Employees have been found to be the primary driving factor of L&D practices, rather than overall business strategy, according to the 2011 National Learning and Development Index.

According to the Index, there is a noticeable decrease between this year and last year in the number of repondents who believe L&D activities and their outcomes are closely linked to business strategy.

Conversely, there is a noticeable increase in the number of respondents who believe that L&D activities and business strategy are not linked at all.

The Index also found that more than 90% of respondents thought L&D was determined in the performance review process. Only 49% of respondents said that L&D was part of the HR function within their organisation and almost one third believed their organisation does not have a genuine commitment to being a learning organisation. Two fifths of respondents said their organisation had no training programs for graduates to gain business skills when they commence. Those surveyed believed the best ways to rectify negative perceptions about L&D activities were better communication of benefits for personal development (60%); implementation of constructive feedback following training activities (42%); and better communication of L&D activities affecting the bottom line. National President of AHRI, Peter Wilson, said: "These results show what a number of us have feared for a while - a considerable investment is being made by Australian organisations into learning and development, but the key drivers for that are overly reactive responses to performance reviews, and not a conscious building of strategic capabilities linked to the long term growth of businesses, and the future directions being chosen for an organisation. "More leverage potential can be developed from these efforts if organisations work smarter to link the considerable investments they are making in their people to both of the clear strategic directions established for the company, and also to the longer term skill needs for the individuals within it"

The Index is a joint initiative between AHRI, the Australian Institute of Training and Development (AITD) and online training and compliance management company, Learning Seat.