Learning Analytics And Training Effectiveness Have To Be Closely Bound For Measuring True ROI
Providing employees with opportunities for Learning and Development is more important today than ever before. Implementing effective training programs has been proven to increase employee productivity and performance and to assist companies in boosting their profits. In fact, 76% of employees today are looking for opportunities for career growth [1]. It was also found that organizations that invest in employee training can see as much as a 24% increase in profits [1].
However, ineffective training is also costly. Organizations lose $13.5 million a year per 1,000 employees [2]. Therefore measuring the effectiveness of your corporate learning programs is essential to your organization’s success. Learning analytics is a powerful tool you can use to more accurately measure the effectiveness of your training programs [3].
Learning analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of data about learners and their contexts. This data is used to gain a better understanding of the user and to optimize their learning experiences.
Optimizing learning experiences benefits both the organization and the learner. Quality training programs successfully improve employee performance and engagement.
Improving Training Initiatives With Learning Analytics
There are many ways learning analytics can help you measure the effectiveness of your training programs. Descriptive analytics can be used to track engagement, test scores and participation rates. This kind of information will allow L&D professionals to identify patterns that will help them determine which content is useful to employees and which content is creating frustration or confusion.
Predictive analytics is when descriptive analytics is used to predict a learner’s future behavior and patterns. This form of learning analytics is particularly useful when it comes to creating personalized User Experiences. Personalized learning experiences are growing more popular due to their ability to increase the speed, efficiency, and effectiveness of employee training.
One of the toughest training challenges L&D teams face is trying to create training that appeals to diverse groups. Employees often have different learner preferences, skill levels, and backgrounds that impact their learning experiences. Training programs that can adapt to the learner's behaviors help L&D teams avoid this challenge altogether.
Learning analytics plays a significant role in the development process of user-centered design (UCD). Analytics provides data and insights that make user research easier.
It is also one of the first steps in creating personalized learning paths. Analytics collects the data needed to predict user behaviors. Then AI can use it to design and develop a personalized learning path for the individual.
Both descriptive and predictive analytics boost measuring training effectiveness. Learning analytics can be used to more accurately measure each level of the popular Kirkpatrick’s model for training evaluation.
Reaction
This is the first level of measurement. This level is about gauging participants' initial responses to the training, the program, and their engagement levels. Analytics can gather and report data to better help you understand your employee’s feelings about the training and the delivery methods that are being used. Analytics will be able to help you measure the levels of engagement. This will assist you in determining if some areas of training receive a more positive response than others.
Learning
This level is about measuring how much participants are learning during the training. Learning analytics can be used to analyze and report data such as skills assessments, quiz scores, and the amount of time needed to complete them to help you get a better picture of how much knowledge they are retaining. If employees can remember what they have learned, they are much more likely to practice the new skills on the job.
If employees are retaining the information they learned, it is a sign that the training program is going well. Some analytics reports can break down the data to show you in which parts of the course employees are doing well and retaining information, and what areas they are struggling with. This way adjustments can be made.
Behavior
This level of evaluation is about measuring knowledge application. Much of this is done by monitoring employees on the job after the training takes place to see if they apply what they have learned while working.
However, learning analytics can measure knowledge application from online simulations where employees work through life-like scenarios to practice applying knowledge. This is an effective way to let employees practice their new skills and knowledge without risk, while at the same time gathering data about the effectiveness of training.
Results
Learning analytics can also help measure the results of the training and the impact it has made on business objectives. Your training programs should always be aligned with your business objectives. Although learning analytics only measures training data and effectiveness, it can give you insights that will help you measure the ROI, as well as opportunities to cut costs and improve training effectiveness.
Conclusion
As more and more employees continue to look for organizations that support their Learning and Development needs, providing effective training programs that deliver a high ROI has become crucial in today’s competitive market. Learning analytics is a tool you can use to ensure that you are providing highly personalized quality learning experiences for all your employees.
Learning analytics can help you both measure and boost the effectiveness of your training programs. Analytics provides insights that can assist your L&D teams at every level and creates actionable designing solutions that drive a positive long-term impact.
Advanced analytics can even help identify which specific pieces of learning content are the most engaging and useful to students, as well as what can be improved. This information is also useful for those who want to create personalized learning experiences for their employees.
Taking a user-centric approach to Learning and Development will help your organization achieve even its toughest goals more easily. Using learning analytics to better understand the User Experience is the first step to making data-informed decisions that will truly have an impact on employee performance.
To learn more about how you can evaluate and better measure the effectiveness of your corporate training programs, check out the eBook The Power Of Learning Analytics: Measuring L&D Outcomes For Business Performance. If you're curious about how to use learning analytics for remote workforce engagement, join the webinar, too!
References:
[1] 7 Stats that Prove Training Value
[2] 10 Statistics on Corporate Training and What They Mean for Your Company’s Future
