0 2 4

2L&DTRENDS
Contents

03 Introduction
05 Organisational
goals & L&D

10 The struggle to
find information 15 Time to learn

19 L&D budgets
23 AI & impact

27 The shift to
upskilling
31 Career paths and
performance
Why L&D has never
mattered more

Let’s just say 2023 wasn’t exactly

sunshine and rainbows for L&D NELSON SIVALINGAM
teams. → CEO & CO-FOUNDER, HOWNOW

With the economic downturn, cost of We spoke to 50 L&D Leads at

living crisis and rise of quiet quitting, renowned scale-ups and scoured
you probably faced your toughest dozens of 2023’s best reports with
year yet - from getting stakeholders three simple aims:
on board to engaging your people
and everything between. Break down all the big issues from
the latest reports and research.
And 2024 is all about changing that, Explain how we got there so you
it’s time for more impact - that’s why understand the trends and avoid
you’re here. the pitfalls.
Offer practical advice on using this
But with the greatest will in the world, research to your advantage.
you simply can’t read all the reports or
data AND wear all the hats an L&D pro Giving you the tools to do more of what
has to wear. works, address your people’s concerns,
and avoid the traps so many fall into.
That’s where HowNow’s 2024 L&D
trends report comes in! Why read 20 reports when one can
help you drive more impact? It’s that
simple.

3
Overview: key considerations for 2024

There’s no point using AI for the We need tech that removes

sake of it learner friction

So many of us got caught up in Because, right now, the volume

the AI for L&D buzz. But does of tools used and their inability to
that mean we’ve rushed in talk to each other is stopping
without thinking it through? And people from finding the
what are the ways we can use AI information they need in their
intentionally, to solve problems moments of need.
and drive more impact.

People want to stay, but they need The foundations for L&D impact are
growth opportunities missing

Employees say they’re not Whether it’s the decline in

vulnerable to poaching right alignment to organisational goals
now, but we need to give them or the reliance on vanity metrics
the key reason to stay - growth. to measure success, it’s clear
All the data points to this being L&D needs to get the basics
an employee priority, and yet so right. Defining the problem
few companies are getting it should be high on the 2024
right. priority list.

Time and engagement are still

learning barriers

They’re still cropping up as the

big challenges in L&D and HR
reports, but 2024 is the year we
can end it for good! By bringing
learning to the moments where
it’ll influence performance. Shift
your mindset towards skills and
away from content.

4
Trend 1
It’s time to align with
organisational goals
We’re constantly hearing that L&D

What the statistics say...

teams dream of driving more business
impact. But in reality, we’re getting
further away from that.

The past two years have seen a huge

decrease in the number of L&D teams
aligned with their organisation’s goals
and priorities.

When that’s happening, the last thing

you want to hear is that L&D teams are
losing clarity about how they add value.

Or that leadership’s belief in what L&D

brings to the table is declining too.
Unfortunately, the data all points in this
direction.

But like Liam and Noel, everyone just

wants to see you get back together in
2024.

And if you can, an oasis of organisational

impact awaits…

Fewer respondents agree that L&D teams are aligned to wider organisational goals

Question: To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements on the key aspects of
your organisation’s L&D strategy and programmes?

We are clear about the different ways that L&D can

contribute business value within the org.

Our L&D strategy is aligned with organisational and

people priorities

Leaders in our organisation recognise the impact that

L&D has on business priorities

2023 net agree 2021 net agree 0 25 50 75 100

Source: CIPD, Learning at Work 2023 Report

6
How did we get here? Neither get us closer to driving business
impact.
Measuring success with vanity metrics Rushing to create a boat load of content
before we work out the problems it could
If the way we measure success isn’t tied solve actually leaves people drowning in
to performance, how will we know if we content, most of it irrelevant.
influenced it?
A fear of pushing back in order to
We won’t! preserve relationships means we treat
symptoms, not root causes, and damage
long-term relationships through a lack of
And that’s where a lot of L&D teams find
value.
themselves right now.

LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report

confirmed it: 6 of the top 12 success
measures are vanity metrics.
Top ways L&D measures success
That’s not to say there’s no value in Vanity metrics Business metrics
metrics like learner satisfaction.

