Designing a global learning and development experience for 12,000 employees
The challenge
A global financial services organisation asked us to improve how employees accessed learning and development information.
The Learning and Development function supported more than 12,000 employees across regions, roles and capability levels. Employees had access to a wide range of learning programs, leadership resources and development opportunities, but many struggled to understand what was available, where to start and how different opportunities related to their career goals.
The challenge was made more complex by a decentralised publishing model. Regional teams maintained their own learning content, priorities and delivery approaches. While local differences were important, they also created duplication, inconsistent messaging and confusion for employees moving between roles, regions or career stages.
The organisation also wanted to better communicate its position on learning and development. Existing content described programs and frameworks, but it did little to explain how learning happened within the organisation or help employees understand what actions they should take next.
Ultimately, the organisation needed to improve both the employee experience and the effectiveness of its learning and development content.
The approach
We applied our content design methodology, beginning with a comprehensive content audit and discovery process before redesigning any content.
The audit created a clear picture of:
What content existed
Where it was located
Who owned it
How effectively it supported employee needs
This helped identify duplication, inconsistent navigation, content gaps and opportunities to improve findability.
Alongside the audit, we conducted research with employees, learning leaders and regional stakeholders to understand how people approached learning and development in practice.
Rather than focusing on programs and systems, we focused on understanding:
How employees developed capability
When they sought guidance
What information they needed
What stopped them from taking action
The research revealed that employees were not looking for more information. They were looking for clearer guidance that would help them navigate opportunities and make informed decisions about their development.
We also worked closely with regional stakeholders to understand local requirements and constraints. Building trust early helped create alignment and reduced resistance later in the project.
Understanding employee needs
Research showed that employees rarely thought about learning and development in terms of organisational structures, program categories or internal frameworks.
Instead, they approached learning through real-world situations such as:
Starting a new leadership role
Preparing for career progression
Building capability in a specialist area
Supporting the development of a team
To better understand these situations, we developed user stories and learning journeys that reflected how employees actually approached learning and development.
This shifted the focus from publishing information about learning programs to designing a stronger employee self-service experience.
Instead of asking, "How should we describe our programs?" we asked, "What is the employee trying to achieve?"
That change in perspective influenced the structure, navigation and design of the entire experience.
Content design and information architecture
Using evidence gathered during research, we redesigned the learning and development experience around employee needs.
The new experience:
Explained how learning worked within the organisation
Clarified the role employees, leaders and the organisation each played in development
Reduced duplication across regions
Improved navigation and findability
Connected related learning opportunities through clearer pathways
Global content focused on principles, guidance and learning pathways. Regional content provided local context, support and program-specific information.
Alongside the content redesign, we improved the information architecture and navigation model to help employees find relevant information with less effort.
The experience was co-designed with learning leaders, regional stakeholders and subject matter experts, ensuring that local requirements were retained while improving consistency and usability.
The result was a more intuitive learning experience based on user needs rather than organisational structures.
Governance and capability building
A redesigned experience would only remain successful if it could be maintained over time.
To support long-term sustainability, we worked with learning leaders to establish a content governance model that clarified:
Ownership
Review responsibilities
Publishing standards
Governance expectations
Measures of success
We also introduced content design learning modules for content owners and publishers who create learning and development content. Modules were published on a hidden SharePoint page so that any new publisher could complete them before they were given editor access.
Rather than relying on a small group of specialists, content owners learned how to create content based on employee needs, apply publishing standards consistently and maintain content over time.
This reduced duplication, improved accountability and created a sustainable operating model for managing learning content.
The outcome
The organisation gained a clearer and more user-centred learning and development experience.
Employees could more easily:
Understand how learning worked
Explore relevant development opportunities
Navigate learning pathways
Access support and guidance
Take the next step in their development journey
Regional teams retained ownership of local content while benefiting from shared governance, standards and publishing guidance.
Most importantly, learning content became easier to find, easier to understand and easier to maintain.
What began as a content challenge ultimately became an opportunity to improve employee self-service, strengthen content governance and establish a more sustainable approach to managing organisational knowledge.
Reflection
This project reinforced an important lesson - employees rarely want more content. They want content that helps them make decisions and take action.
By combining content design, employee self-service, information architecture, content governance and capability uplift, the organisation was able to create a more effective learning experience while preserving regional flexibility and local ownership.