What are the biggest priorities for Chief Learning and Talent officers?

What are the priorities driving global Heads of Learning, Talent, and Leadership? Before every iVentiv event, we ask you to tell us what areas you’re focusing on, and what questions you want to ask your fellow participants.

The front cover of the iVentiv Pulse 2022 Review

In the iVentiv Pulse Review, we’ve pulled together those responses into a report summarising the big themes and key trends driving HR as we head into 2023.

The report includes the key takeaways, with commentary from experts in learning, talent, and leadership, including:

  • Jay Moore (Global Learning & Culture Leader, GE Crotonville)
  • Priya Shahane (Former Global Head of Executive Talent & Career Management, Axa)
  • Charles Jennings (Co-Founder, 70:20:10 Institute)
  • David Watkins (SVP, Group Talent, Transformation & Engagement, Oerlikon)
  • Stefaan van Hooydonk (Former Chief Learning Officer, Cognizant)
  • Brian Murphy (Sr Director, Employee Skilling, Microsoft)

Who was surveyed for the iVentiv Pulse?

578 respondents from 435 companies completed the questionnaire ahead of conversations in 13 cities on four continents and online. iVentiv events are open exclusively to function leads in global companies. That means every respondent who contributed to the data in the review is a senior leader in HR.

What topics are Global Heads of L&D, Talent and Leadership focusing on?

Across all territories and job functions, the topics that the most leaders in HR said they were prioritising were:

  1. Leadership and Executive Development
  2. Reskilling and Upskilling
  3. Learning Platforms (LMS/LXP) & Tech (VR, AR, AI)
  4. People Data/Insights, measurement and ROI
  5. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging

The full report delves into the quantitative and qualitative data to suggest why those themes have predominated, how the different areas interact, and what businesses are doing to address them. It includes insights around coaching, hybrid working, and learning culture, with commentary from experts and examples of the challenges that C-suite executives have raised.

Read the full report for free 

More Insights

Before every iVentiv event, we ask you to tell us what areas you're focusing on, and what questions you want to ask your fellow participants. In the iVentiv Pulse Report we've brought together the views of 824 Global Heads of L&D, Talent, and Executive Development to understand the key trends and priorities that are driving Learning and Talent in 2024. This blog summarises the key takeaways, and the full report includes commentary from experts in learning, talent, and leadership.

In this instalment of our Five Minutes with series, we spoke to Matt Kershaw, Global Head of Talent and Capability at Domino's Pizza Enterprises, who provided insightful reflections on the transformative approach to learning and development within the organisation, particularly regarding gamification and the strategic use of data and analytics.

How has Matt coupled gamification and data analytics to transform the way his workforce learns? Read more and watch the full interview here.

In a world grappling with unprecedented change and challenges, the importance of building a skilled workforce is high up on the CLO agenda. Recently, we sat down with Simon Gibson, the Group Head of Learning and Development at Marks and Spencer (M&S), to delve into the heart of what defines a skilled workforce, not just for M&S but for the broader business landscape. Read more and watch the full interview here.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful force reshaping industries and revolutionising various aspects of our lives. One of the areas where AI is making a significant impact is Learning and Development (L&D).

In this blog, we will explore the nature of AI in Learning and Development initiatives, the key concepts surrounding it, and the challenges L&D leaders are raising when it comes to implementation. Read the full blog here.

In this interview with Jen McCartney, Director of Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Belonging at PayPal, Jen talked about defining, unpacking and addressing unconscious biases in leadership practices. We asked her about how PayPal have approached the topic of unconscious bias in their workforce, and the importance of managers and leaders in identifying their own unconscious biases. Based on her extensive experience in this area, Jen advises on how to tackle unconscious bias at an organisational level, and reveals the things she would do differently if she were to start her journey over. Read more and watch the full interview here.

From CEO & Founder Russell Butler's garage in 2008, to an international series of events today, iVentiv has now been fostering interactive, collaborative spaces for L&D leaders for over 15 years. Our recent 250th Executive Knowledge Exchange at Learning Futures California, held at the scenic Visa University in Foster City, was no exception.

Read more about iVentiv's rich event history as well as key takeaways and feedback from it's 250th event in California here.

Community is an important value and one worth celebrating, irrespective of its business application. iVentiv has always provided you with a forum in which a real community can grow and genuine connections can be made.

For this blog, we spoke to one of iVentiv's most long-standing friends: Simon Brown, Chief Learning officer at Novartis. Simon has invited the iVentiv community to the Novartis HQ on several occasions to share ideas, learn from one another, and unite around common causes.Community goes well beyond L&D, however, and on this occasion, we wanted to connect with Simon on his commitment to another cause: helping those suffering from Alzheimer's. Read more here.

How can Learning and Development leaders play their part in tackling climate change? Speaking to iVentiv, Evgeny Lukin, Head of Learning and Development at JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle), shared some of the steps that he and his team have taken in partnership with the business to help reduce the company's carbon footprint and that of its clients. Watch the full interview and read more here.

In the midst of big change, chip shortages, and a rapidly growing workforce, Laureen Rwatirera (Chief Learning Officer) and Ronald Plantinga (Senior Change Manager, Learning & Knowledge Management) spoke to iVentiv's Richard Parfitt about what ASML's L&D team are doing to develop their workforce's adaptability and competence.

Over the last few years, ASML's workforce has grown rapidly, from 14,000 in 2014 to over 40,000 today. In this video, dive into conversations with key change makers at the 'most important company you've never heard of'. Learn about the company's change management mindset, hear about their crucial innovations for continued growth, leadership development initiatives, and key tips for navigating a dynamic and ever-growing industry landscape. Watch the full interview and read more here.

At the end of 2022, the iVentiv Pulse tracking report showed that leadership development was the single biggest priority for Global Heads of Learning and Talent. The report draws on questionnaires sent to Chief Learning Officers and Heads of Talent Management, where participants were asked to identify their key goals and challenges.

In this blog, we ask how much that has changed so far in 2023 and look at the key themes shaping the world of L&D and Talent Management. Read more here.

Pages