Top Corporate Training Trends for 2023

As an executive, business owner, departmental training leader, corporate training manager, or learning development professional, knowing current corporate training trends will help you make better training decisions to attract new top talent and retain existing high performers.

On this page:

• What is learning development and training development? 
• The importance of corporate training
• Attracting and retaining employees through learning and development
• Top 5 corporate training trends for 2023
• Summary

What is learning development and training development? 

Many terms describe the professional development a company provides to its leaders and employees to help them gain or grow the skills needed to perform job duties: corporate learning, corporate training, learning development, and training development.

High performers are savvy to corporate training industry trends as they constantly seek to be the best in their field and work in environments that promote career opportunities. As a result, companies can compete for the top talent by ensuring that their professional development offerings reflect the top trends in corporate training.  

Professional development can be provided to your workforce by an external training provider using certified trainers. It can be a combination of internal subject matter experts working with training professionals to create a customized training program to meet a specific business need. For all corporate training classes and training programs, it is essential that it is of high quality and helps your workforce gain skills they can apply to their current or future role at the company.

The importance of corporate training

Corporate training may be the responsibility of different teams or a leader. Examples include the internal learning development team assigned to manage all corporate training programs, the departmental training coordinator preparing a team for a project, or the Human Resources professional assigned to find current trends in training and development for recruitment uses. However, no matter who is managing your corporate training, all companies should provide their employees with high-quality training solutions that directly impact the business. 

An American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) report analyzing data from 2500 firms found that companies that invest an average of $1,595 per employee in training experience 24% higher gross profit margins. In addition, employees value learning development in all forms regardless of the latest trends in corporate training topics or types.

Attracting and retaining employees through learning and development

Amazon, one of the largest U.S. employers, commissioned Gallup to do a comprehensive study to better understand the importance of employee learning and development. The resulting report, The American Upskilling Study: Empowering Workers for the Jobs of Tomorrow, validates the importance of the corporate training industry trends that have emerged from economic shifts sparked by the pandemic. 

In short, the Empowering Workers for the Jobs of Tomorrow research indicates that employees see employee training as not a trend but rather as:

• a job benefit that enhances working for a company,
• a reason to stay with the current employer, and
• a reason to seek a new employer to obtain it.

American workers desire jobs that include ongoing corporate training choices as part of continuous career growth. When considering corporate training 2023 plans, know that workers value learning opportunities: 

• 57% of U.S. workers want to update their skills,
• 48% would consider switching jobs to do it,
• 71% say job training and development increased their job satisfaction, and 
• 61% say upskilling opportunities are an important reason to stay at their job.

Employee data is one part of the connection between recruiting and retaining employees and overall corporate training opportunities. Today’s employees use social media to post to their followers if the company supports them while earning a certificate or attending corporate training. 

Using social media for employee retention

LinkedIn and other social media platforms mean your employees have a national (or global) platform to share how supportive the company is of employees working to earn certificates, pursuing education, and providing needed training. That means, through their professional social media network, your employees can promote your business as one that people want to be part of because it offers excellent corporate training opportunities. Or they can propagate demoralizing views if your company fails to provide employee training. 

A company that can offer quality corporate training in the most in-demand skills means current employees have a benefit to appreciate. When those engaged employees post on social media, then-current and prospective employees see how the company supports professional development. It can be a no-cost marketing tool with the benefit of higher employee retention. 

Top 5 corporate training trends for 2023

When planning your 2023 workforce development, avoid trying to guess which single skill set will help everyone. Instead, to maximize the value of your training investment, take the time to identify the root cause of trends in corporate training and how those trends apply to your training needs.  

New trends in corporate training connect to the culture in which the organization primarily functions, the business changes influenced by customers, and the work performed at the business.

In this post-pandemic time, U.S. businesses are most likely to see their employees benefit from training that applies to their overall development. Of course, role-specific training is always crucial. Knowing how to do the day-to-day tasks of a role efficiently can never be diminished. However, for the wholistic training that makes your employees feel valued and supported, the 2023 top corporate training industry trends to plan for include:

Corporate Training Trends 2023 | Agile

In late 2021, Project Management Institute (PMI)® issued a new Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide)® that incorporates Agile methods and promotes business agility as a skill set. In addition, the Project Management Professional (PMP)® Certification exam requires deep knowledge of Agile methods and ways of working. As so many industries have increased hybrid and online work options, the adoption of Agile project methods and the need for agile mindsets have grown. For 2023, Agile remains one of the top corporate training trends. 

Corporate Training Trends 2023 | Servant Leadership

Once seen as one of the potential future trends in training, Servant Leadership has fully arrived. 

It is a leadership approach that benefits the business with a more inclusive and productive work environment by emphasizing employees’ well-being. Servant Leadership can be used by project managers, departmental managers, and in fact, by any level of formal leader up to the C-Suite. 

Corporate Training Trends 2023 | Certifications and team-enabling skills

Teamwork has never been more critical. With geographically and culturally diverse

organizations, the ability to work together to reach a goal not only gives you a competitive advantage, but it is also necessary for corporate survival. With professional certifications and the

skills needed to earn them, teams: 

• automatically benefit from a shared language of terms, tools, and methods for how to perform work,
• embed best practices in how the business conducts work, and
• provide a clear professional goal for individual employees. 

Skill building to enhance teams and work quality benefits the organization and the workforce. 

Corporate Training Trends 2023 | Online and hybrid training formats

Online and hybrid work is here to stay, as is training in online and hybrid formats. Training in person remains one of the most effective means to build skills of all types, but it is only sometimes an option. That does not mean setting up a Zoom meeting will automatically make it effective corporate training. For any corporate training, careful design of specific learning objectives that target a clear goal is needed. For corporate training 2023, ensure you have training available in multiple formats to meet the needs of your employees. 

Corporate Training Trends 2023 |Coaching and consulting skills

Coaching and consulting are skills often considered standalone professions. However, they are also skills inherent in effective project management, team leadership, and client management. Knowing how to ask the right questions to help your client or team identify a problem’s root cause, reach a consensus, or make non-biased decisions is a powerful skill. Coaching and consulting can also apply within corporate training settings when you need to help students work through their real challenges and projects. Coaching and consulting have grown in importance as the value of the skills has become more apparent across industries and settings.  

Summary

Corporate training is not limited to a timeframe, format, or topic. Training development can be a class to learn a new skill to prepare for a job change, or it can be to prepare for certification in a needed skill. In all instances, corporate training is an integral part of the benefits offered by a business to enable a productive and engaged workforce. Five of the top corporate training trends for 2023 are: 

• Agile methods and mindset, 
• Servant Leadership, 
• Certification and team-enabling skills, 
• Online and hybrid training formats, and
• Coaching and consulting skills. 

Working with a professional training provider ensures that your workforce has certified trainers, verified training materials, and access to online support before, during, and after the training to support their learning process. It is important to know that 65% of U.S. employees say they want training paid for by their employer and offered during work hours. Therefore, corporate training, or the lack of it, can directly impact employee retention and recruitment, for which there is a cost to the business much higher than the cost of offering quality training.