How TrainSMART Helped a Major Medical Center Reassess, Rebuild, and Reposition Its Learning & Development Function

A nationally recognized academic medical center partnered with TrainSMART to assess, stabilize, and strategically redesign its Learning & Development (L&D) function during a period of organizational transition and internal disruption.

The healthcare organization needed more than a training vendor — it needed a strategic partner capable of evaluating organizational learning gaps, rebuilding L&D structure, identifying high-impact workforce development opportunities, and creating a roadmap for long-term transformation across multiple business units.

TrainSMART was selected to lead the first phase of a multi-phase Learning & Development transformation initiative.

The Challenge

The organization’s internal L&D function was facing significant operational and strategic challenges.

Leadership identified several critical issues:

  • Loss of key L&D personnel
  • Departure of the team leader and sole instructional designer
  • Limited internal instructional design capability
  • Lack of standardized leadership competencies
  • Fragmented training efforts across departments
  • Generic, off-the-shelf content lacking customization
  • Weak alignment between learning programs and operational needs
  • The remaining L&D structure was described internally as:

“Bare bones and a blank canvas.”

At the same time, the Learning & Development team was responsible for supporting five highly diverse business units with very different workforce development needs:

  • Nursing
  • Hospital Operations
  • Rush Oak Park
  • Corporate Services
  • University & Research

Leadership recognized that the existing training approach was not creating enough relevance, engagement, or organizational impact.

The organization needed to answer a critical strategic question:

  • “How can we make training accessible and relevant to everyone?”

The Goal

The organization wanted to reposition Learning & Development as:

  • More strategic
  • More influential
  • More operationally aligned
  • More impactful across departments

Leadership also wanted to create:

  • High-value learning experiences
  • Better alignment with business priorities
  • Common foundational training opportunities
  • Greater internal buy-in from executive stakeholders
  • A roadmap for rebuilding the L&D function

TrainSMART’s Approach

TrainSMART partnered closely with executive stakeholders to launch:

Phase I: Rapid Training Needs Assessment

Rather than immediately jumping into content development, TrainSMART recommended a strategic needs assessment phase designed to identify:

  • The most urgent workforce development needs
  • High-impact learning opportunities
  • Organizational gaps
  • Business-unit-specific prioritie
  • Opportunities for enterprise-wide learning alignment

The goal was to build a strong strategic foundation before moving into larger-scale program design and development.

A Strategic, Multi-Phase Engagement Model

The engagement was intentionally structured as the beginning of a broader transformation initiative:

  • Phase I → Assessment
  • Phase II → Strategy & Program Architecture
  • Phase III → Design, Development & Implementation

This phased approach allowed the organization to:

  • Prioritize resources effectively
  • Align learning initiatives to operational goals
  • Build executive buy-in
  • Create sustainable L&D infrastructure
  • Focus first on the highest-impact opportunities
  • Comprehensive Discovery and Assessment Methodology

TrainSMART utilized a comprehensive data-gathering process that included:

  • Focus groups
  • Stakeholder interviews
  • Surveys
  • One-on-one discussions
  • Operational discovery sessions

The objective was to gain a deep understanding of:

  • Workforce challenges
  • Organizational learning gaps
  • Leadership development needs
  • Existing program effectiveness
  • Departmental pain points
  • Cross-functional training opportunities

The process also helped uncover where current learning initiatives lacked relevance, customization, and organizational alignment.

Creating a Strategic Roadmap for Organizational Learning

Rather than recommending broad, unfocused training initiatives, TrainSMART emphasized:

Fewer Programs with Greater Organizational Impact

The strategy focused on identifying:

  • “Urgently needed” learning opportunities
  • High-visibility pilot programs
  • Common core content opportunities
  • Leadership alignment initiatives
  • Programs capable of quickly building credibility for the L&D function

The ultimate goal was to help the organization:

  • Demonstrate immediate value
  • Build executive confidence
  • Increase internal engagement with learning
  • Position L&D as a strategic business partner

Key Deliverables

TrainSMART developed a comprehensive strategic foundation that included:

  • Assessment and Project Plans
  • Objectives
  • Milestones
  • Activities
  • Timelines
  • Governance structure
  • Detailed Assessment Report

Including:

  • Data analysis
  • Observations
  • Organizational findings
  • Departmental insights
  • Strategic Recommendations

Focused on:

  • High-impact training priorities
  • Organizational learning gaps
  • Collaboration opportunities
  • Future learning initiatives
  • L&D organizational structure recommendations
  • Executive Summary Presentation

Designed to help organizational leadership:

  • Present findings internally
  • Gain executive sponsorship
  • Secure stakeholder buy-in
  • Launch future learning initiatives
  • Building Executive Sponsorship and Organizational Influence

One of the most strategic outcomes of the engagement was helping the L&D function identify opportunities to secure:

Executive Champions Across Business Units

The assessment process was designed to help organizational leaders see:

  • Training programs built specifically for their operational needs
  • Direct workforce development value
  • Opportunities for department-level impact

This approach helped position Learning & Development as:

  • Relevant
  • Strategic
  • Operationally valuable
  • Influential across the organization

The Result

The engagement provided the healthcare organization with:

  • A strategic roadmap for rebuilding its L&D function
  • Clear visibility into urgent training needs
  • Recommendations for high-impact learning programs
  • A foundation for future instructional design initiatives
  • Executive-level insight into workforce development opportunities

Most importantly, the assessment helped transform Learning & Development from a reactive support function into a strategic organizational capability.

The initiative created the foundation for:

  • Rebuilding the internal L&D team
  • Designing targeted pilot programs
  • Improving organizational alignment
  • Strengthening workforce development strategy
  • Increasing enterprise-wide learning relevance

Why This Matters

Healthcare organizations face increasing pressure to:

  • Upskill rapidly changing workforces
  • Align training to operational realities
  • Improve employee engagement
  • Support leadership development
  • Demonstrate measurable learning impact

Without strategic alignment, Learning & Development functions often struggle with:

  • Low relevance
  • Weak engagement
  • Fragmented learning initiatives
  • Limited executive support
  • Generic content lacking operational value

This engagement demonstrates how TrainSMART helps organizations:

  • Rebuild and reposition Learning & Development functions
  • Conduct enterprise-wide training assessments
  • Align learning strategy with business priorities
  • Identify high-impact workforce development opportunities
  • Build executive sponsorship for training initiatives
  • Create scalable roadmaps for organizational learning transformation

For large healthcare systems and enterprise organizations, strategic L&D transformation is not just about creating training — it is about building organizational capability, operational alignment, and long-term workforce readiness.

What our internal customer said post-engagement:

“TrainSMART did a great job facilitating this very demanding leadership group.”

“Greg and Anna – the two TrainSMART facilitators – did a stellar job.”

“The insights TrainSMART drew from each business unit will be our development roadmap for future courses.”

“We got so much more than we expected from the Rapid Assessment.”

“We now have a seat at the table of all future training opportunities.”

Is Your Learning & Development Function Aligned with Your Business Goals?

Whether you’re rebuilding an internal training team, assessing workforce development needs, launching leadership initiatives, or creating a long-term learning strategy, TrainSMART can help. Our consultants work with organizations to identify learning gaps, align training with operational priorities, develop high-impact workforce development plans, and build scalable learning solutions that create measurable business value.

Complete the form below to schedule a consultation and discuss your Learning & Development goals.