Kallidus conducted an independent online survey in January 2020 amongst 1,012 UK employees to understand what learners really think about workplace learning and how L&D can be improved in the next decade. "The Next Decade in Learning" report explores learning trends by age, job role, and size of organisation and is the most comprehensive UK survey of its kind.

Rob Caul, CEO of Kallidus, said, "Over the next ten years, learners want greater control over their learning and the tools to be able to develop the skills they need, when they need them, to be their best. By 2025, millennials will make up three quarters of the workforce. Our survey shows that L&D must satisfy an increasing thirst for technology enabled learning, while adopting an agile approach to the needs of the individual learner by enabling greater personalisation and creating a culture of continuous learning to retain talent and maximise performance. The age of people-first learning has arrived, with technology enabling an 'always on' learning culture."

With 62% of learners asking for more personalisation, 78% said they expect to see more choice of learning covering more formats and more courses in the next decade, while 76% want more ownership over what and when they learn.

Learners want L&D to help foster an "always on" continuous learning experience with more bite-sized mobile learning that can be fitted seamlessly into their workflow. Some 49% of the learner population surveyed would like learning to become more social and collaborative; 46% want to see more mobile learning; 45% want shorter sessions; and 41% would like video to become the norm in learning. Emerging learning techniques are set to increase in popularity, with 40% of learners wanting VR/AR and AI to become a key part of learning, while over a third (37%) of learners would like more gamified learning.

The survey revealed that usability and mobile access is a key factor for L&D success, with 83% of learners wanting their organisation to "make it easier for them to learn on any device, anywhere, anytime."

The survey explored which training topics and learning techniques people are currently using and which they find the most effective:

• More people surveyed (54%) have taken personal development training than any other subject in the past 12 months, reflecting the rise of self-focused millennials
• Compliance training is the second common training topic (undertaken by 49% of learners)
• On-the-job training is the most commonly used learning technique (used by 91% of employees), followed by eLearning (82%), coaching (77%), and classroom (70%)
• On-the-job training is the most effective learning technique (cited by 77% of learners) followed by coaching (55%), classroom (54%), and eLearning (51%)
• Nearly half (49%) of learners are now using mobile learning

The survey looked at how different learning technologies are viewed by the different demographics in the workplace:

• As expected, millennials are the most prolific users of technology enabled learning: 67% use social learning, 62% microlearning, 58% mobile learning, 47% games, and 44% VR
• Gen Z are 13% less likely to use mobile learning than millennials
• Business leaders undertake more learning than anybody else in the workforce and use the largest variety of training techniques. About 45% spend six or more days on learning
• Business leaders are three times more likely to use games and VR than non-managerial staff

Philip Pyle, Chief Revenue Officer concluded, "We commissioned this survey because learner experience is a key area of focus for Kallidus. We wanted to uncover the truth about what is really working for learners today and what they would like to see more of in the future. What is clear is that as workplace demographics continue to shift, workplace learning needs to shift as well. Personalised, continuous learning is a way to show employees they are worth investing in and is crucial to driving engagement and performance."