How Ironbark Financial Group Built a Learning Strategy That Scaled
June 2, 2026
Michelle Ockers
In 2022, Ironbark Advice (formerly Invest Blue) faced a familiar challenge. The fast-growing financial advice business was planning 10 acquisitions per year, growing from 300 to 500 employees. The business aspired to become ‘Australia’s trusted home of great advice,’ but their one-person L&D team couldn’t keep pace. Elyse Toomey, Head of Learning and Development, knew their one-on-one workforce coaching model wouldn’t scale.
The M&A growth challenge
Each acquisition created new silos. Onboarding was fragmented across different ‘villages.’ Complex competency frameworks sat unused. Learning resources were created inconsistently by people across the business without proper frameworks or tools.
The fast-paced culture made it nearly impossible to pause long enough to develop a proper strategy. Yet without one, Ironbark Advice couldn’t build the learning-based culture they aspired to; one that would empower and grow their own experts.
Meeting the Business where it was
Elyse engaged Learning Uncut to support Ironbark Advice to develop a learning strategy using the Strategy Builder methodology. Together, we identified three critical action areas: making immediate improvements to what was already in place; building professional L&D processes and systems; and fostering a genuine learning culture.
Resisting the urge to do everything at once
Rather than implementing everything simultaneously, Ironbark Advice took a phased approach. In year one they focused on optimising what was already in place, getting quick wins, and building credibility. In year two they launched an LMS, built end-to-end processes using the ADDIE model, and recruited specialist L&D roles.
The plan aligned with their quarterly business rhythm, with regular reviews based on data and feedback. Elyse brought impacted stakeholders along for the journey, particularly workplace coaches and managers, involving them in shaping and implementing the strategy.
“I would never have been able to do this without the Strategy Builder process. The way we broke the strategy into phases aligned to where the business was, met them where they needed to be, and slowly iterated over time, that’s what worked. If we didn’t take the time to set our foundation, we’d still be flying by the seat of our pants.“
Elyse Toomey, Head of Learning and Development, Ironbark Financial Group
Building manager ownership
The phased approach prevented overwhelming the business with too much change. However, challenges emerged. After the LMS launch, manager engagement faltered. People were fatigued from the “get it out to the masses” approach.
Elyse restructured communications, actively involving managers in shaping what the system should look like for their teams. This gave them ownership and turned resistance into support. By demonstrating early wins rather than asking for massive investment upfront, Elyse maintained senior leadership support even when business pressures intensified.
From activity to impact
Three years on, the results are clear. The Learning and Development team has grown from one person to six. They’ve developed 100 e-learning courses and increased completion rates from 40% to 80%. One-on-one coaching has largely dropped off, replaced by team-based learning.
Most importantly, the business now proactively comes to L&D for support with change management and capability building. The shift from activity to impact positions L&D as a genuine business partner. The business has the scalable infrastructure, L&D processes and team to support their ongoing growth. The strategy remains active and relevant through continuous iteration, not gathering dust on a shelf.
“From a strategy perspective, L&D has been critical in building the capability and capacity required for a business growing at our pace. One of our biggest challenges has been the time it takes for people to move from novice to expert, particularly with the volume of new starters. Programs like Foundations are now giving us real efficiency gains by shortening that journey for new starters.”
