Impact on the Business Strategy

In January of 2024, ATD Research surveyed 522 working Americans to learn more about their opinions on training and development at work. The data can help build a business case for providing learning and development (L&D) to working Americans. Here are three key statistics from that data collection and how L&D teams can use them to encourage stakeholder investment in L&D programs.

1. Job Security

Stat: 39 percent of working Americans worry that they may lose their job if they don’t continue to learn new skills.

Potential Impact: Employees who are insecure in their role may feel the pressure to jump ship. High turnover rates make achieving business goals more difficult. It would be hard to focus on a future strategy when companies are in the weeds of hiring talent and onboarding new employees.

L&D Solution: L&D professionals should focus on a company culture that emphasizes continuous learning. Improving company culture will ensure your talent continues to see the value in their role, buy into the purpose of the organization, and build trust with their managers. Here are a few resources to help with this process:

2. Relevance

Stat: 73 percent of working Americans said training must give them skills that they can immediately use in their job.

Potential Impact: Workers want to be able to use the things they’ve learned right away, not a few months down the road. While upskilling for the future is important, it may be hard for working Americans to see the value in learning a future skill when they face problems that need tackling today. Otherwise, training can seem irrelevant to them and engagement could decrease.

L&D Solution: Techniques to keep training relevant include on-the-job training to ensure the skills learned can be used right away; surveys and interviews to ensure worker voices are being heard; and researching industry trends to keep a competitive edge.

3. Career Growth

Stat: 45 percent of working Americans have left a job because there weren’t enough career development opportunities.

Potential Impact: Career development looks different for everyone. For some, career development may look like a promotion or more responsibility. To others, it can look like a new project or a future path they can track. However one might envision their career progression, without opportunities to take those paths a worker may feel stuck. Rather than sink deeper, American workers could look to other organizations that will provide the opportunities they seek. This increases the challenges around hiring, onboarding, and retention.

L&D Solution: If your L&D function is looking to build a business case, this is an area where your team can step in and offer a solution. Utilize tools such as the Talent Development Career Pathways, investigate coaching options for workers, and work with middle managers so that they are prepared to handle career conversations.

Conclusion

Learning goes beyond instruction. It becomes a lifelong journey. Ignoring workers’ learning needs will affect business success. A good starting point for discovering what working Americans need in training is a needs assessment for both the organization and the people. Ask people what, where, and how they want to learn. Then, use this information to inform your L&D programs, training materials, and skills initiatives. Keep the conversations around learning open and honest, and your organization may see their return on investment shortly.