One Big Tech L&D Trend for 2022: More focus on D than L

Originally published 2021-12-23

Make no mistake, Learning and Development hold the key to the growth of the IT sector in 2022. The obscene demand for talented engineers isn’t going to stop and at the same time, the talented engineers are not going to suddenly decide and stop job (s)hopping. The L&D team is going to do the heavy lifting in solving the puzzle.  

I wanted to stay focused on one huge trend, rather than giving some five generic ones. Here’s what it is  

L is fine, it’s the D that will get questioned. Measurement is going to be the key 

Millions of dollars were and are being spent on Learning to address the need for upskilling, reskilling, and keeping engineers engaged during the pandemic. The result? It should be development, right?  

In 2022, we will see the following questions getting louder: 

• How is the learning being measured? 
• What are the outcomes of a learning program? 
• How is the learner being measured and the ROI on investments made? 

If we double-click, the questions get even more specific and louder. How do you know if your employees?  

• Learned what they’re supposed to learn? 
• Are making progress or completed a given course? 
• Know how to apply in a real project the skills they just learned? 
• Can tangibly display their talent? 

The questions can go on. In summary, two important things will be the focus: 

• Outcomes of tech learning 
• Measures of the learning program 

If this piece is not sorted or ignored, the rest of the trends don’t matter. 

Before someone jumps on to certifications, let me clarify that certifications cannot be a measure. If they were, the IT world wouldn’t be facing such a talent crunch as we are seeing now. The run of the mill assessments aren’t a measure either.  

Learning without Development isn’t complete. Let me know what you think.