As we shake off the holiday season and face the reality of January’s credit card statements, it’s time to look at what the year ahead might bring for learning and development (L&D). Let’s first reflect on last year’s predictions before diving into what 2025 might have in store.

Looking Back at 2024

Last year, I predicted that artificial intelligence (AI) would dominate the conversation (no surprise there), hoping L&D teams would fundamentally rethink their approach given the widespread adoption of AI copilots across organizations. While we’ve seen an abundance of AI-generated digital content, I’m optimistic that 2025 will be the year we move beyond quick fixes to generate real value for our organizations and learners.

I also emphasized impact — and here we’re seeing promising developments. More L&D professionals are focusing on creating meaningful, lasting change rather than fixating on content consumption metrics or post-training net promoter scores (NPSs). While we’re not quite there yet, the signs are encouraging.

Additionally, I predicted communication skills would take center stage. This prediction has started to materialize as organizations recognize that collaboration, teamwork and effective interactions — whether between peers, leaders or with customers — are crucial for success. Organizations are increasingly adopting evidence-based approaches to develop these core capabilities.

What’s Coming in 2025?

1. Farewell to “Soft Skills”

Let me be clear: We shouldn’t stop focusing on interpersonal skills. Rather, we need to stop labeling them as “soft.” These skills are challenging to develop and can be improved through deliberate practice. More importantly, they can be measured.

We can quantify how well people communicate, listen, manage conflict, think creatively and collaborate with others. By studying high performers, we can identify statistically significant behaviors that contribute to being an effective colleague, leader or customer service provider.

The term “soft skills” not only undervalues these critical capabilities but also provides cover for unsubstantiated approaches. Recent research from organizations like Gallup and Harvard Business Review demonstrates that focusing on improving communications, collaboration and evidence-based leadership behaviors drives measurable improvements in employee engagement, performance and organizational commitment.

2. The Rise of Learning Transfer

Building on 2024’s focus on AI and impact, 2025 will be the year learning transfer takes center stage. As upskilling and reskilling overtake compliance training as L&D’s primary focus (see here for Fosway’s illuminating research on this), teams must concentrate on improving skills where it matters most: on the job.

What should we expect to see?

• Design for Implementation: Learning journeys must include clear pathways for practical application, supported by resources, tools and check-ins that enable experimentation and provide feedback when learners are tempted to revert to old habits.
• Manager Engagement: We need to address the “forgetting curve” that happens when employees return to work. The old “forget what you learned in training, this is how we do things here” mentality needs to become unacceptable. Organizations must hold managers accountable for supporting skill development and behavior change.
• Authentic Learning Culture: Let’s move beyond counting learning management system (LMS) logins as evidence of a learning culture. Instead, leaders should demonstrate — and be held accountable for — how they enable and facilitate behavior change in the workplace.

3. Emphasizing the “How”

While L&D initiatives often excel at describing what people should do and why it matters, they frequently fall short on the “how.” Without detailed guidance on implementation steps and what good performance looks like, participants are left stranded between knowing what they should do and actually doing it.

Creating psychological safety for experimentation means providing solid scaffolding for adopting new practices. This includes:

• Offering concrete tools and frameworks
• Allowing time for practice and reflection
• Providing specific feedback
• Supporting people as they implement new approaches

When we create environments where people constantly ask “How?” and receive practical guidance, high performance becomes contagious.

Looking Ahead

These predictions might be more aspirational than predictive. They might represent expectations that December 2025 will prove overly optimistic. However, as we begin 2025, there’s reason for optimism about L&D’s evolution and increasing strategic value to organizations. Here’s to a transformative year ahead.

For more information about developing skills in the workplace, listen to our podcast, Workplace Learning Matters https://www.huthwaiteinternational.com/workplace-learning-matters