Report on Learning and Development Strategies for WBA plc. Growth

This report analyzes the learning and development (L&D) processes of WBA plc., an international IT solutions provider. It begins with a company analysis, including SWOT and PESTLE analyses, to identify internal and external factors impacting the company's growth. The report highlights WBA's strengths, such as a successful track record and skilled employees, while also acknowledging weaknesses like low L&D investment and high attrition rates. Opportunities, including government investment in IT and an increasing client base, are discussed alongside threats like changing customer behavior. The report then critically evaluates a range of strategic options for L&D, emphasizing the importance of aligning training with business objectives and addressing skill gaps. Recommendations are provided to improve employee skills, innovation, and brand reputation. The report stresses the need for WBA to adapt to rapid technological changes and leverage L&D to enhance its competitive advantage, including building employer brand and retaining talent. The analysis concludes by emphasizing the critical role of L&D in supporting WBA's business goals, aligning individual and team objectives, and fostering a culture of continuous learning.

Running head: LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction:...................................................................................................................1
Company analysis:.........................................................................................................1
SWOT analysis:.............................................................................................................1
PESTLE analysis:...........................................................................................................3
Critical evaluation of a range of strategic options:........................................................4
Recommendations:.........................................................................................................9
Conclusions:.................................................................................................................10

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Introduction:
The aim of this report is to discuss the learning and development processes which
WBA plc. Must be following for its future growth. The company has an affluent past and
bright future in the technological industry of the world. This is an international software
house that offers IT Solutions to different types of Companies irrespective of their sizes and
focus areas. Starting from the small and medium enterprises to the large International
companies companies operating in the manufacturing, media, retail and communication,
WBA plc. Provides all types of it facilities to these companies. However the company lacks
learning and development strategies which limit is competency in the competitive world of
business. The human resource is not properly utilised as there has been various barriers of
professional growth. There are opportunities which the company gets from the market it
operates in and in the future market where the organisation will be expanding. This paper will
be discussing the external and internal environment of this company in detail so that the
learning and development issues can be identified properly. The range of Learning and
Development strategy options will be critically evaluate and recommendations will be e given
with clear justification as to which strategies of Learning and Development must be
implemented as priority and why.
Company analysis:
SWOT analysis:
Strengths Weaknesses
 Successful track record
 Reliable suppliers
 Huge international market
 Good performance in the new markets
 Highly skilled and experienced
employees
 Great connection among the different
 Low investment in L&D
 High attrition rate and retiring
employees
 Reducing knowledge pool
 Ever changing need
 Low capability of innovation

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departments of the company
 Strong distribution network
Opportunities Threats
 62% plan to increase investment in IT
products and services in UK market
 New market to expand
 Free cash flow
 Increasing dependency on the
technology products and services
 Governments’ green drive
 New trends of the customer behaviour
 Increasing client base
 Pressing nature of competition
 Changing customer behaviour
 Change in the innovation process
 Growing strengths of local suppliers
and distributors
 Market saturation
WBA plc. Has various strengths and opportunities which can increase the growth of
the company. The strengths of this company include its successful track record and good
performance in the international market. The company has reliable suppliers and dependable
customers who to help the company to develop in the other countries of Europe along with
some in Asia. The company has highly skilled as well as experienced employees who have
been working for a long period of time with this company. However the weaknesses of this
company includes a high attrition rate and retiring employees from the workplace. The main
weakness of this organisation is low investment in the learning and development process
which enhances knowledge pool. With the changing need and innovation process in the
technological industry can possess threat for WBA.
The company has gained support from the government of United Kingdom which has
planned to increase investment in the IT products and services by 62%. There is a free cash
flow that can help the company to expand in the new market and enhanced dependency on
the technological products and services. The opportunity includes increasing client base that
can be catered through focusing on the new Trends of customer behaviour. The threat of the
company only includes the change in the innovative process for which WBA is not yet ready.

