In celebration of Training Industry’s 20-year anniversary, we asked our listeners to share their perspectives on the past, present and future of learning and development (L&D).
In this bonus episode of The Business of Learning, we dig into your submissions and explore the L&D trends that shaped the last two decades — and those that will define the future of the field.
Tune in now to hear insights on:
- How AI-powered role-play is reshaping skills development
- The ways the COVID-19 pandemic transformed the L&D industry
- Why, despite new technologies, the future of L&D remains deeply human
More Resources:
- [Resources] Celebrating Training Industry’s 20-Year Anniversary
- [Resource] Toolkits
The transcript for this episode follows:
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For 20 years, Training Industry has been connecting training professionals with resources and best practices to advance the business of learning. Every course, every article, every conversation [is] designed to empower the learning leader. What began as a simple idea has become a trusted source of information for professionals around the world. In 2005, our founder, Doug Harward, saw a gap in the corporate training market, a need for a place where training professionals could find trusted information about suppliers, tools and best practices. From the spark of an idea, Training Industry began to grow, shaped by insights, innovation and the voices of the training community. At the heart of it all is our team, a passionate group dedicated to creating meaningful change in the learning space. As we look back on 20 years of innovation, connection and growth, we’re filled with gratitude for our people, our partnerships, and the learning leaders who inspire us every day. Thank you for being part of our story. Here’s to the next 20 years of advancing the business of learning. Happy anniversary, Training Industry.
Sarah Gallo: Hi, welcome back to The Business of Learning. I’m Sarah Gallo, a senior editor here at Training Industry, and today I’m joined by our editor in chief, Michelle Eggleston Schwartz.
Michelle Eggleston Schwartz: Yes, I’m excited to be here, Sarah, and to have this bonus episode of the podcast, because it is our 20th anniversary here at Training Industry. And so I’m excited. We reached out to our audience to get their take on past, current and future trends in L&D and we are going to impact those here today.
Sarah Gallo: Without any further ado, let’s play our first submission
John Richardson: Hi, my name is John Richardson. I am the assistant director of training delivery at the Center for Domestic Preparedness. One of the most impactful trends in learning and development for me was the initiation of computer-based training or CBT in the ‘90s, and the transition from classroom training to eLearning. The continued evolution of CBT significantly shaped how organizations approach employee growth and capacity building, and opened the door for the rise of e-learning platforms. Virtual training and virtual instructor led training. The transition from classroom-based training to eLearning modules allowed organizations to scale training globally, reduce costs, and offer flexible learning paths. This also allowed employees the opportunity to be accountable. For their learning, employees can learn at their own pace, revisit content, and take ownership of their development. A current trend that I’m paying very close attention to is the involvement of AI and how it transforms how we design and deliver training. AI assists instructional designers by generating content, simplifying complex topics and offering multiple perspectives.
Sarah Gallo: This is an interesting one. Since when computers first came on the scene, they really reshaped how training was traditionally delivered and sort of opened the door for more digital learning experiences like we’re seeing today. And I think it’s worth noting that we’re seeing sort of a shift and have seen this shift over time towards a more blended approach. I know that’s something we’ve seen in Training Industry’s learner preferences research as well — that blended approach and offering training in different modalities is more likely to be effective in delivering training in a ways that learners really prefer.
Michelle Eggleston Schwartz: Definitely, I think as the caller noted, this emergence of computer-based training really, I feel like empowered the learner, like it really put it learning and development into their hands. For the first time, they no longer have to just wait for a classroom training to become available, um, get on their schedule. And so with eLearning it becomes more self-paced and virtual learning and on-demand learning, really are opening the door I think for learners to be able to take control of their growth. And it’s been really exciting to see. And with the involvement of AI, everything is just speeding up and the efficiency is really speeding up there. So, yeah that’s definitely an exciting trend.
Sarah Gallo: For sure. And one of the first big shifts in L&D history. And we’ll get to AI of course later on. But for now, let’s play another submission reflecting on a past L&D trend, and this was submitted by Somya Dwivedi-Burks, a Certified Professional in Training management and an experienced learning specialist. Let’s go ahead and play that one.
Somya Dwivedi-Burks: All right, so a past trend that has made the most impact according to me is the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact was digital transformation at [a] high scale, high speed, all over the world. The current trend that I’m watching evolve is the evolution and future of LXPs. I’m watching various platforms, which used to be content managing platforms in different industries, and how with the AI assistance, they may change forever or they may lose their utility. And the third question is, a future trend that I am anticipating is definitely the revitalization and revival of in-person, beautifully facilitated learning events, learning experiences. I think with augmentation and using AI in our learning strategy, we will finally get time to be creative and to be more strategic in having the human-to-human contact. And I see and hope a lot of work and a lot of beautiful work coming in that space in the future.
