Last year proved to be a tough year for training professionals and businesses alike when it came to developing their people. Bersin & Associates latest studies reveal where companies spent their learning and development resources in 2009 in both the US and UK markets. For the US market in particular, some of the report highlights were:

 • learning and development spending dropped by 11%
 • average employee hours spent in formal training was 12 hours
 • average spend per employee was $714
 • percentage spend on leadership development rose to 24%
 • instructor-led training (ILT) dropped to 60% of all training hours
 • percentage of organizations using blogs and wikis for learning was 14%

Organizations experienced major changes in the way they delivered their learning and development programs. These included the rationalizing of training functions across the organization, more frequent use of online platforms and a greater focus on programs with higher strategic importance. Although companies tightened their belts, in all they are perhaps now better prepared to meet the challenges ahead.

Source: The Corporate Learning Factbook 2010, Bersin & Associates

Read the full review of Learning and Development Practices and a comparison with the UK market at http://www.businessperform.com/blog/2010/07/05/learning-development-practices-120.html