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Therefore the pressing competition and changing behaviour of the customers towards the
technological advancement can push the company into the bottom.
PESTLE analysis:
Forces Factors Risk
Political forces  UK’s political environment is stable and
corruption free
 It allows for promotion of IT companies
low
Economic forces  Huge possibility of investment
 Buying capacity of clients consisting firms of
different business sectors
low
Social forces  High standard of lifestyle
 High GDP
 Changing technological demands
 Skilled labour
 Expensive labour
high
Technological
forces
 Huge demand
 Government’s support
 Inability to adapt with regular change in
innovation
high
Legal forces  Green regulations
 Innovative technological support through law
 Law supportive of outsourcing
low
Environmental
forces
 Huge amount of e waste
 Threat of radiation
low
There are different external factors which manipulate the company to change its
policies. As the company is operating business in the UK market more precisely, the external
factors of this market will be dicussed. Through strategizing particular methods WBA can
reduce the risks of the external factors like political, economic, social, environmental,
technological and legal. In operating within the territory of United Kingdom the company do
not face any political threat because the government here is stable and corruption free. The
government promotes IT company’s financial investments and legal support. Economically
the company will have positive scenario because the buying capacity of its clients like the

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companies of different sizes and operations are high. As the company has working experience
for 10 years in the European market therefore it can easily overcome any economic changes
in UK. The social factors poses higher threat for the company because the labour here is
skilled yet expensive. The huge market and demand for technological innovation can become
risky for the company because it is not yet ready for sudden changes in the organisational
procedure. This company has a huge demand for technological growth and gets Full support
from the legislation of the country and can outsource the human resource from other market
where they get skilled labours in cheap cost. Finally the environmental threats of radiation
and inability to manage e-waste can pose threat for the company and its growth.
Critical evaluation of a range of strategic options:
The learning and development strategy is an important tool for the organisations that
helps them to align their corporate training process with the business objectives. The strategy
ensures that the employees need of Learning and Development are effectively met (Smith
2016). All the requirements of the company for the production and unique delivery e of
product are developed so that the company gets competitive leverage as much as possible.
Learning and development improves the group and individual performance of the company
by increasing and promoting skills and knowledge. This is often associated with training and
development which forms a part of the talent management strategy of a company. learning
and development strategy is designed to align the group and individual objectives and
performances with overall goals and vision of the organisation stuck in the practical level the
team members or individual employees are responsible for their talent development where
they identify their gaps in skills with the team or groups (Namada 2018). Based on these
analysis the organisation finds out suitable training so that the individual skill gap do not
affect the team skills. In this regard the procurement becomes essential part of training and
development process (Smith 2016). This is due to the fact that this learning for training

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providers must be cost effective as well as appropriate for the need of the organisation staff
training process therefore provide the individual Employees with every tools as well as skills
which show them how to apply their skills within the organisational goals and their position
(Namada 2018).
In the case of WBA plc. L&D has much to do. This is due to the fact that a comparing
learning and development process will offer to the Employees who are attracted engaged and
retained in the organisation like WBA plc. The company has issues like shortages in the
special areas which cannot help the company to incorporate new ideas and innovation process
in the technology industry (Smither, Houston and McIntire 2016). This type of industry
always calls for innovative ideas otherwise no organisation in this type of industry can
survive for long (Aras and Crowther 2016). This company has completed 10 years of
operation in the international level but have some issues which only can be made through
L&D strategies. As mentioned before there are shortages in the specialised area which will be
connected through new recruitment of the employees having skills and competencies at
international level (Aras and Crowther 2016). The demand of products and services which
this particular company provides to the SMEs and other large multinational companies, are
increasing which is pressing the human resource management of this organisation to recruit
more skilled workers in the manufacturing and supply chain (Smither, Houston and McIntire
2016). However the company has done and extensive recruitment program for addressing
anticipated increase in the demand from latest software development but these are not
enough.
Despite the fact that the recruitment process of this company has ascribed with the
large-scale International graduate recruitment but the skill and competency the company
needs are not met properly. It is not only the fact that the human resource which are newly
recruited in the company in its different branches of the world lack the IT knowledge most

