Employees who work in highly technical roles, like financial services, tend to put most of their focus on building and honing the practical skills they need to accomplish their day-to-day work. While sharpening these existing skills and learning new ones is critical, many professionals focus only on the hard skills, often forgetting about the softer, personal skills altogether. But while soft skills can seem more abstract and non-essential, they’re more important now than ever — for both individual employees and organizations as a whole.

From the ability to make critical, fast-paced decisions to communicating through industry-specific jargon, prioritizing soft skills can be the difference between a thriving financial services workplace and a struggling one.

What are soft skills, and why do they matter?

Soft skills are interpersonal abilities that enable effective interaction and performance in both professional and non-professional settings. Unlike hard skills — like analytics, forecasting, etc. — soft skills are more intangible and generally applicable across different roles and industries.

Despite this intangibility, some of the most essential soft skills in financial services include emotional intelligence, teamwork, creativity, judgment, and decision-making. Each of these competencies, which can be taught through the right training, help both individual employees and their organizations progress:


Individual success: Financial companies are increasingly seeking job candidates with soft skills instead of only technical or cognitive skills. This means the more that employees are adept at competencies like organization, teamwork, problem-solving, and communication, the more likely they are to both climb the ladder and ensure long-standing employability.

Company-wide success: When individual employees thrive, so do the companies that employ them. Mastery of soft skills across a workforce fosters effective collaboration and teamwork, drives innovation, and creates a workplace culture that employees want to be a part of. As companies become increasingly global, helping employees create human connections with colleagues and clients through skills like communication, empathy, and emotional intelligence, can give a financial services company a competitive edge.

Why do financial services companies struggle with soft skills?

Of course, developing employees’ soft skills is easier said than done, especially in highly technical organizations. 

When it comes to incorporating soft-skill-building in the workforce, organizations often struggle with:  

Determining and communicating training results: Unlike hard skill proficiency, which can often be more easily measured through practical tests, exercises, and overall outputs, the mastery of soft skills can be harder to measure and understand — leading to both a lack of organizational and employee buy-in.

 Finding the right training and resources: Many L&D platforms and content are outdated and don’t offer the comprehensive, hands-on training that soft-skill-building requires. Because learning soft skills often requires employees to change behaviors embedded within them, training has to be continuous — and many L&D programs are not.

Building employee engagement: Technical employees tend to be very hands-on and outcome-focused, so building soft skills can often be seen as less critical to their role or career progression.

How to integrate soft skills development into the financial services industry 

To make soft-skill development a reality within the financial services sector, and nurture well-rounded employees who have both hard and soft skills, L&D should offer:

Diverse learning formats: Every employee has different learning preferences, so using a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work. Instead, L&D should offer diverse learning formats, like microlearning, immersive courses, podcasts, practice labs, and more on subjects like emotional intelligence, communication, and the like.

Relevant, curated content: As technology rapidly transforms and expectations change, financial services employees need updated, hyper-relevant content that speaks to the skill gaps within their specific industry. L&D should offer content that’s customized to speak to a variety of skills and roles, and curated to fit specific learning programs in order to enhance engagement and retention. In essence, employees should feel that the content they’re learning is relevant and tailor-made to their careers and everyday life. 

Mentoring and coaching: Building soft skills is an inherently social process, and real retention often requires face-to-face interactions and feedback. By establishing both formal and informal mentoring programs for employees to learn from their peers — with mentorship guidelines that outline expectations, meeting frequency, and goals for both technical and soft skills growth — employees can better retain and apply their learned new competencies. 

Experiential learning: Like mentoring and coaching, practical exercises involving soft skills can improve client interactions and team dynamics. For example, L&D programs should offer access to case studies or learning scenarios that are industry-specific. Likewise, cross-functional project collaborations can help to break down silos and improve communication and teamwork skills.

Assessment of results and success: To motivate employees to engage and get organizational buy-in, L&D programs should offer 360-degree feedback systems that evaluate both technical proficiency and soft skills. L&D teams can also measure the success of these professional development programs by informally discussing with employees and taking a “fly on the wall” approach to monitoring success. 

Continuous learning: No matter the soft skill training and upskilling your team wants to provide, ensure that it can fit within the flow of work so employees can learn and grow without having to completely remove themselves from their technical skill development and daily work. This might include encouraging self-directed learning, mobile-friendly programs, or using platforms that offer microlearning tools, like Blinkist, which is available through Go1 Premium Pro. 

Use Go1 to make learning soft skills simple and effective

Content aggregators like Go1 are one of the best ways to ensure organizational soft skill development is engaging, results-driven, and accessible to busy financial services employees.

With Go1, L&D teams can offer employees a library of world-class content that covers everything from communications to developing emotional intelligence, and even those technical skills your team needs as well.

Plus, with gamification tools, microlearning modules, and so much more, L&D teams can make the intangible tangible and create a work environment where everyone thrives.

