What does this new year have in store for busy learning and development folk? With a hefty dash of expert advice and a crystal ball (most likely a repurposed snow globe), we endeavour to take a glimpse into the near future. We have asked our most popular writers of 2024 to give us their expert predictions for learning and development in 2025.
Here, they share what they believe will be crucial areas for L&D in the months to come – the risks, the opportunities, the shifting approaches – and where L&D professionals might best invest their time…
Prediction one: People will seek to overcome division and reconnect with each other
Anna Shields, Director, Consensio
Although 2024 was a year of increased division – both in the workplace and the wider world – we anticipate that 2025 will see a response to that, with people actively seeking to reconnect and rebuild relationships.
In 2024, the elections in UK and US fuelled polarisation, and trust in government and media also declined. These trends were also evident in workplaces, with increased conflict and more employees resorting to formal procedures to address issues, rather than communicating with one another.
So 2025 will be a year of great opportunity: for more employers to listen to what employees are saying, and to democratise essential skills in conflict navigation and relationship building.
Prediction two: We will witness the end of ‘soft-skills’ in 2025
Robin Hoyle, Head of Learning Innovation, Huthwaite International
Before everyone gets cross with me, I am not suggesting the end of all those learning initiatives focused on improving communications, coaching, collaboration and teamwork. It’s just that I think these are hard skills not ‘soft’. We know that true listening or tackling difficult conversations, for example, involve proven capabilities, skills and strategies rooted in research and evidence. These are high-impact behaviours that deliver real value. So why do we undermine them by referring to these vital capabilities as ‘soft skills’?
There is another factor here. There are some purveyors of soft skills programmes who are not using research, or evidence-based approaches. They have latched on to some pop-psychology – often widely discredited by those with backgrounds and training in behavioural science. If the demise of the term ‘soft-skills’ also reduces the influence of these woolly ideas, then so much the better.
Prediction three: Despite providers releasing a market-wide tsunami of AI features and functionality in 2025, real adoption in corporate learning will be at a trickle rather than a biblical flood. And that’s a good thing.
David Perring, Chief Insights Officer of Fosway Group
Expectations for the impact of AI are reaching stratospheric levels, but the reality is that the big promises for learning are largely vapourware.
I can guarantee there will be a tsunami of AI-focused process and features enhancements in 2025. But corporate progress will be slow, and the ‘game-changing’ tipping points for AI in learning won’t be reached. There will be niche gains, but no industry-wide learning revolution sweeping away the past. Not just yet – anyway.
So, what should you do in 2025? Think strategically – but act tactically to deliver real value now. This is not a race for you to be first. It’s a race to make yourselves more valuable.
Prediction four: Leadership development will shift from leaders to systems
Dani Bacon and Garin Rouch, Consultants at Business Distinction Consulting
The most forward-thinking organisations will recognise that leadership development isn’t just about individual leaders but the ecosystems surrounding them. Progressive approaches in 2025 will therefore embrace systemic development.
Rather than relying on isolated courses this approach will include group coaching for leaders and their teams, plus working together in real-time on organisational challenges. This systemic development approach would also optimise leadership environments by tackling unmanageable workloads and creating an organisational climate that makes it safe to experiment.
This shift acknowledges that leadership doesn’t happen in isolation; it’s shaped by relationships, culture, and context.
Prediction five: Deep listening will be the most important skill to equip ALL employees with
Jackie Clifford, Director of Clarity Learning and Development
Deep listening is not just useful for resolving conflict. In our workplaces and our home offices, we are surrounded by noise – whether that be physical noise that rings in our ears or the metaphorical noise created by never-ending to-do lists, emails and instant messages.
To become more productive and effective at work, we will all need to learn to focus on the core messages coming through and respond to them accordingly. Deep listening creates understanding, understanding leads to connection and connection results in collaboration. By equipping employees with the skills to listen deeply and attentively, teams will work better and more sustainably together with the ability to identify what is important, not just what is urgent.
Prediction six: Skills-based learning will both fast-track priorities and tackle common painpoints for L&D
David James, L&D expert and Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning
In 2025 we'll see skills-based learning address and accelerate many of the priorities and deficiencies of L&D in recent years. It willl help L&D professionals to produce hyper-personaised learning with the help of AI skills mapping, detailed data on specific roles and gaps between detailed proficiency levels, accurate performance assessment data and AI creation tools.
