An employee closes their LMS tab to get back to a deadline. This is exactly the tension the latest ATD report sponsored by Zensai highlights. The report shows that the availability of learning time remains a persistent challenge for L&D teams and employee learners. But is assigning more training time really the answer?
In ATD’s report, Creating a Culture of Learning: Strategies to Nurture a Thriving Workforce, they found that 46% of Talent Development (TD) professionals reported lack of time as a major challenge when building a culture of learning, and that 66% of learners want more training time. And yet, 62% of organizations already provide employees with dedicated learning hours.
In fact, these organizations offered a median of 40 learning hours per employee. That equates to a full work week of learning time per year, which sounds pretty generous. But if that’s the case, why do so many employees and TD professionals feel it isn’t enough?
Why giving your employees more training hours won’t work
Here’s what typically happens when you receive dedicated learning time. A lot of employers still use separate systems for learning and performance management, as well as the virtual spaces where work actually gets done. So, dedicated learning time usually means leaving your established workflow and accessing isolated learning software.
Next, you’ll access a library of course content. Unless you’ve built a library of role-specific courses, this is most likely to be generic. Once you’ve finished, you’ll submit your completion and go back to work. Since the learning system is isolated from performance management, it won’t feed into reviews or goal updates unless someone adds it manually.
As a result, your manager won’t see its impact, which makes your efforts feel disconnected and low-value. That’s one of the main reasons training can end up feeling like an obligation instead of an opportunity.
Simply assigning more training time wouldn’t fix this issue, since the lack of visibility wouldn’t change. That leaves two questions: how do you make training more impactful, and how do you make that impact visible?
Keep training content relevant to your people
Let’s start with impact, since there’s not much point in making training more visible if it’s not already having an impact behind the scenes. ATD’s report found that 75% of organizations reward or otherwise recognize learning efforts, while 82% consider it in performance reviews.
But if the learning itself doesn’t connect to an employee’s specific responsibilities or development goals, it’s going to feel hollow. Moving away from generic content libraries and embracing role-specific courses makes the difference.
That said, some courses will still apply to everyone (like basic compliance training, for example). Training has more impact when it directly applies to day‑to‑day work. When learning connects to the work someone is doing, it stops competing for time. And when training is relevant to individuals, you’ll find they don’t need to be convinced to use it. They also won’t need more training hours to make sure it sticks.
To answer the second question, another way to keep training relevant is to assign learning objectives alongside performance goals. That way, learning starts to show up in performance conversations. As a result, employees get relevant milestones that will make recognition for learning feel more meaningful.
How microlearning in the flow of work beats more training
ATD’s report recommends that learners block off sections of dedicated learning time. While this can be useful, it falls back into the trap of trying to fix gaps in your learning culture with more training.
Fortunately, ATD addresses this too. For learners with “packed schedules,” they recommend short, frequent microlearning sessions as an alternative. Microlearning is more effective because it fits into daily work, rather than competing with it. Blocking out large chunks of time for training will inevitably throw off the flow of work.
So, instead of carving out a half-day block that disrupts deadlines, have learning show up where people already work. It could be a five-minute module between Teams meetings, or development referenced in a regular check-in with a manager, a course surfaced in SharePoint while gathering project resources, or a learning recommendation tied to a goal they’re already working toward. If your LMS can deliver learning in the Microsoft 365 apps people already use, those 40 hours start to fit into the natural rhythm of work.
Supplement training courses with informal learning
The report found that organizations are already using informal learning in a number of ways:
- Mentorships (68%)
- Lunch and learns (50%)
- Job shadowing (50%)
- Peer-to-peer learning (49%)
- Peer coaching (46%)
- Development days (42%)
- Rotational training (37%)
- Communities of practice (33%)
- Stretch assignments (30%)
These approaches are easier to embed into daily work than formal courses, and they don’t require adding more training time. Mentoring conversations can feed into an established development plan. Peer coaching can address skill gaps identified during performance reviews.
Similarly, rotational training and development days can show up through specific questions in a regular employee check-in. And any form of peer support or mentorship stands to benefit both parties, which makes it doubly likely to surface in performance conversations.
After all, formality isn’t a prerequisite for training to “count.” Any learning, no matter how informal, has real impact when it’s connected to your performance management processes.
Forget giving more training. Is what you have good enough?
As ATD’s findings show, most organizations aren’t short on learning time. But the stats can give the impression that adding more hours is the answer.
The fact is that most organizations already allocate a significant amount of learning time per person. When you connect learning to specific roles and performance conversations, 40 hours is more than enough. If it wasn’t, even 400 wouldn’t change anything.
So, the important question is this: does the training you give feel relevant, connected, accessible in the flow of work, and most of all, worth it?
For a deeper look at how organizations are building learning cultures that actually stick, explore the full ATD report, Creating a Culture of Learning: Strategies to Nurture a Thriving Workforce.