Ready to see Go1 in action? Book a personalized demo to discover how our platform can

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Learn about essential interpersonal abilities, their impact on organizations, and how targeted training can enhance these skills for professional growth in financial services.

Addressing soft skill gaps in financial services

To succeed today, companies are adapting quicker than ever and are forced to stay flexible. Training your employees on how to stay agile in changing times makes each transition or hardship they face, easier. By equipping your employees with the necessary tools and knowledge to handle change or adversity, you can significantly enhance their capability to respond to market dynamics, technological advancements, and unforeseen challenges.

Developing an agile workforce requires a comprehensive approach to learning and development that's well-rounded, prepares your team to meet current demands, and equips them with the resilience and versatility to tackle future challenges. So, let's get into some courses and providers available in your Go1 subscription that you can add and prioritize in your learning programs.

Here are five expert-recommended courses available on Go1 to help your employees stay agile:

1. Flexibility and Agility - Infographic by Hemsley Fraser (Visual, 5 mins) 

Agility is about speed and flexibility and how quickly your organization responds to change. Find out more about why agility is so important to businesses in this short infographic.

2. Introduction to Agility by Coorpacademy (Interactive, 8 mins) 

Switch to agile mode! You may think that "agility" is only for start-ups and digital companies. That the methods can't be applied to other more traditional organizations. Agility is a state of mind that anyone can use for the greater lasting satisfaction of their customers. If you need to improve your product vision, organize your team and work, and really get to know your users, this course is for you. You'll uncover new ideas on how to make your processes less rigid.

3. Emotional Agility by Blinkist (Audio, 19 mins) 

Available to Go1 Premium Pro subscribers, the Blink to Emotional Agility, provides theories and tools to emancipate yourself from the fickle rules of your own emotions. If you can distance yourself from the knots of anger and fear in your stomach, you can gradually learn to unwind and heal.

4. The Case for Flexibility by Symmetra (Interactive, 15 mins) 

Several global disruptions have reshaped how organizations involve their people in the execution of their work. In the current environment, organizations must recognize that flexibility is a crucial strategy for enhancing engagement, performance and for attracting and retaining a diverse pool of talent.

5. Agility and Flexibility by ej4  (Video and Downloadable, 9 mins) 

We know what it means to be agile and flexible on the football field or in gymnastics, but what does it look like in an organization? Explore agility and flexibility as they apply in the business world. Learn why organizations should seek to embody both attributes, and how they should be practiced company-wide.

At Go1, we’re constantly growing our content offering. From fresh content providers to returning favorites updating their offerings, here’s what’s new to Go1 in August.    

Outthink is one of our newest partners, and has just added 1,083 new courses! Search their courses for cybersecurity topics like Social Engineering, Cloud Security, and Phishing Prevention. Available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, French, German, Italian, and more!

With 414 new courses, SimonSez IT hopes to help you on three main topics: Microsoft Office and Productivity Tools, Financial Risk Management and Analysis, and Excel VBA and Advanced Techniques. At this time, these courses are only available in English.

Blinkist has added 315 new Blinks, available only to Go1 Premium Pro subscribers. Dive into these audio and visual summaries on topics like Persuasive Copywriting, Personal Development, and Strategic Thinking. At this time, these courses are only available in English.

Offering 286 new learning opportunities this month, Tech Commanders LLC offers great educational topics for creatives like using Canva, eBook creation, and design essentials. At this time, these courses are only available in English.

Three content providers that we’re loving in August

Who said learning couldn’t be fun? Coorpacademy offers short, engaging content, for everyone to learn at their own pace, throughout their career, all while having fun. Coorpacademy’s value proposition: a selection of premium, exclusive content to engage all employees in a company! Coorpacademy’s wide range of courses cover all the top soft skills that are identified as key by the World Economic Forum for the future of jobs! In French, English, and German.

Topic coverage: Soft skills, Leadership and management, Digital skills, Communication, DEI, Sustainability, and more!

6400+ courses in Premium ranging from 8-56 minutes in duration 

Top courses: Adopt an agile mindset; Become a modern manager by embracing uncertainty; Big Data; User experience and the ‘User First’ principle; Disability awareness

*Every Coorpacademy title is available in English, French, and German + a subset of courses are now also available in Spanish & Italian!

Hemsley Fraser is a complete learning and talent development provider with a long-standing reputation as a world-class provider of engaging, performance-boosting and change-enabling learning and development services.

Hemsley Fraser creates, delivers, and manages learning experiences that engage individuals, teams and the entire workforce. Passionate about learning, and the transformative effect that it can have on today’s work experience, their team's mission is to transform how people learn, engage, and develop in the rhythm of their work … wherever they are.

Every solution is built out from our three core capability pillars (content, technology and learning services), enabling us to create custom solutions.

Topic coverage: Leadership and management; Personal development; Diversity and inclusion; Hybrid teams; Problem Solving, Creativity; Innovation; Communication skills; Managing change; Influencing skills; Finance; Performance management

135+ courses in Premium, with a duration from 5-215 minutes 

Sarder Learning brings together some of the world’s best business practices from Fortune 1000 corporate leaders, Ivy League professors, and best-selling business authors. With courses produced by subject-matter experts, Sarder Learning provides employees with content grounded in real-life business scenarios.

