How To Establish Yourself and Your Team As a New Head of L&D with Sam Allen

The Learning & Development Podcast

Stepping into a new L&D leadership role is challenging, and establishing both yourself and your team can be even harder. It’s not just about filling gaps—it’s about aligning your vision with the business’s needs and building a strategy that delivers tangible results. In this episode, Sam Allen, Global Head of Learning and Development at Ideagen, shares how he has navigated this journey, from understanding the company’s culture and expectations to creating an L&D strategy that drives real performance.

Sam talks about the key steps to establishing yourself in a new L&D role: how to build trust with stakeholders, identify the right learning needs, and bring your team on the journey. If you're a new L&D leader or looking to reposition your team, this episode offers real-world insights into how to take L&D from a function to a business partner.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Work really hard to understand where the business you have joined is going.

• Identify the decision makers and sit down with each one to find out what their priorities are and where they are heading. To do this you need an effective way to take notes and analyse what you learn.

• Assess how your team currently performs.

• Make it clear to everyone what your approach to L&D is.

• Acquire the right tools for your L&D team and for your stakeholders.

• Set up self-serving learning resources that enable departments to fill skill gaps themselves.

• Break skills content down to enable truly targeted learning.

• Establishing yourself is about creating a strategy that truly drives business impact.

BEST MOMENTS

“How capable are the team members within that organisational structure?”

“Build credible relationships with stakeholders.”

“Create content where there are gaps.”

Sam Allen Bio

Sam Allen is the Global Head of Learning and Development at Ideagen, where he leads the company’s L&D strategy to drive performance, capability, and career growth. Before joining Ideagen, Sam was the Interim Head of L&D (Central Functions) at Cazoo, where he established the central L&D function, delivering leadership programs and automating onboarding and compliance. Before that, Sam founded Insightful People, partnering with businesses to deliver strategic L&D projects. He also held senior L&D roles at Whitbread, developing management teams, and at Argos, where he led the L&D strategy for IT, Digital, and Marketing, supporting around 500 colleagues and delivering high-potential and leadership development programs. Throughout his career, Sam has been committed to transforming L&D into a strategic driver of business performance.

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523

L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home

ABOUT THE HOST

David James

David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.

As well as being the Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D.

CONTACT METHOD

• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin

• L&D Collective: https://360learning.com/the-l-and-d-collective

• Blog: https://360learning.com/blog

• L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home