But the business will be far more 1. Employee satisfaction, measured via survey
interested in how that learning translates
to performance and progression towards 2. Employee satisfaction, informal or qualitative feedback
goals.
3. Number of employees taking courses or trainings

The wrong approach to problem discovery

4. Employee performance on post-learning quizzes or assessments

A reliance on vanity metrics doesn’t 5. Number of courses or training each employee has completed
happen by accident, it’s a symptom of
poor problem discovery. 6. Improved performance reviews

L&D teams often miss the crucial first 7. Team or org business metrics
step: a deep understanding of people’s
goals and the challenges in reaching 8. Improved employee productivity

them.
9. Improved employee retention

And it’s typically because they’re caught

10. Numbers of hours spent learning
between two stalls:
11. Progress toward closing workforce skill gaps
1. Churning out content in the hope that
more created means more impact. 12. Number of new skills learned per learner
2. Not knowing how to probe further
when people come with problems
and ask for content.

Source: LinkedIn’s 2023 Workplace Learning Report

7
Recommendations

Interview people, discover their pain points

Speak to as many people as you can, not just leaders, and ask questions that help you
work out their goals, challenges, perception of L&D, and skills they need.

Use a consistent list of questions, then map out the answers - this will help you spot
common pain points and quick wins for L&D to add organisational value.

Use the Jobs To Be Done framework for better problem framing

A well-defined problem engages the person you’re asking to invest their time and
effort.

This framework captures it with clarity and gears people towards action and impact.

TRY THIS →

When I am ______ (Sets the context or moment when a problem arises.)

I want to ________ (Identifies the motivation in that moment of need.)
So I can ________ (Establishes the expected outcome.)

Bake impact into every experience using the Bullseye Framework

How do we get the right content, to the right people, in the right moment, to have the
right impact?

It begins with impact, right at the middle of the Learning Experience Bullseye!

What impact are you going to measure? Let’s say the sales team isn’t hitting targets.
The metric you’re aiming to move is the conversion rate.

By doing this first, measurement is embedded into your learning experiences. It’s not
an afterthought…

You work backwards to find the right moments and people, then finally you build or
buy the content geared towards all of this.

TRY THIS → DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE TEMPLATE OF THE LX BULLSEYE FRAMEWORK RIGHT HERE

8
The biggest challenge the
L&D industry faces today is
the urgent need to evolve
from being order takers to
transforming into Trusted
Learning Advisors.
We must be strategic
business partners
embedded in the business to
demonstrate our value,
relevance and expertise.
Evolve. Or else. The choice is
ours.
KEITH KEATING
→ CHIEF LEARNING OFFICER AND AUTHOR, THE TRUSTED LEARNING ADVISOR

9
Trend 2
People are struggling to
find information
“Nobody’s engaging with our

What the statistics say...

resources, there must be a problem
with the content.”

Or, maybe, you’ve got a discoverability

issue…

People can’t learn from what they can’t

find.

29% 56% 49%

Almost a third of employees More than half of employees Nearly half want to learn at
are waiting days or longer for have been unable to find the moment of need
vital information (Appspace). digital documents (Beezy). (LinkedIn).

➡️ Information gets scattered in multiple

How did we get here? places, making it hard to find when you
need it.
By not bringing the learning ecosystem
together
➡️➡️ If you can’t find it, you have to ask
and wait for a reply.
Learning happens in all sorts of places,
not just the ones ‘designed for learning’.
➡️➡️➡️ And if you have to wait, the
moment of need has passed by the time
you get it.
From podcasts to blog posts and
YouTube videos to our favourite LinkedIn
influencers. This is an all-too-common story that
builds friction into the search for
knowledge, damaging the perception of
And when you add in all the internal tools learning and the likelihood people will
and storage places, this happens: do it again.

