With so many conflicting trends such as artificial intelligence and economic instability, it can be a challenge for L&D teams to prioritise their focus. Cameron Yarbrough and Amy Lavoie set out the key trends in learning and leadership development for the coming year.
1. A more focused, personal and accountable approach
Change is constant, and the best way to engage with it and succeed as an organisation is by supporting and developing leaders.
Rapid change is often destabilising for human beings at the best of times, but now, with the constant pace of social and technological change that business is undergoing, it’s getting hard for employees to keep up.
To some extent, that’s expected – when it comes to a big change in how business organises itself, be it industrialisation or digitisation, there is a time of disruption that creates anxiety, uncertainty, conflict, and then things flatten out.
Now, we’re in a completely new paradigm driven by AI where not only does the rate of change feel fast, but we haven’t had the usual plateau where we adjust and recalibrate.
We need to think about how we equip our leaders, at every level, to help their teams through these complicated times. Emotional intelligence is what we need to foster because that’s the type of intelligence that creates a sense of “grounding” in others.
Learning and development trends
That means one of the most important qualities of a leader is their ability to be calm and collected because the people they lead will mirror them.
We also need to think about how to support, optimise, and elevate our people in sustainable and impactful ways.
As a result, a more focused, personal, and accountable approach to leadership development that uniquely supports these relational skills will help power organisations through these times of change.
2. Helping leaders to manage ambiguity
Organisations and teams are demanding more from leaders. To thrive as a leader in a modern organisation, it’s not enough to know your numbers and be able to step in and do the job if there’s a delivery gap; you must also be equally, if not more adept, at relational or human skills.
They are the skills that smooth the path for work to get done and are required for your people to effectively relate to each other.
We also need leaders to be able to build healthy team cultures in an evolving remote/hybrid landscape. To be successful, they need to be capable of understanding the nuances of inclusive leadership, be equipped to manage high levels of ambiguity, be able to read a room in person and virtually, and have strong practical skills.
Some of these skills are very new, but what hasn’t changed is the need to support leaders. Businesses need to get better at supporting leaders. Arming our line of business managers with the feedback, tools, and support they need to deploy their relational skills will open up business opportunities and is a critical requirement in 2024.
Coaching is the best way to learn these skills and sustain them as habits. Regardless of intention, people learn best when it’s on the job and they retain it when there is repetition and accountability.
While virtual online learning and other L&D content absolutely have a place in a people development strategy, organisations looking to achieve high-impact results need to invest in a solution that delivers a personalised, accountable, and psychologically safe place to learn and practise new skills.
3. Showing evidence of impact
During Covid, people leaders and CHROs earned a bigger seat at the organisational table. To keep that long-denied influence we need to continue to deliver. That puts more pressure on HR leaders to deliver a rock-solid set of return on investment metrics.
The trick is to start with the goal always firmly in mind. Tying strategy and programmes to the larger business objectives is key, and provides a foundation by which to make decisions.
When it comes to leadership development, thinking beyond participant satisfaction to higher-level metrics like key learnings, behaviour change, and ultimately connecting your programme to tangible business outcomes like promotion, retention, and engagement are critical.
4. Driving behaviour change
Many learning and development initiatives fall short of a major goal: sustainable behaviour change. Why? It’s easy to forget new information quickly, even if it’s super relevant or really energising (we’re looking at you, one-time training courses).
Without someone to hold them accountable, and opportunities to receive feedback on the change they are trying to make, people fall back into their day-to-day lives and resume their old habits. Crucially, organisations don’t reap the benefits of those changes.
When it comes to leadership development, think beyond participant satisfaction to higher-level metrics.”
That’s why behaviour change is a critical L&D metric that organisations will increasingly invest in. Programs like coaching that combine personalised learning with accountability over time is a proven way of actually shifting people’s behaviour.
That changed behaviour is what people can take back to their work, their teams, and your organisation to create a positive impact – we call it the “coaching ripple effect”.
And as those areas of change predict improvement in retention, promotion, and team performance, this is an L&D tool you really should be looking to make more of in 2024.
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