ASA Trainer Survey 2023: Trends, Challenges, and Hot Topics

Each year, ASA University reaches out to our member companies to find out more about their training needs and challenges, and to find out what’s top of mind for training and development professionals in our industry. In 2023, we saw some interesting new advancements among member companies, including use of recent technology for rapid eLearning development, as well as some L&D trends that sparked interest among members. Read on to find out more about the state of training in our industry in 2023.

Leading Topics

ASA University always likes to know what’s top of mind for our trainers. One of the first questions out of the gate centers around areas of need in training at their organization.

If one buzz word was to emerge from this question, it might well be “learning culture”. Over 84% of respondents indicated that cultivating a learning culture was one of the biggest areas of need for them in their role. Simply put, a culture of learning is one in which employees continuously seek, share, and apply new knowledge and skills to improve individual and organizational performance. Members want to know more about what a learning culture is, how to instill one at their organization, and how it can positively impact the ROI of training in the long-term.

On the learner side, employee engagement and motivation was a heavy hitter, with over half of the respondents also citing this as a major challenge or area of need in the workplace. Motivating learners is not a new challenge; learner motivation can be a tricky problem, and our members have gotten extremely creative over the years in how they incentivize learners. But, there is more work to do. Need some timely tips? Read the ASA Review article on Incentivization of Training (pp16-17).

Rounding out the top concerns for trainers this year was leadership and management training. Beyond our survey, ASA-U Advisors have also heard directly from members about the need for clear leadership pathways to prepare for future succession. Approximately half of the respondents indicated that leadership and management training was on their radar for 2023.

New Approaches and Technologies

ASA-U also likes to know what new technologies and strategies our members are incorporating into their training. By far, microlearning was the most highly cited new trend our members added to their lineup. Microlearning has been around for some time, but we are seeing more rapid uptake among members in the recent year. For the uninitiated, microlearning is focused, short bursts of training meant to cover a single learning objective and are usually no longer than 3-5 minutes in length. Microlearning can be used extremely effectively for application-based learning, such as learning a specific process or concept.

Personalized learning was another area of growth in terms of approach; members are beginning to move away from a “one size fits all” training plan and instead, creating personalized training pathways for a specific learner’s needs. This approach can be much more time-consuming on the front end, but typically results in a more effective training, while increasing the learner buy-in.

Some members were beginning to explore adaptive learning, which is using data-driven instruction to adjust and tailor learning experiences to meet the individual needs of each student. This goes hand-in-hand with personalized learning, and offers a unique way to leverage technology to achieve the customized learning described above.

Very few members had begun to leverage artificial intelligence, e.g. ChatGPT, but was cited by 5% of respondents as an area of growth. Excitingly, another 5% of respondents are utilizing some form of virtual or augmented reality.

Challenges for Trainers

As ASA University develops tools and resources for our members, knowing the challenges our members face is incredibly important. During our survey, we asked members to rank typical training challenges.

In 2023, measuring training effectiveness was top of mind for trainers. This continues to be a challenging area in L&D for any trainer. While data backs up the positive impact that training can have on the business bottom line, it’s harder to draw direct causality directly from the training event to the dollar sign.

The typical suspects also appeared at the top of the list: limited resource/budget, lack of employee engagement, and time constraints. Leadership/stakeholder buy-in appeared further down the list than in 2022, indicating a potential shift in leadership involvement with driving training at the business. This dovetails with demonstrating training effectiveness, as one usually begets the other.

Skill Gaps for Trainers

In terms of skills sets, trainers cited the need for more training themselves on how to measure training effectiveness, no surprise given the challenges cited above. 

They also felt that demonstrating ROI and value of training could be a challenge and would welcome resources to assist them with drawing a clear connection between training and the positive outcomes it can afford the business (and the learner!). Sneaking in as a close third, the topic of career pathing (upskilling/reskilling) was also an area of need. Career pathing, at core, is building an advancement pathway for learners to grow their skills, and potentially step into a new role or function.

Other areas cited by members, in order of need, included creating engaging training content, staying up to date with the latest learning and development trends, and delivering effective training sessions.

Exploring New Ideas

We also like to ask members about their future plans, and what excites them about the future of L&D. Artificial intelligence and data-driven learning and development topped the charts in 2023, with 60% of respondents citing these as areas they would like to learn more about.

Not far behind, a new topic piqued interest, “emotional intelligence and its impact on workplace learning”. Much like culture, this is a “softer side” of training, but undoubtedly EI can be a tool for the trainer to achieve things like learner buy-in, demonstrating value of training, and designing training by envisioning themselves in the learner’s seat.

Let ASA-U Help YOUR Training Professional

ASA University is dedicated to tackling these challenges and the challenges of the future as we provide resources, tools, and actionable strategies to assist with members’ needs. In 2022, the “How to Develop An Effective Training Program” handbook, authored by training experts across the industry, describes in detail how any member can create their own training program.

In addition, ASA University is hosting our ASA-U Trainer’s Forum again this year, which will touch on many of the topics here, and give attendees time to talk with each other about these challenges. This year’s workshop will be held on September 20-21, in Rosemont, IL.

Two keynote speakers will tackle some of the biggest challenges our trainers brought to the table: measuring the ROI of training and developing a learning culture. In addition, attendees will have opportunities to collaborate with their colleagues during round-table sessions to crowdsource actionable strategies for trainers. A “Technology Tools and Review” session will also provide attendees with new ideas and tools for their training arsenal. To register or find out more, please email education@asa.net.

Want to share what’s on your mind? Contact Taylor Kenney at tkenney@asa.net.