Blanchard® Releases Its 2024 HR/L&D Trends Survey Report

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Blanchard^®, a global pioneer in leadership development, consulting, and coaching for more than 40 years, released its fifth annual 2024 HR/L&D Trends Survey Report. This report includes responses from more than one thousand leadership, learning, human resource, and talent development professionals from 20 industries in 80 countries. One fourth of the respondents were from the United States.

The intent of the study was to discover from the HR and L&D perspectives the challenges companies are facing in the post-pandemic world. In addition to structured questions, participants were asked open-ended questions to capture a more complete understanding of the issues. When asked to share, in their own words, the biggest challenge they are facing going into 2023, the top responses were

• Attracting and retaining talent with the necessary skills and experience to be competitive in the market
• Strategy and measurement of aligning talent development with business objectives
• Skill development to increase individual capabilities to keep pace with the rate of change
• Managing budget, time, and resource constraints
• Creating a positive employee experience and maintaining levels of engagement

Additional findings include:

• 87% of respondents expect that hiring in 2024 will continue to be a challenge
• 88% of respondents believe it will be harder to retain their best people
• 70% of respondents indicate that executive development will be an important goal for their organization

The need for ongoing, personalized, and social learning that is integrated into the work lives of leaders represents a major challenge for HR/L&D professionals. Having adequate staffing and technical resources is also top of mind for the coming year.

"We asked specifically about the most needed leadership competencies in 2024. It was no surprise that engaging and developing talent remains high on the list, but leading and supporting change initiatives, coaching people through challenges, communicating clearly, and driving innovation all indicate the larger role that leaders will need to focus on," says Dr. Jay Campbell, Chief Product Officer and Head of Research at Blanchard.

Additional data were collected on the impact that AI will have on HR/L&D, the evolution of training modalities, budget expectations, measuring the impact of training, and leadership competencies that will be needed in the future.

"The year ahead will be a one-step-at-a-time journey for HR and L&D professionals around the world. Executives everywhere will be exploring ways to move forward during a time of accelerated change. The war for talent, the challenge of employee retention, the uncertainty of AI, and raised expectations of today's workforce have all combined to put a renewed interest in the role leaders play," says David Witt, Director of Content at Blanchard.

Campbell and Witt shared the survey results in a webinar on December 13, 2023. Watch the recording here. A free eBook that summarizes the complete findings is available here.

About Blanchard
Blanchard is a global leader in leadership development, consulting, and coaching. For more than 40 years, Blanchard has partnered with organizations to maximize individual achievement and organizational performance, bringing measurable progress and true transformation. Blanchard's SLII^® is the global leadership model of choice, powering inspired leaders for more than 10,000 organizations worldwide. Blanchard also offers a suite of award-winning solutions through flexible delivery modalities to meet the specific needs of clients and learners. Discover more at www.blanchard.com.

SOURCE Blanchard