November’s  Chief Learning Officer, “Tech Tools in 2012”  caught my eye.   Apparently investment in learning technologies continues to be a priority.  Content development and learning strategy also made the list of priorities.  This means that beyond the LMS, companies want to invest in mobile learning and collaboration tools including social networking tools.  After several years of declining spending, this is good news!

Not surprising, the ability to align all the competing priorities of the organizations is a focus.  CLO’s are focused on the goals of their organization and how to align it with the performance of its employees.  This includes informal learning, leadership training, overall skill development and overall productivity.

Technical tools are still a focus, especially those tools that are more “mainstream” such as learning management systems, elearning content tools and virtual classroom environments.  The jury is still out on how to use social networking, iPads and mobile devices for training.  As these tools demonstrate success and the ability to truly change behavior, I suspect the investment will follow.

Another article that shares the need for training as a continued priority was in Fast Company‘s blog post on training to close the skills gaps that employers whine so often about.  According to the post, many jobs remain unfilled because companies cannot find qualified people.  The old adage “hire for attitude, train for the job” seems to be forgotten.  It is easy to point the finger at our schools, but ultimately companies are going to have to create their own “schools” or universities to address the missing skills that job candidates need.