Meet Dr. Martha Soehren, a talent development expert with a career spanning the military, corporate, and nonprofit sectors. Martha spent 25 years in the Department of the Army Civilian, where she honed her skills in instructional design and training evaluation. She then transitioned to the corporate world, serving as the Chief Talent Development Officer at Comcast. With a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and plenty of industry accolades, Martha brings both academic rigor and practical experience to her work.
In this episode, Martha shares how L&D professionals can drive and prove value as strategic partners. She draws on her diverse experiences to offer practical advice on building relationships, measuring impact, and crafting compelling stories.
Tune in to the full episode to soak up all of Martha's expertise:
Here is what we'll explore in more detail below:
- The Army's Structured Approach to Leadership Development
- Building Relationships with Business Partners
- Balancing Digital and Experiential Learning
- Measuring ROI by Aligning with Business Objectives
- Crafting Impact Stories
The Army's Structured Approach to Leadership Development
Martha shared how the Army excels at talent development through structured leadership training programs tied to career progression.
"The Army does a terrific job building the knowledge, skills, and attributes needed to be successful in the roles that soldiers and others play. There is a very planful, laid out leadership development process that adds depth as a leader takes on more people, more work, and becomes more strategic."
The Army provides soldiers with the skills they need at each career stage, from basic training to the highest levels of command. This includes formal classroom training, on-the-job experience, mentorship, and resources for continuous learning. By investing in their people and providing a structured growth path, the Army ensures a steady pipeline of capable leaders. Other sectors could learn a thing or two from how the Army approaches their talent development.
Balancing Digital and Experiential Learning
Martha highlighted the importance of incorporating experiential learning alongside digital solutions to drive more impactful results.
"What is missing [in digital learning] is the opportunity to experience. When we can take great digital learning and link it to experiential learning - and it doesn't have to be in a classroom, there are many ways of doing it - so a person can actually do it, then you're going to have a better impact on whatever that particular employee is doing in the workplace."
Digital learning is scalable and cost-effective but often lacks hands-on practice. Experiential learning allows application in a safe environment with immediate feedback. Combining the efficiency of digital with the effectiveness of experiential creates impactful, engaging programs. This blended approach improves retention and builds confidence in real-world skill application.
Building Relationships with Business Partners
Martha emphasized the importance of working with the right business partners and building trust through communication and collaboration from the start.
"Never say to a business partner, 'you need to.' Go in with probing questions, right? How can I help you? What do you think about this possibility as a digital solution? Where do you think we need to go to get the right KPI data so that we can align the learning metrics with your data?"
To be strategic partners, L&D teams must approach business relationships with collaboration and curiosity. Asking questions and understanding objectives positions L&D as valuable allies that have a common goal in mind from the start. This consultative approach builds trust and aligns learning initiatives with business needs, setting a strong foundation for the professional relationship to build on.
Measuring ROI by Aligning with Business Objectives
Martha then got into the progression of the business relationship, highlighting how to maintain it by helping your partners see the impact of the work.
"Looking at the broader picture, one of the things I knew was really critical was business alignment and having my seat at the table with the business partners who were actually running the functions that met the needs of the customers. We didn't bring a dollar of revenue into the organization, but we influenced almost every dollar that came in through the training solutions we provided."
Measuring ROI is a persistent challenge for L&D teams. Collaborating with business partners to understand customer needs and demonstrate how learning solutions contribute to revenue generation helps L&D prove their value. This alignment requires L&D to understand business objectives and design learning programs that support those goals.
Crafting Impact Stories
Martha shared how she taught her team to create impact stories using a structured template, simplifying the process of proving value for her team.
"By building the story using the model, it made it really easy to share with the business what had happened. Start with the problem statement. I always said, what are you solving for? That's where you start. What am I solving for? What do my business partners expect? What am I going to do to build a great learning solution?"
Crafting impact stories is another critical step in demonstrating L&D's strategic value. Using a template starting with a problem statement and aligning with expectations communicates tangible results. This secures buy-in, positions L&D as a success driver, and focuses on achieved business outcomes.
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