Here is a recap of the ATD 2022 experience from our Co-Founder & Chairman, Philippe Riveron.
Last month, Edflex sponsored ATD 2022 in Orlando. The ATD International Conference & Exposition is the largest EXPO in the L&D industry. Learning and development professionals from across the globe came together to learn about trends and best practices, discover new tools, and share ideas with peers who are committed to helping create a world that works better.
Here is a recap of the ATD 2022 experience from our Co-Founder & Chairman, Philippe Riveron.
Why is Edflex expanding into the US Market?
Founded in 2016 to facilitate access to training in the business world, Edflex’s mission is to reinvent daily training together. This is why Edflex created an innovative solution to inspire and engage each employee in their development. Edflex is headquartered in France but has customers across the globe.
Edflex is already a global company with 55% of our users based outside of France. We currently have customers in the U.S., North America is actually the first country outside of Europe that Edflex entered. We want to expand into the U.S. because all of the major tools (Microsoft Teams, Google, Slack, etc.) used by U.S. companies can be integrated with Edflex.
What impact will Edflex have on the US market?
Covid has changed the way that people learn, with the current labor shortage, people started to understand that they need education offered as a benefit within companies. Due to this, training is becoming a way to attract and retain talent as well as grow the skills of current employees. It is important for companies to understand that they must offer more than one form of eLearning content since everyone learns differently. Learning needs to be adaptable and flexible in order to meet the needs of each individual employee. Edflex provides a unique solution to this challenge through open education. Open education creates the opportunity for people to learn from anywhere, anytime, and on any device, which creates a culture of learning that promotes education as a benefit.
Also, the lifespan of employees’ current skill sets is shortening continuously, therefore we must reskill on a daily basis in order to remain competitive.
Why was it important for Edflex to sponsor/exhibit at ATD?
ATD is the biggest event in the L&D industry, it attracts people from all over the world. It is a melting pot of people and nationalities which is exactly what Edflex stands for: education for everyone. All of the most innovative companies in the L&D industry attend ATD, which is why it was extremely important for Edflex to exhibit at the event. We also got the pleasure of meeting up with some of our partners in person, which was great.
Were you pleased with the number of people attending the event and the level of buying authority (ie decision-makers)?
ATD is great for matchmaking, communication, and promotion, but there were not a lot of decision-makers. I think smaller events that last 1-2 days are more useful in terms of being able to talk to decision-makers.
What trends did you uncover from attending ATD?
There were a few trends that stuck out the most to me at the event.
- People weren’t looking to fully replace their entire learning system, but instead were looking to add innovation to their current learning systems.
- L&D is becoming more strategic for companies in terms of how L&D is key to retaining and attracting talent amidst the labor shortage. Due to this, Chief Learning Officers are now sitting at the c-suite table.
- Open education is starting to be a huge trend in L&D. L&D creates an ecosystem that offers opportunities for employees to grow their skills and learn. People are more attracted to companies that offer this opportunity. If companies don’t offer the right training, people will try to find the right content on their own.
- Younger generations don’t want to have a single career path, they want to learn everything they can and grow their skills in different areas.
- Attendees discussed the issue of budget challenges that they face when trying to grow their training catalog.
