Employees aren’t happy, and employers are feeling the effects. 

Earlier this year, employee engagement slumped to its lowest level in more than a decade — and with it, employee productivity and profitability. Employee sentiment also hit a record low in 2024, and while it has thankfully rebounded, rates remain historically low. 

Source: Glassdoor

While the challenges feel complex, one solution is relatively simple: autonomy. 

One reason for the sentiment slump could be a heightened disconnect between the actual employee experience and what employers think it is. For example, 28% of middle managers say low morale in the workforce is the biggest hurdle to productivity, yet only 17% of executives see it that way.

It’s clear employees don't feel heard. Leaders can address this by hearing them out and offering more personalized, flexible choices. One avenue to try is learning and development (L&D), which employers and employees both strongly value. Giving employees autonomy in what, when and how they learn can help them feel heard, increasing their sentiment in the process. 

3 ways to add autonomy to your L&D

1. Learn what they want to learn

Giving employees a choice in what they learn makes them more likely to engage, and psychology can explain why. The self-determination theory (SDT), for one, explains how autonomy motivates behavior. According to the SDT, when individuals feel they have control or choice over their actions, they’re more intrinsically motivated to act.

We can also look at the IKEA effect, which illustrates that individuals value things more when they’ve exerted effort to create them (e.g., when employees provide input on what they’d like to learn). This approach naturally improves your content's quality, and our data shows that 36% of HR executives believe improving content quality would be a compelling reason for their companies to adopt a new L&D platform over an existing one.

Of course, it's human nature to not always know what we want. Overcome this by helping employees understand their opportunity areas through assessments, mentoring or feedback. By guiding employees to uncover their wants, you also help decrease their decision fatigue and avoid "the paradox of choice," when too many choices prohibit us from making any.

2. Learn when they want to learn

Giving employees flexibility to learn when they want — and time to do so — helps them take advantage of learning opportunities. The SDT theory demonstrates that choice intrinsically enhances motivation. Studies also show that changing one’s work schedule can improve job satisfaction and that providing work autonomy improves employees' perceived self-efficacy.

Even though this concept sounds simple, we see a significant disconnect between employees and employers. Data shows that nearly 60% of middle managers attribute a lack of time as the primary factor stopping them from taking advantage of L&D opportunities. Conversely, only 40% of executives agree. 

Our data reveals a similar trend, as only 18% of HR executives think time availability would be the primary factor in increasing their L&D participation. One survey respondent, however, shared a solid suggestion: Consider formalizing 10% of an employee’s time toward L&D. 

Improve on this by 1) making learning flexible and 2) creating accountability. For example, some organizations send notes to employees who haven't used vacation days by a specific date. Managers can use the same approach with L&D time. 

3. Learn how they want to learn

Giving employees the ability to learn how they want will empower them to learn. Every employee and every person learns differently and thrives off of a different learning style. One of the most popular models illustrating this is VARK, which classifies learners into four categories: 

• Visual: Prefers visual aids like charts and diagrams.
• Auditory: Prefers listening to lectures, audiobooks or podcasts.
• Reading/Writing: Prefers reading and writing materials like notes or essays.
• Kinesthetic: Prefers hands-on activities and physical engagement.

Providing learning experiences for different learning styles can increase engagement and the accessibility of your L&D programming. For instance, some employees may have visual impairments and require audio material for optimal learning. Some might be highly introverted and feel stressed by hands-on, group learning. And some might fall into different categories for different subject matters. 

Take a multimodal approach, giving employees access to all styles without assuming theirs. Our data supports this approach, showing that nearly 30% of HR leaders believe offering more options to enhance accessibility would help them provide the best possible L&D program. 

Pro tip: Offer all three with a digital library. Digital library access is one way to deliver more autonomy in L&D. Employees can choose when they read (such as during their commute or at the gym), how they read (whether via an audiobook at 3x playback speed or on a Kindle) and what they read (such as the # titles available through the Libby app).

Improving sentiment through personalized L&D

When you offer more choices and help employees feel heard about how they want to learn, you can improve how they feel about you as an employer. And when employees feel better about their employer, they’re more likely to work harder — and stay longer. 

Inspired? Take your L&D even further. In our latest survey report, you'll discover why 71% of HR executives expect to increase L&D budgets in the next 12 months, along with strategies to increase engagement. Access the report now.