HR 101: Let’s discuss the evolution of corporate learning

Welcome to HR 101. Class is now in session. Today’s discussion will focus on the evolution of corporate learning and development (L&D).

The history. L&D is “the training and the education that businesses [provide to] their employees” that enables them to do their jobs better, Ben Betts, CEO of workplace learning solutions provider Learning Pool, told HR Brew.

According to Forbes, L&D has centuries-old roots in apprenticeship programs. But it wasn’t until 1872, when Hoe and Company, a printing-press maker, opened a school to train its employees, that it started to become formalized.

Over the next few decades, employers would create various methods of workplace training, like the “Show, Tell, Do, and Check” method developed by Charles R. Allen in 1917 for shipyard workers. In 1942, the nonprofit Association for Talent Development (then known as the American Society for Training Directors) was founded to support employers in training their employees.

The 1960s saw the birth of corporate universities—like McDonald’s Hamburger University—and the creation of instructional design programs, teaching those in the programs to create L&D materials.

With the 1980s and 1990s, came the introduction of e-learning (think, those CD-roms that came with textbooks, Betts said), and in the 2000s, the explosion of smartphones allowed HR to provide their employees with corporate learning at their fingertips.

Fast-forward. The majority (90%) of organizations surveyed by LinkedIn for its 2024 Workplace Learning Report expressed concern about employee retention, but the survey found that L&D is key to keeping talent. So, perhaps it’s no wonder that around 90% of employers now offer their employees an e-learning solution, according to data from software development company Radix.

E-learning has evolved since the 2000s, and it’s gotten more creative. Some HR teams, for example, have gamified corporate learning. LinkedIn took this approach, challenging their L&D employees to watch as many minutes of LinkedIn Learning courses as they could over a three-month period. The challenge resulted in employees investing more time in L&D.

“It’s hard to convince employees to take time out of their day to learn, despite all the benefits learning offers,” Paul Petrone, senior content marketing manager at LinkedIn, wrote in a blog post about the challenge. “That makes it incumbent on us as L&D professionals to find creative ways that’ll inspire more employees to learn.”

So what do you think? Will you be making greater investments in L&D? Email [email protected] and let us know!