Question: I build learning that actually works, for employees, customers, partners, and everyone in between. I could be in HR, sales, customer ed, or none of the above. Who am I?

Answer: You, obviously. And you’re crushing it.

Traditionally, you’d sit in HR or L&D. Today, you might be in CEd, product, sales enablement, community management, or maybe even compliance. Strategic learning isn’t a one-department job. It’s a cross-functional effort to develop and deliver programmes. 

With use cases, learners and programme owners being fluid, we’re sharing ways you can break down silos and structure your learning programmes to collaborate, share expertise, and collectively solve business problems with all the learning pros in your organisation.

 

Multi-dimensional learning explained.

Multi-dimensional learning sounds fancy, doesn’t it? But really, it’s just different teams, different audiences, and different goals intersecting. Some might see this overlap as messy. We see it as the foundation of strategic learning.

Below is a simple framework to help you and your colleagues learn from one another and make a bigger impact. Take what already works and apply it in new ways. Train new learners with proven strategies or use fresh approaches with existing ones. You don’t need to start from scratch, just shift your perspective.

 

Product training: From maintenance manuals to customer adoption and maximising value.

Product training used to mean getting the technical teams up to speed on troubleshooting guides. Exciting stuff. 

Now? It’s used for customer education. Sales, customer success, and client services teams use product training to boost adoption, improve confidence, and reduce churn. This means going beyond specs and pricing. Show users how your product fits into their day-to-day. Do that well, and you’ll see fewer support tickets, a higher NPS, and increased customer lifetime value. 

Example: Within the first year of its training programme, TrueCommerce added more than 300 courses and trained thousands of employees and customers.

 

Performance enablement: Move over one and done, it’s about always on learning for everyone.

Gone are the days when onboarding meant handing over a badge and a stack of paperwork and hoping employees read it. Questions? Save them for the next annual review. Development? Only if it’s directly related to the job. 

Onboarding and upskilling are now key enablers for employees, contractors, customers, and partners alike. When learning is personalised to individual experiences, motivations, and goals, it shifts from reactive to proactive. Boosting performance and setting everyone up for ongoing success.

Example: OpsWerks streamlined their onboarding, reducing the process by two-thirds, allowing teams to focus on high-value tasks while improving the new hire experience.

 

Training as a business: Broader audiences open new revenue streams and strengthen relationships.

Monetising learning isn’t new. But traditionally it was just intended for corporate clients and consisted of standardised, instructor-led training.  

LMS platforms let you offer premium training to a broader audience ¾ customers, freelancers, entrepreneurs, and even students.

Some organisations are even licensing their internal training through partnerships. Again, an opportunity to create new revenue streams and establish yourself as a key player in talent development. 

Got a killer emerging leader training program? There’s a company out there willing to pay for it. 

Example: Organisations using a strategic learning system reported $1.1M in additional profit from externally monetised training.

 

Mandatory training: Give your business-critical training the love it deserves.

Regulatory compliance. Workplace safety. Risk mitigation. The pillars of mandatory L&D. When this is what mandatory learning looks like, it’s an uphill battle to prove value and encourage learners to take optional training initiatives.

If training is required, it’s because your learners need to retain and apply it. So, it needs to be strategic, engaging, and cover a broad range of organisations and individuals, including non-traditional work settings. If you want them to come back for more, it needs to feel more than a box-ticking exercise. 

Ask yourself:

• Is your supply chain compliant? Do contractors know your AI policies? Are partners certified in your corporate values?
• Are your courses personalised to their preferences, knowledge levels, and location?

Example: POOL/PACT scaled its member training program by expanding its course offerings by 1685%, with a focus on compliance and risk management. Fostering a culture of safety, reducing claims, and boosting engagement with 87% completion rates.

 

Learning isn’t an afterthought, it’s a priority

The way businesses develop their people is changing. It’s a core part of growth, retention, and operational success. Engaging learning experiences don’t just help people consume content; they help them apply it in ways that drive value, retention, and long-term growth. With a strategic learning system you can blend skill development and growth opportunities with mandatory training, and learners will see it as a step forward instead of a box to be checked.

Enterprises that build learning into their strategy don’t fall behind. They adapt, compete, and win: taking learning beyond courses and compliance into something that actively supports their business goals. Enabling:

• Skill development, so employees stay innovative and productive.
• Increased engagement and retention, because when people grow, they stay.
• Improved customer and partner training, leading to better adoption and revenue.
• Operational efficiency, reducing admin and making learning easier to manage and scale.

Prioritise and expand multi-dimensional learning across all your organisation, and even beyond it, and you’ll see stronger teams, more capable leaders, and better business outcomes.

 

Sophie Furnival 

Content Marketing Manager, Absorb