Stop wasting money on L&D – do this instead

When I took the stage at DisruptHR London, I knew I was about to ruffle some feathers. Why? Because corporate learning is broken.

Despite the millions spent on e-learning platforms, training courses, and leadership programmes, most of it doesn’t stick. Employees click through mandatory training, sit through uninspiring workshops, and then… nothing changes.

The problem isn’t a lack of learning. It’s the way we design it.

The good news? There’s a better way, and it’s already happening in your organisation. It’s called social learning—and when done right, it’s faster, more engaging, and actually delivers results.

---

---

Change is hard, but it’s necessary

We often talk about how difficult it is to change workplace learning, but this resistance isn’t unique to L&D. It happens everywhere.

Take Netflix, for example. When they decided to stop renting DVDs, their share price plummeted. Investors panicked. Customers complained. But today, we can see that move was inevitable.

Why? Because people don’t like change—even when it’s good for them in the long run.

We see this same resistance to change in the workplace. Technology advances, processes evolve, and yet, many organisations still cling to outdated training methods. Traditional e-learning, long classroom sessions, and one-off workshops remain the norm—not because they’re effective, but because they’re familiar.

But here’s the thing: social learning is already happening in your organisation, whether you realise it or not. The key isn’t to introduce it—it’s to harness it.

---

---

What social learning really looks like

At its core, social learning is about how people naturally share knowledge with each other. It happens through:

• Recommendations – “Hey, have you read this article?”
• Observations – Watching how a colleague handles a task and mirroring their approach.
• Conversations – Sharing ideas over coffee, in Slack, or on a Teams call.
• Experiences – Learning through doing, making mistakes, and adjusting.

None of this requires an L&D team to facilitate it. It’s already embedded in how we work. The challenge is figuring out how to make it more intentional and impactful.

---

The formula for effective social learning

Through my work, I’ve discovered that successful social learning requires just two things:

1. The right people – People with knowledge, skills, and experience to share.
2. The right platform – A way for those people to connect with others.

That’s it. If you have the right people and the right platform, social learning will happen naturally.

I’ve experienced this first-hand.

• When I wanted to fit a new bathroom, I learned everything I needed from a guy named James from Essex on YouTube. Never met him, but his videos walked me through the whole process.
• When I started learning stand-up comedy, I found guidance from Steve Mein. Again, never met him in person, but his online content helped me improve.

These experiences prove a point: expertise doesn’t need to come from formal training sessions. If you can identify the right people and give them a way to share their knowledge, learning will thrive.

---

Why social learning beats traditional training

Let’s be honest—most corporate learning isn’t designed for how people actually learn.

Imagine if I had to complete a 45-minute e-learning module before I could install my bathroom. Or if I had to attend a two-day classroom session to learn how to hold a microphone properly for stand-up comedy.

It sounds ridiculous, right? Yet, this is exactly how many organisations approach workplace learning.

The problem is traditional training is designed for compliance, not competence. It prioritises completion rates over actual learning.

Social learning flips this. It makes learning:

• Immediate – You get the information when you need it, not weeks later.
• Practical – You learn from real experiences, not hypothetical scenarios.
• Engaging – You learn from people you trust and relate to.

And most importantly, it actually works.

---

---

Real-world impact: How social learning drives business results

I’ve seen the power of social learning in action.

At one bank I worked with, we gave a group of champions 15 minutes per week to teach their colleagues digital skills. That’s it—just 15 minutes. The impact?

• It changed the digital mindset of the organisation.
• It led to measurable improvements in performance.
• It had a direct business impact—without requiring costly training programmes.

In another case, we used Workplace by Meta to share non-mandatory learning content. One video, featuring a frontline employee, got 4,000 views in a single week.

If we’d put that same video on a traditional Learning Management System (LMS)? It wouldn’t have even hit triple figures.

This is the power of social learning—it’s organic, scalable, and far more effective than most traditional methods.

---

Why marketing holds the answers

If you’re wondering how to implement social learning, stop looking at L&D for inspiration. Instead, look at marketing.

Over the past 20 years, marketers have mastered the art of:

• Building communities – Think of fan groups, social media followers, and brand advocates.
• Creating compelling content – Short, engaging, and designed to grab attention.
• Driving behaviour change – Influencing how people think and act.

Sound familiar? It should—these are the same things we need to do in learning.

If we approached L&D the way marketing approaches audience engagement, we’d see massive improvements.

---

How to build a social learning culture in your organisation

Want to make social learning work in your business? Here’s where to start:

1. Identify your champions – Find the people already sharing knowledge informally. Give them visibility and support.
2. Give them a platform – It doesn’t have to be fancy. It could be Workplace, Yammer, Slack, or even a short weekly session.
3. Encourage content creation – People trust real employees over corporate training. Let them share videos, tips, and insights.
4. Measure what matters – Forget completion rates. Focus on engagement, behaviour change, and business impact.
5. Step back – L&D doesn’t need to control everything. Empower people to take ownership of learning.