NLV Story: From Learning to Organize to Accelerating Performance

How customer questions and research at Nyenrode helped us develop the new narrative for Next Learning Valley.

It usually started with a question about technology.

• “Can you help us with a new learning platform?”
• “How can we get more employees actively involved in our academy?”
• “What can we do with AI?”

These were specific questions to which we at Next Learning Valley were usually able to provide a good answer. We implemented learning platforms, developed learning solutions, and helped organizations make learning more personalized, more social, and more data-driven. But during those conversations, we noticed that there was often another question hidden behind the original one.

• Not: What kind of system do we need?
  → But: What role should our academy play within the organization?
• Not: How can we attract more participants?
  → But: What changes are needed to implement our strategy?
• And not only that: what do employees learn?
  → But above all: how does their behavior, that of their teams, and the organization change as a result?

We had all the pieces, but not a single story yet

Next Learning Valley has always operated at the intersection of learning and technology. Over the years, our work has expanded. We’ve advised on learning strategies, helped set up academies, and worked on implementation, data, skills, and AI.

In practice, we had long since become much more than just a provider of learning technology. Yet we didn’t always communicate that clearly. Sometimes we were a technology partner, sometimes an educational consultant, and other times an innovation specialist.

All those stories were true, but none of them revealed the full picture. So we didn't need to come up with something completely new. We had to discover what had been the common thread in our work all along.

Our Customers' Perspective

We found the answer among our clients. We saw the same pattern across various sectors. There were valuable programs, dedicated professionals, and plenty of learning opportunities. The academies were able to report how many training sessions had been offered, how many employees had participated, and how they rated the programs.

It became more challenging when the focus shifted to the contribution to strategic goals, behavioral change, team performance, or future-readiness. The value of learning was often palpable, but not always visible. As a result, when budgets were tight or priorities shifted, learning was easily viewed once again as a support activity.

At the same time, the nature of work was changing at an ever-faster pace. Organizations needed new skills, job roles were changing, and technology and AI were making different capabilities essential.

As a result, the academy became more important than ever, provided it could adapt.

The question that changed everything

The question that guided our search was surprisingly simple:

What factors ensure that an academy not only organizes learning activities but also makes a lasting contribution to the organization’s development and performance? That question arose from our practical experience and became the starting point for my research at Nyenrode Business University.

I wanted to understand why some academies are able to establish a strategic position, while others—despite having good programs and dedicated professionals—continue to struggle to demonstrate their added value.

For this study, I combined scientific literature with the experiences of approximately fourteen academy and L&D leaders in the Netherlands and Belgium. We discussed strategy, leadership, governance, pedagogy, stakeholders, data, technology, and AI—not only what worked, but also the challenges the academies faced.

The study made one pattern particularly clear. A modern platform is not enough. Neither is a strong learning strategy, good content, or support from management. Even when these elements are present, a High Performance Academy does not automatically emerge if they are developed in isolation from one another.

The High Performance Academy Model

My research at Nyenrode led to the development of the High Performance Academy model. It describes an academy as a cohesive system in which people, strategy, relationships, processes, data, and technology reinforce one another.

The model brings together four forms of capital.

• Human capital is about knowledge, skills, motivation, and applying them in the workplace.
• Structural capital encompasses positioning, governance, processes, data, and technology.
• Relational capital is all about collaboration, trust, and shared ownership.
• Artificial Capital focuses on the use of AI to help analyze learning needs, accelerate content development, and personalize learning experiences, while making informed choices regarding quality, professional judgment, bias, and responsibility.

The key is not that an academy excels in just one area. A High Performance Academy constantly aligns these forms of capital with one another— not just once during a strategy session, but time and time again—because strategy, technology, work, and people’s needs are constantly changing.

From Research Model to HPA Scan

A model only becomes meaningful when organizations can use it to examine their own practices. That is why we have adapted it into the HPA Scan. The scan maps out how the various components of an academy have been developed and, above all, how they are interconnected. We look beyond the curriculum or technology. We also address strategy, governance, educational quality, stakeholder engagement, data, processes, and the responsible use of AI.

The HPA scan is not a checklist, but a diagnostic and dialogue tool. The results show where an academy excels, where connections are lacking, and where opportunities for development lie.

Technology as a Catalyst

The insights from the study did not diminish the importance of technology, but rather gave it a clearer role. A learning platform is not a strategy. A dashboard is not proof of impact. An AI feature is not, in and of itself, an innovation.

Technology only creates value when it is clear what organizational challenge it helps solve, what behavior is required, and what development goes hand in hand with that. That is why we don’t start with functionalities, but with the context:

• Where is the organization headed?
• What capabilities and skills are required?
• What role does the academy play?

These questions give meaning to technology, data, and our Learning Suite: not as an end in themselves, but as catalysts for a well-thought-out learning and performance strategy. Our consultants translate the results of the HPA scan into development priorities and appropriate solutions. After all, not every challenge calls for training; sometimes coaching or workplace support works better. Our strength lies not in advice or technology, strategy or implementation, human learning or AI.

Our New Story

That’s how we arrived at a story that, in hindsight, turned out to be less new than we thought. It brought together what we had been developing in practice for years and what was substantiated and structured by the research at Nyenrode.

Our approach begins with insight. The HPA scan reveals where an academy stands and where opportunities for development lie. We then translate those insights into a concrete development plan. Our educational expertise, technology, data, and Learning Suite support the decision-making, implementation, and course corrections.

A High Performance Academy is never complete. It continues to develop its ability to translate strategy, support people, connect stakeholders, and make responsible use of technology.

The HPA scan helps to highlight that development and accelerate it in a targeted way. That is the direction we want to take together with organizations.