New year, new e-learning trends. To get a pulse on the latest trends in learning and development, BizLibrary surveyed over a hundred learning and development professionals to get some insight into what was most important to their programs in 2023 and what they’re planning on bringing with them into 2024. Through studying training and development trends, we can infer what the current workplace climate is like and the overall goal of the workplace climate for the future. BizLibrary’s goal is to make the workplace a kinder and more competent environment for everyone – let’s explore how L&D professionals are planning to advance that goal in 2024!
Trends in Corporate Training – Top Three Employee Training Methods of 2024
L&D managers are always on the lookout for the best method to deliver their training. Training methods can have a big impact on the overall success of a learning program, so it’s important to keep an eye on the strategies that are rising to popularity.
We asked L&D professionals which L&D techniques they had support to implement in 2024. Learners often want an experience that mirrors what they would already be experiencing in their daily lives – think short-form media consumption such as TikTok. 50% of respondents reported that they were prepared to implement microlearning into their learning and development plans. Microlearning rose to the #1 learning strategy after coming in at #3 in 2023. While microlearning isn’t a new technique, it’s proven that it’s here to stay and many L&D professionals are following suit with their programs.
The next tool that 47% of L&D managers are excited to make use of in 2024 is personalized or role-specific training. This was the most popular learning strategy in 2023. Personalized training is content that has been customized to suit the needs of an individual learner or job role. In the past, personalized training has been difficult to implement or provide because of the time and effort it requires to create. Thanks to modern AI powered LMS functionalities like BizSkills, providing personalized training has never been easier.
The third learning technique trend of 2024 might surprise you – it’s social learning. Social learning was the fifth most anticipated learning strategy of 2023, but it’s rising quickly. What is social learning, you may ask? Social learning theory by Albert Bandura theorizes that humans learn most efficiently by watching, listening, and doing. So how does one practice social learning in the workplace? We’re glad you asked! Social learning in the workplace sounds intimidating, especially because it requires modeling behavior. However, if you have an LMS that implements social learning features such as a rating system, comments, or re-sharing, social learning can occur digitally. Another popular way of incorporating social learning at work includes book clubs or focus groups!
Top Three Future Trends in Training and Development
The new year is the perfect time to look back at what you accomplished the previous year and determine where you’d like to improve in the next one. Learning and development professionals reported that these were the top three topics they were hoping to incorporate into their training programs in 2024:
37% of learning managers reported that they were most excited to incorporate new manager training into their 2024 learning programs. New Manager training & Leadership training have swapped slots for 2024 – last year more respondents reported that they were focusing on leadership training over new manager training. 34% of learning managers reported that they were intending to incorporate leadership training into their learning programs for the new year. However, one thing that has stayed the same is the recognized need to give leaders baseline skills to set them up for success in their roles.
This is consistent with patterns in corporate training across the industry, as many L&D organizations are also reporting a sharp uptick in new manager and leadership training as the latest trends in learning and development.
Another up-and-coming topic in learning and development trends is Communication training. 32% of training managers reported they intended to include communication training in their learning plans for 2024. Communication falls under the soft skills umbrella, which has been a growing trend in the training community in the last year. Soft skills like communication are also closely linked to leadership skills, which may explain why all of these topics are rocketing to popularity at the same time.
An increase in communication training may also be strongly linked to the rise of AI in the workplace. The World Economic Forum reported that 85% of organizations are planning to increase the usage of frontier technologies like generative AI in the coming year. To complement this, many learning managers want to ensure that their employees are strongly developed in soft skills that technology will never be able to replicate.
Top 3 Trends Among Learning & Development Managers
Here comes a riddle – who manages the learning and development of learning and development managers? Joking aside – a culture of continuous learning is an incredible thing to develop at any workplace. L&D managers are no exception – in fact, they might know better than anyone that there’s always more to learn! On that note, here are the top three topics that L&D managers reported that they were spending more time educating themselves on in 2024.
44% of learning managers are hoping to learn more about leadership development.
41% of learning managers are hoping to learn more about upskilling and reskilling.
40% of learning managers are hoping to learn more about L&D trends – hey – if that’s you, you’re off to a good start!
L&D trends is the only new topic compared to last year – leadership development and upskilling are really the bread and butter of learning and development topics. It’s important for L&D managers to always remain up to date on the current standards of essential training topics! That may explain why more L&D leaders are expressing interest in keeping up with the trends – it helps to know what standards are changing in the industry and which topics are gaining more interest.
Using L&D Trends for Employee Engagement and Retention
How do L&D trends relate to employee engagement and retention? Well, research has shown that employees are more willing to stay in the workplace if their employer provides upskilling and reskilling opportunities. This is especially relevant because 59% of CEOs responded that employee acquisition and retention was the #1 business challenge their organization was facing in 2023 and into 2024. Working L&D trends into your employee retention strategies can help your workplace remain ahead of the curve and give employees the upskilling opportunities they need in order to stay.
You may have heard the old adage – “people don’t quit jobs, they quit managers.” When you examine the L&D trends from 2023 and 2024, with heavy focus on new manager training, leadership training, and communication training, you can see that people leaders are taking active steps to ensure that their department leaders aren’t poking holes in their employee retention strategy. In this era where CEOs are stating that one of their greatest business challenges is acquiring and retaining skilled employees, it’s important that L&D and HR managers do everything in their power to keep the talent they have and cultivate it in their current employee base.