Sarder Learning has partnered with Go1 to offer over 1000 courses in our Content Hub.

Topic Coverage: Leadership; Management; Human resource management; Marketing; Sales and Customer service; Finance, Communication; Health and wellbeing

Top Courses: Best way to communicate with remote workers; Championing the Change; Future of digital marketing; Best practices to manage remote workers; Learning from the mad men era of advertising

As we wrap up this edition of "What's trending in learning," we hope the course recommendations and insights provided have inspired you to prioritize your team's emotional, professional, and team agility. And remember, Go1 is always here to support your team's development journey, too!

Stay tuned for next month's edition, where we'll continue to bring you the latest trends and resources in the world of L&D.

Stay ahead of the learning curve. Sign up for our newsletter to receive valuable L&D resources and tips directly to your inbox.

This month is all about agility. Dive into the article to find course recommendations and new content providers to help your employees upskill and grow on the topic.

What’s trending in learning? August 2024

This month is all about agility and agile methodologies that can help your team adapt to almost any situation. Dive into the article to find course recommendations and new content providers to help your employees upskill and grow.

What’s trending in learning? Agility in August 2024

As workplaces continually shift and change, cultivating belonging on your team is more important than ever. In our recent webinar, Wendy Gates Corbett, author of The Energy of Belonging, available on Blinkist, provided research-backed insights into how HR and L&D professionals can help employees feel connected, respected, and protected. 

In a previous role, Wendy found that despite her best efforts to connect with colleagues, her coworkers seemed uninterested in building relationships. This left her feeling like she didn't belong in the organization. As a result, Wendy stopped actively participating at work and eventually left her job feeling like a failure.  

This experience led Wendy to ask the question: What is it that creates a culture of belonging in the workplace? She compiled a survey about belonging at work and has received nearly 3,000 responses, and counting. Wendy has used these responses to build the following framework, designed to help teams and leaders grow and strengthen a sense of belonging in their business. 

Belonging is an outcome, but it's also an emotion. It's about creating a space where employees feel genuinely appreciated and integral to the organizational fabric. Wendy leveraged the results from her survey to create her own definition of belonging. According to Wendy, belonging is "the sense of security and support that results from feeling welcomed, valued, accepted, and safe as a part of something meaningful that’s larger than ourselves," but explains there is always room to add another comma to build on this definition. 

From her research, Wendy has also identified three common themes essential to nurturing belonging: connection, respect, and protection. 

Connection is the lifeline of employee engagement. To feel like they belong, employees must feel connected to both their colleagues and the organization as a whole. They need to feel seen and heard, and believe that their coworkers are genuinely interested in them. 

Wendy highlighted a few practical strategies to enhance interpersonal relationships within the workplace, like remembering personal details about coworkers, engaging in meaningful conversations unrelated to work, and sharing funny moments together. These small yet impactful actions have the potential to build deeper bonds among colleagues, fostering a stronger sense of community. 

Here at Go1, we have tons of interest-based Slack channels — including channels where employees can post photos of their pets, chat about a cause they’re passionate about, and share their hobbies. These are great spaces for our remote workforce to connect over common interests, get to know colleagues outside of their team, and have conversations completely unrelated to work. 

Respect isn't just about acknowledging someone's skills but also valuing their contributions to the organization. Wendy emphasized the role of leadership in embodying and promoting respect through transparent communication and consistent actions. This not only uplifts morale but also encourages a culture of mutual appreciation and acknowledgment. 

Wendy noted that employees must be respected not only by leadership but also by their peers. Colleagues can show respect by asking each other for advice or input and expressing appreciation for their work. Getting to know your coworkers makes all the difference here — while some team members may prefer to be thanked for a job well done publicly, others may prefer a private message or email. Paying close attention to these details demonstrates a level of care and consideration that fosters a positive and respectful work environment. 

Protection, or psychological safety, is crucial for employees to express their thoughts and perspectives without fear of retribution. In psychologically safe workplaces, employees feel comfortable engaging fully, experimenting, and bringing innovative ideas to the table — which are all elements of a healthy organization. In the webinar, Wendy explored how creating a safe space for open dialogue encourages innovation and honesty, which are critical for organizational growth and development. 

For employees to feel safe at work, they need to trust that they're being treated fairly and that their colleagues are being as transparent with them as possible. It's also important for individuals to realize that they may be doing something that makes someone else uncomfortable and be open to that feedback. For example, you might copy a colleague’s manager into an email simply so they have insight into a project — but it may make that colleague feel like you don’t trust them to manage the project on their own. 

Employees can foster a sense of safety by backing each other up, aligning their actions with their words, and being careful not to interrupt colleagues, which is common, especially in remote settings. Remember to listen to understand, not listen to respond. 

