Training Trends 2022

City & Guilds’ research finds that despite continued investment into tailored in-house training programmes, many are failing or falling short of achieving their objectives with 99% of employers seeing a programme fail in the last five years.

03 November 2022

New research surveying 600 L&D and HR professionals found that despite employers’ best intentions, training programmes are often falling short of expectation, largely due to a lack of effective planning and evaluation.  

The key insights include;

• Tailored training is on the rise
  65% of organisations opt for tailor-made in-house training over off-the-shelf programmes, to support bespoke skills needs for their business 
• Employers are investing heavily in L&D
  96% of organisations expect their training budgets to remain the same or increase in the next financial year.
• Training failure is very high
  99% of large employers have experienced the failure of in-house training programmes in the last five years.
• A real opportunity to recognise skills and achievements
  71% of employers are not providing their employees with externally recognised certification on their in-house training.

The research showed that employers are investing heavily in learning and development (L&D) to help them attract and retain talent, which reflects current economic trends and the state of the labour market. Staff retention is especially important as the cost of recruiting a new member of staff can be as much as £22k. 

Despite the cost-of-living crisis that’s affecting many businesses, 96% of respondents expected their training budgets to either remain the same or increase in the next financial year. This provides a strong signal that an increasing number of large employers are recognising the fact that it is more cost effective to invest in training and retain staff, rather than risk losing staff and then having to re-recruit.

When it comes to delivering L&D programmes, the majority of employers surveyed carry out in-house training (88%). Of these, 65% design and deliver bespoke training in-house to support technical and role-specific skills.

These figures confirm the top priority for employers is to ensure that people are suitably trained to do the technical aspects of their job, rather than broader or soft skills, highlighting the importance of flexible and customised solutions. 

David Phillips, Managing Director of City & Guilds said, 

“While there is clearly a place for off-the shelf training and qualifications, there continues to be an increased demand for bespoke training. Large employers are investing in L&D to remain competitive and drive growth in challenging market conditions. Although it’s positive to see this consistent investment, employers need to consider strengthening their L&D offer and building in more evaluation that effectively quantifies the return on investment for training. Recognising achievement through certification could also be key in attracting and retaining talent.”

Download the full report

Methodology

For the research, City & Guilds commissioned Censuswide to survey 600 HR and L&D leaders in large organisations with global operations across 12 sectors including Engineering, Construction, Rail, Manufacturing, Consulting, Hospitality, Retail, IT, Telecoms, Financial Services, Transport and Logistics. Fieldwork took place from 16 August to 30 August 2022.

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