According to a 2018 LinkedIn Learning survey, here are some learning stats and information you’ll want to keep in mind before 2019 starts.
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Training for Soft Skills Is a Top Priority
Seventy-four percent of talent developers, 66% of people managers, and 65% of executives agree that leadership training is the most important type of soft skills training to invest in right now. And most of them also agree that training employees in communication and collaboration is a must.
So, in 2019, be sure to invest heavily in soft skills training for leadership development and communication, as this is what your competition is most likely concerned with doing.
Whole Person and Career Development Opportunities Are a Must
Employees from newer generations want career development opportunities more than they want money, and they expect those opportunities to be personally meaningful, too.
In fact, per research parsed in a Fast Company article, more than 50% of Millennials say they would take a pay cut to find work that matches their values, while 90% want to use their skills for good. Additionally, 94% of employees stated that they would stay with a company longer if the company invested in their individual careers.
In 2019, try to tie your leadership development programs with individual employee’s unique career opportunities and interests. And offer opportunities that allow employees to use their skills to do good, as most Millennials believe that the businesses they work for should be a force for positive change in the world, too, according to Deloitte research.
Making Time for Employee Training and Development Remains Challenging
While most employees want training and development opportunities, only 68% of employees want to learn while they’re at work, and 49% want to learn only when they need to learn. And the number one reason why employees don’t explore learning is because they feel as if they don’t have the time to do so.
Therefore, in 2019, it would be wise to invest in mobile training solutions and opportunities that allow employees to learn while they’re on the go. And it will be wise to invest in better strategies for identifying when employees need to learn certain skills so that you can offer them learning opportunities as soon as they need them.
Addressing the Skills Gap Is Important to Executives and Talent Developers
The number two concern for executives, after determining how to implement more soft skills training opportunities, is to identify trends that will help them prevent a skills gap in their workforce. And the number three concern for talent developers is determining how they will deliver insights on internal skills gaps.
As 2019 ramps up, you will want to have a strategy and plan in place for how you will identify, analyze, and address the skills gaps across your organization for executives. Doing this will also help you be able to better upskill your existing employees without having too much turnover or loss in productivity.
Keep the above learning stats and information in mind as 2019 begins, and you will be in a better position to address the learning needs of your organization while also outpacing your competition.