11
By using too many tools that people don’t
exactly love
What are the biggest challenges
Employees are explicitly calling out this with companies’ workplace tools
pet peeve: and technologies. YoY?
‍ 7% of people “aren’t completely
6
satisfied with their company’s current
workplace tools and technologies,
2023
and they experience challenges with
available solutions.” (Appspace).
Not everyone in
No. 1 the company uses
35% think we should reduce the
number of apps and tools needed to
the same tools
and technologies
17%
do their work. (Appspace).

Just look at these numbers across the

page, the biggest employee challenges They don’t
No. 2 integrate well with
come from a lack of centralised tools and other tools and
a failure for those tools to integrate with technologies 16%
each other.

HowNow is the Employees aren’t happy with the

way learning tech at their organisations
should happen!
It’s revolutionised ‍ f people “aren’t
O
completely satisfied with
their company’s current
the way we share 67% workplace tools and
technologies (Appspace).
information and
has enabled
everyone to learn Think we should reduce the
number of apps and tools
thanks to multiple 35% needed to do their work
(Appspace).

integrations.
JADE POTGIETER Source: Appspace, 2023.

→ CAMPUS & LSG LEAD, JUMO

12
Recommendations

Map out your tools and tech stack

Visualising the user journey is crucial to understanding the tech stack!

Where do they go when they have problems? What barriers do they have? Where does
a lack of integration limit their ability to apply information?

It’ll also help you understand which tools still add value and which you might want to
ditch.

ASK THIS →
1. Does this help or matter?
2. And to who?

If you can’t answer those, it’s an indication that the tech is no longer fully fit for
purpose or the best bet for solving problems.

Remove hurdles and friction in the

ecosystem to centralise learning
The biggest change you can make here is a
mindset one.

You’re not trying to build an ecosystem from

scratch, you’re cultivating the existing
behaviour.

And you’re not dictating the tools people use,

you’re bringing the existing ones together.

If someone normally turns to place X for

guidance and needs to apply it in tool Y, the
task is to remove friction by bringing wisdom X
to tool Y.

13
Recommendations

Build a culture of knowledge capturing and sharing

Remember, a good number of people are asking questions and waiting days for
answers.

You can start solving this today!

Capture the answers to repeat questions, bring them to a central place and allow
people to search before they ask.

Your quickest win is to identify the questions that cause the most pain and the ones
that get asked the most.

Answer them and it snowballs. People see the value in capturing their knowledge and
others see the benefit of searching before they ask.

14
Trend 3
People don’t have enough
time to learn
Historians reckon the oldest example

What the statistics say...

of writing dates back to Ancient
Mesopotamia in 3400 B.C., and you
know what that clay tablet said?

People don’t have enough time to

learn.

Not really, but it might as well have...

The oldest barrier to learning is somehow There’s a chance to apply what we’ve
still making its way into research on L&D learned = application.
challenges.
If we apply it and it influences our
Alongside another classic, the lack of performance that = positive
learner engagement - topping CIPD’s list in reinforcement.
the 2023 Learning at Work report.
And it also increases the likelihood that
we’re influencing business goals.
Lack of learner time, engagement and
The trouble is, too many companies still
budget are seen as the main barriers for drag people out of the workflow to ‘learn’
L&D when supporting organisational and things that don’t seem immediately
relevant, and we won’t have a chance to
people goals put them into practice for a good while.

Barriers to supporting organisational and Putting content first and making learning feel
people goals (% of respondents) irrelevant drives lower engagement

Output doesn’t equal impact.

Lack of
42% learner time And sometimes, with the best intentions
in the world, L&D teams rush to create
Lack of
more content with this expectation.
41% engagement
The content gets put first and pushed out
to people - meaning they’re hit with stuff
that doesn’t feel immediately useful and
How did we get here? disrupts their day.

And because it’s not connected to work,

By treating learning as if it’s something separate it has no impact, leaving learners asking
themselves:
The best time and place for us to learn is
on the job, in the flow of work. We have a Why should I be engaged in learning? It’s
genuine problem to solve = motivation. not bringing me any value right now…

Source: CIPD, 2023 Learning at Work report

16
Recommendations

Bring learning to the flow of work

According to Linkedin Learning, 68% of people prefer to learn on the job, and almost
half want to learn in moments of need.

