In this episode of the Product Design for Learning Podcast, host Greg Arthur is joined by Toby Kheng to discuss the provocative topic, "The End of L&D." They explore the challenges, limitations, and future possibilities of Learning and Development (L&D) as it currently operates within organisations. Toby argues for a systemic overhaul, where L&D evolves into a more holistic "employee experience design" function, integrating insights from HR, internal communications, and beyond.

Key themes include the role of data, the value of product and service design in learning, and the imperative to break down silos for more effective and engaging employee solutions.

Toby Kheng

With over 14 years in L&D, Toby is a thought leader passionate about transforming organisational learning. He co-founded Freeformers, focusing on innovative, human-centred approaches to employee experience design. Toby’s expertise spans L&D, internal communications, and organisational strategy.

L&D often functions in a silo, designing training that validates its existence rather than addressing broader organisational needs. This narrow focus leads to duplication, inefficiency, and missed opportunities to impact engagement, productivity, and profitability.

• Treat employment as a product, designing for the entire employee journey.
• Borrow frameworks from customer experience design, such as human-centred design and design thinking.
• Break down silos between HR, internal communications, and recruitment to create cohesive employee experiences.

Toby highlights the need for consistent, meaningful data collection across departments to inform decision-making. Without integrated insights from recruitment, HR, and internal comms, L&D operates in an informational vacuum.

Getting stakeholders like HR, recruitment, and communications into one room can reveal overlaps, reduce duplication, and spark innovative solutions. The future of L&D lies in its ability to lead this integration.

• By 2030: Incremental improvements with AI and tech adoption but largely within the current framework.
• By 2040: Transformation driven by small-to-medium businesses adopting holistic employee experience models, influencing larger corporations to follow suit.

Greg introduces the podcast and Toby, setting the stage for the discussion on the potential "end" of L&D.

Toby shares his critiques of traditional L&D models and the limitations of siloed functions.

Greg and Toby debate whether the future of L&D is a gradual evolution or a complete overhaul.

Toby explains how frameworks like human-centred design and the double diamond can transform learning initiatives.

How can L&D leverage data from across the business to create better solutions?