We all have a role to play in learning: Insights from Inspire Dallas 2024

Leaders in Learning was live at Inspire Dallas 2024! And we met some incredible leaders in learning!

From speakers to customers, including Inspire Award winners and finalists, we learned all about the challenges surrounding L&D and the inspiring solutions L&D practitioners bring to their programs.

Here are top 10 takeaways from our interviews at Inspire Dallas 2024:

1. It takes an L&D village to help people learn

It is extremely challenging to motivate people to learn. Part of the challenge is that learning is a collaborative process, requiring multiple stakeholders.?

According to Sarah Harrian , Director of Education Services at Five9 , ensuring people are effectively learning involves the learner, the executive team, and the HR team.?

Colleen Affeldt , Head of Learning and Leadership at Coriant, Inc. and CI Financial , puts it this way: “The way our team thinks about it is that we’re building the path. The path is connected to promotability. So our job is to build the path; it is the person’s job to walk it. It’s really important that there is that shared responsibility.”?

For learners, this means acknowledging failure as part of the process. But, “failure is part of a successful environment,” comments Emily McCarthy (Mason) , LMS administrator at Axcelis Technologies .

And that is key. Creating a culture where people feel supported is vital to learning.

2. Are we doing the work to nurture a learning culture?

Research from the World Economic Forum shows that while 81% of companies see investment in learning as important, less than half (34%) offer reskilling and upskilling training.?

Docebo’s research also shows that “70% of the learning that is consumed within an organization occurs outside of working hours,” says Alessio Artuffo , CEO of Docebo.

We need to do better. That’s a sentiment Artuffo echoes: “We should create an environment and space for people to better themselves, especially in a world that needs more upskilled resources and in which the skill gap is increasing day by day.”

3. Fostering a learning environment is worth the effort

Corporations can promote learning by creating opportunities as easy as a book club.

Instructional Designer and LMS Administrator at Desert Financial Credit Union , Jeremy Knackert ’s organization has a book club where employees get to discuss L&D topics once a month.

Or it can be a whole day dedicated to learning. Julie McGoldrick , VP of Learning Development and Documentation at Insurity ,? implemented a “Growing New Day" initiative.

“It’s really a day that we dedicate to anybody’s professional development,” she says, whether it is joining a session, finishing leadership training, or reading a book.? “It’s completely up to them how to use that day.”?

McGoldrick’s team has also created other initiatives like strong apprenticeship and mentorship programs.?

Colleen believes companies prioritizing learning will outpace competitors. And she’s right.?

The World Economic Forum research shows that businesses focused on continuous learning and upskilling adapt better to new technologies, effectively incorporating them into their processes.

4. Learning begets confidence and impacts employee ROI

Fostering a learning culture can even affect an employee’s return on investment (ROI). Five9’s Koon highlights that while knowledge and skills are crucial in measuring ROI, confidence is equally important, especially as business complexities grow.?

She goes on to add that this is where partnership with HR becomes essential in ensuring employees feel included, and from the business side, it’s about committing to provide more training.?

Businesses often assess productivity by evaluating the ROI that employees generate. This metric is crucial because it aligns business objectives with learning outcomes. However, measuring this ROI can be challenging due to various influencing factors.??

As Axcelis Technologies’ McCarthy notes, it largely “depends on the role.” In high-skilled industries, some individuals have decades of experience, which is irreplaceable and difficult to quantify. “That’s not something that can have a number on it,” she argues.

To ensure knowledge is preserved, McCarthy leverages Docebo’s Discover, Coach, and Share (DCS) feature which taps into social learning to enable collaboration organically within the company while digitizing shared knowledge for future keeping.

“We’re really trying for people to ask those [knowledge] questions on Docebo’s DCS. That way, we can share and capture knowledge in the digital world so that it doesn’t get lost,” she says.

5. Accessibility shouldn’t be an afterthought

When asked what L&D leaders should improve, many cited accessibility.?

“Accessibility is making an experience inclusive. You can create the best content, the best courses, things that would change lives, and if people can’t access them, what’s the point?”

Mel Carpen , a Learning and Organizational Development leader and accessibility advocate spoke about the importance of accessibility at Inspire.?

So what should people start doing to focus on accessibility?

