L&D teams spent a lot of time trying to understand why training adoption rates are low and how they can be improved. Are employees simply too busy? Is the content not flashy enough? Or is there a bigger issue, like a disconnect between how training is designed and how employees actually learn? There are a whole host of possible reasons.
The best way to find out, though? Ask the target audience themselves.
We recently questioned learners across various industries in our “The State of Workplace Training 2026” survey with one simple goal: to move past assumptions and look directly at what learners are telling us about their motivations, their frustrations, and what actually makes training feel worth their time.
The findings have big implications for L&D teams, with the data revealing that learners are keen to learn (over 77% report being either excited to learn something new if the topic is relevant) but extremely discerning about how they learn.
We’ve broken down the data into four key areas that will help your L&D team deliver more effective, high-impact training programs in 2027 and beyond:
1. Learners Need Direction When They Learn
Often, the assumption is that giving learners access to a massive, self-serve library of training content is all that’s needed to drive engagement with the training material. If learners are given total autonomy, they should naturally gravitate toward what they need, right? VirtualSpeech data suggests the reality is more complicated than this.
The Data:
A significant portion of our respondents (41.7%) reported having “almost complete freedom” over the training they complete, which on the surface sounds like a win for self-directed learning. However, a deeper look at completion rates reveals the issue.
Cross-referencing the level of choice with course abandonment rates revealed a pattern. Looking at respondents who admitted they “very often” start a training course but fail to finish it, 92% belonged to the group with “almost complete freedom” in training choice. Conversely, those with a mixture of assigned and optional training, and those with more structured paths, were more likely to complete training.
The Barrier:
Total autonomy can lead to choice paralysis. When learners are faced with hundreds of options and no clear direction on what will actually help them in their career, they default to picking something that might look mildly interesting, only to abandon it the moment something else demands attention. In the worst cases, they get overwhelmed by the options and go with the “easiest” choice – not training at all.
How L&D Teams Can Adapt:
Addressing this issue requires L&D teams to stop confusing access with enablement. Just providing a massive library of training content isn’t a strategy; it’s just a repository. How you curate and deliver that library to the right audiences is just as important. The most effective L&D programs moving forward will be the ones that balance learners’ autonomy with strong curation and purposeful design
VirtualSpeech allows L&D teams to build custom learner pathways, providing learners with easy, tailored access to our extensive library of content. L&D teams set the direction for each training cohort, while learners engage with what’s been curated for them – while having the option to dive deeper into the library when they need it.
This approach, aligned with accurate performance tracking, helps learners sift through the noise and view training as tailored, deliberate, and worth their time.
2. Training Should Target Workplace Skills That Are Actually Needed
The most expensive training organizations ever run is the training that never gets used. L&D teams regularly measure success based on completion rates, but what happens when the learner returns to their desk? Are they actually applying what they’ve learned – or did they even absorb it in the first place?
The Data:
VirtualSpeech data found that following a training session, confidence is generally high, with 66.7% of respondents feeling either “extremely” or “very” confident in applying the new skill immediately. However, when we asked what usually gets in the way of actually applying something they’ve learned, the top response was clear:
“My role doesn’t require it often enough” (52.7%).
The Barrier:
The obvious question L&D teams should ask themselves is why are employees spending so much time training skills that they don’t feel like they actually need? Either the training isn’t communicating the value of applying that skill in their role, or it’s not relevant enough in the first place. Both are serious issues.
If a learner completes a course on a new software tool or a leadership framework but doesn’t have an immediate, practical opportunity to use it within the next week, the “forgetting curve” takes over. Knowledge decays rapidly, and if training isn’t relevant enough to quickly apply in the workplace, the investment in that training is effectively lost.
How L&D Teams Can Adapt:
Ultimately, relevance is the key to training adoption and should be at the heart of every L&D initiative you deploy. When asked what makes training feel worth their time, the number one answer from learners was:
“It helps me solve a real problem.” (50%)
To adapt, L&D teams need to shift from a push model to a pull model. Work with department heads and line managers to understand the friction points their teams are facing this quarter, and don’t assign training for a skill that won’t be utilized in the learner’s current or upcoming workflow.
