L&D leaders keep coming back to the same basic questions. How do we improve our training outcomes? How do learners experience our L&D programs? How do we know if our training is even working?
ATD Research’s latest report helps answer these questions. Sponsored by Insights, the report surveyed hundreds of talent development (TD) professionals and learners to identify what works best. Another key avenue of research was how the growing array of delivery options and modalities shapes learning design.
The findings highlight five pillars critical to creating effective learning experiences. Here, we explore each pillar, drawing out the trends and insights you need to know to focus your design decisions.
1. Credibility builds trust
When learners trust training, they are more likely to engage fully and apply new skills. The reverse is also true: learners disengage when they perceive training as lacking credibility.
But what makes one program more credible than another? Survey results show that credibility rises when training is led by someone learners respect and when content is current, clear and relevant to their role. At the same time, about half of learners say the training method itself affects how much they trust the learning process.
Notably, nearly 60% of learners consider live instructor-led classroom sessions the most trustworthy, whereas only 8% put the most trust in pre-recorded e-learning. In other words, face-to-face human facilitation inspires the greatest confidence.
2. Psychological safety unlocks deeper learning
People learn more deeply when they feel psychologically safe, enabling them to ask questions, admit confusion and offer different viewpoints.
Here again, the learning modality makes a difference. More than half of learners (57%) and TD professionals (58%) said the mode of training influences how psychologically safe learners feel. Human-facilitated sessions, especially in-person, tend to create the highest comfort. Roughly four out of five learners say they feel comfortable asking questions and admitting “I don’t get it” in a traditional classroom setting. By contrast, asynchronous digital courses lag significantly in fostering openness.
To unlock safe learning, facilitators should normalize questions and mistakes, whether in person or online. By designing for psychological safety, such as setting ground rules for respectful discussion and modeling curiosity, organizations invite more candid dialogue and deeper understanding.
3. Learner engagement comes from interaction and practice
Hands-on practice and social interaction are consistently shown to boost attention and retention. In ATD’s research, 89% of learners prefer doing hands-on activities during training, and large majorities enjoy interacting with peers and having discussions about the topic.
This tracks with the finding that motivation is higher in live settings: about two-thirds of learners and TD professionals say the delivery mode influences learners’ motivation to learn. In fact, half of organizations reported that human-facilitated learning motivates employees “a great deal,” compared to only 16% saying the same for purely digital learning.
By shifting learners from observers to participants, we tap into higher engagement levels that improve both learning outcomes and enjoyment of the experience.
4. Learners expect personalization
Your teams increasingly expect learning tailored to their goals and roles. ATD’s findings illustrate this clearly: nearly two-thirds of learners say personalized learning is important to them, and over 80% of executive-level respondents rate training personalization as extremely important.
Learners crave some agency in their development; for instance, 59% want the ability to choose their learning activities rather than follow a one-size-fits-all program. Many organizations are responding, but mostly through human-centered methods. About 60% of organizations reported personalizing instructor-led training to a great or large extent, whereas only 32% do so for digital learning.
This gap suggests significant room to expand adaptive learning technologies and curated learning paths in the digital space.AI may provide an answer, with the right blend of technology enabling personalization at scale.
5. Measure learning impact by behavior change
Impactful learning shows up in behavior and business outcomes, and measurement approaches are evolving to reflect this. Completion and attendance data are still useful basics, but they rarely tell the whole story.
ATD’s research found that 68% of TD professionals say it’s extremely important to track completion rates for digital learning. Over half of organizations reported collecting post-training behavior data for programs that involve human facilitation, with fewer doing so for self-paced e-learning. High-performing L&D functions are pushing further, focusing on outcomes and behavior shifts as key metrics.
To live up to this pillar, L&D leaders should partner with HR and business units to gather data on how training influences on-the-job actions. They should also evaluate results against business KPIs. By measuring what people apply and how that translates into organizational outcomes, we move beyond learning for learning’s sake and demonstrate true value. This approach helps prove ROI and show which learning designs drive change.
Improve learning effectiveness for your programs
Whether programs are in-person, virtual, or blended, the ATD Research report reveals that learning effectiveness is governed by a few consistent principles.
Human facilitation, for instance, does much of the heavy lifting, elevating credibility and ensuring participants feel safe, are engaged and interact with content and their peers. At the same time, workplace training must be personalized and have outcomes aligned with measurable behavioral change.
As organizations continue to evolve and expand their training libraries, the key is finding the right balance between modalities, technology and human connection.
If you’re looking to achieve this balance, the full ATD Research report is worth your time. It goes deeper into the data and the patterns across learner and TD perspectives.
How Insights can help
At Insights, we offer a people development framework trusted by thousands of organizations worldwide, including 48% of the Fortune 500.
Insights Discovery is built around a simple yet powerful, easy-to-remember four-color model that helps people understand themselves and others. By giving teams a shared, non-judgmental language, our framework ensures peer discussion is safe and constructive.
Insights Discovery also empowers human-led facilitation by giving trainers a clear view of each individual’s work and communication preferences, including their strengths and development areas. Trainers can more easily personalize training and engage in learning that feels human and relevant.
As Insights Discovery focuses on observable behaviors such as leadership habits and collaboration, it also gives L&D teams a clear way to track behavior change.
