Are you looking for more information on ASTD's recent research without reading the full report?  We have now made executive summaries of our recent reports available for download free of charge.  Each summary contains a high-level overview of the key findings from the related report.  A listing of our recent reports and the links for the executive summaries can be found at http://www.astd.org/content/research/researchReports/.

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ASTD is currently collecting data for our 2009 State of the Industry Report - the most sought after research in the industry of learning and performance. We have extended the deadline for participation this year to June 22, 2009.  All organizations that submit their learning and performance data by the deadline will receive a complimentary pre-release electronic copy of the report. Please consider entering your data as soon as possible so your organization can help set the standard for the industry and benchmark against other companies.

ASTD collects State of the Industry Report data through our WLP Scorecard - an online benchmarking tool that allows organizations to compare and benchmark against hundreds of other organizations in our database.  For more information on the WLP Scorecard, you may visit the WLP Scorecard or view a recorded webinar overview of the Scorecard and data submission.

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Categories: Research

If you are attending this year's International Conference & Exposition in Washington DC next week, come and join ASTD Research as we present on some of our recent reports and findings.  We will be conducting 4 concurrent sessions during the conference, as well as a poster session highlighting some of our current research offerings.  Details are below:

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Recent data on sales training practices reveal that that the highest priorities in sales training are teaching employees how to sell and teaching them about what they’re selling. To achieve a more detailed picture of how sales training hours are being allocated as well as the methods used to deliver it, the research study examined the relative importance organizations place in addressing sales training in terms of the “mix” of five different categories of sales training: selling skills, product training, industry training, company-specific training and sales management. More...

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In 2008, ASTD partnered with Dale Carnegie Training and the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) to evaluate employee engagement.  The study found that engaged workers were willing to contribute more to work efforts, typically beyond their ordinary job parameters. In this respect, it seems that respondents to the survey are associating engagement with a willingness to “go the extra mile” in the workplace. This is an interesting finding because it places the idea of effort or work ethic at the pinnacle of what it means to be engaged. The next most highly rated indicators of engagement are linked to the organizational image that workers present to the outside world. More...

Tags: employee engagement, learning's role in employee engagement, work ethic

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In 2008, ASTD partnered  with the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) to better understand the corporate learning challenges in today’s workforce due to globalization. In today’s increasingly complex marketplace there is an ever present need to think globally. Understanding the role of learning in the newly interconnected global market was a driving force in the creation of this research study. ASTD and i4cp conducted a survey of 397 learning professionals exploring the factors influencing learning’s role in a globally dispersed workforce. More...

Tags: learnings role in globally dispersed workforces, importance of globally dispersed workforce, global learning initiatives

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An organization’s ability to integrate and manage talent effectively has never been more essential than in today’s volatile business market. Unfortunately, for many organizations simply defining talent management is difficult. Previous research on talent management rarely underlies a common agreed-upon definition, leading ASTD/i4cp to conduct a study on Talent Management Practices and Opportunities.

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In 2008, ASTD partnered with the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) to help organizations better understand how to tap into informal learning. For the purposes of this study, informal learning is defined as a learning activity that is not easily recognizable as formal training and performance support. Generally speaking, it takes place without a conventional instructor and is employee-controlled in terms of breadth, depth, and timing. It does not include activities such as organized classes, workshops, and conventional job aids.

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The 2008 State of the Industry Report showed a continuation of rising trends in amounts of learning consumed per employee and average reuse ratio - the ratio of consumption to availablity of learning content. The amount of learning content consumed by each employee on average was on the upswing for the consolidated set of organizations. In 2007, the average number of learning hours used was 37.4, up from 35.1 in 2006. Employees in ASTD Benchmarking Forum organizations used an average of 43.0 learning hours in 2007. For the second consecutive year, the average number of learning hours used among ASTD BEST Award winners displayed a minor gain, rising from 44.3 hours in 2006 to 44.7 hours in 2007. These gains in the amount of content consumed suggest that business leaders expect the average professional to incorporate many learning activities into his or her annual schedule.

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Tags: state of the industry report, learning hours per employee, learning content reuse ratio

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Executive development is a multi-billion dollar business endeavor and a critical component to an organization’s long term growth and survival. Organizations invest significant resources to develop today’s leaders into tomorrow’s executives, often with little information on what other organizations have found to be successful (or unsuccessful). A new study by ASTD, sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton, examined how organizations handle executive development, how much they spend on the programs, who is involved, how are the participants selected, what makes these programs most effective, success stories and lessons learned. 

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Categories: Research