So, in theory, the solution is easy: bring relevant learning to people’s day-to-day roles
and tools..

In practice, that means figuring out where people go to learn and the barriers they face
when applying information to solve challenges.

So, if you skipped over trend two, scroll back to the recommendations there: it’s time
to map your tech stack and learner journey.

For example, we know that people turn to their colleagues on Slack or Teams in
moments of need.

And that they’re probably using tools like Intercom, Salesforce and others to perform
their role - this is where learning can really influence their performance.

That’s why we integrate with the tools people use everyday, so learning comes to the
flow of work without someone having to change their existing behaviours.

LEARN MORE → EXPLORE HOWNOW’S INTEGRATIONS HERE

One of the things that my team loves the most is

that learning is really at the point of need. It’s
really accessible. The Nuggets are fantastic, it
makes it really easy to remove barriers to creating
and distributing content.
HARRIET PERKS
→ LONDON ACADEMY AND ONBOARING LEAD, AND DIGITAL - AND HOWNOW CUSTOMER

17
Recommendations

Put skills and problems to be solved first, not content

Learning that truly has impact either:

Solves a problem for a person or team.

Plugs a skills gap to get us closer to goals.

When content is created for the sake of it or for a problem perceived by the L&D team,
this won’t happen.

At the risk of getting scroll heavy, head back to the recommendations for trend one:
starting with good problem diagnosis solves a lot of this for you.

When it comes to skills, you need to determine the ones needed to hit targets and the
ones you currently have. The gap between the two is where learning can drive
performance and impact.

HowNow helps people build skills profiles for every person in your team - on a five-
point proficiency scale - and use a mix of self and peer review to ensure it’s fair and
accurate.

Building an understanding of skills but also giving you the ability to connect learning to
performance and measure whether it influenced someone’s capabilities.

Check out our quick guide to our skill measuring features.

LEARN MORE → FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN MEASURE SKILLS

We’ve just launched HowNow at Lucid Group…

the information is where they need it, at the point
of need - integrating into Microsoft Teams as we
use it or any other collaboration tool.
HENRY LITCHFIELD
→ HEAD OF TALENT AND LEARNING, LUCID GROUP - AND HOWNOW CUSTOMER

18
Trend 4
L&D teams don’t know how
much they spend
 ROI: the elusive golden goose for L&D,

What the statistics say...

HR and people teams.

But how can you provide a return on

investment if you don’t know how
much you’re investing…

You’d be lucky to get a goose, let alone

a golden one.

46% of L&D pros “still do not have a

46% handle on how much they spend per
employee in the organisation.” (CIPD)

How did we get here? A quarter say their reliance on in-

house expertise has increased, which
is more difficult to put a price to.
The constantly-changing environment is Close to a third say their increased
affecting L&D clarity workload had a negative impact on
their physical and mental wellbeing -
It’s not exactly an easy time to be an L&D so it could be that they’re struggling.
pro. The world’s changing so fast, and
there’s so much that we can do, it’s hard Interestingly, people don’t fear a huge
to prioritise OR get clarity when you’re drop in spending - so we’re at a
crossroads: the budget won’t drop, but
spinning lots of plates. we’ve got to do more with it…
And that impacts the ability to track Despite all that, budgeting confidence remains
spend and budgets. high

53% feel their workload has Where the budget’s being spent is a
increased, so it might be that they’re puzzle, but there is certainty and
swamped! confidence around L&D’s spending
power.
Practitioners reported a decrease in
external suppliers, so that shift might The same CIPD report showed that 69%
be behind the lack of clarity. of respondents had seen their learning
and development budget increase or
stay the same (24% net increase and 45%

Source: CIPD, 2023 Learning at Work report

20
 69
stayed the same), while just 20% had
seen a decline, and the remaining 11%
were unsure. %
And LinkedIn research showed that 41%
expected to have more spending power,
lower than last year’s 48%, but the third-
highest response in the past seven years. of respondents had seen
their L&D budget increase
or stay the same

20 %
of respondents had seen
their L&D budget
decrease

One of the things

that the team loves
about HowNow is
that learning is
41 %
expected to have more
spending power (down
6% from last year)
exactly at the point
of need. It's really
accessible!
HARRIET PERKS
→ LONDON ACADEMY & ONBOARDING LEAD,
AND DIGITAL

Source: CIPD, 2023 Learning at Work report

21
Recommendations

Define what ROI means to you

Impact is what you define it as. And for L&D teams, that means establishing what a
return on investment means in the context of their business.

