Training professionals are predicting increased demand across many fields of learning and development in the coming year.

Respondents to Training Trends 2004, of whom 72% were in management positions, picked out coaching and mentoring as the main growth area, with 77% saying their organisation planned to increase its use in the coming year.

E-learning was the second most popular area of predicted growth, with 73% expecting to see an increase in its use this coming year.

There were also signs that the predicted rise in self-directed learning is gathering steam, with 62% expecting this to increase in the next year.

But while newer forms of training may be gathering popularity, this does not seem to come at the expense of tutor-led development.

Sixty-one per cent of respondents said that they had not seen a decrease in this type of learning in the last year and 31% expected its use to increase over the next 12 months.

TrainingZONE user panel member and trainer Rob Sheffield said that the results indicated an increased focus on the individual.

"It's striking that the three areas set to increase most in usage, coaching/mentoring, e-learning & forms of self-study, are all focused on the individual," he said.

"The theme is one of increased tailoring to individual needs and reducing time away from the job."

He added that this trend could make evaluation a more difficult job. "It takes more effort to evaluate 10 people's personally tailored programmes than one for 10! It forces questions of where to allocate effort and how to prioritise evaluations."

* A full analysis of the Training Trends 2004 Survey is available from the TrainingZONE Library.

* For information on the outlook for learning and development in 2004 see Training Trends 2004: Attitudes To Training.