Measure engagement to track your progress 

It's crucial for organizations to measure the effectiveness of their belonging strategies so they know what’s working and where they need to take a new approach. Wendy emphasized the importance of using existing metrics and tools to assess the levels of engagement and belonging among employees. 

For example, regular feedback and surveys can provide invaluable insights into whether your team feels connected, respected, and protected. You might also consider developing and implementing a leadership program that enables your leaders to be more intentional about creating a culture of inclusivity and belonging. 

Whether you're a leader working to create a culture of belonging, an employee whose team members have checked out, or if you yourself are struggling to feel a sense of belonging at work — you can do your part to create the environment you want to be a part of. By being a catalyst for belonging in your workplace, you'll drive the change towards a more inclusive and engaging environment. Choose one or two of the examples Wendy outlined, start practicing them with your team, and you'll be on your way to making a tangible difference in your organization. 

Watch the full webinar to learn from Wendy how you can make a huge impact on how included and comfortable your team feels at work, even in the smallest of ways. 

Amplify belonging: Practical strategies for HR and L&amp;D professionals

Want more strategies to create a supportive environment that boosts your team’s mental health while simultaneously increasing productivity and job satisfaction? Check out our article on building a wellness-focused workplace. 

Want to create a thriving workplace culture? Start by prioritizing belonging! Our webinar with Wendy Gates Corbett gives you the strategies needed to make it happen.

Amplify belonging: Practical strategies for HR and L&D professionals

Frontline employees play a valuable role in the manufacturing, distribution, and logistics industries, and it's important that they continuously build their skills to stay up to date with the latest tools, technology, and compliance standards. However, these employees often have busy workdays filled with tight production deadlines and physically time-consuming labor, which can make it difficult to find the time for professional development. 

In this article, we’ll explore some of the challenges frontline employees face that can get in the way of learning and offer practical strategies to help you and your teams overcome these barriers. 

Challenges to learning on the production floor 

Time is a precious commodity for frontline employees — and the most significant barrier to learning. The pressure to stay on top of production or launch timelines can be all-consuming, making it difficult to step away from the immediate tasks at hand and make time for learning. This lack of time can be a major obstacle to professional growth, and to the company's ability to innovate and respond to market changes. 

Frontline employees may also face a lack of access to learning materials and resources. Unlike office workers, they don't usually have the luxury of a quiet cubicle or a personal computer with internet access to dive into online learning. Some can’t even bring their phone into work! And even if you offer online learning that employees can engage with outside of working hours, it’s important that you don't assume every employee has internet access at home or the time to pursue L&D in these off hours. 

Additionally, while some frontline employees may be eager to grow and progress in their careers, others may be resistant to change. Some folks are hesitant to embrace new ways of doing things due to a fear of the unknown, or they may just be comfortable with their current ways of working. Regardless of the reason, resistance to change can lead to missed chances for growth and innovation. 

Finally, for employees who aren't native speakers of the language for the region of your organization, language and literacy barriers can add an extra layer of complexity to learning. Misunderstanding training materials or struggling with instructions can make it harder to pick up new skills, and asking for help can be intimidating. It might even hold employees back from fully engaging in group learning activities and discussions, leaving them feeling disconnected from the learning process. 

A comprehensive approach is key to tackling these hurdles. It involves creating time for professional development, making sure resources are accessible, and nurturing a culture of continuous learning. By doing so, companies can empower their frontline employees to see learning as not just something that’s possible for them, but a lifelong experience. 

Creating an accessible learning environment 

To make sure factory floor employees are always growing, it's important that they have access to spaces that are conducive to learning. To make this happen, you can establish dedicated learning spaces that provide access to computers, the internet, and a library of training resources in multiple languages and formats. There are a few different approaches you might take to setting up these spaces. 

First, consider converting underutilized areas, like an unused meeting room or storage space, into learning spaces with desks and computer stations. This will enable employees to get away from the noise of the production floor so they’re better able to focus. Alternatively, you can take advantage of existing multipurpose spaces and add a computer where there's room. For example, you might set up a computer in the break room so employees can use it during their lunch break. Keep in mind that you may want to set these computers up with security measures in place and enable them to work only within certain time frames. 

If you don’t have any spare space on-site, you could invest in portable devices, like tablets or laptops, that are pre-loaded with training materials and security measures. These can be easily moved to different locations on the floor for quick, on-the-go learning or if your team is comfortable with it, loaned out for access. 

To keep up with the fast pace of the production floor, employees must be empowered to set aside time for learning. By making learning an expected part of employee routines — and a team-wide norm — taking time to learn won't interfere with their daily tasks and deadlines. 

Managers are key to this process. Managers should make learning a priority and help their employees schedule time for professional development. This might mean that every employee on their team has a designated time set aside each day for professional development, or maybe each employee is assigned an hour or two per week to spend on learning. 