If there isn’t a direct application for the training, challenge whether it should be deployed at all – as there’s a real risk learners will forget about it without regular reinforcement.
3. Active Practice Opportunities Beat Passive Knowledge Checks
L&D has long been associated with tedious corporate videos and ineffective multiple-choice quizzes. Organizations know deep down that these methods are not enough, and employees certainly don’t enthusiastically engage with them.
Solving this challenge requires a willingness to create active learning experiences – something VirtualSpeech data shows that employees are eager to try.
The Data:
Over 72% of our respondents rated opportunities to actively practice during training as either “extremely” or “very” valuable. When we asked respondents to describe the best training they’ve ever completed, their answers were telling, as they consistently highlighted the value of interactivity and feedback:
- “Instant feedback after each exercise.”
- “Group tasks [that] boosted my motivation.”
- “Relatable examples from our industry.”
On the other hand, when we asked respondents what caused them to abandon a training course or module, the answers pointed to passive, unengaging learning experiences:
- “Content felt irrelevant.”
- “Too long.”
- “Poorly organised.”
The Barrier:
Traditional, or “old-school”, e-learning content relies heavily on knowledge transfer in the form of videos, text, and basic quizzes. While this has a place in L&D teams’ arsenal of training material, it can’t be the sole method.
This format is limited in that it fails to build true competency or confidence – they don’t get to practice what they’ve learned or have a safe space for trial, error, and correction (like that provided by VirtualSpeech).
How L&D Teams Can Adapt:
L&D teams need to seriously think about the ways that they can get learners putting the skills they need to develop in action. We’ve all heard “practice makes perfect” and the same applies to workplace training.
Investing in training formats that incorporate relevant, realistic roleplay scenarios or simply replacing long videos with short, scenario-based group challenges can help meet this learner appetite for interactivity and action.
4. Eliminating Friction in Training is Essential
Delivering great L&D experiences isn’t easy – even if the training content is curated, relevant, and includes great active practice opportunities, it’ll fail if the delivery process doesn’t respect the learner’s time.
The Data:
We asked learners what would make them most likely to engage with optional training. The top three most popular responses were pragmatic and focused on how they engage with the training material, rather than being focused on the content itself:
- It is short and easy to fit around my work. (41.6%)
- I can choose when to complete it. (38.8%)
- It helps me progress my career. (36.1%)
In addition, VirtualSpeech data showed that the single biggest obstacle preventing employees from completing training is that “the format isn’t engaging” (16.7%) and the feeling that the training is “repetitive” (13.9%).
The Barrier:
Time is the modern employee’s most limited commodity. When L&D teams deliver training in inflexible, hour-long blocks that require learners to spend precious time away from their desks, it’s inevitably viewed as an interruption rather than a useful career boost. The more friction there is when an employee trains, the more likely they are to disengage.
How L&D Teams Can Adapt:
L&D teams can benefit from adopting a product manager mindset. The “user experience” of your training is just as important as the instructional design. Asynchronous micro-learning, bite-sized components (think five-minute videos, one-page aids, short interactive quizzes), and similar systems that can be accessed exactly when the learner has a pocket of spare time are often received much better by employees than hour-long mandatory workshops.
Much of VirtualSpeech’s training library is built around this concept, allowing employees to spend 5-10 minutes practicing a workplace scenario in the app before jumping confidently into the real-life situation.
Designing for Learners in 2027 and Beyond
Our data from the VirtualSpeech Workplace Training 2026 survey paints a clear picture, which shows the modern workplace learner isn’t resistant to development – they simply want more than inefficient, irrelevant, and passive training.
To drive genuine training engagement and behavioral change, L&D teams need to pivot towards to providing curated, active learning experiences that feel frictionless and easy to use in the flow of work.
VirtualSpeech is built specifically to help L&D teams deliver experiential training programs that resonate with learners and truly make an impact on the metrics that count. If you want to join PwC, Deloitte, Vodafone, and more in leveraging VirtualSpeech for L&D then speak to our team today.
