In this era of flux, learning and development (L&D) leaders are meeting the competing needs for flexibility, training volume, tight timelines and in-demand skill sets by partnering with external vendors. Whether augmenting in-house teams or outsourcing training programs or functions, these partnerships help them adapt to ambitious timelines and changing budgets.

An experienced vendor-partner can help L&D leaders and teams meet increasingly complex learning and skilling needs while keeping scope flexible and costs variable. And though scope, price and timeline are central concerns, the path to a true partnership lies in deeper conversations during the vetting process and throughout the relationship.

Whether you’re looking for the longer term or planning to play the field, be sure to ask any prospective partner the following questions:

1. How do you ensure a deep understanding of our organizational culture, business goals and learner needs?

Any good match begins with a thorough profile review. Start with how they present their mission and values. With whom do they — and don’t they — work? Read the reviews: How do other L&D leaders characterize their experience with them … and are their relationships ongoing?

Next, review what their team members are saying, doing and publishing. Do they describe a consultative, needs-focused approach, or do they zero in on the sales pitch?

At your first meeting, does your prospective vendor-partner have a million questions about you, your business, and your learners? From your talent management and learning practices to your IT infrastructure and learner performance gaps, they should be endlessly curious about your needs, processes, culture and people.

Finally, how do they engage your team members, subject matter experts (SMEs), stakeholders, leaders and learners? The most brilliant consultants set others up to have better conversations. A great vendor-partner can help you bring the right people to the table to answer the tough questions, tease out themes across your organization and advocate for the needs analysis, measurement and long-term strategies you’ve always wanted to implement.

The short answer: They’ll ensure a deep understanding by knowing whom to ask, how to structure the conversation and how to listen.

2. How can you support our fluctuating needs, budget and priorities?

Budget shifts and evolving demands make L&D leaders experts at pivoting — and your prospective vendor-partner should be equally adept at riding the waves.

For example, if you’re looking to develop an in-house certification program on a tight timeline, a dedicated vendor-partner team engaged from start to finish might be a great fit. If, on the other hand, you need an instructional designer (or 40) to join your team for a set period (or even indefinitely) a staff augmentation plan might be a better solution.

Whatever your current needs, look for a vendor-partner with an extensive network of high-performing L&D professionals, from generalists to in-demand SMEs. Their network of in-house and contingent talent empowers them to right-size your project or staffing engagement and ensure that the right people are engaged when and where they’re needed.

By tapping into their existing network, a vendor-partner helps you circumvent the challenges of recruiting, hiring and onboarding new team members — and the pain of cuts when needs change.

For emerging skill areas like artificial intelligence (AI), a vendor-partner can help you understand how to maximize your engagement with in-demand SMEs and accurately estimate the hours and duration of their engagements.

In a world where change is the only constant, a vendor-partner must understand that today’s needs might not be tomorrow’s — and offer the capacity to flex. Beware of all-or-nothing solutions and long-term commitments that don’t leave room for both parties to grow and change.

3. What is your approach to design and development, scope changes, and unforeseen challenges?

To forge a true partnership, you and your vendor-partner need to agree on modes, cadence and communication style. Without this foundation, it will be much tougher to weather the challenges — and challenges will eventually arise.

It shouldn’t kill the vibe to plan how you’ll work and communicate, and there’s plenty to discuss after your legal teams iron out the contractual language.

You’ll also want to agree on your design and development process: Many client and vendor-partner teams adopt an Agile-like approach, exchanging iterations and feedback at regular cadences. Identify when, how, and through which channels high-level designs, content and prototypes will be exchanged. Levels of security and authorized users are also important (see Question 4). Be sure to share your team’s ways of working: for example, typical turnaround time for reviews and who needs to be involved at which stages.

Finally, what happens when something isn’t working? Does your prospective partner have a process for addressing issues or challenges before red flags become existential? To review what’s working and where there’s room for improvement?

The status quo shouldn’t be the default setting; like any relationship, both parties need to communicate regularly and respectfully.

