7 L&D Insights from 2023 to Create Powerful Strategies in 2024

7 Key Insights From 2023

Over the past 18 months, we’ve designed and executed global leadership development initiatives involving thousands of participants across 15+ countries.

Leveraging an elite panel of experts spanning industry leaders and academicians from premier business schools, we executed programs for multinational clients across industries.

Following are the top 7 lessons we’ve learnt:

1. In the age of AI, human skills could become the ultimate differentiator

As organizations focus on training employees on technological advances, they are placing equal emphasis on enhancing the creativity, innovation, change management skills of their managers and leaders.

2. As the talent war heats up, investing in development of employees is a great way to retain them

And what’s better, when employees share in public domain about how their organizations are investing in them, it positions these organizations as ‘great places to work’ and helps them attract talent.

3. Leadership and behavioral skills are not ideal candidates for self-paced online learning

While domain skills could be mastered through digital courses, soft skills are not ideal candidates for self-paced learning. Imagine testing your negotiation, collaboration, and persuasion skills against a digital device!

4. Learning is a social experience, hence cohort-based learning has proven to be highly effective

Learning is more effective when we learn as a group by interacting with people of different mindsets, perspectives and personalities. In cohort-based learning, as participants across teams and geographical locations spend time together, it also helps build strong relationships, leading to better collaboration at work.

5. Leadership programs should be contextualized to an organization and not based on a standard menu

It is critical to align leadership initiatives with business goals to avoid failure of such programs. When Leadership programs are designed based on organizational priorities, the impact and value delivered is immense.

6. Focus on holistic growth — the ‘intrapersonal’ aspects are as important as ‘interpersonal’ elements, if not more

To lead organizations amidst a fast-changing business landscape, professionals need to go beyond tactical skills and build innate capabilities that help them learn, adapt and evolve rapidly. Hence, leadership programs should focus on holistic growth of individuals, to make them more effective as leaders.

7. Leadership programs are as much about application, as they are about learning

For learning to be effective, it should include time and opportunities for self-reflection, meaning-making, application and practice. Leadership programs should allow participants to reflect on learnings, apply them and share insights with others.

5 Talent Development Strategies For 2024

To leverage these learnings and craft your organization’s talent development strategy for impact and success, here are a few tips:

1. Track ‘Return on Investment’

Global organizations spend more than $60 billion on leadership development programs, but the return on such investments is usually not clear and is not even tracked in many cases.

• Design leadership initiatives in alignment with organizational goals and institute measures that go beyond program feedback and Net Promoter Score
• Get managers to assess participants pre and post the program, get participants to assess themselves, track participant development in terms of role change, taking on larger responsibilities, etc.

2. Invest in cohort-based programs

When it comes to leadership skills and behavioral skills, cohort-based learning is highly effective.

• As you design programs for middle and senior layers in organization, consider cohort-based programs
• The social learning aspect of Cohort-based programs fosters development of critical interpersonal skills and the individual attention makes your high-potential employees feel valued.

3. Create cohorts that span countries

Leadership programs that entail several types of learning sessions spanning a few months are a great way for participants to get to know each other and build rapport.

• Leverage the advantage offered by virtual programs and build cohorts across teams and geographical locations
• Such programs help build relationships and pave way for collaboration that lasts way beyond the program

4. Leverage learning initiatives to drive Diversity, Inclusion and Employee Engagement

Building and sustaining an employee-centric culture requires a continuous stream of initiatives with a clear message.

• Craft a year-long plan for employee engagement and sensitization around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• Map the plan either to key Diversity and Inclusion events or to organizational milestones

5. Incentivize learning with ‘Back to Business School’ initiatives

Nothing creates a learning atmosphere like being back at a campus.

• Include a few days of a Business School immersion in your leadership programs. Let participants stay on campus, attend classes in lecture halls and get taught by acclaimed professors
• Add a certificate from the Business school to the mix and it makes the entire experience valuable

Wrapping Up: The Way Ahead for L&D in 2024

2024’s talent development landscape is ripe for transformation. By prioritizing ROI, embracing cohort-based learning, and injecting unique experiences like business school immersion, you can unlock the full potential of your people and propel your organization to success.

Looking for help with bringing such game-changing ideas to your people strategy? Write to us at hello@thestarinme.com and let’s brainstorm together!