The expected outcome of any investment is the influence it has on performance.

We should be looking at performance improvement that happens off the back of

initiatives and the influence that has on teams and companies reaching their goals.

Remember to be specific: which internal metrics indicate our positive influence?

Audit your spending

If almost half of L&D pros don’t know what they’re spending per employee, a spending
audit has to be one of the first steps.

Get to the bottom of what you pay for on a per user basis and what you spend at a
company or team level. Then work out what that equates to for the individuals using
those tools or subscriptions.

Once we’re clear on spend we can ask ourselves: does this pay for itself in terms of the
benefit it brings? If so, it’s a ready-made business case. If not, ask the tough questions.

Build a commercial understanding of your business

Knowing how the business makes money will help you understand where L&D can
support the bottom line and build better alignment to profitability.

Don’t be afraid to ask people the financial implications of not solving a challenge. This
won’t just help you prioritise actions that have performance impact, it’ll increase the
likelihood of L&D making financial waves.

To do this well, you need to speak to stakeholders on their terms and about the issues
they face. Rather than leading with L&D and framing the conversation around that.

22
Trend 5
AI needs to be used more
intentionally to drive
impact
During the pandemic, L&D teams simply

What the statistics say...

moved their eight-hour classroom
training to Zoom. But they didn't
redesign them for the digital format, and
we ended up with Zoom fatigue.

We're currently using AI in a similar way

- doing the things we're already doing
rather than going back to first principles.

“AI’s been great for our L&D team! We’re

creating more content than ever before.” How did we get here?
Ok, but what if your people don’t need Getting caught up in the narrative and hype
more content?
AI-related L&D content is promising the
In fact, right now, their exact problem is world. More impact, work smarter, free
up time, build skills.
that we create too much content that
doesn’t solve problems. When a buzz gets this big, we get FOMO
of epic proportions, and end up diving
Now we’re just creating more of the stuff into using it because everyone else is.
that doesn’t work or help.
The trouble is, we don’t know why we’re
And that’s how easy it is to fall into the doing it! How is it meant to help us in the
trap of using AI because you can. context of what we do!?

Here’s why that happens…

The answer? Using AI in an intentional,
structured way that adds value. Neglecting the fundamentals in favour of the
shiny new thing

AI is a little bit like the fat burning pill you

buy when the rest of your diet is a mess.

Unless our L&D efforts involve good

problem discovery, remove friction,
influence performance and build the
skills we need, AI just scales our
problems.

And that ultimately damages your L&D

brand and reputation in the business,
reducing your long-term chances of
driving impact.

24
Recommendations

Understand the real business need and context

In conversations with a small group of learning leaders, Egle Vinauskaite discovered
that AI adoption in L&D is typically driven by the business and not the other way
around.

You can lead a horse to water, but they won’t drink if they’re not thirsty.

And it’s the same with AI. People won’t use it just because you bring it to their door, it
has to solve a problem - that’s the only way you can quench your thirst for AI impact.

Like so many things, it comes back to effective problem discovery and a rational,
practical approach to building a solution.

You don’t want to be the person with an AI hammer who views every L&D-related
problem as a nail.

Use first principles thinking to solve old problems in new AI

ways

During the pandemic, L&D teams simply moved their eight-hour classroom training to
Zoom. But they didn't redesign them for the digital format, and we ended up with
Zoom fatigue.

We're currently using AI in a similar way - doing the things we're already doing rather
than going back to first principles. This shift would allow us to explore the ways in
which AI can solve problems in ways that weren't possible before.

Our recommendation would be to use AI to solve the hard challenges that help us
make meaningful learning a part of everyday work.

