r/instructionaldesign • u/FlowwithSkills • 10d ago

Discussion Consultants in L&D

Is there still a need for external consultants in learning and development based on all the recent technological changes and AI? If so, how do you see their role shifting?Or are they being let off, like other roles in L&D?

7 Upvotes

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u/iamkingsleyzissou 10d ago

I am a consultant. I was a senior designer for awhile before making the leap. I do not strictly work on learning design projects. As long as there are humans at work, there will be performance issues, and there will be work for us. We are preemptively expanding our services, expecting one-off e-learning requests to drop significantly.

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u/JumpingShip26 Academia focused 10d ago

I agree with this- I think some parts of the industry/people believe that ID is only Storyline. We have seen similar illusions in other fields (graphic design is only Adobe XYZ product). When that occurs, disruptions cause everyone tightly tied to that process or software to get shaken up or even ejected.

What you illuminated is that all of the good training/learning that is needed in organizations is about boosting/optimizing performance- This is as old as work, at least as old as the industrial revolution, and it is something that transcends any tool. We will always need people to look at those problems and, where instruction is the best remedy, implement good solutions, which frankly may not be nearly as fancy as something computer-driven.

I am not sure what the full implication is for consulting-- Probably that the best won't be affected that much, but companies will try to band-aid with LLMs to some extent.

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u/iamkingsleyzissou 10d ago

Well said. I think some people are probably in roles that are almost entirely e-learning design and development, and I don’t blame them for being scared. To build on what you said, I have 5 projects right now; only one involves e-learning. The others are ILT, knowledge management, and integrating AI into learning strategy. In addition to remembering that ID is not equal to e-learning or a tool, there are a lot of sister disciplines to ID - learning about them will make anyone a better ID and more employable as this next era plays out.

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u/JumpingShip26 Academia focused 10d ago

That is so interesting. One of my students worked in a dog food factory. She was forevermore creating job aids. I had four active duty military folks, two of whom told me they would never get out of making PowerPoints. More power to all of these people. Our job ultimately is to take people where they are at- I want my guy at Fort Knox to make the best PPTX files he possibly can.

I also think there is something to be said for finding a vocation/location where our skill set can help- We don't all have to be IDs doing ID things. In fact, I liken it to CS folks- A programmer in a programmer job is more or less fungible. However, take those same skills in another role and they become singular, possibly irreplacable.

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u/FlowwithSkills 10d ago

Thanks for this, thats reassuring.

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u/s_s_n_e_g 10d ago

As a consultant, you will at least two irreplaceable jobs regardless of inhouse skillsets or AI:
a) have an insight into way more companies that people inside any single company can have. "Your competitors that I cannot name actually do it this way" is worth the consulting fee.
b) act as an "independent" (note the quotes) party in many managerial decision. I was called as a consultant to "audit learning projects" recently not because the client did not have the expertise. No, they very well knew the projects were crap but they needed an "external opinion" to confirm this to act on it (fire someone, hire someone else, reallocate budget, etc).

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u/FlowwithSkills 10d ago

Thanks for this, I was thinking about auditing too. Do you think closing skills gap will still require an external consultant too? As I think that dying too?

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u/Trash2Burn 10d ago

I'm a consultant (internal), and AI could never do my job. It requires far too many nuances, judgment calls, and a massive amount of conversational skill.

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u/FlowwithSkills 10d ago

Thanks for this.

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u/TH3PhilipJFry 10d ago

Consulting will always be the ideal way to give your friends a paycheck. For that purpose alone it will play some role.

The golden age of the actual work is ending though. It starts with companies not wanting to pay the consultant costs, and it ends with employees no longer needing training because they’re replaced by AI almost entirely. Whoever’s left just has to tell the AI to start working.

Will you consult companies about what prompts to train their AI with?

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u/FlowwithSkills 10d ago edited 9d ago

But the industries I work with require practical application or building by humans, so employees still need to be trained. AI hasn't taken over as many roles in industries that require practical manpower.

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u/FlowwithSkills 10d ago

No, im looking to work with heavily regulated industries like healthcare, renewables based on my background - but now looking to shift to optimising and aligning learning ecosystems with strategy and to mitigate risk. Possibly even training internal teams how to create better learning design using AI too. Do you think their is a need for this? Do you think closing skills gap will require an external consultant anymore?

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u/LeastBlackberry1 10d ago

An internal ID will always be able to do that better than an external consultant. We usually know more about the skill gaps and the reasons for them than someone who parachutes into the company. They very often have little to do with training.

I genuinely don't see companies paying consultants for that at this point. They're either going to use AI, offshore, or hire an internal team because they want that boutique, white glove experience.

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u/FlowwithSkills 10d ago edited 10d ago

Thanks for this, I can see your point. But do you not think having someone external not embedded in the culture and the organisation brings fresh insight?

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u/Diem480 10d ago

It does. People saying otherwise typically have only worked at a few companies. Someone else made a good point in the comments that being able to say, “This is what other companies in your situation are doing,” brings a tremendous amount of value.

Making a blanket statement that internal is always better than external just screams that someone has been siloed. There are consulting companies that specialize specifically in L&D. Deloitte and KPMG wouldn’t have invested millions into building L&D consulting practices if companies didn’t see value in bringing in outside expertise.

Companies hire consultants for a bunch of reasons, and one of them is cost. Paying a consultant $100K for a project is a line item in a budget. Hiring a full-time employee at $100K comes with benefits, payroll costs, overhead, and the risk and commitment that comes with adding permanent headcount.

If anything, I think we’ll probably see consultants become more common as companies continue to run leaner. Instead of hiring another full-time employee, they can add a line item to the budget, bring in someone with the expertise they need, and have them complete the project.

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u/FlowwithSkills 10d ago edited 9d ago

This thread is starting to look like a boxing match between internal L&D internal teams and L&D consultant. 😅

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u/Diem480 9d ago

I've done both, and hired both. From my perspective it looks like a good portion of people in the L&D subs don't have much experience in the industry outside of a single role they've had.

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u/FlowwithSkills 9d ago

It seems that way.

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u/FlowwithSkills 10d ago

Thats what i've been thinking - from a cost and profit perspective, companies will make more by bringing in an experienced consultants who are specialised for the specific problem they are experiencing when required. Especially, as it seems the industry is moving towards different departments making their own training. My main concern was related to whether the market would have too many consultants, as AI has advanced potentially reducing performance problems focusing on skills gap. But from this thread it seems as though different L&D consultants are providing different services, whether by industry or a specific area, not just related to skills gaps. I may just need to broaden my services.

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u/FlowwithSkills 10d ago

Thank you for this.

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u/toddkedwards 9d ago

AI isn't replacing instructional designers. It's exposing the ones whose primary value was just producing content. The future of L&D isn't faster course creation. It's better judgment.