4. How will you protect my data and intellectual property?

Whether you’re handing off content for an entire program or bringing a contingent L&D professional onto your team, your data and intellectual property (IP) must be handled with care. To minimize vulnerability, you (and your IT and legal teams) should have a deep understanding of your prospective partner’s data security and AI governance policies. What tools and systems do their team members use? Will they work with your content via secure connections and devices? What kind of IT infrastructure is in place to prevent your information from falling into the wrong hands?

Furthermore, what are their AI governance and oversight policies? Which AI tools might the team apply in the creation of your learning content — and what data do these tools collect? Which providers will have access to your data and IP, and how might they use anything their models “learn”?

A prospective partner should provide a detailed answer to all of these questions — and the documentation to prove their commitment. Third-party certifications like SOC 2, which entail a rigorous audit of IT infrastructure across an exhaustive collection of parameters, including security policies, control points and information systems, are a strong indicator that an organization truly prioritizes data security and AI governance.

5. Do you have what it takes to forge forward into the unknown, especially with rapidly evolving technology?

The pace of AI and technology advancement has enabled exponential gains in efficiency and innovation in our craft, and technical expertise is paramount in a vendor-partner. However, given the rapid evolution of technology, business and work itself, the right partner must be more than just a superuser of tools and tech.

Their team members should demonstrate adaptability, agility and resilience — a must-have mindset to thrive amid constant change. Tech agnosticism is a great sign of this mindset: A partner not committed to selling the proverbial hammer will be open to exploring your needs, culture and existing infrastructure to find the best-fit tools.

Observe how your prospective partner goes about learning from you, your leaders, your learners and your in-house experts. (See Question 6 for more on what this process should entail.) How do they factor this exploration and analysis into their project plan? Uncovering the unknowns should be part of their process, not a setback.

Think of your partner as Spock to your Captain Kirk, with the ingenuity, unwavering commitment to ethics, and specialized knowledge to forge ahead into new frontiers. No Vulcan heritage is needed, just a partner who meets rapidly evolving worlds with aplomb … and a healthy dose of caution.

6. How will you ensure that learning solutions and programs are relevant, engaging and enjoyable?

Thanks to the proliferation of AI-powered tools and 24/7 content, learners are more discerning than ever before. They expect workplace learning experiences to deliver engaging, highly relevant, and up-to-date information — something they can’t find on their own via a web search.

Expectations are even higher for learners in highly specialized industries, learners who occupy top leadership positions or both. You’ll want a vendor-partner who understands not only the contemporary learner in general, but your highly specialized audience in particular. They vendor team may not be experts in your industry, but they should know the right questions to ask those who are.

For example, if your goal is to design a program that captures the organizational knowledge of a globally distributed sales team, your content probably lives in the heads of numerous in-house experts. How does your prospective vendor-partner plan to engage these SMEs? How do they account for this engagement in their project plan? And finally, what questions do they plan to ask these busy, in-demand experts? These plans speak volumes as to how they approach the unknown. (See Question 5.)

Long gone, and rightfully so, are the days when learning was a straight “tell”; you need a vendor-partner who can help you craft learning strategies and experiences that resonate with your learners and achieve meaningful outcomes. Your partner can only do that if they’re at the table with your people and immersed in your culture.

7. What questions do you have for me?

You shouldn’t even have to ask — your prospective vendor-partner should have a million questions for you from the first “hello” (See Question 1.) Note what and how they ask about your learners, business, culture and challenges: Are their questions open-ended? Do they encompass the entire business? What follow-up questions do they have? When meeting a prospective long-term partner, every answer should open up a whole new line of questioning.

A vendor-partner should also ask about your team’s relationship with leadership and stakeholders. If there’s room for improvement, they can help to reset the way your team engages other business units. They can also help create measurement plans for learning initiatives and translate outcomes into the language of the business so that leadership and stakeholders recognize the value your team brings to the table.

Conclusion

These questions help you move beyond transactional exchanges with prospective partners and into opportunities to drive meaningful change and lasting value together. By asking these questions, you’re not just vetting a vendor; you’re finding the partner you want by your side as you meet the future of work and learning.