Continuing from yesterday’s post, here are five more prominent learning and development (L&D), training, and HR trends you’ll want to keep in mind for 2019.
1. Flexible Work Options Will Become Even More Popular
The 9–5 business day will become even more obsolete in 2019 and beyond as technology enables employees to learn and work at all hours of the day from various locations. More and more employers will also allow their employees to work from home, if they haven’t already.
Employees will start to expect more flexible work options when considering employment, and employees from newer generations will especially have a hard time acclimating to or accepting job offers that demand schedules that force them to commute to an office and stay there from 9–5, Monday through Friday.
2. Even More Soft Skills Training
2019 will be the year that communications and emotional intelligence (EI) training programs really take off. Employers are beginning to see the real value in these skills and are starting to invest more heavily in ensuring that their employees have them.
In fact, according to a CareerBuilder survey, 71% of employers said that they valued a candidate’s EI skills over his or her IQ. And moving forward, employers are much more likely to hire and promote individuals with developed EI skills.
For more information, read “4 Reasons Why Your Employees Need Emotional Intelligence Skills” and “Step-by-Step: 3 Ways to Train for Emotional Intelligence.”
3. Even More Personalized Training Experiences
As artificial intelligence starts to dominate learning management systems (LMS) and how they’re powered, L&D professionals will be able to offer even more personalized training programs and opportunities than they have in the past. Not only will learning content be more personalized for each learner but so will entire programs and learning pathways.
4. More Video-Based Learning Content
In 2019, video content will make up most of all Internet traffic. So, L&D professionals will need to create more of it, as well as curate it, if they want their initiatives to be successful. Learners find video-based learning content more engaging and will actively seek it out.
5. L&D Will Be Offered as a Benefit
Because the average life span of an acquired skill is less than 5 years in the modern workplace, employees are starting to seek out organizations that will make an investment in their skills development on a rolling basis. And as a result, L&D departments will start to offer upskilling programs and other training initiatives as part of their benefits programs or packages when hiring new employees.
Keep the five trends listed above and the three from yesterday’s post top of mind if you want your programs and initiatives to be successful and competitive in 2019.