For example, use AI to generate a skills framework tailored to your organisational

context. Surfacing the precise learning experience for the moment of need rather than
sending a whole list of courses.

25
Recommendations

Build the environment needed for L&D to flourish

Ever shown a person in a bad mood something

you’re really excited about?

Your enthusiasm meets a stony face that has no

interest in hearing about this great new idea.

Now imagine you’re taking a bunch of AI-

generated content to people who’ve lost their
interest in learning, don’t have the motivation or
quite simply can’t see the point?

You are putting the cart before the horse.

Are your people engaged? If not, why? And what

can that tell you about the cultural changes you
need to make before you even get to the point of
using AI…

26
Trend 6
A shift from hiring to
upskilling
In a world where there are six open roles

What the statistics say...

for every qualified person, the harsh truth is
you can’t fill every skill gap by hiring
external talent.

Winning the talent war isn’t all about

bringing in all the skills you need , it’s about
helping people build the skills that matter
in the shortest amount of time.

6 roles open for every qualified person competitive landscape where it’s hard to
recruit talent.

But the scale of vacancies companies

need to fill, and the sheer volume of
opportunities for each qualified person
(six) means hiring only gets us so far.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Companies who are capable of spotting
skills gaps and potential - and then
deliver relevant learning to upskill and
Hence the shift we’re seeing towards drive performance - they’re the ones
upskilling, internal mobility and looking who’ll thrive in this difficult time.
more at skills needed as opposed to job
roles to be filled.

Top 7 surging skills: workplace & HR

How did we get excellence

here?
Ranked by increase consumption

200

Focusing on the right HR and talent skills at the

wrong time 150

Udemy’s top seven surging skills for

workplace and human resources were
100
dominated by recruitment and hiring,
according to the 2023 Workplace
Learning Trends Report.
50

That means recruiting, hiring and talent

management content saw the highest
increase in consumption. 0
Recruiting Hiring Talent Mgmt

Of course, these are still useful skills in a Source: Udemy, 2023 Workplace Learning Trends Report

28
Short-termism in a world where sustainable
approaches are needed

The pressure is on L&D teams to provide

value and impact right now.

And that can cause us to focus on quick

wins and take actions we feel deliver
value fastest.

Yes we can bring in someone with the

skills we need now and hope they hit the
ground running…

But that person lacks contextual

knowledge around how the business
works.

If we resist that mindset, we might find

people internally who have the desire
and foundational skills to plug gaps for us
and are aligned to our goals.
You’ll get people
And in a volatile world, you’re better off
who don’t want to
having the skill of helping others build
skills that keep you and your company
say they’re
relevant. struggling with an
Rather than the skill of hiring to plug area, but with
gaps, because you never know when the
next big change or disruption is coming… HowNow, they
will search for
knowledge, find
the questions &
answers
themselves - and
then progress!
MARIA TEMPLE
→ TRAINING MANAGER, CHARLTON MORRIS

29
Recommendations

Adopt a skills-first approach

We spoke about the pitfalls of putting content first earlier. This is how you make
learning feel like an irrelevant interruption that leaves people feeling disconnected.

The skills-first approach changes everything. It starts with identifying skills gaps and
the demands people have for knowledge - to solve problems and drive performance.

This gets you out of the silo of just thinking about learning content and into the
mindset of: What can we pluck from the learning ecosystem to give people that
knowledge or skill?

It could be a YouTube video, capturing content from an SME, or curating something

that already exists. Because that learning is based around real problems, centralising it
means people can search and find it in moments of need.

And it also automatically shifts your view to performance-led metrics rather than vanity
metrics like time spent learning or completion.

Audit your current skills and build a company skills profile

Skills gaps, we’ve got to close them! You’ve probably heard this a million times…

The trouble is, it’s pretty hard to do when you don’t know which skills you have and
need.

Enter the skills profile.

The exercise of mapping which people have which skills and to which proficiency.

In HowNow, we do this on a scale of one to five (novice to expert) and use a

combination of peer and self review to build a better picture.

Combined with good problem discovery, which tells us which skills we’ll need, we’re
already on the path to meaningful learning.

