While online training and mobile learning continue to catch the attention of organizations everywhere, instructor-led training (ILT) still holds its spot as a valuable and lucrative way to train. 47% of training done everywhere is still instructor-led, while 25% is online-only. A blended approach is the perfect marriage between ILT and online learning, and has been a sought after form of training for its ability to increase benefits for both administrator and learner.

Even though we still find success in ILT, it continues to be a challenge for training administrators to maximize the value of their ILT meanwhile proving its ROI and that your learners are prepared in their jobs. Here are a few ways we think that ILT could become more valuable in your organization, all of which prompt a blended approach.

Have you ever wondered what it would cost or how much time it would take to create your own eBook? You probably have many pieces of content trapped in various formats that you might want to combine to make a usable resource.

Take for instance, your corporate training. We’d be willing to bet you have hundreds of pieces of content to use for training, whether it’s articles, self-authored materials, manuals, and more. But where do they live when they aren’t being used?

Training employees is obviously a critical part of any business, in any industry. Learning is something that should be ongoing throughout the entirety of one's employment, and life in general. Without evolving knowledge we wouldn't have access to the unlimited amount of resources and great minds that we do, and vice versa. 

But, as you know, there are many different types of learning, especially when it comes to corporate training. While self-paced learning is something that continues to generate buzz and excitement, we're here to tell you that self-paced learning just can't teach everything. Because many people are well aware of this, a more blended approach to learning has surfaced that incorporates the best parts of self-paced with the best parts of instructor-led training. 

If you aren't convinced that self-paced can't stand alone, then this article is for you. Discover three reasons that self-paced learning can't stand alone or replace ILT in corporate training. 

Recently I watched a TED Talk titled, “Why the best hire might not have the perfect resume” by Regina Hartley, who is the Human Resources Manager for UPS. She makes the argument that the people who have experienced significant hardship to get where they are, become the best employees. This was an eye-opening and compelling presentation and raised many powerful points that I have recapped in this article. 

With every new year comes the promise and perspective of a fresh start, in many areas of our lives. You probably have a list going of the resolutions you aim to achieve in 2016, both personally and professionally. If you’re in a leadership role or working to get into one, then there has never been a better time for a fresh approach.

 The year 2015 has come and (almost) gone so quickly. During the holiday season, our priorities tend to shift from work, leaving a golden opportunity to return refreshed and excited for the new year of possibility. If you're a learning and development professional looking to really step up your training program this year, or maybe just more efficiently prove and increase the ROI of your department, we have some advice to share. 

To foster an environment within your organization in which leader succeeds leader in a repeating cycle, there must be a leadership plan in place. This sort of cycle relates to that of any highly organized succession plan, as government officials or monarchy appointments. There has to be a constant attempt by current leaders to find and cultivate the future leaders.

Traits of a leader can be found in many people, but ensuring that they have the right qualities to continue the cycle of transformational leadership is key and can be difficult to pinpoint. Even the best communicator can only do so much if he or she doesn’t have an eye for building up those underneath him or her. As we move forward with this concept in this post, keep in mind that we are identifying traits of transformational leaders, the ones who are not only able to lead flawlessly, but also build up those around them to eventually do the same.

Every L&D professional can benefit from collaboration and advice that comes from within their own industry, which is why we love to suggest resources to faciliate it. We've shared great podcasts, Ted Talks, and webinars, and even some great blog posts, and now we're here to share five of the most socially shared blogs in learning and development. These blogs receive thousands of view per month and rate high for effective and useful information. 

Finding the right gifts for your loved ones and friends can be difficult, even when you known them well. Finding the right gift for your employees is even more diffcult since often times relationships are kept strictly professional, which doesn't give much insight into personal preference.  

It can be tricky to find the right gift that is semi-personal, useful, and still relatively inexpensive, especially when it comes to your work-mates. So here at XanEdu, we've come up with a list of eight unique yet affordable (and not too personal) gifts that any employee would be thrilled to receive from their boss!