Culture eats Elearning for Breakfast
Why learning flops when leadership isn’t hungry for change

When an organisation invests heavily in digital training, slick visuals, sleek modules, gamified elements – you’d expect results. But all too often, six months down the line, nothing’s really changed. The same patterns re-emerge, managers shrug and leadership asks why learning didn’t land. The harsh reality is that without committed leadership, that’s active and visible, even the best eLearning becomes a cost, not a catalyst.

A culture of learning isn’t built in an LMS, it’s built by the people at the top showing up. According to the CIPD’s Creating Learning Cultures report, 76% of L&D professionals feel learning isn’t seen as a management priority, and 64% say learning is treated as a cost centre rather than an investment. That’s the gap. When leadership doesn’t prioritise learning, how can the rest of the organisation believe in it?

Leaders don’t just approve training, they embody it. In studies of Learning Management System roll-outs, organisations with strong leadership involvement are 92% more likely to see improved employee performance. If your leaders don’t model the behaviours your learning asks of others, you’re fighting upstream. Culture sets the stage for learning; if the signal from the top is “We’ll do training later,” the message everywhere else becomes “I’ll wait too.”

When leadership actively champions learning, showing curiosity, sharing their own development journeys, and recognising learning wins, it creates a ripple effect across the organisation. Research by Gallup found that teams with highly engaged leaders see up to 39% higher productivity and 59% lower turnover compared to disengaged teams. When leaders frame learning as a key driver of performance and growth, not a distraction from it, people follow suit. It signals that learning isn’t just encouraged, it’s expected, valued and celebrated.

Finally: the proof is in what people do, not what they finish. Learning becomes part of culture when it connects to purpose, is reinforced through behaviour, and is reflected in leadership actions. A sense of “we’re in this together” means staff don’t just click “done”, they engage, reflect, apply. According to research, organisations offering comprehensive learning programs see 218% higher income per employee and 24% higher profit margins.

If you want learning that sticks, start with leadership. Build culture before launching the course. Because when leaders are hungry for change, learning becomes more than content and it becomes transformation. Want to find out how we help leaders and learning teams align for real impact? Get in touch with the team and let’s make learning part of the culture, not its footnote.