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The Rise of the L&D Growth Guide: The New Face of L&D Leadership?

Aisling MacNamara, Director, Learning, Enablement & Inclusion

Learning and Development has always been about helping people grow—giving them the skills and confidence to succeed in their roles, keeping organizations compliant, and building the capabilities businesses need to thrive. That hasn’t changed.

What has changed is the scope of what’s expected from L&D.

Today, learning isn’t just about onboarding and ticking boxes. It’s about guiding careers, strengthening culture, and connecting people’s potential directly to business goals. In short: L&D has stepped into a much bigger spotlight.

And the data backs it up. In our State of L&D in 2025 report, 34% of leaders said increasing employee retention through development is their top priority, with another 34% focused on improving performance. On top of that, 36% identified integrating learning with overall business strategy as the biggest trend of 2025.

Together, these findings show just how central L&D has become to business growth. And with that shift comes a new identity—the L&D Growth Guide.

Before we explore exactly what an L&D Growth Guide is, let’s take a look at how this role emerged.

Yesterday’s Role vs. Today’s Reality

A few years ago, the role of L&D looked a lot different. The focus was on the essentials:

• Delivering required learning to keep teams compliant
• Enrolling people in the courses they needed to get the job done
• Tracking completions to show progress
• Satisfying demand from managers and departments who needed quick learning solutions

That work has always been important; it laid the foundation for strong learning cultures and ensured compliance across the organization. But today, leaders are being asked to go beyond reactive delivery and measurement, creating learning strategies that:

• Turn skills into career momentum — helping employees see not just what they’re learning, but where it can take them within the company.
• Shape culture through learning — making development part of how people connect, belong, and succeed together.
• Future-proof the workforce — building capabilities that anticipate business shifts, not just react to them.
• Use tools to effectively personalize learning — giving employees experiences that meet them where they are, while scaling impact across the organization.
• Show the business impact of learning — moving from reporting completions and satisfaction scores to proving how growth drives retention, mobility, and measurable performance gains.

So, What Exactly Is an L&D Growth Guide?

An L&D Growth Guide isn’t a new job title—it’s a shift in mindset.

At its heart, being a Growth Guide is about being a connector between people and career and business outcomes. You’re not only helping employees build new skills and develop professionally, you’re making sure their growth translates into impact where it matters most.

Here are three traits that set an L&D Growth Guide apart:

1. The connector

You bridge the gap between what the business needs and what employees want. You design learning strategies that deliver on both, aligning programs with performance metrics while also giving people opportunities for career development.

2. The career navigator

Instead of stopping at course completions, you help people see the bigger picture: what skills they can build, what doors those skills open, and how they can grow within the organization. You’re turning learning into mobility.

3. The value translator

You know that employee retention isn’t about free snacks or perks. It’s about progress. And you’re the one proving that progress—showing stakeholders how learning boosts performance, reduces churn, and supports long-term growth.

Why This Matters—For People and for Business

The impact of becoming a Growth Guide is huge.

For your people:

When employees see clear pathways for development, they gain confidence. They feel a sense of belonging. They believe they can grow without leaving your company.

Naturally, that builds loyalty and increases engagement.

For your business:

Employee retention improves. Internal mobility gets stronger. And the organization builds resilience.

Why? Because people are developing the skills they’ll need not just for today, but for tomorrow’s challenges.

And the research backs it up…

Our latest research report The State of Learning & Development in 2025 shows that teams moving beyond completions and compliance to focus on mobility, performance, and employee satisfaction are the ones seeing the biggest gains in retention and ROI.

It’s not perks or one-off learning programs that keep people engaged, and your business moving forward. It’s L&D leaders embracing the Growth Guide mindset—guiding progress in ways that matter at both ground level, and in the boardroom.

The Future of Learning & Development

One thing’s for sure, L&D is no longer a background function. It’s becoming a driving force. And as business leaders increasingly look for measurable impact, Growth Guides will be the ones shaping strategy, culture, and outcomes.

The question isn’t if L&D professionals will become Growth Guides, it’s how quickly they can embrace the shift.

So ask yourself:

• Are you still being reactive — waiting for requests, delivering courses, and tracking completions?
• Or are you stepping into the Growth Guide role — connecting learning to performance, guiding careers, and proving value at every step?

Because the future of L&D isn’t just about keeping pace. It’s about leading the way.

How LearnUpon helps Growth Guides lead

At LearnUpon, we believe L&D leaders should spend less time on admin and more time guiding growth. That’s why we’ve built a learning platform designed to not just deliver training, but to connect learning directly to business outcomes.

With LearnUpon, you can:

• Create structured learning journeys that align with skills, roles, and business needs.
• Empower employees with accessible, personalized learning experiences.
• Track the metrics that matter—employee retention, mobility, performance, and satisfaction—not just completions.
• Prove ROI with reporting that makes progress visible to leaders across your organization.

Want to see how it works in practice? Book a demo and explore how LearnUpon can help you guide growth in your organization.