Throughout the year, TrainingZone will offer learning and development (L&D) professionals access to fresh evidence, tangible guidance and thought-provoking opinion on how to navigate corporate learning and development in 2023 and beyond.

We welcome guest contributions from leading learning practitioners and experts, providing the content is aligned with one of our themes and content types. You can get a snapshot of these on this page, or scroll to the bottom and click on the link to see our full 2023 editorial plan, with inspirational article ideas, guidelines on content types and more.

Ubiquitous learning

TrainingZone's overarching theme for 2023 – ubiquitous learning – highlights the shift L&D needs to take to equip people with today’s most complex business and societal challenges. We believe learning can happen anywhere and everywhere if we set the right tone, create the right environment and nurture the right culture.

Throughout the year, we will provide concrete guidance and refreshing opinion on igniting a progressive L&D strategy. We will explore how the profession must widen its lens to consider wellbeing, inclusion, powerful partnerships, psychology, workplace culture and more. And how business-critical learning can be intersected with passion projects when embracing ubiquitous learning.

Alongside this, we will publish guidance to support people professionals on a human level. To help them protect their own wellbeing, remove barriers halting personal growth and fulfil ambitions.

Our core topics for 2023

We no longer focus on monthly themes or forward features. We publish relevant, fresh content throughout the year on the following topics related to the people profession.

• Holistic L&D
  Learning is interconnected with everything. Approaching L&D holistically is not only about focusing on all areas of employee growth. In holistic L&D, all areas of the business and all areas of learning are seen as having a significant impact on one another. We are looking for content that acknowledges this interconnectedness and offers guidance on how to harness it.
  
  
• L&D on a budget
  

  Through economic hardships, L&D is often top of the list for cutbacks. Learning professionals must be prepared for this challenge and respond quickly or risk halting crucial development plans. We are looking for features that explore why L&D teams are the first to fall, how to build the case for protecting L&D investment, and creative ways to deliver budget-friendly learning.

  
  
• DEI and social mobility in L&D
  

  L&D teams have the potential to play a far more impactful role in social mobility and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). To help learning leaders develop and implement a meaningful strategy, we are looking for actionable guidance focused on a specific area of this sprawling issue.

  
  
• Passion projects versus business-critical learning
  

  There has always been a big divide that separates L&D: learning to fulfil specific business needs and learning for the love of learning. Both are hugely important, but can often seem at odds. We are looking for content that considers this dichotomy that exists within L&D and analyses how a more harmonious approach can be taken.

  
  
• Leadership and management development
  

  When developing leaders, the question of business skills over human skills is always going to arise. Very few leaders have an abundance of both, and more often than not, it is the human element most missing and hardest to train. We are looking for content that questions archaic or nonsensical leadership approaches (such as the Peter Principle) whilst offering up potential solutions.

  
  
• Psychology and neuroscience in learning
  

  Understanding the mindset, behaviour and neuroscience of learners – and their subsequent impact on desire, ability and capacity to learn – will enable us to maximise L&D effectiveness. It is also necessary to consider the importance of human (soft) skills within the business, and how these skills differ in training requirements compared with others. We are looking for topics that consider the learner as a complex human first, whilst examining how neuro and behavioural science can improve training and learning.
  
  

• Reskilling and elevating L&D leaders

  In what has been an exceptionally tough period for L&D, it is more important than ever for learning leaders to assess their skills gaps and build up their capabilities to ensure they can demonstrate their worth to the business. We are looking for tips, strategies and insights on how leaders within the profession can best elevate themselves and the industry as a whole.
  
  

• Building powerful partnerships
  

  Savvy L&D folk are in the thick of it, getting to know the different challenges and strengths across teams and how L&D can add value. They are focused on business needs and how a unified approach can attract, retain and grow talent in the best way possible. We are looking for guidance on how to build strong bonds with the likes of recruitment, onboarding, benefits, leadership and marketing departments to bolster L&D value and build credibility.
  
  

• Progressive talent pathways
  

  We are looking for content that ignites a progressive approach to career development. We want to offer our readers practical guidance on how to nurture a culture of learning, build agile talent pathways and marketplaces, and provide dynamic, inclusive development opportunities.

Seasonal and current trends

We also welcome article pitches that focus on seasonal trends and current affairs such as:

• Updates to skills and education legislation
• State of economy / finance-related affairs
• Skills shortages