A LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT EXPERT CAN HELP YOU UNLOCK THE FUTURE OF TRAINING, OD AND PROFESSIONAL GROWTH

Shh, don’t tell: A learning and development expert is a professional who specializes in strategizing, designing, and implementing training programs and initiatives aimed at improving employee skills, capabilities, and performance. And in 2024 and 2025, top professional consulting, education and training providers are poised for explosive growth. Odds are, the uptick in interest around learning and development expert providers has a lot to do with the many new future of work developments, technology trends and shifts in the workplace that we’re all seeing, we’d wager.

But perhaps you’re not familiar with sorts of assignments and type of work that leading pros in the space tend to perform. In that case, it seems a little explanation would be in order, right? For that reason, let’s start by saying that typical responsibilities of a learning and development expert include:

• Assessing organizational and individual learning needs through techniques like skills gap analyses, surveys, interviews, and focus groups
• Identifying priorities for employee development in alignment with broader talent management objectives and business goals
• Designing and conceptualizing training curriculum, programs, and interventions using insights into adult learning theories and instructional design best practices
• Developing educational content and materials for diverse training delivery methods including in-person workshops, eCourses, webinars, microlearning, and more
• Incorporating multimedia, storytelling, gamification and other engaging techniques as a learning and development expert into learning experiences
• Evaluating program effectiveness through Kirkpatrick’s training evaluation model and other feedback mechanisms
• Providing guidance to subject matter experts on translating technical knowledge into learning modules
• Staying updated on the latest innovations that learning and development experts suggest in training best practices, technologies, and applications

Make sense? We hope it gives a better idea of the type of training and education provider. One might further argue that the best learning and development expert consulting firms leverage their expertise in change management, communication, project management and strategy to not just create standalone training programs but to also influence the broader learning culture. Our top picks here act as strategic partners to implement learning initiatives that ultimately enhance individual employee and organizational performance.