What does a learning and development consultant do?
A learning and development consultant is primarily in charge of conducting extensive research and analysis of a company and its employees, assessing every aspect to determine areas of improvement. Through the results, they devise learning strategies that will develop employees' skills to help them be a better member of the workforce. Consultants also create programs and present them to higher officials for approval, and collaborate with managers. Furthermore, a learning and development consultant must have an in-depth understanding of the company's vision, mission, and policies.
Learning and development consultant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real learning and development consultant resumes:
- Lead experiential learning in supervisory skills, conflict management, leadership, team building and organization process effectiveness.
- Consult on employee satisfaction and climate improvement, process improvement, change management, team development, and organizational development interventions.
- Develop and facilitate performance management initiatives including defining accountability and measuring results.
- Streamline and execute marketing sales incentive programs, eLearning and content delivery.
- Conduct enterprise-wide pilot for new eLearning tool that demonstrate tangible cost/time savings.
- Develop an in-depth diversity train-the-trainer program for facilitators that provide legally-based fundamentals, facilitation skills, facilitator assessment, and testing.
- Conduct special education and individual education plan (IEP) meetings; write accommodations into curricula and ensure classroom accommodations.
- Develop and facilitate performance management initiatives including defining accountability and measuring results.
Learning and development consultant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Learning And Development Consultants are proficient in Customer Service, Continuous Improvement, and Learning Solutions. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Instructional skills, and Analytical skills.
We break down the percentage of Learning And Development Consultants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 10%
Designed and instructed Coaching, Customer Service, Behavioral Interviewing, and Team Effectiveness training modules to enhance competency-based performance culture.
- Continuous Improvement, 9%
Planned and facilitated multiple issue-framing sessions for merchandising leaders to drive continuous improvement initiatives.
- Learning Solutions, 7%
Designed, developed, and implemented measurement and evaluation strategies to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of learning solutions on performance.
- Program Effectiveness, 6%
Evaluated program effectiveness and communicates results to stakeholders.
- Employee Training, 5%
Managed and reviewed employee training information in Sikorsky's Learning Management System.
- Employee Development, 5%
Designed leadership, management and employee development programs, and corresponding organizational communications.
Common skills that a learning and development consultant uses to do their job include "customer service," "continuous improvement," and "learning solutions." You can find details on the most important learning and development consultant responsibilities below.
Creativity. One of the key soft skills for a learning and development consultant to have is creativity. You can see how this relates to what learning and development consultants do because "specialists should be resourceful when developing training materials." Additionally, a learning and development consultant resume shows how learning and development consultants use creativity: "provide one-on-one employee development coaching using mbti, strong interest inventory, onet, strengthsfinder, tki conflict model. "
Instructional skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling learning and development consultant duties is instructional skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "training and development specialists deliver employee training programs." According to a learning and development consultant resume, here's how learning and development consultants can utilize instructional skills in their job responsibilities: "reviewed materials for instructional design peers for accuracy and effectiveness, ensuring accurate delivery of curriculum. "
Analytical skills. This is an important skill for learning and development consultants to perform their duties. For an example of how learning and development consultant responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "training and development specialists must evaluate training programs, methods, and materials and choose those that best fit each situation." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a learning and development consultant: "interviewed executive-level subject matter experts using behavioral event protocols and thematic analysis methods to develop the profiles. ".
