The latest L&D news, reports, research and updates, personally compiled by TJ’s Editor, Jo Cook. This week: Burnout behaviours shift workplace wellbeing; employees highly rate flexible working and upskilling. CIPD research invites L&D voices. AI values the company more than employees, hiring misfires rise, and public sector AI claims questioned.
The Advertising Standards Authority upholds complaint against CPD Standards Office
A recent ASA ruling against The Professional Development Consortium Ltd t/a CPD Standards Office demonstrates the critical importance of substantiated claims in advertising and validates the ongoing sector enforcement work of The CPD Register. The Advertising Standards Authority’s ruling was clear and comprehensive, finding that CPD Standards Office’s advertising breached fundamental advertising standards on two critical points.
Only 7% of companies achieve full compliance as global expansion increases legal complexity
CSC surveyed 350 general counsel and senior legal professionals across Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific to examine how their teams navigate international expansion, regulatory pressure, and the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence. The findings appear in CSC’s latest report, General Counsel Barometer 2026: From Complexity to Control.
Most organisations report partial compliance, with over half (53%) estimating they are 50–75% compliant, and a further 35% placing themselves between 76%–99%. This leaves just 7% of organizations reporting full compliance across all global entities.
ATD Research: Leadership development is a high priority for organisations
Almost half of all organisations have started offering leadership development programs to individuals at all levels, according to Leadership Development: Cultivating Critical Skills for Employees at All Levels, sponsored by SIY Global.
Nearly 79% of organisations experience improved organisational culture when providing leadership development to all employees. “Leadership development isn’t just about titles,” a survey respondent shared. “We are all leaders. It’s about influence, ownership, and impact. Every person in an organization, from the front line to the executive suite, has opportunities to lead, make decisions, solve problems, and help others succeed.”
Some key findings in the Association for Talent Development research study include:
- Most C-suite executives (84%) think decision-making skills are very important for all employees
- Many learners (68%) experienced improved job performance because of leadership development
Are we still getting leadership development wrong in 2026? Survey
When leaders were asked in 2025 what their biggest barrier was to supporting their team’s personal development, over half (52%) said time. Last year, Blue Gnu Consulting surveyed 341 people across the leadership spectrum; CEOs, Directors, Managers, Team Leaders, and team members – to explore a deceptively simple question: how are leaders really supporting their people’s growth and development?
30% of non-leaders said they rarely or never receive coaching or feedback. 64% said the support they receive for their development falls short of what they need – with 29% describing that gap as significant. And only 36% of employees said their leader regularly checks in on their development at all.
Blue Gnu’s leadership survey 2026 will compare how leaders see themselves with how the people they lead actually experience them.
Mental Health Awareness Month: Burnout is reshaping employee energy, focus and workplace behaviour
New insights from global nutrition platform Lifesum suggest that workplace mental health challenges are increasingly visible not only in productivity metrics, but in everyday employee behaviour — including how people manage energy, focus and food choices throughout the workday.
As organisations mark Mental Health Awareness Month, rising levels of burnout, fatigue and reduced concentration continue to impact workforce performance across industries, contributing to absenteeism, presenteeism and declining engagement. Employers are increasingly under pressure to implement wellbeing strategies that are both effective and scalable within high-demand working environments.
Flexible working and upskilling in top 10 most important employee incentives
The top 10 features an equally balanced mix of financial and non-financial incentives – highlighting that while being paid is a key motivator to why people work, it’s not all-important. Many of the benefits and incentives that employees prize most highly are those that support their health, wellbeing and work-life balance, and invest in their skills and future career development.
The most important benefits and incentives, according to employees, include:
- Paid sick leave (68% of survey respondents)
- Annual pay rises that match or exceed the UK’s inflation rate (60%)
- Flexible working hours (58%)
- Pension contribution matching (54%)
- Extra holiday allowance (50%)
- Upskilling (48%)
Research: CIPD Skills and Learning at Work Survey 2026
L&D professionals have a valuable and important opportunity to share the reality of workplace learning today. Honest responses will help benchmark current practice, shape future tools and resources, and inform national policy, making it vital that voices from across the profession are heard.
Laura Overton, who brings 20 years of benchmark insight, comments that this is research is about systemic, robust data set on how L&D is really enabling the business and “gives strategic leverage for the L&D profession”.
The Company benefits most from AI, while employees and customers trail behind
When asked who benefits most from AI implementation in their company, 43% chose the company overall.
- Employees were selected by 23% of respondents
- Customers by 8%
- Leadership bonuses by 10%
This distribution shows a strong concentration around organisational benefit, with a much smaller share seeing the main gains flow to employees or customers. That kind of value perception can shape adoption climate, especially when operational effort is distributed broadly, but benefits are seen as concentrated elsewhere.
59% of companies made a bad AI hire in the past year
The State of Hiring for AI Fluency, a new TestGorilla report based on a survey of 1,928 senior hiring leaders across the US and UK, explores how companies define and measure AI fluency. Most organizations now say AI fluency is a top hiring priority. Most have even defined it. And yet 59% still made a bad AI hire last year — someone who spoke convincingly about AI in the interview but couldn’t apply it on the job.
- 53% of hiring managers now prioritise AI fluency over domain expertise
- 33% of US organizations report frequent AI-driven errors on the job, vs. 13% in the UK
Financial stress drags employee engagement down
Employee productivity and engagement is dragged down by widespread financial stress, but organisations can help reduce worker anxiety by providing judgment-free financial education and guidance on financial wellness, according to new research from PwC.
The company’s 2026 Employee Financial Wellness Survey found that 59% respondents said they were stressed about their finances, and 49% said their compensation wasn’t keeping up with costs. More than half (53%) said they had less than $5,000 saved for emergencies, and 30% had less than $1,000.
Nine in 10 employers expect AI to reshape entry-level roles within three years
This year’s Student Development Survey found 87% of employers expect AI adoption to reshape graduate and apprentice roles. While 58% foresee minor adjustments to tasks and responsibilities, almost a third (29%) anticipate significant changes – particularly in FMCG and tourism (56%) and the legal sector (41%).
A further 43% said that their entry-level roles had already evolved in response to AI, but have not been formally redesigned.
Public sector AI productivity claims ‘require more robust evidence’
Policymakers must provide more “robust” evidence for claims about the productivity and efficiency benefits of artificial intelligence innovations, the Ada Lovelace Institute has warned. The independent research institute has published a briefing designed to help policymakers and others to critically evaluate AI productivity claims in the UK public sector.
Read more on our sister publication Civil Service World.
Hidden culture crisis inside “Top Workplaces”
New research from culture consultancy, Make It Human, shows that even top-rated workplaces are quietly under strain – with hidden patterns such as unclear ownership, slow decision-making, feelings of unfairness, and rising workloads limiting employee performance and wellbeing – highlighting the urgent need for a more manageable and effective way to proactively shape culture.
The launch follows new analysis of over 4,000 employee reviews shared on Glassdoor across the UK’s top workplaces, revealing that even highly rated organisations harbour unsustainable behaviours and habits. Not because culture isn’t valued – but because it’s rarely made tangible enough to shape how work happens.
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