Top 10 Trends in Executive Education for 2022

Top 10 Trends; Executive Education

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Executive education has changed as a result of the recent pandemic which has created increased demand for upskilling and tangentially brought about a wider incorporation of digital tools and technologies for executive education opportunities and initiatives.

Lifelong learning
In this context Executive Education is pushing for continuous personal improvement with regular educational courses or micro credentials obtained throughout someone's career. Continual learning helps executives and employees broaden their knowledge and sharpen their skills, bringing more to the conference room table.

Quality over cost
Whereas in the past business executives made budget a priority, now companies are willing to spend more if it translates to higher-quality executive education. Executive education is viewed as an investment and as such, low costs are not a factor in the decision.

Personalization
Companies are encouraging their executives to go beyond traditional classroom curriculum and invest in learning that might be out of the box or unrelated to their current position. Classes in IT or a science field may not seem as relevant to an executive with a business degree who focuses on management or accounting, but the more well-rounded an employee is, the more likely they are to bring more diversity of skills to the office.

Early access
As executives invest in their education, they're capitalizing on early access to course curriculum in a digital world, digital textbooks or open education resources so that they can access learning content before the class begins, allowing them to be more actively engaged in the lectures and glean more information from the professors that doesn't already exist elsewhere.

Time sensitive education
Time sensitive education means executives are able to invest in online courses or in person courses that are one weekend, one day, one week, or even two weeks in length. Executives don't have a lot of free time and companies can't often spare employees for months or years at a time which is why on demand education that is time-sensitive allows for achievable milestones that enhance skills in a much shorter amount of time.

Better hybrid approaches
Everyone switched to zoom during the pandemic and yet, executives were quick to realize that sitting in front of a zoom screen for 8 hours each day can be just as draining as sitting in front of a lecturer for 8 hours per day. Now education is trending toward hybrid and blended designs that offer virtual tools like virtual labs in addition to short lectures, online videos, and even in class projects here and there.

Micro credentials
Executive education is moving more toward micro credentials in 2022. While already on that passed during the pandemic, this new trend focuses on shorter certifications for professionals, shorter programs the completion of which provides badges that can be digitally linked to resumes, in lieu of the otherwise traditional and time-consuming two-year or four-year degree programs. Shorter milestones are now the goal. 

Data driven insights
Companies are using data analytics to determine what learning solutions are best for their executives going forward. This is allowing executives and corporations to make changes to training as well so that it is rendered most effective.

Soft leadership skills
Acknowledging that certain soft skills especially interpersonal skills and communication have fallen by the wayside during quarantine, executive education is focusing more on enhancing leadership skills for top-tier employees.

​Sustainability in others
Finally, those in leadership positions are focusing on not just improving themselves but learning the skills to help others acquire new knowledge and sustain better behaviors for the good of the company. This includes things like encouraging senior executives to have strategic thinking scheduled as part of their weekly routine, prompting managers to include all of their team in problem-solving meetings so that everyone knows what is going on and is personally invested in the solutions, and reminding managers to have task lists and properly delegate where needed. 

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