Today’s business environment is rapidly changing—marked by technological proliferation and shifts in customer demands. As such, organizations need newer and better capabilities to keep up. Just as TD professionals work to help others upskill and reskill, they also must ensure their own skills meet the future needs of their organizations.

ATD’s Handbook for Training and Development describes the Talent Development Capability Model™ as “a research-based framework for what talent development professionals need to know and do to be successful.” Morgean Hirt, director of credentialling at ATD, explains that the Capability Model helps “prepare TD professionals for their future of work by broadening the scope of knowledge and skills that will make them effective.”

In November 2024, ATD published, Bridging the TD Skills Gap: Preparing for the Future. This research study asked 242 TD professionals to identify the capabilities in the Capability Model in which they expect to see a future skills gap in the next five years.

The two most cited professional capabilities that TD professionals are expecting a skills gap in include evaluating impact and technology application. Eighty-seven percent of surveyed respondents said they expect a TD skills gap in evaluating impact in five years. Eighty-three percent said they expect a TD skills gap in technology application.

When it comes to organizational capabilities, organizations are most commonly expecting a TD skills gap in future readiness. Eighty-nine percent of organizations reported they expect a skills gap in this area. In addition to future readiness, data and analytics is on the radar of many organizations. Eighty-six percent of organization reported they expect a TD skills gap in data and analytics.

The two most cited personal capabilities that TD professionals are expecting a skills gap in include collaboration and leadership and emotional intelligence and decision making. Seventy-two percent of respondents said they expect a TD skills gap in collaboration and leadership in five years. Sixty-nine percent said they expect a TD skills gap in emotional intelligence and decision making.

To learn more about what TD skills gaps organizations expect in five years and what they are doing to address those gaps, check out Bridging the TD Skills Gap: Preparing for the Future. Thank you to OpenSesame for sponsoring this report.