We either have the skill and know the right person to connect them with, OR we need
to build the skill in order to reach the goal.

30
Trend 7
We need better career
paths and performance
conversations
What the statistics say...
What a sad state of affairs…

At a time when people really don’t

want to leave companies, most aren’t
giving them the biggest motivator to
stay.

‍Growth .

To meet the future of work, companies must

help employees to see a clear and fair path for
growth. What mattered most to
employees in 2023?
Just 9% of employees stated they were
vulnerable to poaching in 2023, down
from 22% in 2022, according to
Betterworks’ Global HR Research Report
2023.

When it came to what mattered to 35% 75%

employees, career goals and purpose
saw the biggest increase - jumping from
20% last year to 35% in 2023.
Career goals saw Three in four
the biggest employees said
And in case it wasn’t clear enough, three increase - jumping they would prefer
in four employees said they would prefer from 20% last year to advance at their
to advance at their current company. to 35% in 2023. current company.

So, what’s the problem?

A huge proportion of employees just

aren’t getting this box ticked:

Only 48% see a path for 48% 46%

advancement in their current
company.
And only 46% feel supported in their
career aspirations.
Only 48% see a Only 46% feel
path for progress supported in their
in their company. career aspirations.

Source: Betterworks, Global HR Research Report 2023

32
 The trouble is, too many employees just
How did we get here? don’t believe it works right now:

37% of workers said performance

Different priorities for a post-pandemic and management is an outright failure in
hybrid world their company.

First things first, there’s no foul play here 64% view their performance review
and it’s not like people teams have process as always or sometimes a
purposely neglected development. waste.

In fact, it’s actually that they’ve been And only 1 in 3 believe the process helps
them perform better.
supporting people’s wellbeing and work-
life balance. There’s also concern about how fair and
equitable the process is, and that has a
A recent survey of 1,000 UK employees direct influence on people’s
by Lattice and YouGov asked which productivity, engagement and feelings
benefits were provided by their of belonging.
employer. Topping the list were:

37
Flexible working policies: 47%
Access to mental health/wellness
support: 42%
Flexible personal time off: 37% %
Between the cost of living crisis, general said performance management is an
economic downturn and post-COVID outright failure in their company.
adjustments, this all makes sense.

The trouble is that it’s been at the

64
expense of benefits that satisfy those
cravings for growth and purpose:

Regular career growth conversations %

(at least once per quarter): 15%
view their performance review process
Clear career growth path: 13% as always or sometimes a waste.
Budget for professional
development: 11%

A performance management and review

13
process people don’t trust or value.

Performance management is about

gearing employees towards adding
%
maximum value, and the review process have a clear career growth path offered
should set the foundation for how we get by their employer.
there.

Source: Betterworks, Global HR Research Report 2023

33
Recommendations

Don’t just have more career conversations, do them better

If your career conversations and performance reviews aren’t tied to clear business and
development goals, doing more of them won’t help.

And if we’re not enabling people with the skill to understand where they want to be
and what gives them a sense of purpose, we’re not helping them get the most from
work.

In a fast-changing and complex world, you’re better off having a consistent and
repeatable process that’s geared towards purpose and performance.

5 UNIVERSAL QUESTIONS YOU CAN USE →

1. What does success look like for our team and company?
2. How does our employee contribute to that goal every day?
3. Which skills and knowledge would they need to do that?
4. Do they have it, and to what extent?
5. How are we measuring progress towards those skills and goals?

Enable your managers: they are the single person with the most
influence
Don’t you hate it when boring old cliches are right? 'People don’t leave companies,
they leave managers' is a true classic. But the data supports this!

More people say they like working for their manager (48%) than their company (39%).

And when you consider the influence leaders have on our career path, our
performance and our satisfaction, we should be investing in them.

6 AREAS MANAGERS WANT SUPPORT IN →

1. Coaching performance: 41%
2. Reviews, assessments and ratings: 40%
3. Helping employees develop skills and career paths: 38%
4. Setting and tracking goals: 34%
5. Giving feedback: 34%
6. Providing support and empathy to employees: 32%

Source: Betterworks, Global HR Research Report 2023

34
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