Sarah Gallo: Yeah, this is another big one, right?
Michelle Eggleston Schwartz: Yes. The pandemic — huge. It was a huge turning point, I think for those in L&D and, I mean, [everyone] around the world to be honest. But yeah, the acceleration in [L&D] happened overnight, like seemingly, like everybody went home and then they needed to change all of their classroom-based training to virtual. And really trying to figure out overnight how to meet the needs of their learners wherever they are, because they’re everywhere now. And so, I mean, it was huge.
Sarah Gallo: Yeah. It, it was definitely a big shift in modern L&D history. And also not only shifting courses online, but making sure that we weren’t losing learner engagement and connection in the process since we know connection was lost during the pandemic. So finding a way to connect with learners online was, was definitely a big focus. Let’s go ahead and play our next submission.
Gifford Gregory: Hi, this is Gifford Gregory from Nestle Health Science. I attended and earned my CPTM [credential] in February, and I think that a current trend I’m really paying attention to is going to be AI role-play. Really what I see it doing is giving employees a safe space to practice tough conversations and not kind of feel silly in the way that the traditional role-play may. So I can see it for things like negotiation, sales calls, feedback sessions or coaching. And again, no fear of making those mistakes in front of maybe a peer or a manager. I think the power of it is that it’s obviously responding in real time. So, I think it’s really going to make every practice feel different and super authentic even though we’re talking to AI. Looking ahead, I see the trend exploding, and I could see a lot of great changes for it. I could see it going to something like a video-based avatar that’s reacting live to you and eventually like a fully immersive augmented reality or virtual reality role-play environment.
Sarah Gallo: I love this trend since it’s something we’re really seeing, um, emerge as a key AI use case, right? Like, um, Gifford said learners can practice and not feel silly and have sort of that safe space to practice things like difficult conversations or, um, handling customer complaints, really sort of any sort of skill or situation they may come across on the job.
Michelle Eggleston Schwartz: Mm-hmm.
Sarah Gallo: And also it’s really democratizing coaching, right? Before it wasn’t really accessible maybe to all employees or was reserved for top leaders in an organization. So it’s really opening that up to all learners.
Michelle Eggleston Schwartz: Definitely. I don’t know many learners who actually enjoy role-play because, as the caller noted, I mean, making mistake in front of your peer is kind of unnerving. It can … it’s just not a comfortable experience, I think, for a lot of learners. And so the ability I think that AI has created is to, to practice kind of in that private setting and it’s not quite so embarrassing or scary. And so that’s great, especially to be able to practice those soft skills like communication and empathy, decision making, difficult negotiations. And so because as we know, those skills are what employees need right now.
They are the most relevant. And so any opportunity to be able to create some consistency and practice for those skills, I think is going to be beneficial for employees and the organization.
Sarah Gallo: Yeah. And I love what this caller mentioned about it being a current trend, but we’ll also see it evolve in the future. You know, whether that’s learners having a specific agent, or the process just evolving as the technology does too.
Michelle Eggleston Schwartz: Definitely.
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Sarah Gallo: Alright. Let’s take another listen about a current L&D trend.
Parker Donnafield: One current trend in learning and development that I am closely watching is skills-based learning over role specific learning, which allows people to upskill and re-skill at speed. And I find this one really interesting because it’s changing the way that. Everyone in learning and development works together, such as instructional designers and how they create learning trainers and how they infuse real life scenarios into their training programs and leaders in how they shift learning and development from title to impact.
Michelle Eggleston Schwartz: That’s a good one. We’re seeing a lot around skills-based training right now, and rightfully so, like, um, because job descriptions, job titles mm-hmm. Like they’re great at providing kind of a general description of the role, but it doesn’t really dig down. Into like the specific skills that are needed to make them effective at that role. And so, I think the opportunity for L&D is really to kind of dig in and figure out the specific skills that are necessary to make them effective in those roles. And while we know this is important, and I know a lot of L&D professionals know this is important, I actually read some research recently that L&D and HR professionals recognize the importance, but they also are not very effective at categorizing skills. And so, they’re realizing they need to focus more kind of on figuring out how to create those competency models and skills mapping exercises to really take into context like all the skills that are needed in the organization.
Sarah Gallo: Yeah, it’s really challenging since business priorities are evolving and changing so fast. So sort of keeping a pulse on those and keeping active communication with your stakeholders and different business leaders in different departments and just making sure we’re aligned and that skills really are aligned with business goals, which of course, like you said, isn’t easy. But yeah, to me I view skills-based learning as a shift from what people know to what they can actually do, and what those behaviors actually look like on the job.
