The latest L&D news, reports, research and updates, personally compiled by TJ’s Editor, Jo Cook. This week: Reports warn of widening AI skills gaps, onboarding weak spots and leaders lacking support. UK tech frustration and AI scepticism persist. Toxic managers drive burnout. Harassment training lags ahead of April 2026 law.
The TJ L&D Influence Report 2026
After months exploring why L&D’s best evidence and intentions still stall, Editor Jo Cook shares a new report shaped by Training Journal’s 60th Anniversary Conference. It introduces the Readiness Enablers Index and highlights practical conditions like stakeholder access, data, experimentation and support. Download it free and join the 2026 survey.
AI success stems from better collaboration, not prompts
While daily use of AI is widespread, there are measurable behaviours that separate routine use of the technology from true, sophisticated human-AI interaction. That’s according to a joint study from KPMG LLP and the University of Texas at Austin, which analysed 1.4 million workplace AI interactions from 2,500 employees.
The behaviours can be turned into teachable benchmarks which, when scaled, can close the AI impact gap by focusing on targeted training and workflow integration rather than tool deployment alone, according to the report.
“The gap between routine and sophisticated AI use is not hidden in prompts themselves, but in patterns of engagement,” said Anu Puvvada, KPMG Studio Leader. “Once those patterns are visible, they become possible to recognize, discuss and scale.”
Over half of UK business leaders fear becoming obsolete in a rapidly evolving business world
More than two thirds of senior decision-makers within UK businesses experience work-related stress on a weekly basis, with concerns about remaining relevant and competent commonplace, according to new research by Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS).
AMBS commissioned Censuswide to survey 500 managers, directors and C-suite executives within UK businesses. It found that 67% of respondents are impacted by stress due to their jobs at least once a week – this figure rises to 73% among decision-makers aged 25-34, and 74% of those working in organisations with over 250 employees.
CLO100 Launches the CLO Impact Index: The Global Benchmark for L&D Leadership Excellence
CLO100, the professional body for strategic learning leadership, has announced the launch of the CLO Impact Index. This innovative, free-to-use digital assessment tool has been designed specifically for Senior L&D Leaders to evaluate their organisational learning maturity and benchmark their performance against industry peers.
As the demand for L&D to demonstrate tangible business value intensifies, the CLO Impact Index provides a structured framework for leaders to move beyond activity-based metrics and focus on strategic impact. By completing the index, participants receive an immediate, personalised snapshot of where their organisation sits in relation to global standards and other high-performing L&D functions.
Co-workers, results and recognition boost employee happiness
While work may not be a top driver of people’s happiness, there are many aspects of our working lives that do make us happy, according to a new report. The survey of 2,000 employed UK adults, commissioned by HR, payroll and benefits software provider Ciphr has found that people typically feel happy 18 days a month (so not just at weekends).
And the older workers get, the happier they are, it seems. One in six (18%) employees over 55 said they feel happy every day, compared to one in eight (12%) 45-54 year olds, and one in 11 (9%) employees under 45.
The AI skills gap is already widening, report suggests
The AI behemoth Anthropic released a report about the widening “AI skills gap.” In it, the research suggests that a widening gap may be emerging between those who use AI frequently for work and those who don’t.
The report data shows that those with at least six months of experience with the company’s chatbot, Claude, have a higher success rate when collaborating with the system than those without. This can lead to an advantage in an ever-changing labour market landscape as AI becomes an integral part of the job market.
Onboarding needs to focus on worker support, not policy review, report says
To combat severe talent shortages in the industrial sector, employers may need to focus on making onboarding more about grounding new employees in the organization rather than just policy review, according to a March 24 report from Talogy, a talent management provider.
Talogy surveyed 800 industrial sector experts, and close to one-third of respondents said onboarding was “the single, most critical factor” for a new hire’s success. “When nearly a third of a worker’s success is determined by their first few weeks on the job, an insubstantial onboarding process isn’t just an HR oversight, it’s an operational risk that impacts staff turnover, productivity and, ultimately, the bottom line,” Trevor McGlochlin, head of industrial solutions strategy at Talogy, said in a statement.
Leaders report a ‘growing gap’ between what’s expected of them and the support they receive
A majority of leaders (71%) said they performed work outside of their formal roles, and 59% said that this limits their ability to focus on strategic priorities, according to a report released Thursday from the American Management Association.
The research took responses from more than 1,200 professionals worldwide and found that 69% of leaders reported spending at least half their time influencing others without direct authority. AMA said this highlighted “a critical shift away from hierarchical management.”
