Emergn study reveals workplace training programs lack effectiveness and alignment with skills employees want most

Only 23% of learners and 22% of leaders viewed their organization’s current workplace training as extremely effective

London – October 11, 2022 – Emergn, a global digital business services firm helping companies deliver valuable digital products and customer experiences faster, today released a new study, The Pursuit of Effective Workplace Training. The survey found that strong learning and development (L&D) programs are critical, with 75% of learners saying strong workplace training would have a very high or high impact on their decision to stay with an employer. Despite the desire for strong L&D programs, only half of learners believe current workplace L&D programs are extremely effective.

The introduction of new business models has given employees the ability to access operations from anywhere at any time. While this has provided employees with a better work/life balance, employers in every industry are beginning to think more strategically about their L&D programs and how they can better map to organizational goals.

In July and August 2022, Emergn partnered with independent research firm Researchscape to survey more than 1,200 professionals from the United States and the United Kingdom. The survey focused on the opinions of learners, those at the management level or below, and leaders – specifically IT directors and HR leaders with the responsibility of overseeing workplace training. The survey found:

  • Both learners and leaders agree that workplace training programs can be improved. Only 23% of learners and 22% of leaders viewed their organization’s current workplace training as extremely effective.
    • Learners and leaders disagreed over which trainings are more important, with leaders favoring management training offerings over learners’ desires to learn communication and presentation skills.
  • Workplace training today is a powerful tool to recruit and retain top talent in an organization, with 55% of learners stating that L&D programs increase job satisfaction and employee morale.
    • When asked what learners would like to achieve when participating in workplace training, the majority of respondents noted the desire to gain new skills (80%), improve their confidence in their current role (67%) and gain access to new opportunities at their current organization (55%).
  • Despite the new flexibility employees feel with the introduction of remote and hybrid work, employees are still struggling to find the time and resources to engage with workplace L&D programs, with 42% of respondents noting they do not have the time to participate in workplace training.  
    • Additionally, HR leaders are struggling to showcase the results of workplace training to prove its benefits to employers. The current ways of measuring training success are based mostly on management’s perspective and self-reported progress (i.e., employee surveys). These current measurements do not accurately identify the return on investment (ROI) or even determine if training programs align with overall goals – with only 35% of leaders stating their workplace training was completely connected to the goals of their team.

“Businesses looking to build lasting value, drive better customer outcomes, improve operational workflows and retain top talent must implement strong workplace learning programs,” said Steven Angelo-Eadie, Head of Learning Services, Emergn. “We often hear from our clients that aligning programs with learners’ priorities helps to retain top talent, and the survey results confirm that. Businesses must remove barriers to participation in workplace learning programs and align those programs with transformation plans to achieve the most value.”

Visit Emergn at the World of Learning Conference & Exhibition from October 11-12 at Stand E80. For more details on these findings, please download the complete survey report here.

About Emergn

Emergn is a global digital business services firm with a mission to improve the way people and companies work. Forever. Emergn helps some of the world’s most respected businesses – including Fortune 500, FTSE 100 and Global 2000 companies – develop their most promising ideas into valuable digital products and customer experiences, faster. Emergn offers learning, consulting, and technology services to help clients own their transformation, and create high-performing teams. Our capabilities span product innovation, experience design, product delivery, intelligent automation, learning skills and capabilities, data and analytics, and business transformation. Emergn has spent more than a decade perfecting its context-specific and outcomes-driven approach to transformation based on three principles: Value, Flow and Quality. This unique approach provides Emergn’s clients with the frameworks, models and tools needed to drive lasting, sustainable change to the way they work and transform. Emergn has a strong presence in over a dozen countries, with its U.S. headquarters in Boston and EMEA headquarters in London. For more information, visit Emergn’s website and follow Emergn on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).

Contact

Dentons Global Advisors
James Melville-Ross, Adam Davidson, Nishad Sanzagiri +44 7895 187727 [email protected]