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essentially but also lack the needed skill of customer presentation (Blackburn, Chambers and
Gaventa 2018). Now WBA has arranged different types of training process show that the
individuals can gain needed knowledge about the products of the company and reduce the
gap themselves by self-service and a very short induction process, these are not very
compelling to the new employees. In this induction the company explain different packages
offered orientation of this organisation and the software they are selling to the other
companies. By arranging different type of workshops the company has aimed to disclose the
facts of presentation techniques and object handling to the Employees. Now the changing
nature of the IT business is compelling the company to grow efficiency through sharing
knowledge as fast as it can among the employees (Blackburn, Chambers and Gaventa 2018).
As mentioned before in the information technology industry the companies must have
proper channel through which the knowledge or information will be shared to the human
resource because it is essential to keep the workers informed of the new software
development and enhancements. The most important changes are seen in the technology
industry which are very fast and compelling to be adopted. The companies if aim to have the
competitive leverage must understand the importance of adaptability so that any type of
changes can be infused through knowledge among the employees. L&D is designed to
support achievements of the business goals through promotion of human capital advantage
this people let that can take into account on the needs and aspirations of a people for their
professional and personal growth and development (Blackburn, Chambers and Gaventa
2018). There are different ways which are followed by the L&D Consultants which include
 Building employer brand
 Attracting and retaining talents
 Developing capabilities of people
 Creating a value based culture
 Motivating and engaging employees.

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WBA already has particular brand recognition among the international companies
operating in retail, media, manufacturing and other types of business sectors. This is one of
the most important assets for any type of business organisation that try to grow in the
competitive business market (Oxford 2016). It conveys a great deal about the success of the
company in the market its financial strengths offered products and services and position in
the industry. This is the reason why investment in the learning and development process is
essential so that the strategies of Learning and Development can give competitive leverage by
including the human resource in the growth process. Investment in learning and development
can help the company to enhance its brand and boost the reputation as employer of choice
(Hunter, Saunders and Constance 2016). The issue of bureaucratic structure in in the
company mentioned is one of the problem for becoming an employer of choice because there
is no scope for the employees to contribute their knowledge or skills in the decision making
process or policy changes. The investment in learning and development can allow the change
in the traditional organisational structure of the company which is not supportive of
competitive growth (Hunter, Saunders and Constance 2016). The company works hard to
compete for shrinking talent pool because most of the employees working in this company
are above 50 years of age. Therefore they are preparing for retirement. In fulfilling this
vacancy, the company can communicate its brand strength explicitly through Value
proposition (Noe et al. 2017).
The learning and development strategy will include attraction and retention of the
talents. Traditionally the learning focused on the improving productivity of the companies but
in present days learning contributes to the employability. The employment as has shifted
from staying the same company for lifetime to the model where the workers are retained only
when they can add value to the Enterprise. Therefore the companies are to create such
policies which can enable the employees to remain attracted and dependent on the

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organisation for a long period of time (Noe et al., 2017). WBA provides various types of
facilities to the Employees but there is a very limited scope for personal and professional
development which will be reached through this L&D strategy.
Human capital needs ongoing investment in the learning and development to retain
their value. Knowledge keeps on becoming outdated and forgotten in the competitive
business framework. In the case of WBA this problem becomes more relevant is the company
operates in the technological industry. During past several decades the employment has win
only retained is the company gives the employees score for personal and professional growth
and development. These new employees are finding such companies which will allow them
to have the opportunities for learning and development (Bell and Loon 2016). There for the
lack of investment in the learning and development strategy can be reason why the Global
employees and not choosing particular companies but gathering to enter in some.
L&D strategies of the company help to develop the employees’ personal and
professional capabilities. It is also capable to create value based culture because in this type
of company the workforce are mainly virtual and globally dispersed. Therefore it is only
through the learning and development based on which the company can maintain a standard
of the human resource regarding recruitment, selection and retaining of the new knowledge
pool (Bell and Loon 2016). The preferences of millennial to be a part of value based and
sustainable Enterprise has increased the importance of learning and development in a
company. The Global workforce which are part of human resource of WBA are culturally
diverse therefore have different types of understanding and preferences. L&D strategies
therefore will be focusing on creating a value based culture where the people from different
National and organisational culture will have a sense of community and loyalty towards the
operation of the organisation. This will empower the employees making them and asset for
the company. In order to engage the employees it is always recommended that the strategies

