What Are Your Priorities For Workplace Learning This Year?

How much time do you spend planning your workplace learning goals for the coming year? Don’t panic if the answer is ‘none’ as I’m sure you’re not alone! 

If you want to boost your planning, the summary of renowned learning expert Donald H Taylor’s Global Sentiment Survey for 2023 is out now, giving fantastic insight into future trends in workplace learning. 

It asks practitioners around the world to rate options for ‘What will be hot in workplace Learning and Development in 2023?’ – so these results can be a great way for forward-thinking organisations to shape their strategy. 

Let’s take a look at the top five on the leaderboard for 2023 and what each response could mean for your workplace: 

1. Reskilling/upskilling
2. Artificial intelligence (AI)
3. Skills-based talent management
4. Learning analytics
5. Collaborative/social learning

According to this survey, Reskilling and Upskilling remain a top priority globally – they’ve been the top choice since 2021, so clearly lots of professionals consider them to be a really important aspect of workplace learning.

Reskilling and Upskilling describe when an individual is able to develop their abilities, whether that’s within their existing role or to take on a new role within the same organisation. For example, if you have a team of talented people looking after one type of equipment which then becomes obsolete, lots of organisations would prefer to retrain their existing staff to learn about the new equipment, rather than take on new starters who already know that new equipment. Workplaces are looking to maximise the potential of the people who already work with them, both for individuals’ personal development and to benefit the organisation with increased staff retention. Does this resonate with your own goals for the coming year? 

Although reskilling and upskilling remain at the top of this year’s leaderboard, their share of the percentage is coming down, with other priorities rising – let’s explore the rest of the top five:

Artificial intelligence has been near the top of ‘what’s hot’ for a while, and you’ll no doubt have heard about some developmental leaps happening with AI. The launch of ChatGPT has certainly moved forward the conversation around the future of AI in our everyday lives and brought it to the attention of a much wider audience. As artificial intelligence is receiving lots of interest right now, many will be considering how AI can support their organisation’s Learning and Development this coming year.

It’s no surprise to see skills-based talent management near the top of the leaderboard. Employers know that people are their biggest asset, so it makes sense to look at skills across the organisation to make sure everyone is in a position where they can thrive. 

Learning analytics broadly describes using data to make decisions about the learning you offer. What are you measuring right now that can help steer your future decision making? Whether it’s the completion rates of different courses, or individuals’ self-rating of how confident they feel about different aspects of their role, good information will help you make good decisions! 

Collaborative/social learning has been in the top five since 2018, showing us that experts know that humans respond well to the social aspects of learning –  how best can we use that when planning learning and development opportunities? With many offices offering hybrid working, being intentional with your choices about when to offer independent study and when to use your resources to offer learning in a collaborative or social situation can really help you maximise your impact – it’s all about the right format for the right situation! 

With any planning for the year ahead, it's really important to keep in mind why we are delivering our learning and development programmes – what are our goals for impact on the organisation and for different individuals? This can help focus our thinking and stop us from being distracted by the newest delivery formats when they won't always be the best fit for meeting your needs. 

Has this helped you think about your priorities for workplace learning for 2023? Whatever your ambitions are, many workplaces are seeing benefits of using elearning. Sign up for a free trial with Nimble to find out if elearning could help you reach your goals.