Research Digested: L&D Global Sentiment Survey 2024, Donald H Taylor

A snapshot of useful research for L&D and workplace professionals . . .

Why read this report?

This report has become an annual research fixture for corporate learning and development. It has limitations as a piece of research – those limitations are highlighted by the author. The research asks four questions, with the main one being: ‘What will be hot in workplace L&D in 2024’? Respondents are provided a list of options and can choose three options from that list. So, the response is based on the question and a set of pre-determined options. The result is a form (sort?) of annual trend check for L&D.

About this research

The survey, conducted over 59 days from December 2023 to February 2024, engaged 3,270 participants from 97 countries, exploring hot trends in workplace L&D for 2024.

Standout stats

  • AI topped the survey with the biggest share of the vote (21.5%) in its 11-year history. This is the red-hot trend for 2024
  • Personalisation/adaptive delivery and learning analytics also saw increased interest, highlighting a growing emphasis on data-driven/AI-driven L&D approaches
  • Skills-based talent management remains a top priority, with nearly 20% of the votes
  • The survey revealed a decline in interest for coaching and collaborative learning, suggesting a pivot from human-centred to technology-based L&D solutions
  • At 9th and 10th respectively, consulting more deeply with the business (5.4% of the vote) and showing value (5%), the two factors that are arguably the most important for L&D teams looking to become more strategic, continue to decline.
  • The research has an even spread of response across 16 countries (with between 87 and 545 respondents) and as such provides a global view of what’s hot.

Final word

The main conclusion is that AI will be hot in learning in 2024. No s*@t Sherlock! It doesn’t take a piece of research to tell us what we already know. To be fair, author Donald Taylor acknowledges this in the Foreword where he calls it the ‘unsurprising survey’.   What the research does show is the scale and speed of interest in this technology. The research shows this to be unprecedented and because of that we can expect to see the rapid and growing impact of AI in L&D approaches and solutions.

AI and data driven technologies are top of mind for L&D professionals. It’s also worth noting what L&D professionals consider to be less hot. The decline of consulting more closely with the business is worrying but maybe it is expected because of the way the survey frames the question. Maybe respondents are more focused on what’s grabbing the headlines ie AI, data and skills, and maybe the framing of the question has an implicit bias towards those headline topics. Even with these caveats, it is worth taking note of the explosion of AI and what it means for L&D – if you aren’t already exploring that.

Report reading time: 25 minutes

Format: PDF

Link: https://donaldhtaylor.co.uk/research_base/global-sentiment-survey-2024/