Selecting Learning & Talent Technology: A Strategic Approach to Success

For 22 years, I’ve guided organizations through the intricate process of selecting learning and talent technology. The successes and challenges I’ve witnessed have shaped a proven framework that I’m excited to share in this 12-part series. Choosing the right technology can transform your organization, but poor decisions can lead to wasted resources, operational chaos, and even stalled careers. This series will provide the tools, strategies, and insights to make confident, impactful choices that drive your organization forward. 

Preparation is the cornerstone of any successful technology selection project. The more you understand your needs, goals, and current state, the better equipped you’ll be to avoid costly missteps. Rushing into vendor demos or chasing trendy features without a clear plan invites failure. Instead, a strategic, intentional approach ensures your technology aligns with your business objectives and empowers your people. 

Step 1: Assess Your Current State

Begin by evaluating your existing learning and talent technology. You face a choice: optimize what you have or invest in new solutions. Fixing current systems may involve refining processes, but new technology brings implementation costs, transition challenges, and the need for full organizational commitment. Settling for “good enough” can have severe consequences. I’ve seen respected leaders accept suboptimal solutions, only to watch their organizations stagnate and their careers suffer. To succeed, commit to a disciplined process. 

Step 2: Identify Business Drivers

Every selection process starts with your organization’s business drivers—the core reasons for investing in technology. These are tied to financial, operational, and compliance goals. As a colleague once said, training serves two purposes: driving revenue through better performance and ensuring compliance (“sell more and keep people out of jail”). Whether it’s boosting sales, streamlining onboarding, or meeting regulatory standards, your business drivers anchor your strategy. Bluewater’s Learning Blueprint is an excellent tool to map these drivers to training and talent needs.

Step 3: Align Talent Needs

Great businesses rely on great people. SHRM data shows the average employee tenure is 4.1 years, meaning continuous onboarding, development, and retention are critical. Your technology must address specific talent needs—upskilling, compliance, or leadership development. Misalignment here wastes resources. I’ve seen organizations spend 20-30% of their training budgets on activities with no business impact, simply because “it’s what we’ve always done.” Identifying and addressing these gaps is essential.

Step 4: Define Business Outcomes

Before exploring technology, clarify the outcomes you expect. What will success look like—faster onboarding, higher sales, or better compliance? Defining these outcomes establishes a baseline for measuring financial impact and ensures your investment delivers results. Without this, you risk choosing tools that don’t support your goals. 

The Path Forward: A Strategic Framework

These steps—assessing your current state, identifying business drivers, aligning talent needs, and defining outcomes—must precede any technology discussions. Skipping them leaves you without a decision-making baseline. Once these are clear, you can define the capabilities your technology needs. Bluewater’s Center of Excellence framework organizes these into seven categories: user experience, content, administration, technology, process, data, and reporting. Focusing on capabilities first prevents distraction by flashy features that don’t fit your processes. 

Your technology must enhance, not disrupt, your business processes. I’ve seen organizations adopt tools with impressive features, only to find they required major workflow changes, creating chaos. A disciplined approach ensures alignment with how your organization operates. 

Why This Matters

Selecting learning and talent technology is about more than tools—it’s about building a strategic framework that empowers your people and drives business success. Settling for “just good enough” undermines your potential and risks long-term consequences. Over the next 12 weeks, we’ll explore each step in depth, sharing practical tools, real-world examples, and proven strategies to guide your decision-making. 

Next Up:

In Part 2, we’ll dive into understanding your organization’s business drivers, exploring how to identify and align them with your learning and talent strategy.

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