Microlearning can also help employees fit learning into their schedules. By offering small, bite-sized pieces of learning content from apps like Blinkist, employees can spend just a few minutes in between tasks taking in new information. Rather than sitting down for hours to learn a new skill, they can make the most of their down time and learn in short bursts. These small moments, when added up over time, can lead to significant growth — all without missing a beat in productivity. 

Providing on-the-job training and collaboration opportunities 

On-the-job training is a powerful way to enable your team members to learn and grow in their roles, while simultaneously remaining productive at work. By offering hands-on experience and immediate application of new skills, you can help your team members develop a deeper understanding of their work. 

One strategy to consider is job rotation. Cross-training employees on multiple functions and rotating roles and responsibilities gives employees a chance to try their hand at different tasks on the floor. This not only broadens their skillset but also makes them more adaptable. From there, they can decide which skills they're most interested in and pursue training that helps them grow in these areas. Plus, if ever needed, they can assist in someone’s absence to fill a skill or role gap. 

You can also offer shadowing opportunities, so employees can learn straight from their colleagues and get their questions answered directly. By watching and learning from others, employees will pick up on the most effective techniques and approaches to problem-solving. This will also give them a chance to try out new tasks with a colleague present to advise and supervise them. 

Another strategy you can implement is an employee mentorship program. Mentors not only help employees decide on the work they want to pursue but can also aid them in figuring out what kind of learning will help them accomplish their goals. The mentor-mentee relationship can be valuable in building bonds at work that reinforce trust, camaraderie, and loyalty. This doesn’t just make the employee experience more enjoyable — it can also benefit the business by leading to increased retention. 

Leveraging technology makes training more flexible and personalized, so employees can adapt it to their needs and schedules. When possible, implementing online learning allows employees to access training materials anytime, anywhere. This might involve logging in to an online platform or downloading an app to their phone, which is especially useful for employees who want to complete a course or brush up on new skills outside of working hours. 

Taking advantage of technology can also be helpful if you have employees whose native language isn't the one widely spoken at your organization. Some online learning programs, like Go1, offer courses in multiple languages, so you can enable your entire team with training content in the language that they're most fluent in. Because that’s what accessible learning is about — meeting your employees where they're most comfortable. 

Plus, online learning can provide a more interactive and engaging experience for employees, which is proven to be more effective. With the use of videos, quizzes, and simulations, employees can actively participate in the learning process. This can be especially beneficial for visual or hands-on learners who may struggle with traditional training methods. 

Fostering a culture of continuous learning among frontline employees is essential for helping employees grow and develop their skills. By creating learning spaces in the workplace, encouraging structured time for professional development, and embracing technology for tailored and accessible learning experiences, companies can effectively address the unique challenges faced by these production floor workers who often go without the L&D they should be given. This holistic approach ensures that learning becomes an integral part of your team’s daily routine, empowering employees to contribute more effectively to their roles and drive innovation from the production floor. 

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Learning looks a little different for employees in manufacturing, distribution, and logistic roles who don’t work from an office. These strategies will help frontline teams make time for learning without delaying production.

Creating time for frontline employees to learn

AI is designed to support, not supplant, humans, especially in critical areas like education and development. In our recent webinar on the ethical use of AI, Mark DiMauro, PhD, emphasized the importance of responsible AI application, including the full disclosure of AI usage, adherence to ethical and moral standards, and the preservation of integrity in its applications. This transparency in the education of AI is crucial, and deployment of AI tools should follow a comprehensive framework that addresses ethical, moral, legal, and integrity issues. This structured approach prevents misuse and ensures that AI enhances learning and development while maintaining ethical standards.

What were Mark's biggest takeaways on how to approach AI ethically? Let's get into his advice, warnings, and approach to using this new technology effectively and responsibly.

One of the core themes of the webinar was the importance of transparency in AI use. Transparency is crucial, and AI deployment should follow a comprehensive internal framework that addresses any ethical, moral, and legal issues transparently. DiMauro stressed that all stakeholders, including employees, trainers, and administrators, must be fully aware of how AI is being used within the organization at all levels.

This transparency is crucial not only for organizational integrity but also for building trust with stakeholders and informing all parties on the data being used and the decision-making processes involved. Everyone must understand the capabilities, risks, and limitations of AI technologies in all settings for success.

Mark highlighted that while AI can provide valuable data-driven insights, it's humans who can consider the contextual and ethical nuances that AI might not fully grasp or may hallucinate in making final or ethical decisions. Use AI to support your judgments, rather than relying on it entirely. Human judgment and critical thinking skills are vital in ensuring that AI-generated recommendations align with organizational values and goals.

DiMauro emphasized the need for continuous monitoring and evaluation of AI algorithms to ensure they aren't biased or contradicting your organization's ethical standards. By involving humans in every step of the decision-making process, organizations can utilize AI effectively, mitigate potential risks, and improve the overall effectiveness of the AI technologies they employ. Ultimately, the successful integration of AI with human judgment can lead to more informed and ethical decision-making, benefiting internal and external stakeholders.

