In this day of constant change and the need for strong talent, an engaged workforce, and technology preparedness—all within budget, it helps to have insight into effective, efficient talent development practices that others are using. The Association for Talent Development's research team provides resources that can help, both for today and for the future.

ATD has just launched its Research Center, a new subscription-based product that gives an entire organization or agency, no matter the size, fully searchable access to dozens of original ATD research reports, benchmarks, and case studies on talent development.

The subscription includes ATD's annual State of the Industry report, the definitive source for industry-wide benchmarks on training investments and activities. Some highlights from the 2016 report include:

• On average, employers across all industries spent $1,252 per worker on training in 2015.

• Despite the rising importance of technology in delivering learning, about half of all learning hours are still delivered in the traditional instructor-led, face-to-face classroom.

The 2017 report (which captures data for fiscal or calendar year 2016) will be added to the Research Center in the fall of 2017. In addition to State of the Industry, the Research Center includes on-demand access to dozens of reports on such topics as:

• measuring the return on investment and other business outcomes of training

• building a culture of learning

• preparing organizations for the needs of future employees

• training managers to lead teams.

Among the latest additions to the Research Center is Chief Talent Development Officers: Driving Strategy and Performance, a report that profiles four top talent development leaders and provides insights from data collected from hundreds of organizations in all industries. Some key findings:

• In the last two years, 89 percent of learning and talent development leaders saw increased growth in the scope of their duties and responsibilities.

• An astounding 80 percent of organizations open themselves up to risk by not having a succession plan for their top learning or talent development executive.

The Research Center also includes detailed case studies profiling training and human capital initiatives at well-known corporations such as Accenture and Comcast, as well as brief cases focused on specific challenges and solutions. Additionally, the Research Center provides on-demand webcasts and a research curator who can answer questions about ATD's research.

The Research Center is a dynamic tool, with new reports and cases added before they are made available to non-subscribers. The subscription covers your entire agency for one flat fee.

Take a look inside the offerings by downloading your free copy of Change Agents: The Role of Organizational Learning in Change Management.