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of Learning and Development include motivational aspects. The more the employees are
engaged with the organisation the more they will contribute for the growth of the organisation
(Seufert and Meier 2016). While the employers provide the employees opportunities to learn
and development new competencies and skills they feel empowered hence get highly engaged
with the company. They can face every challenge and every changes by utilising their skills
to grow within they are chosen career paths. The employees are energized by the new
opportunities at work and feel satisfied with their current organisation because the scope of
growth everybody needs.
Recommendations:
WBA despite of having different weaknesses and threats can overcome all by
properly strategizing the L&D section. The company will be ascribing the following justified
steps.
Firstly, it will enhance connection between the business unit and the human resource
in order to adapt business process and practices. In the recent time the companies are using
tools and technologies and becoming more agile therefore WBA also will launch capability
building programs where the employees will be e gaining knowledge about new business
needs in the weekly basis and learn new technologies like cloud-based collaboration tools.
This will enhance partnership of the Employees with the business leaders through proper
establishment of governance structure in which the leadership from the both groups will be
sharing responsibilities for defining, designing, prioritising and securing funds for capability
building program. This will eliminate bureaucratic model of organisational structure and
align the overall strategic goals of the company with the human resource.
Secondly the company will assess the capability gaps and estimated value most of the
companies are ineffective at assessing the capability gap when it comes to the senior leaders

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and the middle level managers. However WBA plc. Will be taking delivery at and systematic
approach for capability assessment. This process is a comprehensive competency model
which is based on the strategic direction of the company. The company after identifying
essential capabilities of the job descriptions and various functions then assess how the
employees will rate in each of these areas. The learning and development intervention must
seek to close this type of capability gaps.
Finally the workshop induction process and other training to the Employees for
reducing knowledge gaps will be promoted through new systems and learning Technology
application. The company will invest on the development of next generation learning
management system, mobile learning apps, virtual classrooms, embedded performance
support system, learning video platforms, polling software, learning assessment and
Measurement platform, open online courses and small online private courses. Through these
the learning Technology I will support the learning and development functions of the
company with unlimited opportunities to access the latest functionality without an expensive
implementation of organisational learning systems.
Conclusions:
Therefore it can be concluded that the company despite having various opportunities
and capabilities may face problems regarding human resource. This is due to the fact that
most of the employees working in this organisation have experiences but reduced adaptability
with the changing nature of this business. The company needs to invest more on the learning
and development process so that the knowledge pool is promoted and recruitment of highly
skilled labours from different parts of the world can become easier. By following some of the
very important steps of L&D, WBA can perform better and gain opportunity for sustainable
growth.

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development. Routledge.
Bell, R. and Loon, M., 2016. Understanding the Context of L&D.
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development. In Making Development Work (pp. 61-82). Routledge.
Hunter, I., Saunders, J. and Constance, S., 2016. HR business partners. Routledge.
Namada, J.M., 2018. Organizational learning and competitive advantage. In Handbook of
Research on Knowledge Management for Contemporary Business Environments (pp. 86-
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implications for L&D. International Journal of Corporate Learning (iJAC), 9(2), pp.27-33.
Smith, A., 2016. Experiential learning. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
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changing environments. Routledge.