“Stop thinking of it as a ‘nice to have’. It’s a ‘need to have’.” Carpen stresses that accessibility needs to factor in planning, execution, and the aftermath of the learning to make sure there is continuous improvement.

Specifically, they mentioned that practitioners should listen to people’s experiences, and empathize with their situations so they can develop better programs for everybody.?

As for specific tools and resources, Carpen mentioned that there are many available on the web such as color pickers that allow designers to determine whether a color is accessible for people with visual impairments.

6. Motivating learners across generations remains a challenge

By focusing on accessibility, we can create inclusive environments that welcome people to learn, but still “the question always remains, why should I learn?” asks Venkataraman.?

Michelle Oonk, MBA Director of Learning and Development at Smoothie King is constantly thinking about motivating her employees, especially younger generations.?

“We need to continue to make training fun. In QSR (quick service restaurants), I’m already thinking about [generation] alpha. They not only want something that is going to be meaningful and educational, but they also want it to be fun so that it’s an overall experience that they look forward to doing,”?

So training needs to have something that can help our careers but that it’s also engaging. Many practitioners we interviewed stressed the need to continually innovate new ways to inspire and motivate people.

For this reason, many also saw innovations in AI as opportunities for personalization.

7. A culture change is needed to fully embrace AI

Despite some optimism for AI, there is a sense of displacement shared by L&D practitioners. While many believe that AI won’t replace us, they are cautious about using it.

“I think there’s still going to be people that will not adopt it, for whatever reason, someone’s comfort level or even security concerns,” McGoldrick says.?

It seems, based on our interviews, that embracing AI requires a culture shift, one where humans see the value of AI as enabling them to do more strategic planning.?

“We have to embrace [AI]. It’s all about change. We’re never going to stop changing. If you do, then you stop learning,” says McGoldrick, inadvertently summing up the sentiments on the immediacy of AI.

8. We need to shift from ticket-takers to strategic partners

There was a major focus on using analytics to drive performance during interviews.?

“Ultimately, your job isn’t to learn, it is to perform,” says Suzan Haizlip , Inspire Award winner and VP Learning and Performance Operations Manager at MidFirst Bank .

Through Docebo, she has streamlined processes and utilized analytics to enhance learning engagement.?

But she argues that streamlining processes wasn’t enough. She had to shift the language from “being a learner to being a performer.” This required extensive listening and understanding that both business executives and L&D practitioners have valuable contributions to make.

9. There are many ways to stay up to date with L&D

L&D practitioners turn to various resources to stay in the loop, some take to the web, others to LinkedIn, and many more to books and podcasts. Here are some examples.?

Melissa Seiler , corporate training manager at SMTC Corporation , says that she turns to others in the field by leveraging Docebo Community.

Insurity’s McGoldrick cited her team, Josh Bersin and Simon Sinek for inspiration. “My team is the one that continues to push me. They’re the ones that really inspire me.”

Also sharing Josh Bersin as a knowledge source, Brent Colescott, M.Ed. , VP of L&D at WorkForce Software , mentioned Elliot Massie, and Tom Peters, specifically his book “Re-Imagine! Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age,” which had a major impact on how he conducts L&D. He follows Bersin, Massie and Peters on LinkedIn, and recommends doing so to stay up to date.

10.?Drumroll please ?? Our favorite predictions

L&D experts gave us their predictions for the future of learning. Their predictions included a world without learning programs, enabled by autonomous learning, more gamification and personalization, and more app smashing.

I’m sorry, what's that? App smashing involves using multiple apps to create projects or complete tasks. For example, SMTC’s Seiler talked using ChatGPT and Canva to create content. But according to Seiler, in the future we’ll be using them in a more integrated way.?

While most agreed that AI will likely have the biggest impact on L&D, Workforce’s Colescott wasn’t so sure.?

His thought was that something else would come out of left field, like COVID. “COVID hit and in less than a year, we completely changed remote work,” he argued, adding that maybe an unforeseen socioeconomic shift will be a stronger force of nature than AI.

Our conversations with L&D leaders in the field confirmed our suspicions: L&D leaders are really passionate about their craft!

From keeping current in their field to exploring innovative ways to engage learners, L&D is always on their minds. With such dedicated leaders steering the ship, the future of learning looks bright.?

We eagerly anticipate gaining more insights from them at Inspire 2025 in Orlando, Florida.