Michelle Eggleston Schwartz: Definitely.
Sarah Gallo: Yeah. Super important one. All right, well, let’s dig into some more future focus trends. Let’s go ahead and play that first one here.
Dr. Bill Brantley: I think a future trend we’re going to be seeing in training and development as we have more artificial intelligence coming into the field. And tell me about a conference that you’ve been into in the last two or three years that didn’t have at least one session on artificial intelligence is the idea of high tech, high touch. Now high tech, high touch has been around for a while. It’s been spoken about, and I remember in undergraduate about a case study of this highly modernized, really computer operated, uh, hospital. So patients were in their beds and they had all these different diagnostic tools and they had all these different things around them and they get stuff automatically delivered to them. And you didn’t have to have the nurses or doctors around as much. That led to a backlash because a lot of the patients wanted to see the nurses and doctors, even though they didn’t really need to know any more information or had their needs serviced, they just wanted to have the emotional connection and know, hey, there is a human being in the loop making decisions for me and not these machines. So I’m seeing this now with training where I’m seeing students and learners wanting more interaction with trainers, more interaction with the instructional designers, believe it or not, and more interaction with each other. So as our tools become more AI powered and our training sessions become, you know, high tech, you’re going to see a lot more call for, I want some humans here. I want some humans to talk to me. Tell me a story. I want that emotional reassurance.
Sarah Gallo: This one was also interesting to think about.
Michelle Eggleston Schwartz: Yeah, I’m definitely noticing this trend firsthand. It’s almost like the more technology I’m using the more AI-enabled everything gets, the more I’m craving interaction. Yeah. And I am actually finding myself wanting to attend more networking sessions, more conferences … I really want to talk to people, like real people, and it’s like AI is great and can be your partner [or] assistant, but nothing beats having a real conversation with somebody. Like right now. I definitely find myself as an individual craving that
Sarah Gallo: Yeah. And it really reminds me of that earlier trend we were talking about during the pandemic, how people wanted that connection. And sort of, it’s coming back to that now, as in today’s reality. While we’re not in, you know, a global pandemic anymore, AI and just having all these different learning technologies and feeling like everything’s digital now, that human component … people really are missing that. And I think it also makes the case for why these human skills we’re seeing, like you mentioned, communication, emotional intelligence, and all of those human skills are just even more critical right now.
Michelle Eggleston Schwartz: Definitely.
Sarah Gallo: For sure. Alright, let’s take a listen to our next future focused trend. I think we have time for one more. [This] was submitted by Tom Quist, a Certified Professional in Training Management and training supervisor. Let’s hear what he has to say.
Thom Quist: Well, what’s not going to change and what I hope will never change is that at the heart of the L&D profession is people. Even with the advent of AI and the amazing advancements in technology with ai, it’s still about the people. And so we need to learn to partner with AI to change what we teach and how we teach effectively because those people are matter. The other thing is …. what I’m watching closely is just how effectively training data is communicated. Moving outside of that box of headcount or percentages completed and getting into what impact did training actually have on how people work and how it truly impacts the business. Those are the things that I’m watching and hope to continue to see improvements in.
Sarah Gallo: That even as AI advances, um, training is still about people, you know, whether it’s the learners or learning leaders or these stakeholders they’re working with and supporting, that people focus is just huge.
Michelle Eggleston Schwartz: It really is. And I think it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of this new technology and wanting to try everything out. But I think we need to be kind of intentional and mindful that not to just force technology and use technology for technology’s sake as we know, but really being intentional as we move forward about how we’re designing programs, because these tools enable efficiency and that’s great, and that’s the purpose of these tools, but we need to really ensure that they are designed for human growth. And so really kind of keeping our eyes on the learner and making sure that their experience, is core to what we’re designing, I think is super important. And as we know, technology, it’s here. It should enhance the experience, [but] it really shouldn’t replace it. So I do like the idea of coming full circle. And it’s like, maintaining that human touch and the role of l and d leaders is so, so important.
Sarah Gallo: Definitely. And our caller also mentioned measurement and how that’s becoming a little bit easier with these technologies now and analytics. And just having access to these different features. So I think that’s also exciting to see.
Michelle Eggleston Schwartz: Yeah, definitely improving the access and the visibility to, to metrics is huge.
Sarah Gallo: Yeah. Well, I love that we ended on this note about keeping L&D human. So with that, Michelle, it was great unpacking these trends with you. For more insights, visit trainingindustry.com/podcast. And don’t forget to rate and review us wherever you tune in to The Business of Learning. Until next time.
