The Future of Learning and Talent Development in Healthcare – Survey Results (Part 2)

April 1, 2021
April 1, 2021

To evaluate perceptions about talent management, learning and development, HealthStream surveyed U.S. healthcare HR, Organizational Development, and Learning leaders about their organizations strategic use of learning as a component of their talent management programs. Questions asked in the 2019 Annual Report on Talent Management examined how learning programs were governed and led, identified important issues determining focus areas for the future, offered challenges that could be addressed by learning content and data, and covered technology budgeting for 2020. Here are some of the significant conclusions that can be drawn from the survey results about the existing state of talent and learning in healthcare:

Finding 3: There is not a strong pattern within healthcare for which functional areas of an organization naturally leads and owns talent development.

There is no dominant structure, at least among the survey cohort, about which functional area within a healthcare organization is typically in charge of talent development. Learning and education professionals are most likely to lead this function, according to 19.7% of respondents, followed by HR professionals at 12.7% and nursing leadership at 7.9%. Interestingly, in a result showing the convergence of functional interest on talent development, about half of the people surveyed (46.7%) answered that it is a combination of learning, HR, and nursing leaders who take responsibility for talent development at their organizations.

Finding 4: Educational content is an important solution for organizations major training pain points individualized learning and shortened training times.

Knowing that many healthcare organizations use learning content to address operational challenges, we asked our survey cohort to identify the most significant among these problems. The dilemmas pinpointed were more targeted/personalized learning assignments (71.3%), followed by shorter learning sessions (55.6%). These two issues dovetail with major trends HealthStream has identified among healthcare organizations at large. There is a significant, growing need to provide tailored, individualized learning plans that meet employees needs. Many organizations also want to provide shorter bursts of learning that can occur with little work interruption, and at times when it is most needed.

This blog post is the second excerpt of three from an article, 7 Findings about the Future of Learning and Talent Development in Healthcare, about the survey. Other posts about the survey will discuss:

  • Challenges healthcare organizations expect to face during the next 18 months
  • Whether HR leaders feel empowered to make important decisions
  • Aligning assessment data with training plans
  • Focusing on learning efficiency
  • Healthcare training budgets

HealthStream's workforce education solutions are already trusted by more than 70 percent of healthcare organizations in the U.S. Our comprehensive suite of learning and competency management tools empowers your people to deliver the best care more easily and effectively than ever before. Powered by the industry's top content providers, HealthStream's Learning & Performance solutions connect you to healthcare's largest learning community with a learning management system customized by you to meet your organization's unique needs.