Communication skills. For certain learning and development consultant responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "communication skills." The day-to-day duties of a learning and development consultant rely on this skill, as "training and development specialists must convey information clearly and facilitate learning to diverse audiences." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what learning and development consultants do: "engaged with senior leaders and subject matter experts to obtain support and enable advocacy of training and communication strategy. "
Collaboration skills. Another skill commonly found on learning and development consultant job descriptions is "collaboration skills." It can come up quite often in learning and development consultant duties, since "specialists need strong interpersonal skills because delivering training programs requires coordinating with instructors, subject-matter experts, and trainees." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day learning and development consultant responsibilities: "create ms sharepoint collaboration sites to support initiatives and projects. "
The three companies that hire the most learning and development consultants are:
- Wells Fargo15 learning and development consultants jobs
- Church Mutual Insurance8 learning and development consultants jobs
- Legacy Health4 learning and development consultants jobs
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Compare different learning and development consultants
Learning and development consultant vs. Trainer lead
As a training lead, you are responsible for overseeing a company's employee training and development activities. You are also expected to perform various tasks that may include identifying training needs for the organization, supervising trainers' work, and developing effective employee training programs. Other duties and responsibilities may be conducting a readiness assessment, maintaining training information, and coordinating and reviewing the logistics of training materials. Also, you are expected to organize safety training and develop conflict resolution modules and diversity appreciation.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a learning and development consultant are more likely to require skills like "learning solutions," "program effectiveness," "employee training," and "employee development." On the other hand, a job as a trainer lead requires skills like "punctuality," "cpr," "safety procedures," and "pos." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
On average, trainer leads reach lower levels of education than learning and development consultants. Trainer leads are 12.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 1.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Learning and development consultant vs. Corporate trainer
A corporate trainer is someone who essentially works as a teacher in a corporate setting. Daily duties include training employees with new company systems, skills, and strategies. They monitor the engagement levels and performance of the training participants. Also, they collaborate with project stakeholders to create training content and design. Corporate trainers must have high interpersonal skills to connect with trainers easily and to get them to participate actively in the training sessions. Preferred candidates for the job are those with a bachelor's degree in human resources or those with relevant job experience in the same field.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, learning and development consultant responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "continuous improvement," "learning solutions," "program effectiveness," and "employee training." Meanwhile, a corporate trainer has duties that require skills in areas such as "hr," "corporate training," "account executives," and "training manuals." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Corporate trainers may earn a lower salary than learning and development consultants, but corporate trainers earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $58,663. On the other hand, learning and development consultants receive higher pay in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $90,217.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Corporate trainers tend to reach lower levels of education than learning and development consultants. In fact, they're 12.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for learning and development consultants in the next 3-5 years?
Michael Baker
Founder & Partner, m3 Development
Learning and development consultant vs. Epic credentialed trainer
Epic credential trainers are professionals who are trained at the hospital client where they provide training to users. The responsibilities of the trainers include the delivery of end-user training and assistance in technicalities. They balance various projects and their deadlines while still managing caseloads. Their job involves the establishment and enforcement of training interventions. Also, they offer extensive customer service through communication on a professional level and provide support via telephone or WebEx.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, learning and development consultants are more likely to have skills like "customer service," "continuous improvement," "learning solutions," and "program effectiveness." But a epic credentialed trainer is more likely to have skills like "ehr," "patients," "end user training," and "coordinators."
Epic credentialed trainers earn the highest salary when working in the health care industry, where they receive an average salary of $77,624. Comparatively, learning and development consultants have the highest earning potential in the technology industry, with an average salary of $90,217.epic credentialed trainers typically earn lower educational levels compared to learning and development consultants. Specifically, they're 7.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Learning and development consultant vs. Train operator
The Train Operator ensures the train gets to and from destinations in a timely and safe manner. This person is responsible for the train's operation, maintenance, repairs, and upgrades. The passengers' safety and convenience fall on the train operator's shoulders, and it is the operator's obligation that trains always depart and arrive on time. Add responsibilities of a train operator is to ensure the security of all passengers and to report all irregularities observed during one's duty.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between learning and development consultants and train operators, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a learning and development consultant might have more use for skills like "customer service," "continuous improvement," "learning solutions," and "program effectiveness." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of train operators require skills like "safety procedures," "ladders," "dod," and "sme. "
The transportation industry tends to pay the highest salaries for train operators, with average annual pay of $43,593. Comparatively, the highest learning and development consultant annual salary comes from the technology industry.In general, train operators hold lower degree levels compared to learning and development consultants. Train operators are 15.9% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 1.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of learning and development consultant
Updated January 8, 2025
