4. Measure your success. When developing your extended enterprise learning plan, make sure there are regular times where you assess how the programme is performing. Gather data and learner feedback to understand what’s working and what needs improvement. Make sure your success metrics align with business goals. For example, if it’s to increase product knowledge, has this improved in the six months post-launch? If it’s about ensuring a ready pipeline of talent, have onboarding and ramp-up times decreased?  
5. Consider outsourcing. Most learning teams have enough on their plates as it is, and adding more L&D initiatives to their growing list of to-dos can quickly lead to burnout or underwhelming results. While it requires additional upfront investment, partnering with a learning and upskilling platform with expertise in extended enterprise learning will help you reach your goals more quickly and with greater success. 

By Oli Meager VP, Global Strategic Initiatives at Degreed