What to Expect in 2024 in the Learning and Development Sector and Corporate Training? The Covid-19 pandemic has taught us not to make far-reaching predictions about the future, but it seems to be an innate tendency for humans to look ahead and try to imagine and describe it. While much of the unexpected will unfold in 2024, some trends are likely to persist and are unlikely to undergo a U-turn. Let’s explore four of them.
What Will Happen in 2024 – People
Individuals are at the heart of the training process. This may sound familiar, right? It seems like a cliché. In fact, it has been for a long time. However, companies that do not tailor training around individuals and design it based on the people within their organization are equated by their own employees to those not providing training at all. Chronic shortages of certain profiles and the rapid change requiring the acquisition of new skills are just two reasons why people are courted by companies, not the other way around. People expect tailored, updated, ubiquitous training that can be accessed from anywhere at any time, delivered in micro-doses. The days of lengthy PowerPoint presentations and 40 hours of face-to-face training should be a thing of the past.
What Will Happen in 2024 – Technology
The era of Learning Management Systems (LMS) seems to be over; now Learning Experience Platforms (LXP) are taking the lead. These learning software solutions focus on people’s needs (as mentioned above), offering a simple and engaging user experience. The learning process becomes a social event, where users can create and share content and learn flexibly through hybrid and mobile solutions. Gamification tools are the backbone of these new learning experiences. In 2024, the Apple Vision Pro will be released, and with it, other players like Samsung and Huawei will enter the market of headsets. Remember that Meta had announced a partnership to create immersive business experiences? According to many, this will be the year when such experiences become increasingly common in the enterprise and corporate world.
What Will Happen in 2024 – Data (the King)
In the learning world, data is becoming increasingly indispensable. To adopt a “people-centered” approach, understanding people and their data is crucial. New systems will be able to understand what individuals need, what they might want to learn, and when. Companies that do not center their training around these data points will have to impose top-down training without any adaptation—a losing approach from the start. Data on how much time people have dedicated to training, specific topics covered, interaction with learning materials, and the range of explored subjects can be extremely valuable. This data not only facilitates referrals to other relevant learning content but also provides valuable insights into overall progress. Useful data also includes time spent learning specific topics, analysis of interaction with learning materials, focus on learning topics to identify other relevant content, and progress indicators to fill competency gaps. In the field of Training and Development, artificial intelligence is crucial, as learners want automated suggestions based on their personal data, such as previous training, interests, and career plans, for their individual training. People’s goals are important, and they are also data that the company MUST take into account, leading us straight to the fourth point: rewards.
What Will Happen in 2024 – Rewarding
The word should not be misleading: a one-time reward culture leads nowhere. Individuals within an organization want their goals to be shared by the organization; feeling part of a team means being in a boat sailing towards a common goal. Understanding the purpose and broader vision of the long-term path taken by the company and embracing it is essential. Companies must focus on employee development and invest in their careers to enable them to pursue their long-term individual career ambitions while contributing to organizational goals. Only when employees experience appreciation and understand that their learning activities can impact both their personal development and the overall business will they be motivated to learn, improve, and truly give their best. Younger workers appreciate supervisors who value their learning successes, according to the LinkedIn Learning Workplace Learning Report. Rewarding is not a one-time prize; it is a culture of attention, communication, and feedback that transcends learning and development to sit at the head of the table of corporate culture.