Guild Research Reveals How Top HR Leaders Turn L&D from Cost Center to Growth Engine
HR leaders who tie learning to their organization’s biggest business priorities are 122% more likely to meet or exceed their highest-priority metrics than laggards.
Guild, the leading talent development company, today released new research, “From Cost to Catalyst: An HR Leader’s Guide to Maximizing the Business Impact of L&D,” that highlights the power of embedding employee learning and development (L&D) directly into the heart of an organization’s business strategy, and uncovers a distinct cohort of forward-thinking HR leaders who are driving this work forward.
Based on a survey of 500 CHROs and L&D leaders, along with in-depth interviews across industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, retail, and technology, the research shines a light on the current state of L&D, identifies strategies that distinguish top performers, and connects the dots to creating tangible business value.
At a time when HR is facing rapid AI adoption, workforce reinvention, shifting labor demographics, and skills shortages, all while balancing constrained budgets and increased business pressure — there’s never been a more critical moment for HR to prove its business value. Yet, in Guild’s research nearly a third (28%) of CHROs and L&D leaders agreed that L&D investments had unknown, little, or no impact on revenue or profit margin, suggesting the field has a long way to go to be a real catalyst for business growth.
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On the flip side, HR leaders who tie learning to their organizations biggest business priorities are 122% more likely to meet or exceed their highest-priority metrics than these laggards. This disconnect highlights the need for HR leaders to champion their own cause and ensure business leaders understand L&D’s contribution to growth. In the words of one HR leader featured in the report, “When you start with business KPIs, you stop being a cost center and start becoming a growth engine. That’s when L&D becomes indispensable.”
The research also revealed strong ties to senior leadership, an investment in soft skills alongside technical skills, and a strategic deployment of data analysis distinguishes high-performing HR organizations. According to the findings, effective HR leaders are:
- 53% more likely than laggards to say the organization’s CHRO collaborates extremely closely with the senior leadership.
- 31% more likely than laggards to say their L&D investments prioritize soft (or durable) skill development.
- 40% more likely than laggards to report using tech and data analytics to guide their L&D strategies.
- 27% more likely than laggards to say their L&D investments support senior and middle managers’ careers.
“The data is clear and confirms what Guild sees every day in our work with forward-thinking employers: when companies embed learning into their core strategy, they do more than upskill their teams — they unlock performance, agility, and growth,” said Bijal Shah, CEO of Guild. “The HR leaders who are spearheading this charge are not just supporting the business. They are shaping its future.”
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