AI is transforming content creation, but not completely replacing writers

"There will be some kind of disruption recomposition of what our roles look like," Mark explained, referring to the role of educators and trainers. "The roles should become more fun, [with] higher leverage."

While AI is increasingly being used to generate content, it isn't expected to replace human writers. Instead, as Mark explained, we can expect it to transform roles, providing a higher level of work, creativity, and automation. AI allows writers, strategists, and instructional designers to focus on higher-value tasks such as strategy, without getting caught in the weeds of nuanced writing.

And good news for marketing teams, as Mark predicts, "AI-generated content is going to mean more content marketing jobs. Because people are going to get leverage faster — which means content marketing will meet goals faster, [and] marketers will get more budget to do more content marketing.”

But what about ethical integrity, laws, and standards in AI? Mark dedicated a major part of the webinar to how you can build out a robust ethical framework for deploying AI at work. DiMauro emphasized that while AI has transformative potential, it must be governed by strict ethical standards to prevent misuse, mitigate risk, and avoid major backlash. Legal implications, data privacy, and the necessity of maintaining human control over AI technologies are critical considerations.

The development and deployment of AI in learning and development must adhere to a strict ethical framework, developed by experts for your organization, that respects moral and legal standards. Mark advocates for a structured approach to AI implementation, which includes safeguards against misuse to ensure that the technology is used to enhance learning experiences, without compromising ethical standards.

We are seeing firsthand in the world right now that there is an inherent need for the responsible and ethical use of AI. Mark acknowledged that while AI has the potential to greatly benefit society, it also poses certain risks and challenges that need to be addressed. He emphasized repeatedly that AI shouldn't be used to handle sensitive data, due to potential security risks. He noted, “It's really critical and it's really important to use them [AI tools] for a purpose and with ethical, moral, and integral guidelines in mind." He emphasized that as AI evolves, it's crucial to ensure that it is being used responsibly, securely, and ethically.

While there is no standardized law or governance at this time for the ethical use of AI in organizations, or specifically in learning and development, Mark recommends starting with these three steps internally:

Creating a code of ethics for AI developers and users

Implement transparency and accountability measures

Continuously monitor and evaluate the impact of AI on society

Everyone should be prepared for a future with AI at work

Even those who may not be directly impacted by AI (yet) should know the implications and benefits it currently brings to the world of work. The future of AI in learning and development is promising, but it hinges on our ability to implement it responsibly. Mark DiMauro's detailed insights and expert advice provide a roadmap for professionals looking to integrate AI into L&D settings ethically.

By adhering to high ethical standards and ensuring human oversight of AI, it can be a powerful tool for enhancing learning and development, rather than a disruptive force.

Watch the full webinar to hear all of Mark's detailed advice on ethical AI in learning and development, including real examples, considerations, and expert guidance.

Ethical use of AI for learning and development

The ethical implications of AI can be confusing, but we're here to demystify AI and help you take a responsible approach to AI usage. Dig deeper into the topics with this recommended article, Building trust and transparency in generative AI learning.

From insights on our webinar with Mark DiMauro, PhD, understand the ethical implications of AI and learn how to use it responsibly and effectively at your organization.

In today's fast-evolving regulatory environment, staying compliant is more than just a box to check — it's a must for the health of your business. If you fall out of compliance, it’s a world of trouble: legal consequences, financial hits, and a damaged reputation. The last thing you want is to lose the trust of customers and partners.

Compliance training is vital to reducing risk and protecting your employees and the organization. Without adequate measures, your organization could face legal action, financial penalties, and damage to its reputation. To protect your organization and its employees, you need to provide regular and effective compliance training.

But selecting the right compliance training provider isn't always easy. Organizations need to search for a solution that not only offers courses that meet industry regulations and standards but also fits their unique training needs. In this article, we'll look at the critical role of compliance training in safeguarding your organization and team, explain how ongoing training can mitigate risk, and legal friction, and how you can find the right compliance training provider for your business.

Compliance training safeguards your business and protects your team

Compliance training is a linchpin in risk management, ensuring the safety and security of both your business and employees. Yet, it's often dismissed or undervalued. By neglecting compliance training, you’re left open to a host of potential pitfalls, from legal entanglements to financial losses and damage to your company's reputation.

The repercussions of non-compliance can result in significant fines and legal disputes. By minimizing the risk of violations and their associated penalties with appropriate compliance training, you not only safeguard the company but also prioritize a safer work environment for everyone.

To keep up with evolving regulations, organizations require ongoing and consistent training, not just a one-and-done deal check-the-box. This way, teams can make informed decisions and stick to the highest standards of compliance. When compliance training is an ongoing conversation, it’s seen as a priority, taken more seriously by employees, and keeps operations running smoothly and reputably.

