Imagine yourself driving to your local grocery store. You drive out of your neighborhood to the main thoroughfare and proceed to the store. You enter the store, pull out your list, and find each listed item and a few more. Then you check out, carry the groceries to your car, and return home.
Go ahead. Close your eyes and visualize it.
Now open your eyes.
How much thought did you give to the engine in your car? Did you think about how your tires turned? Did you notice how the fuel mixture changed as your vehicle warmed up?
Probably not.
That's how much your CXO thinks about your LMS, your blended learning, and how much your learners like their training.
If you are a learning professional, effective learning is your destination. To your CXO, it is an unnoticed means to an end -- unless your learning activities are aligned with the business, solving real business needs, and demonstrating a positive return on investment.
In the most recent Towards Maturity benchmark report,
- 39% of L&D professionals were not confident that their learning initiatives actually supported the skills that the business needs,
- Only 55% analyze the business problem before recommending a solution, and
- 36% of organizations work with business leaders to identify business performance indicators that they want to improve.[1]
We write extensively on measurement and ROI in learning because we don't think it has to be that way. When we read the reports from industry analysts and thought leaders, we see too often that business leaders don't see the value in the learning programs they are funding.
The Need to Measure the Benefits of Learning
It's not that the value doesn’t exist. It is because as learning leaders, we are not measuring and articulating the benefits. Most organizations are still only measuring learning at the first or second level of the Kirkpatrick learning measurement model. We measure only the reactions to learning and, sometimes, whether learning took place. Only the best organizations are measuring behaviors and business results.[2]
Of the measurement areas in the Kirkpatrick model, the fourth level is the only one your CXO wants to see. That will change once you can show it to them, but until that happens, the first three don't matter.
Ask Bold Questions
The remedy is boldness. We urge you to break down organizational barriers by having conversations about performance with the people responsible for it.
It is possible that many L&D leaders are sitting on the sidelines waiting to learn analytics to get to where they can push a button and calculate ROI, but that will not happen soon. Predictive analytics will get us better estimates, but until you have that capability, you may need to rely on your line-of-business leaders for best judgment. Some parts of your organization are adept at forecasting. Put that knowledge to use.
Here's our secret: L&D is not directly responsible for organization performance. Line-of-business leaders are. Learning programs need to support their objectives and their needs, and it all starts with asking the right questions.
Let's look at some important organizational metrics and how you can connect learning to them. Whether you are using measures and metrics or the considered judgment of the leader responsible for the metric, the effect will be the same.
Measure the Right Things
Here is our list of suggestions for bold questions:
Onboarding
Are you satisfied with the time it takes for new hires to achieve competency? How could we improve it?
If we improved time to competency by 10%, what would the benefit be in financial terms?
Succession Planning
Has leadership training improved bench strength? If not, why? If bench strength is better, what is the financial impact?
Customer Service
Is (or will) new customer service training improves market share? How much? How much would revenue grow?
Products
If we extended learning to our channel partners, could we speed up new product rollout?
Would product learning and support help our channel partners sell more? If they increased sales by 15%, what would the financial benefit be?
Success in proving the value of learning and development starts with asking the right questions. For further reading on how to ask the right questions and develop the answers, download our free e-book:
Learn how to build the partnerships and alliances that will help you show value In the language your CXO understands.
References:
1. "In-Focus Update: Aligning Learning to Business (2015)." Towards Maturity. July 26, 2015. Accessed June 11, 2016. .
2. Bennington, Keri, and Tony Laffoley. "Beyond Smiley Sheets: Measuring the ROI of Learning and Development." Kenan-Flagler Business School Executive Development. Accessed June 1, 2016. .
PhenomeCloud is a comprehensive technology solutions provider committed to empowering businesses to overcome challenges, enhance their workforce capabilities, and achieve superior outcomes.
Leave a Comment