Why Do We Need L&D?

And is it time to do things differently?

Let’s go back to the beginning. L&D didn’t appear because someone thought corporate training was a great idea. It showed up because managers couldn’t do it all.

Employees needed help learning how to do their jobs. Managers didn’t have the time, resources, or skills to teach them. So, organizations created departments to fill the gap.

That gap became L&D.

 The Original Purpose

L&D was designed to do one thing: bridge the space between what employees needed to know and how they could learn it.

We were translators. Interpreters. Guides. Helping people get from “I don’t know how to do this” to “I’ve got it.”

Back when access to information was limited, that role was critical. You needed someone to organize knowledge, teach processes, and deliver the same message to a lot of people in the same way.

But fast forward to now, and that world is gone.

Everything Has Changed. L&D Hasn’t.

Today, employees don’t need a class to learn how to do something. They have Google. YouTube. ChatGPT. Internal wikis. Slack channels. Information is everywhere. Right now. At your fingertips.

The gap between employee and knowledge? It’s a lot smaller.

But the systems we’ve built to support learning? Still bloated. Still slow. Still operating like they’re the only gateway to the answer.

That’s a problem.

Do We Still Need L&D?

Maybe not like we used to.

If the job used to be about delivering knowledge, maybe the future is about removing friction.

Instead of asking, “What course should we build?” We should be asking, “What’s keeping people from getting what they need?”

Think about it:

• Are they buried under outdated content?
• Are job aids locked behind three login screens?
• Are new skills trapped in a 90-minute workshop no one has time for?

That’s not a knowledge problem. It’s an access problem. And solving that might not look like traditional training at all.

A Different Kind of Team

So, what if L&D wasn’t a content factory anymore? What if it was a performance enablement team—one that focused on clearing the path?

Not delivering courses, but:

• Removing barriers to info and tools
• Simplifying processes
• Connecting learning directly to the work
• Coaching managers to lead more effectively
• Spotting performance issues before they become training requests

That’s not less valuable. It’s just more useful.

Here’s What I’ve Seen

I’ve worked with companies where the L&D team was three steps removed from the work. The training was solid—but by the time it launched, the problem had changed. The learners had moved on. Or they’d already solved it themselves.

I’ve also seen leaner, scrappier teams who stopped building and started listening. Instead of rolling out new programs, they fixed broken links, made the help center easier to search, and built a habit of daily coaching with managers. Performance went up. No new training required.

Turns out, most of what people need to do their jobs already exists. They just can’t find it—or don’t know it’s there.

 So Why Do We Need L&D?
Because people still need help getting better. But “getting better” doesn’t always start with instruction.

Sometimes it starts with cleaning up the mess. Making things easier to access. Helping managers lead instead of escalating.

L&D isn’t going away. But the best teams are evolving. Less focus on owning all the knowledge. More focus on unlocking performance.

And that’s exactly what organizations actually need.