The long-term and financial consequences of non-compliance

As touched on above, organizations that fail to comply with industry regulations or legal requirements expose themselves to serious risks and potential legal and ethical consequences. Compliance isn't merely a formality; it's a vital protective measure for businesses, their employees, and customers. But it's not just the legal side of things that's a concern. The damage to an organization’s reputation from non-compliance can be just as devastating. When word gets out, as it often does, it's not just the regulators you have to worry about. It instills doubt in your customers, investors, and the public at large, and the trust you've worked so hard to build can crumble, taking your business and revenue with it.

Moreover, non-compliance can directly impact the safety of your team. Failing to meet safety, environmental, or data protection standards can put employees at risk of accidents, physical injuries, or technological vulnerabilities. We've seen first-hand in recent years how non-compliance can cost billions of dollars for some of even the most well-known and largest global companies. There are countless non-compliant cases around the globe that lead to tighter and stricter regulations.

How to find the right compliance provider for your organization

Research suppliers with the widest coverage

As you consider a compliance training provider, remember to look for one that offers a wide variety of courses to meet your specific compliance needs, across the entirety of the organization. Compliance training can cover topics like preventing sexual harassment and ensuring workplace safety, cybersecurity, and environmental compliance. It’s best to choose a provider that offers a comprehensive curriculum, so you can be confident that your employees will get the training they need, and that your team developing the training programs has everything they need in one easy-to-access resource. This helps ensure consistency, reliability, and governance across the organization.

What type of provider works for your organization?

During the evaluation process, it’s important to understand the type of training that best suits your organization. You might find that off-the-shelf courses are a good fit, especially if you’re looking to provide employees with foundational, ethical knowledge. These are cost-effective and provide a standardized approach. But if you're looking for something more tailored to your organization's unique policies, procedures, and regulations, custom courses might be the way to go. Customizable solutions often involve a collaborative effort to ensure the training meets your requirements and works with your existing software suite so you can easily track completions. The best choice will depend on your organization's compliance complexity, industry, and risk profile.

Finding the right compliance training provider mitigates risk, instills a culture of compliance, and ensures the entire organization promotes ethical behavior.

By choosing the right compliance training provider, you move past checking boxes and gain a long-term partner in keeping your workplace safe and compliant. And for many, the partner is Go1. We offer best-in-class resources, personalized solutions, and the support you need to make sure your team isn't just learning, but applying that knowledge every day.

Go1 supports global compliance initiatives and training programs

A single solution for compliance training, integrated into your existing LMS or HRIS

At Go1, we understand the importance of compliance training for both the employees and the organization. Go1's compliance solution gives you the power to manage risks and protect operations while leveraging your existing learning tools. With over 80 top compliance providers like Skillsoft, Thomson Reuters/LRN, Emtrain, EasyLlama, GRC Solutions, and more, you can find training that's up-to-date, engaging, and covers a wide range of industries and regulations. And to make integration easier, we partner with over 70 LMS and HRIS systems to deliver courses directly through your existing tools, for a streamlined learning experience. That way, even if your compliance goals and priorities change throughout the months, Go1’s library is always available and evolves with you.

What makes Go1 different than your average compliance provider?

Go1 offers the comprehensive, necessary resources you need to run a successful, long-term compliance program for your business, no matter your size. Our extensive offering includes interactive courses on foundational compliance topics available in more than five formats and 40 languages, ensuring that your training is both engaging and accessible. Whether you need yearly training for your entire organization, onboarding for new joiners, or specialized courses for specific departments, Go1 provides the flexibility required to maintain compliance on multiple topics, all within one platform.

But there's more to Go1 than regulatory and compliance training. You can go beyond the mandatory and provide employees with upskilling courses, business training, and personal skill development to consolidate content providers and streamline learning across your organization. With Go1, you can have confidence in the compliance of your business while also investing in the development and growth of your workforce.

Start creating compliance training programs that mitigate risk and meet your organization's needs with Go1. Book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s compliance and learning needs.

Compliance training for teams in North America (NAMER)

Go1 Compliance - NAMER.pdf

Compliance training for teams in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)

Go1 Compliance - EMEA (1).png

Compliance training for teams in the Asia Pacific region (APAC)

Go1 Compliance - APAC.pdf

In a fast-changing regulatory landscape, compliance training is essential for safeguarding your organization, mitigating risk, and maintaining a positive reputation. So, how do you find the right provider?

Compliance needs to be more than a checkbox for employee training

Companies that prioritize the development of technical business skills such as data analysis, programming, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and software development are better positioned to drive organizational success and foster innovation. These skills are essential for transforming data into actionable insights, creating robust software solutions, protecting against sophisticated threats, enhancing operational efficiency, and developing cutting-edge applications.

By investing in these technical skills, organizations can stay competitive, adapt to market changes, and lead in their industries. It's clear that focusing on technical business skills isn't just about employee development; it's a strategic imperative for driving innovation and maintaining a competitive edge.

Topic spotlight: Technical business skills

Here are five expert-recommended courses available on Go1 to help your organization train employees on technical business skills:

1. The Data Analysis Workshop by Packt (20 hrs 52 mins) 

Businesses today operate online and generate data almost continuously. While not all data in its raw form may seem useful, if processed and analyzed correctly, it can provide you with valuable hidden insights. The Data Analysis Workshop will help you learn how to discover these hidden patterns in your data, analyze them, and leverage the results to help transform your business. 