This will deliver on the 'just-in-time, just-enough and just-for-me' mantra. This will, in turn, help address the engagement issue (or lack of) in L&D, and we'll finally achieve predictable and reliable impact.
Prediction seven: L&D departments that lack an organisation-wide AI strategy will be pushed to the margins
Nigel Piane, L&D heavyweight and cohost of Learning Now TV
There will be a huge differentiation between the L&D operations that use Gen AI to increase their own efficiency and those that use Gen AI to transform their organisation.
AI is beginning to deliver massive productivity gains across the whole workflow, and an engaged L&D operation can speed that up, share the learning and establish the right tone, ethical framework and standards. However, if L&D looks inwardly at its own learning needs using Gen AI, it will miss a significant opportunity for transformation. Those who do not take that holistic approach are in danger of being permanently pushed to the margins.
Prediction eight: Accountability will shift from individuals to systems
Matt Somers, Founder & Managing Partner, Matt Somers - Coaching Skills Training
In 2025, organisations will increasingly recognise that fostering accountability isn’t about identifying culprits – it’s about designing systems that enable success. The conversation will move from “Who is to blame?” to “What in our culture, processes, or systems allowed this to happen?”
This shift will empower L&D teams to lead initiatives focused on developing psychological safety, refining feedback conversations, and equipping leaders to address systemic issues rather than pointing fingers. This will result in shaping a workplace culture where mistakes are embraced as learning opportunities and so drive innovation and trust.
Prediction nine: Skills England will make changes, but not anything revolutionary in 2025
Erica Farmer, Digital Learning & Apprenticeship Expert of Quantum Rise Talent Group Ltd
The new body set up by the Labour government in 2024, which is amalgamating various departments looking after apprenticeships, bootcamps and qualifications, is still getting its metaphorical house in order.
Many providers, colleges, and levy paying heads of L&D are sat waiting for a magic wand to be waved over what is the apprenticeship levy. This is with the hope of unlocking funding for shorter courses and management and leadership development, thus taking the burden from internal budgets.
But required change and innovation will come slower than hoped and the anticipated ‘growth and skills levy’ will continue to fund longer-term skills programmes, in addition to zoning in on future skills such as digital, AI and data.
Prediction 10: Those able to anticipate continual change will be better equipped to take advantage of it
Laura Overton, Founder, of Learning Changemakers,
Predictions imply certainty in an uncertain world. They rely on data from the past to help us reliably plan for the future. To be useful, predictions really only work in a relatively stable world. One that we do not have.
Instead of trying to predict the future, let’s be intentional about surfacing our anticipations so that we can be ready to take action. If we anticipate ‘learners’ will not engage or have time for learning because of disruption, we might look for more ways to be useful and relevant. If we anticipate that our work can contribute to improving performance in a new context, we may look for new ways to make a difference. If we anticipate how different conversations will help us make sense of our changing workplace, we should take advantage of every opportunity to connect and engage.
Prediction 11: 2025 will prove a crucible for DEI, testing organisational integrity
Lior Locher and Dr Christy Allen, Learning consultants at NIIT
Our prediction is three-fold.
Under pressure: There is compression from all sides – political headwinds, legal challenges, and vocal opposition. Those serious about inclusion will use this to reshape outdated systems, ensure training and initiatives are evidence-based, and find new ways to strengthen equitable practices. We predict that the increased focus on skills-based approaches may offer one of the paths forward.
Heat Rising: Leaders will face unprecedented temperatures as anti-DEI challenges steepen, particularly in North America, and increasingly elsewhere. We predict that those with integrity will reframe rather than retreat, finding new ways to articulate their commitment.
Refinement: While some organisations are already buckling under the pressure, our hope is that others will emerge stronger. We predict they will do so through building coalitions with other committed organisations – the ones who recognise DEI isn't just about surface-level representation. It's about fundamentally transforming how we identify, develop, and empower talent for the benefit of all.
That’s a wrap for TrainingZone’s expert predictions for learning and development in 2025.
Of course, no one can accurately predict the future but it’s an interesting exercise of forward reflection. What do these forecasts say about the L&D profession this year? And how will you prepare and equip yourself?
