According to City & Guilds’ 2021 Skills Index, over a quarter of UK workers (30%) reported that they have not received formal work training in the last five years. The alarming figure is a stark portrayal of the underfunded L&D sector, especially when considering that 94% of employees stated they would remain with their companies longer if the business invested in their development.
In 2020, 67% of fully remote workers reported that they wanted more training, and globally, the interest in upskilling has only increased.
As we move forward, here are what we at MOONHUB believe are set to be the 5 driving L&D trends of 2022 to help elevate the sector and empower the workers of today for the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow:
1. Gamified Training Experiences
Everything now is gamified. From our shopping experience to media consumption, the application of gamification and the context in which game elements and theories can be incorporated have propelled over the last few years.
The impact of gamification in L&D modules include:
- Increased Productivity: 90% of trainees are reported to work harder post-training that include gamified elements.
- Inspiration Boost: 72% of trainees have stated gamified training solutions have inspired them in their workplace.
- Higher Engagement: using game mechanics and game reward motivations increase engagement by 48%.
Gamification is an electric tool to hone and develop new social and technical skills and is proven in transforming L&D programs, leveraging internal competitiveness to the organisation’s advantage to outperform its external competitors.
2. Harnessing a Collaborative Learning Ecosystem
Workplace culture has surged as a top priority for job seekers and a powerful leverage for hiring managers. For L&D professionals, the goal is to harness the energy to create a consistent learning community within an organization that spurs healthy collaboration.
According to LinkedIn’s 2021 Workplace Learning Report, learners who used social features – share courses, participate in Q&A, engage in modules – watched 30 times more learning content than those who didn’t. This becomes increasingly more crucial during the pandemic with the surge of remote positions. In fact, 92% of L&D professionals believe that creating a community surrounding learners helps foster a sense of belonging, and 91% reported that teams who learned together were far more successful.
3. The Ideal Accreditation Partner
Organisations who’ve invested in accreditation industry associations and higher institutions have reaped the rewards and have the competitive advantage of selecting the best talent in the pool. This trend will continue to be ever more important in 2022 as companies have reported bolstering their benefits package to compete in the talent market to attract the strongest candidates.
For L&D professionals, finding the right partners becomes imperative. For organisations, these partnerships can advise on courses and topics to address, offer key materials and assessments and even provide an endorsement for the organisations. For trainees, this is an attractive prospect both for the current job or for future employment opportunities.
4. Big Data, Bigger Investments
Training shouldn’t be treated as a product, but rather as a solution that ties back to the organisation’s goals. This mounts pressure on L&D professionals to measure the effectiveness and the return on investment on training solutions.
As such, data analytic tools to measure the benefits of training programs are surging in popularity. 27% of L&D professionals globally have reported using trainees survey score to measure the impact of their training in 2021, a 9% increase from 2020, and the figure will certainly increase in 2022.
Measuring the value that learning and training bring to an organization will be a major factor for L&D professionals this year to request bigger budgets and to retain their spot in the executive suite table.
5. Virtual Training, Real Results
When we think of training we used to think of a classroom. Then, e-learning happened and the classroom condensed into a monitor. However, traditional training models, in any of their forms have almost always relied on the three Ls:
- Lengthy seminars
- Large groups
- Loads of coordination
This recipe for 2022 is, by now, an archaic concept.
With the rise of remote positions as a result of the pandemic, companies face great obstacles in providing rigorous onboarding and internal training to their new hires. While e-learning can provide an efficient mode of training, it is not the most effective.
From a cost/development perspective, compared to the traditional classroom setting, e-learning falls short: Instructor-led classroom training requires on average 67 hours to develop. E-learning modules span from 48 hours of limited content development to more than double (155 hours) for full-engagement modules.
E-learning is also limited within the 70-20-10 framework.
The 70-20-10 model envisions that trainee’s know-how on the job is obtained in three different modalities:
70% – Experiential: knowledge retained from work-related experiences and participation.
20% – Social: advice obtained through social interaction within the organization with colleagues and managers.
10% – Formal: information acquired from the formal training setting.
Within this framework, e-learning misses at least 90% of the training module’s potential and the traditional classroom setting is outdated in today’s ever-remote working world.
So what is the solution?
Our MOONHUB (Suite) is a gamified VR training solution, boasting a comprehensive bespoke dashboard providing real-time quantifiable results, in a one-stop-shop learning ecosystem accredited by the CPD Certification Service. An immersive experience where trainees can start anywhere, anytime, transporting them to real work-related scenarios in low-risk environments. Our solution saves time, cuts costs and increase retention and productivity, and more importantly it works.