The book begins by taking you through the use case of a bike rental shop. You'll be shown how to correlate data, plot histograms, and analyze temporal features. As you progress, you'll learn how to plot data for a hydraulic system using the Seaborn and Matplotlib libraries, and explore a variety of use cases that show you how to join and merge databases, prepare data for analysis, and handle imbalanced data. 

By the end of the book, you'll have learned different data analysis techniques, including hypothesis testing, correlation, and null-value imputation, and will have become a confident data analyst.

2. Survey of Data Science by Stone River (8.5-hour training) 

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the field of data science, covering key concepts, essential tools, and diverse job roles available in the industry. Whether you're a beginner looking to explore the world of data or an experienced professional seeking to expand your skill set, this course offers a solid foundation for understanding the fundamental principles and practices of data science.

This course offers an overview of the activities and roles within the realm of data science. It begins by exploring the fundamental tasks of data exploration, analysis, and visualization, essential for deriving insights from data. Statistical distributions relevant to data science are introduced, followed by discussions on handling unstructured data and selecting appropriate data storage solutions. The course delves into advanced topics such as natural language processing and machine learning algorithms, including decision trees, regression, and neural networks. 

Additionally, it covers the design and implementation of data pipelines, emphasizing both batch and real-time processing. The latter part of the course focuses on the diverse roles within a data science team, including Data Wrangler, Data Engineer, Quantitative Analyst, Machine Learning Engineer, Framework Administrator, and Business Analyst, each requiring specific skills and expertise. Through this comprehensive exploration, participants gain a nuanced understanding of the field and the opportunities it offers.

By the end of this course, participants will have gained a solid understanding of the core principles, tools, and roles in data science, empowering them to embark on a successful career journey in this rapidly evolving field.

3. Intro to Coding with Python by Zenva (55 mins) 

Learn the basics of coding with Python! All software — including games, apps, websites, and more — is essentially designed to follow instructions. We refer to these instructions as coding, and the order and rules that they follow as algorithms.

This course will explore these important concepts through Python Turtle. The Turtle library allows you to issue commands to a “turtle” and have the turtle follow them as if it were a pen drawing on paper. You can use it to draw various shapes, fill them in, change their colors, and more — all through easy-to-use programming commands. You’ll also learn how to structure these commands as an algorithm to create a digital picture of a solar system.

No matter what you want to use coding for, the skills you’ll learn will form strong foundations for any project that you’ll create.

4. Google Cloud Platform Associate Cloud Engineer Bootcamp by TechCommanders (10-hour bootcamp) 

An Associate Cloud Engineer deploys applications, monitors operations, and manages enterprise solutions. Cloud Engineers use Google Cloud Console and the command-line interface to perform common platform-based tasks to maintain one or more deployed solutions that leverage Google-managed or self-managed services on Google Cloud.

This course was specifically designed to provide a refresher of the topics of the GCP Associate Cloud Engineer Exam for experienced GCP engineers that need a reminder of the objectives before taking the exam. For more hands-on help, there are many additional courses on Go1 that can help you can up to speed before taking the exam.  

During this course, you'll gain insight into the GCP Cloud Engineer exam and walk through main exercises around managing a GCP Cloud. You'll walkthrough demos, reviewing content with the SME, providing you with the top ten things to remember before taking the exam. 

5. Azure Cloud Fundamentals by Cloudswyft  (10-day course) 

This course provides foundational-level knowledge of cloud services and how those services are provided with Microsoft Azure. The course can be taken as an optional first step in learning about cloud services and Microsoft Azure, before taking further Microsoft Azure or Microsoft cloud services courses.

The course will cover general cloud computing concepts as well as general cloud computing models and services such as Public, Private, and Hybrid cloud and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

It'll also cover some core Azure services and solutions, as well as key Azure pillar services concerning security, privacy, compliance, and trust. It'll finish off with information on pricing and support services available with Azure.

At Go1, we’re constantly growing our content library. From fresh content providers to returning favorites updating their offerings, here’s what’s new to Go1 in July.    

This new Go1 Content Partner specializes in cybersecurity awareness content. They offer mostly bite-sized (5 mins) and some longer formats of 10-30 minutes. Just last month, they added new content on Data Privacy and Remote Work and Operational Security. Courses are available only in English at this time.

Channel 1 has simplified compliance and WH&S training by creating short, to-the-point and scenario-based videos. You can now discover a new series of courses on WH&S Induction, available in English.

New courses are available from SimonSez IT on three main topics: Microsoft Office and Productivity Tools, Excel and PivotTable Training, and Generative AI and Cybersecurity Awareness. At this time, these courses are only available in English.

This month is all about technical business skills. Dive into the article to find course recommendations and new content providers to help your employees upskill and grow.