Only 44% of leaders said they felt fully prepared for future role expectations, per the research. This could indicate a failure in leadership development and succession planning, AMA said.
Owl Labs: UK workers stuck in a Workplace Tech Frustration cycle
Owl Labs research shows the encouragement of AI usage is the main organisational change for UK workers, with three quarters (75%) saying they have been encouraged to use AI tools.
UK workers are stuck in a cycle of distraction fuelled by inefficient workplace technology – and they know it. Owl Labs’, a leader in hybrid collaboration devices, annual State of Hybrid Work Report reveals that good technology is now a top-three priority for UK employees (89%), only narrowly behind compensation (92%), and a supportive manager (91%).
Employees are rejecting leadership’s AI vision despite big push from the top
Findings from Slingshot’s Digital Work Trends Report highlighted a massive gap between employers’ and employees’ sentiments when it comes to AI tools. It found that 52% of employees don’t actually recognise AI as a teammate at work, but acknowledged that it is a very helpful tool.
More than four in 10 managers (41%) said they consider AI as a teammate, which can support and enhance their employees’ work. In the C-suite, 48% of executives believe that AI is already mandatory for specific tasks, while 38% believe it is required in general for their organisation.
Toxic managers dehumanize employees, leading to extreme burnout, study says
Toxic bosses can fundamentally alter the way employees perceive their own humanity, according to new research published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.
The research, co-led by Liu-Qin Yang, a professor of psychology at Portland State University, found that “organizational dehumanization” can strip employees of their agency and lead to “severe burnout and a collapse in workplace collaboration.”
Researchers concluded that standard fairness initiatives might not protect employees from this kind of dehumanization effect. The study instead suggested “a human-centric approach to management” that focused on restoring employee agency.
Nearly one in eight employers does not provide sexual harassment training, as key Employment Rights Act deadline arrives
A large majority (81%) of HR professionals say they plan to increase their efforts on sexual harassment prevention under the Employment Rights Act (ERA), yet fewer than one in twenty rate their current training as excellent, and nearly one in eight say they do none at all.
The findings come from a poll of 464 HR professionals conducted by compliance eLearning provider VinciWorks in March. They land at a critical moment: from 6 April 2026, sexual harassment disclosures become classified as protected whistleblowing under the ERA, meaning workers who raise concerns about sexual harassment must not face detriment for doing so.
Job-share pioneers take on chief exec role at higher ed regulator
Pioneering civil service job sharers Ruth Hannant and Polly Payne have been appointed as joint Chief Executive of the Office for Students. Hannant and Payne, who have been job-sharing for 16 years and held the first DG-level job share partnership in the civil service, will take the helm of the higher education regulator from 15 June.
Speaking to CSW last year about job-sharing, Hannant said: “You learn from each other. When you see someone else tackle a set of issues in a different way to you, it helps you develop professionally. You might worry that your line manager would judge you if you went to them and said, ‘I’m really struggling.’ But your job-share partner would never do that.”
Read more on our sister publication Civil Service World.
Glitchy video calls are hurting hybrid work – how can HR step in?
Almost all Brits (94%) experience technical issues on video calls at least occasionally, while more than one in ten (12%) report issues on almost every call. Interrupting or talking over others is the UK’s biggest video call pet peeve, cited by 40% of respondents.
Video freezing or lagging ranks as the biggest technical frustration on video calls, cited by 53% of respondents. Broadband experts at Uswitch share tips for businesses to reduce the impact of video call interruptions.
Latest Fosway research
Last year’s Fosway 9-Grid™ for Learning Systems (LS) found that despite heavy R&D focus on AI, vendor marketing was moving much faster than real-world AI delivery. The 2026 9-Grid™ reported that this is changing rapidly, with proactive corporates actively exploring AI-driven solutions to accelerate change.
Key takeaways from the latest report: As economic uncertainty continues to strain the market, vendors are shifting their strategies in search of growth. AI is continuing to disrupt: blurring category boundaries, separating content value from format, supercharging the digital self-study model and changing the coaching proposition.
Health & Social Care employers urged to review Levy Strategy before August funding change
Health and social care training provider tend® is encouraging employers to review their apprenticeship levy strategies now, ahead of an upcoming government funding change that could increase the cost of workforce training from August 2026.
With workforce pressures continuing to rise across the health and social care sector and employers facing ongoing recruitment and retention challenges, apprenticeships remain one of the most effective routes for developing skilled teams and strengthening long-term workforce stability. According to Skills for Care, the adult social care sector in England alone continues to experience significant staffing pressures, with tens of thousands of vacancies across the workforce.
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