One major shift in future-forward learning organizations is the realization that they simply do not have the money, time or personnel to conduct in-depth measurement projects. Another realization is that the rest of the organization does not require learning to do this. So, what are learning leaders doing differently?
First, they map out the most strategic, visible and costly programs to ensure that there is a measurement strategy for them. Second, where it makes sense, they may hire a third-party to do an in-depth consulting analysis of a program. This provides independence, but it is not done with any degree of regularity, more like one analysis every year or two. Third, contemporary learning organizations realize the power in evaluation data, but they also realize that modern learners won’t answer a 40-question survey. So, strides are being made to create methodology-sound, concise, precise evaluations. Yet, these evaluations are different than ever before, because they incorporate more performance improvement principles into them, using the Net Promoter Score model, which allows for shorter surveys and a focus on improving performance.
In addition, modern learning evaluations focus on items likequality, impact and results. Specific questions to ask about these variables insimple ways is important. Finally, evaluations have significantly moreawareness towards user experience, so the respondent is more engaged whencompleting them.
Using business data from the operation or skill/capability data of functional teams is increasingly important, even if it is not perfect. This data should be highly aligned to the business outcomes the learning should impact. The emphasis is on trending this information before, during and after the learning. It is also gathered from naturally occurring control groups. Doing this can more clearly show evidence of impact if the trend is moving in a positive direction, and/or the trained group has better results than the control group. Coupling this data with the evaluation data can show evidence of impact to paint a clearer picture to both the learning organization and the business about the alignment between learning and impact/results.
The good news is that the above data can be gathered easily,in automated ways. It can be presented in simple terms, using actual numberscompared to goals and trends. This presentation is highly complementary to theway managers in supply chain, finance, IT and sales/marketing look at theirrespective operational data. So, it would come as no surprise to see learningdata presented in such a fashion.
To learn more about how to Act on Your Learning Data, visit Performitiv's content library (https://performitiv.com/benefits-resources/educational-content/).
Thank you,
The Performitiv Team
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