Top trends in people development for 2012

Written on the 7th of February 2012 by Sue Langley

The year ahead is shaping up to be one of unparalleled growth, opportunity and challenge. At work—and in our personal lives—we will increasingly need tactics and tools to stay focused, positive, flexible and creative and help others do the same. 

Here are the key people development trends I feel we can expect to see this year.

More focus on wellbeing in organisations as leaders increasingly realise that happier employees achieve better results for the business.

Business leaders are starting to take the issue of employee wellbeing seriously and recognising the serious value happy--and productive--employees can add to the bottom line. Harvard Business Review's Jan/Feb issue is devoted to exploring happiness ROI. Emerging research from neuroscience, psychology and economics now makes the link crystal clear. Research demonstrating the knock-on effect to customer engagement and loyalty is also being highlighted in articles such as Transform Your Employees into Passionate Advocates (HBR Blog).

My own research has been backing this up. In particular, I've been exploring the links between happiness, innovation and personal effectiveness and finding that positive moods increase the quantity and quality of creative output.

More efforts to create a culture of flourishing within organisations as they look for more ways for empoyees to thrive.

Need for sharper, more versatile personal effectiveness and leadership tools to optimise potential and help people develop creative strategies for success. 

People have less time, so are on the look out for proven tools that will make their lives easier and promise a return on investment for their time and effort. People are becoming more aware that tools should leverage strengths in one area so people can tackle gaps in others. Leaders, talent managers and HR professionals also increasingly understand that the most effective tools tap into our brain’s capacity to capitalise on positive emotions and learning.

Increase in targeted one-on-one coaching to improve the effectiveness of training and development initiatives. This move supports recent figures showing that while training increases effectiveness by 27%, training followed by coaching increases effectiveness by 87%. 

More attention to neuroscience and interest from business leaders, HR professionals, consultants and psychologists who want to learn how to apply techniques and back up their practice with evidence.

More demand for accreditation in coaching and people development, particularly the newer areas of positive psychology and emotional intelligence, as people seek authenticated methods for improving performance and tools that give them a professional edge.

Opportunities for leaders and people developers

If you work in a leadership capacity, or aspire to, it is a good year to commit to a professional and personal development programme, sharpen your toolkit and fine-tune your success strategies. It is a particularly good year to work with an executive or business coach.

If you are a leadership development expert, talent manager, human resources professional or executive you are likely to be looking for cost-effective, evidence-based tools and accreditation to give you, your people or your clients a competitive edge.

Tooling up at EIW

At EIW we have been leading the move toward accreditation. We are increasing our portfolio of certified open programmes and training more executive coaches and consultants to use evidence-based emotional intelligence tools. Responding to client demand we are designing more train-the-trainer and accreditation programmes that can be embedded directly into learning initiatives and the business. 

Our partnership with Genos will see us delivering more of their EI certification programmes across Australia this year (next training Melbourne 28-30 Mar). We are also now one of the few master trainers certified to accredit people to use and debrief the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test and will be offering training biannually (next training Sydney April).

We are offering limited places in our benchmark Leading with Emotional Intelligence open programme for people keen to learn leading EI tools, positive psychology strategies and neuroscience perspectives (Sydney 19-20 April).

As the first person in Australia to undertake the new Masters in Neuroscience of Leadership, I will be sharing emerging research and converting it into tools people can use right away in Australian and global businesses.

Sue Langley is a sought-after speaker, facilitator and master trainer in emotional intelligence, positive psychology and the neuroscience of leadership. Considered one of the leaders in Australia in the practical workplace application of these fields, Sue is CEO of Emotional Intelligence Worldwide and the author of Positive Relationships at Work, in Positive Relationships (Springer, 2012).

More info

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