Wednesday 23 April 2014

10 Trends Shaping Training and Development

10 Trends Shaping 


Training & Development


There are 10 key trends helping to shape the current landscape of
organizational training and development (T&D), according to research
 by AMA Enterprise.
“AMA has tracked a number of developments—some major, some
minor—affecting T&D that must be understood as well as adapted
to current market realities,” said Jennifer Jones, Director at AMA
Enterprise, which provides organizations with assessment,
measurement, and tailored learning solutions. “For instance,
workers are becoming much savvier when it comes to tapping into
company leadership programs and external development opportunities.
There’s also steady globalization, pressure for greater transparency,
 and an expectation by senior management that these efforts pay off in
some measurable way. Every development professional must be
attuned to these trends.”
The key trends identified by AMA Enterprise are:
1. The definition of “leader” is broadening.
A majority of large organizations now consider individuals to be 
leaders based on their impact, not on their authority or position. 
Increasingly, a leader is viewed as “anyone, whether they manage 
others or not, who is a top-performer in their specific role.”

2. Management faces a more risk-averse workforce.
A growing proportion of the workforce has become risk-averse,
probably due to the sluggish economy and weak job market.
Management must assess its own responsibility for this
phenomenon and determine if the organization really encourages
initiative or risk taking.

3. Demand for “big data” skills is growing sharply.
A greater volume of information is now at the disposal of organizations 
today, but employees lack the analytical skills to deal with such
complex data, and management is now pressed to provide the
needed training.

4. More organizations avoid the term “high potential.“
There is a growing reluctance to call candidates for accelerated career 
development “high potential.“ The term may suggest that other
employees do not have much potential, which is not a healthy message
to convey, either to them or to the organization.

5. Selection for high potential programs becoming more impartial. 
Companies now seek to make the application process for such
programs more systematic and impartial. Anticipate greater
transparency on performance criteria, changes in corporate strategy,
more flexible career opportunities, and tighter high potential selection
and management succession processes.

6. Leadership programs are being retooled for globalization. 
Some companies have long had a global dimension to their
development initiatives. But others find they must now play catch-up
or lose ground in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. The
top competencies for global leadership development are change
management, ability to influence and build coalitions, and critical
thinking and problem solving.

7. Many organizations are ill-prepared for rising turnover. 
One-third of employers are concerned that employee turnover may rise
as the job market improves, a 2013 AMA survey found. And many
companies admit they are not ready to deal with the challenge and are
seeking suitable solutions.

8. Core skills are a renewed focus. 
Classic programs devoted to basic skills often suffered during the
recession, taking a back seat to specialized modules that met
immediate business challenges. There is now greater demand for
programs that develop communications skills, critical thinking,
collaboration and creativity, all of which aim to improve long-term
employee productivity.

9. More employees seek entry into leadership programs. 
If the selection process for programs once had a low profile, ambitious 
individuals now volunteer themselves for any kind of leadership
development offering. Organizations realize they must find ways to
meet this growing demand.

10. A growing focus on developing individual contributors. 
More than one in three organizations have stepped up efforts to
develop individual contributors. So-called high potential candidates
from the management ranks often get all the attention, while individual
contributors hardly figure in development programs. Yet these are
key constituents within every organization—core players who get
things done despite having no direct management authority.
Change has always been constant in the T&D sector, observed
Jones.“Some change is obvious, but other change is less so.
Development professionals must prepare and be able to respond to
change in all its forms.”


Logicus Training Solutions - Training and business consultants (Registered Training Organisation - www.logicustraining.com.au)