Eight in 10 HR professionals say their organization is not committing adequate resources to the professional development of their HR teams during a time of rapid technological and organizational change.

“How we train and learn matters,” said Amy Dufrane, Ph.D., CEO of HRCI. “Our ability to meet the future depends on it. Professional development is not just ‘nice to have.’ It is essential to manage a workforce that will look and behave very differently with each passing year.”

HRCI recently examined how HR professionals approach learning and development; where they feel most and least prepared; and what organizations can do to build stronger, more future-ready teams. It found that 95% of HR professionals participated in professional development last year, and 98% expect to do so this year. Seven in 10 HR managers consider professional development important or critical to organizational success.

Many organizations, however, have not made technology training a top learning priority.

Although half of HR professionals say implementing new technologies is the area where they feel least prepared, fewer than one-third identify technology as a top professional development priority. This highlights a disconnect between the skills organizations need and where learning investments are being made.

The report suggests several practical ways to build a stronger professional development strategy.

• Identify needs, priorities and outcomes. Professional development will be far less productive if the HR team operates without a clear understanding of the purpose of their learning and—equally important—the needs most critical to the business.Research reveals growing gap between HR’s learning needs, organizational investment

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