As the year draws to a close, it’s the perfect time for Learning & Development leaders to reflect, refocus, and prepare for a strong start to the new year. This video series features actionable tips for L&D leaders from Rea Rotholz, Senior Director of Learning Solutions, and Caelan Cooney, Learning Strategist, at Hone.
These tips for L&D leaders are designed to help you showcase the critical role Learning & Development plays in driving organizational success. Watch now to end the year with confidence, clarity, and a solid plan for 2025!
Transcript: 3 things to do before the end of the year
Rea Rotholz: Three things you should do now before the end of the year and you’ll thank yourself later. One, get time on your executive calendar now. They get really busy as the new year starts, so if you put time on their calendar now to talk about your 2025 programming, you’ll make sure you have time.
Second tip, do you have any big programs launching in January, maybe around performance reviews, maybe a new leadership development program? Start dripping communications now. Now, we know that it takes seven to ten times for someone to really understand what’s going on, so use this time at the end of the year to start building awareness.
And then three, take one thing off your 2025 plan. You will definitely thank yourself later.
Transcript: Take the time to celebrate your wins!
Caelan Cooney: As we go into the new year, we would highly encourage you to take the time to reflect on all you and your learning and development team have accomplished, and then most importantly, share it.
So this is a really incredible opportunity to share the impact that you and your team have had over the course of the year. Here at Hone, our team likes to share a year in review back to the rest of the organization so that we can highlight what programs have we launched? What skills has your team developed?
How have you contributed to the growth and success of your organization this year? This really becomes a chance to tell your story to your leadership team, your peers, and even the whole company, depending on what your priorities are. A hot tip is that you should keep it focused on outcomes. So share metrics, milestones, and really stand out moments that make you really proud.
You deserve to celebrate your wins and showcasing them to others can help you to build recognition for the critical role that we know L&D plays in driving business success. So, as we go into this new year would recommend you take some time, gather those wins, and then share them with the people who really could benefit from hearing about the impact of your work.
Transcript: Make your end-of-year commitment
Rea Rotholz: At the end of each Hone class, we ask learners to make one commitment. What’s one small thing, when you go back to work after this class, and we know you’re back to back, what’s one small thing that you can apply easily?
So, as we’re in this holiday season, and we’re all ready for the year to be over, frankly, but we’re still at work, what is one commitment that you can make to make it easier come January?
Think about it. One commitment I’m making, and I was genuinely thinking about this before this video recording, is I’m going to create a project plan for one of my big projects I have to do. I’m going to have a timeline, I’m going to have a RACI chart, and I’m going to work on making sure that’s really clear, but I’m not going to start any of the work yet.
That’s my commitment. What’s yours?
Transcript: Take a moment to express gratitude
Caelan Cooney: Now is the perfect time to express gratitude. It’s the end of the year. We’re looking forward to the next year. Let’s take the time to express gratitude to your L&D team, but also to the employees who engaged with your programs and really chose to embrace growth over the year.
So what are some ways that we can show appreciation? One, I love a little bit of a personal touch. So doing a more intimate shout out to your team, whether that is a heartfelt message in a team meeting or choosing to send handwritten notes to the people on your team, something that feels a little bit more personal.
Then, you can also choose to celebrate your team and your learners more widespread, highlighting their commitment to your programs, the successes that you have achieved, choosing a forum like Slack or your company newsletter or a live town hall, something where you’re able to express that gratitude more broadly in the organization.
And then lastly, consider showcasing specific stories about how learning and talent development has created a real impact both on the people part of your organization, but also the business side of your organization. Get at kind of the head and the heart of your appreciation. We know gratitude is really powerful.
It can help you to recognize the hard work of the people that you are working so closely with, and it can also help to continue to inspire more engagement and growth for your programs into the new year.
