L&D is part of a 360⁰ communication strategy

When delivering L&D presentations, we find ourselves classified within human resources or, if not, as support resources limited to enabling inside staff for the companies that hire us. This is a common misconception for which we should be held responsible. And we should commit to setting the record straight.


Training is an integral part of business corporate communications, whichever business you chose. If we look at L&D as one of our marketing tools we may find it quite more rewarding and easier to measure than if looked at as a HR requirement. Today, airlines are likely to represent the best known example of training as part of an aligned strategy covering learning and marketing at once, aimed at multiple audiences. As customers, we are trained every single time we board a flight: how to buckle up, to act in an emergency, to follow instructions, to evacuate, etc. Tourism companies, another audience, collaborate in sales and operations using training and sampling aimed at communicating a specific message, sometimes even using the very tools we use online ourselves. Absolutely everyone involved in logistics, supplies, catering, sanitation, and any other aspect of the service (most of them vendors at the various airports) are not only trained in their specialty but also required to cater to the specifics of each airline regarding what their customers have come to expect. When you examine the airline staff itself, again, they are trained in their individual competencies, but in line with the company’s specific identity and a specific corporate strategy. All of this will define our experience and perception of the service we receive, one that in essence should be no different than using a bus, a train or a ship, but that all airlines wish to ensure we perceive as different as possible at all levels. It is this perception that will have us return as travelers on another occasion and recommend it to others… or not.

The fundamental thinking behind this communication flow should be one and aligned with our corporate strategies and goals. Granted, it has to be adapted to each of the target audiences it wants to impact. From a corporate perspective, having L&D as an additional marketing initiative may prove innovative, justified in response to specific needs and with added value very often overlooked by too many corporations.