HR Professionals
The annual survey is broken – real-time feedback is the future
Annual engagement surveys are falling short, they are too slow, static and disconnected from real workplace realities. Dan Buckley explores how continuous, real-time feedback tools are transforming how organisations listen to employees, spot problems early and act faster. The result? More trust, better decisions and a truly dynamic employee experience. For years, annual engagement surveys have been the go-to tool for HR teams trying to take the pulse of their workforce. They arrive like clockwork: a comprehensive list of questions…
Inclusion starts here: Empower your team to make the difference
Robert Ordever explores why top-down diversity, equity and inclusion strategies often fall short. He argues that truly inclusive cultures are built from the ground up, through team behaviours, emotional intelligence and authentic recognition—turning DE&I from a corporate initiative into an experience that helps everyone feel valued, heard and respected. Diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives fail when organisations adopt a purely top-down approach. Often concentrating on attracting a range of diverse employees from varying backgrounds, these organisations throw employees together…
TJ podcast: Learning’s human heartbeat: L&D then and now – episode 329
At TJ’s 60th Anniversary Conference, Andrew Jacobs discusses with Laura Overton and Kirsty Lewis what L&D has gained and lost over six decades. The exploration goes from laserdiscs to AI, classrooms to communities, and why social, human learning still matters more than ever for performance, culture, connection and future readiness. Podcast summary: Created by ChatGPT Recorded live at TJ’s 60th Anniversary Conference, this special episode sees Andrew Jacobs take over the Training Journal podcast to host a reflective debate with…
Planning for tomorrow’s workforce, today
Cory Steinle explores how automation, AI, and shifting market needs are transforming workforce planning. By combining task and skills intelligence with ethical AI, organisations can shift from reactive hiring to proactive strategy, redeploying talent, boosting agility, and making good people decisions that keep pace with the speed of business change. Organisations are navigating a workforce landscape being reshaped by automation, generative AI, and evolving markets. By 2030 up to 30% of current working hours could be automated (McKinsey), and nearly…
My book ‘AI for People Professionals’ was a human-first experiment
Behind the pages of a book shaped by humans and machines, Erica Farmer shares the creative highs, challenges and lessons from writing ‘AI for People Professionals’. From neurodivergent-friendly workflows to AI-supported thinking, it’s a candid look at what it means to write about the future of work in real time. When I started writing my book AI for People Professionals, I had no idea how much of a creative, emotional and intellectual rollercoaster it would be. This wasn’t just a…
Redundancy isn’t just business, it’s personal
Andy Evans shares the deeply personal story of being made redundant and the emotional and professional aftermath. Drawing on lived experience and learning theory, he explores how leaders can handle redundancy with humanity, and reflects on how moments of loss can spark growth, resilience, and a renewed sense of purpose. It was 8:45 on a September morning when the meeting invite appeared in my inbox. No context, no agenda, just a 3:00pm slot with my CPO and HR. I didn’t…
Psychological safety is the missing piece in your AI strategy
AI is changing the workplace, but without psychological safety, adoption efforts risk falling flat. Erica Farmer explores why trust, openness and permission to fail are essential for innovation, and shares practical steps for leaders, HR and L&D to create a culture where people can learn, experiment and thrive with AI. Artificial intelligence is reshaping the world of work faster than most organisations can adapt. From productivity tools to advanced data analytics and talent systems, AI now sits quietly in the…
The Training Officer 1980s magazine snippets
From youth training schemes and battles for women in engineering to microcomputers in the classroom, 1980s Training Officer pages show L&D wrestling with technology, equity and unemployment, while trying to keep learning human, practical and hopeful in the face of policy experiments and rapid workplace change for people at work. The 1980s snippets from Training Officer capture a profession wrestling with inclusion, mass youth unemployment and the first wave of digital transformation… all at once. On the January 1984 pages,…
The Training Officer 1968 magazine snippets
From critical path diagrams and formal standards to televised training and overseas schemes, The Training Officer in 1968 shows an L&D profession preoccupied with order, technology and status. Through today’s lens, its worries about credibility, media hype and meaningful impact feel familiar, and sometimes uncomfortably unfinished. Dive in and explore! This time, rather than a full magazine, this is some selected articles from a few issues in 1968. What jumps out first is how professionalisation obsessed the 1968 issues are.…
The Training Officer March 1968
In March 1968, The Training Officer captured a profession coming of age. Between log books, training boards and debates about education’s purpose, the issue reveals how industrial-era concerns about standards, governance and real performance improvement still echo through today’s learning strategies, data systems and skills conversations for L&D professionals worldwide. The Training Officer magazine from March 1968 is the second scan from the archives to celebrate 60 years of TJ’s work in learning in development. It feels like a snapshot…
Want smart, useful L&D insight in your inbox (without the fluff)?
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for Editor-only commentary, and exclusive insight that isn’t published anywhere else online.
If you want a quick roundup of what matters, fresh ideas you can use, and the best new reads from Training Journal, this is where it lands
It’s free, only takes a minute, and you can unsubscribe any time.
