InstructionalDesign
By Brian Groves
Across the life sciences industry, learning and development (L&D) organizations are under increasing pressure to deliver more. More speed, more consistency, more relevance and more measurable impact — often without additional resources. In response, many organizations turn to a learning center of excellence (Learning COE). Yet too often, COEs become perceived as bureaucratic, slow or disconnected from the realities of the field.
The challenge is not whether to build a Learning COE, but how to design one that is scalable, repeatable and measurable. And, most importantly, one that is aligned to real business outcomes.
Based on my experience leading commercial learning organizations through periods of growth, transformation and increasing complexity, I’ll outline a practical blueprint for building a Learning COE that delivers sustained value in the life sciences environment.
Many Learning COEs are created with good intentions but struggle in execution. Common pitfalls include:
Over-indexing on governance at the expense of agility.
Treating learning as an event rather than an ongoing capability.
Measuring activity (completion, attendance) instead of outcomes.
Operating independently from commercial strategy, sales operations or enablement technology.
In highly regulated, fast-moving life sciences organizations, these challenges are amplified. Product portfolios are complex, selling environments evolve rapidly and expectations from commercial leaders are increasingly outcome driven.
A modern Learning COE must therefore be designed not as a control function, but as a strategic operating model.
At its core, a high-performing Learning COE is defined by four attributes:
Scalable: Able to support growth across products, roles and geographies without linear increases in effort or cost.
Repeatable: Built on clear standards, processes and frameworks that ensure consistency while allowing for contextual flexibility.
Measurable: Designed with measurement in mind from the outset, linking learning to behavior and performance.
Business-aligned: Directly connected to commercial priorities, field execution and enterprise strategy.
These attributes do not emerge by accident. They must be intentionally designed into the COE’s structure and operating model.
Here are four pillars of a high-impact Learning COE:
1. Strategy and Governance
Effective COEs establish clear learning strategy, standards and prioritization mechanisms, but avoid becoming bottlenecks. Governance should answer three questions:
What problems are we solving for the business?
How do we decide what gets built?
How do we ensure quality and alignment at scale?
When governance is anchored in business outcomes rather than learning preferences, it earns credibility and trust.
2. Design and Delivery Excellence
A scalable COE separates what good learning looks like from who delivers it. Common design standards, instructional frameworks and content models allow different teams or facilitators to deliver consistent experiences without reinventing the wheel.
In practice, this often means investing in design capability and templates that elevate quality while accelerating development.
3. Learning Technology and Enablement
Modern COEs increasingly embed learning into the flow of work, leveraging platforms that surface relevant content at the moment of need. Rather than treating technology as a repository, high-performing teams align learning tools with sales processes, opportunity stages and field workflows.
This shift not only improves adoption but also positions learning as a performance enabler rather than a standalone activity.
4. Measurement and Continuous Improvement
Measurement is where many COEs fall short. Completion data alone does not demonstrate impact. Instead, effective COEs define success across multiple levels:
Confidence and capability.
Observable behavior change.
Business performance indicators aligned to the original learning intent.
Measurement should inform iteration, not act as a retrospective scorecard.
A scalable Learning COE is as much about how the team operates as how it is structured. Clear role definition, strategy, design, delivery, technology, analytics and change management prevents duplication and confusion.
Equally critical is partnership. The most effective COEs work closely with sales leadership, operations, marketing and technology teams to co-own outcomes. This prevents the COE from becoming an “order taker” and instead positions it as a strategic trusted advisor.
Change management is often overlooked but essential. Adoption does not happen by accident; it must be designed, communicated, reinforced and supported.
If learning is expected to drive performance, it must be measured accordingly. This requires discipline upfront:
Defining desired field behaviors before content is built.
Aligning learning objectives to commercial priorities.
Selecting metrics that leaders care about.
When learning measurement is integrated into the design process, it becomes a powerful lever for credibility and continuous improvement.
Keep in mind that:
A Learning COE is an operating model, not a reporting structure.
Scalability comes from standards and frameworks, not control.
Business alignment must be explicit and intentional.
Technology should enable learning in the flow of work.
Measurement is a design decision, not a post-launch activity.
When thoughtfully designed, a Learning COE becomes more than a centralized function, it becomes a strategic capability that enables performance at scale.
Brian Groves is senior director of learning & development for The Cigna Group, Evernorth Division. Email him at brianlgroves@gmail.com or connect through linkedin.com/in/brian-l-groves-74841815.
