Today’s employees are purpose-driven. They want to work for organizations that align with their values and perform work that is meaningful and fills them with a sense of purpose. And they want to know how their role contributes toward the company’s goals and objectives. For learning and development (L&D), this means creating meaningful learning experiences that spark passion, curiosity and creativity to fuel purpose-driven work.

While purpose and meaning have always been central to employee engagement, the COVID-19 pandemic brought this need to the surface. When work-life boundaries blurred and children and pets made appearances on virtual calls and in meetings, employees quickly began to reevaluate their priorities and question the status quo. We have seen these priority shifts as workers quit their jobs in droves during The Great Resignation to find work that better aligns with their needs.

The world of work is changing and will only continue to evolve, and L&D must make a conscious effort to create a human-centric workplace that focuses on the needs of employees. The cover story in this issue of Training Industry Magazine examines how to apply human-centered design to create meaningful learning experiences for modern learners. Designing learning with purpose in mind can fuel the passion and curiosity of employees, driving innovation and growth for the company. Keeping the learner at the center of the learning experience is key to creating more impactful experiences that lead to positive outcomes.

This edition also explores how to measure and maximize learner engagement in a hybrid and remote workplace, how to create simple and effective evaluations that target behavior change and how to negotiate like a pro to secure investment for learning initiatives. You will also gain tips on how to effectively market learning to employees using a media mindset and identify the skills and attributes of the modern leader.

I hope the articles in this edition will provide you and your team with some actionable insights to improve the development and delivery of your training programs — tapping into the curiosity and passions of employees to create meaningful learning experiences. Our editorial team is dedicated to delivering the content and resources that learning leaders need to create effective training that leads to business impact. If you have any topic suggestions, please reach out to our team and let us know what’s on your mind. We love hearing from you!