Is your head still spinning from all the changes that happened in 2023? From AI and the skills shortage to economic uncertainty, a lot unfolded over the past year. While we’re all still grappling with these shifts, one question stays top of mind for us:

What does it all mean for L&D?

As an industry, we’re used to dealing with constant change. Wading through ambiguity. Adjusting to ever-evolving business goals. But the past 12 months have felt different, with the ground shifting beneath our feet at breakneck speeds.

L&D teams have always helped their employees adapt, but the truth is this: The old playbook doesn’t work like it used to. In this new era of L&D, fresh thinking and innovative approaches are no longer nice-to-haves—they’re must-haves. 

 

Trends and innovation: where L&D is headed

As far as we’re concerned, the L&D trifecta that will shape 2024 boils down to: advancements in AI, its application to skills-based learning, and the ever-growing importance of collaborative learning.

You can’t open up your laptop without hearing about AI, and how it’s slated to revolutionize learning and development — or perhaps one up you out of a job. For what it’s worth, our money is on a middle path. We believe AI will be a powerful aide for L&D professionals, helping us to cut down on busy work to let us focus on the important stuff. 

But if we blindly use ChatGPT and the like to simply create more courses, faster, we’ll be even further from proving the impact of L&D. Or worse, we could put AI in the driver’s seat and lose the human-centered aspect of learning and development altogether. Bottom line? AI is a powerful sidekick, but flesh and blood learning and development professionals will continue to provide the real value.

One of the key ways we see AI enabling L&D teams to showcase our worth is through skills-based learning. 

Yes, skills-based learning has been on the HR scene for quite some time. But recent advancements in AI tech mean HR and L&D teams can realistically apply a skills-based approach, bypassing the unfeasible manual work this previously entailed. 

Today, with the right platform, L&D teams are perfectly poised to own the skills-based learning strategy at their organization. This means identifying and closing skills gaps that will actually make a difference regarding performance. Now that’s worth getting excited about.

But when it comes to closing skills gaps, generic content isn’t going to cut it. Sure, some off-the-shelf courses can be immensely helpful in achieving certain goals – but on the whole, subject-matter experts and the knowledge they have is by far the most valuable asset at your disposal to help close proprietary skills gaps. It’s knowing how this specific task is done in this specific department at this specific company that most employees are eager to master.

This is where a collaborative approach to learning and development really moves the needle. If you can harness the institutional knowledge at your organization to create courses (which also takes a load off of L&D’s shoulders), you can scale the production of truly relevant content. When coupled with a skills-based learning approach, that means providing the right courses to the right employees at the right time to drive business-critical impact. 

So, that’s where we see our industry going for the next year. It’s exciting, but maybe also a little intimidating. If you’re not confident you’ve fully mastered how to use AI prompts, develop a skills ontology, or rally your subject-matter experts to create content, don’t worry, you’re not alone. 

 

Set yourself up for success in 2024 with L&D Next

We wouldn’t be learning and development professionals if we didn’t set aside some time for our own professional development. That’s why we’re organizing L&D Next, a week-long series of virtual events filled with L&D insights and best practices from industry leaders. We’ll take you from theory to practice and back again, so you feel confident embracing the changes that AI, skills, and collaborative learning are sure to bring to the industry.

To kick things off, Liz Fosslien, best-selling author and expert on emotions at work, will break down the psychology behind belonging, while I will dive into the power of collaborative learning, AI, and what this means for proving L&D impact.

We’ll follow up with on-the-ground examples of how forward-thinking organizations have put these ideas into practice, with speakers from Lattice, Neudesic, Deel, and Achievers, to name a few. You’ll come away knowing how to perfect your manager training, use automation to scale training, and launch an L&D program as a team of one. The best part? You don’t even need to leave your desk. 

 

Make 2024 the year of L&D impact

A lot has happened in 2023, and 2024 is poised to make an even bigger splash. Get ahead of what’s in store for the industry, and upskill on the crucial talent of proving your impact as an L&D professional – without even having to dip into your professional development stipend.

View the full agenda and register today for the sessions you are interested in, to attend live or receive the replay links.

 

David James 

CLO at 360Learning