It’s been quite a year in the training industry, with people skills taking center stage. Improving communication and operating with purpose, humility and intention have been key focus areas this past year. Developing leaders who can navigate the complexities of the market and cascade strategy throughout the business have been integral to organizational effectiveness.

Learning and development professionals have been busy managing the demands of today’s learners while quantifying their training investment to show business value. From increasing knowledge retention to applying new skills on the job, learning leaders are embracing a performance-based mindset for evaluating training outcomes and bidding farewell to passive learning objectives.

These themes were among those reflected in the top articles and blogs published on TrainingIndustry.com and in Training Industry Magazine, with authors and business experts from around the world sharing thoughts and ideas with readers. Let’s take a moment to pause and reflect on those insights and inspirations by reviewing some of the most-read content of 2018. They are listed in no particular order.

Here are the Top 10 articles and blogs of 2018 from TrainingIndustry.com:

• Enhancing On-the-Job Training: From a Checklist to a Performance Evaluation Form
• Goodbye Learning Objectives, Hello Performance-Based Descriptions
• 4 Factors That Enhance Leaders’ Ability to Influence
• Amid a Retention Crisis, Return to the Basics by Investing in Your People
• The Use of Technology in Training: Pros and Cons
• At the Cusp of Transformation: Outsourcing as an Accelerator for L&D
• Effective Leadership Communication Creates Effective Teams
• Humility, Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness
• Quantifying the Investment in Learning
• AI in Corporate Learning and Development: It’s Here

Here are the Top 10 articles of 2018 from Training Industry Magazine:

• Managing the Demands of Today’s Consumer Learner
• Facing Business Disruption? Disrupt Your Learning!
• Improving Team Effectiveness through Servant Leadership
• Reimagining the World of Corporate Learning in a Virtual Environment
• The Manager’s Role in Reinforcing Learning
• The Cornerstone of Great Leadership: Becoming Purposeful
• Brain-Based Learning Principles for Maximum Retention in the Virtual Classroom
• Using Development Maps to Align and Unlock Performance
• Strategic Alignment Journey: The Secret to Cascading Strategy
• When Expertise Isn’t Enough: Equipping Subject Matter Experts With Communication Skills

As we move into a new year, stay tuned for ongoing resources published on TrainingIndustry.com and in Training Industry Magazine. If you haven’t already done so, please review our “Key Trends for 2019” report to assist with planning your training strategy for the coming year. And as always, please feel free to reach out to our editorial team and share what’s most important to you.