The pace of technology is evolving faster and faster … it feels almost impossible to keep up. Talk of artificial intelligence has dominated our news feeds in recent months, both inspiring us and downright scaring us. But learning leaders have always needed to select the right technology for their training programs — deciphering fad from trend — and today is no different.

While technology will continue to grow more sophisticated and help organizations improve their business operations, leaders must stay grounded and focused on their mission and goals. The company’s goals and values should guide all decision-making across the business, including learning and development (L&D). And while leaders must remain vigilant and monitor industry trends, they must also ensure their decisions are based on the needs of the business. And that starts with strategic alignment.

For L&D, learning leaders must ensure their training programs are strategically aligned to the goals of the business or risk deploying programs that have little to no business value. Training programs must enable employee performance; to do this, learning leaders must cultivate a performance-first mindset.

The cover story in this issue of Training Industry Magazine examines the need to support learners throughout the learning journey to sustain training. As we all know, one-and-done training does not work, and it should not be a part of our learning strategy. Learning leaders must shift their mindset from creating training first to supporting employee performance first. This requires creating a learning strategy that begins in the workflow — where the real work happens.

This edition addresses a variety of topics to enable a better learning experience for employees — from redefining the learning ecosystem to bridging the digital skills gap to creating more effective leaders to leveraging the power of peer-to-peer learning. Our columnists in this issue offer their expert insights on the changing nature of work and how learning leaders can truly lead change in their organizations.

It’s an exciting time for L&D. The possibilities of creating learning experiences that add value to the organization are limitless thanks to emerging technologies and dedication from learning leaders like you.

As always, we love to hear from our readers, so please reach out to our team and let us know how you’re staying focused on what matters — your people!