Training Industry Magazine - July/August 2019 - 22

Leveraging

Analytical Tools

to Transform L&D By Preeta Chandran
The single biggest challenge facing learning leaders today is evaluating the effectiveness of their learning
interventions. Currently, data analytics is all the rage. There is a vast array of analytical models, tools and
data science expertise available, all of which are working to transform businesses across the globe.
So, how do we leverage the latter to
enable the former and give learning
and development (L&D) organizations
accurate tools to measure the
effectiveness of their learning programs
and use that data for continuous
improvement and transformation?

THE CHALLENGES FACED BY CLOs
AND THEIR TEAMS
L&D professionals understand that
learning is crucial to business performance.
However, proving the value of L&D to
other parts of the organization, including
business leaders and decision makers, is an
uphill task. Why do chief learning officers
and their teams struggle in this area? The
answer lies in the practical challenges
they face in measuring the effectiveness
of learning programs and, hence, the
challenge in showing their impact on
business goals and performance.
There are frameworks that address
measuring learning effectiveness, the
most notable being the Kirkpatrick Model:

LEVEL 1 | REACTION
This level refers to the reaction of learners,
typically captured through feedback

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forms or "smile sheets"; the reaction phase
helps L&D professionals understand to
what degree participants find the learning
intervention engaging and relevant to
their jobs.

LEVEL 2 | LEARNING
This level refers to the degree to which
learners acquire the intended knowledge,
skills and attitudes addressed in the
learning intervention, and it is typically
measured through assessment scores.

LEVEL 3 | BEHAVIOR
This level refers to the degree to which
learners apply their learning from the
learning intervention to their jobs; supervisor,
mentor and 360-degree feedback are some
ways to capture this information.

LEVEL 4 | RESULTS
This level refers to the degree to which
targeted outcomes occur as a result of the
learning intervention and its impact on
key business metrics.
However, many organizations following
these frameworks lack the tools needed to
put the framework to use. At each level of

the Kirkpatrick Model, the first step toward
measuring effectiveness is data collection
which, for many organizations, is a difficult
task to carry out beyond Level 2.
According to the "State of the ROI
of Learning" report by Udemy, most
companies still rely on Level 1 metrics
and were primarily measuring training
satisfaction and completion rates. By relying
only on Level 1 data, organizations fail to
measure the L&D's impact on employee
behavior, key performance indicators (KPIs)
and critical business metrics.
Even with the wide availability of data, how
does one go about analyzing the mass of
information to generate valuable insights
that enable better decision making? This
remains the bigger challenge.
This is where data mining and analytics
come into the picture. The key objective
is to start a thought process on how
to address the challenge of measuring
learning effectiveness by leveraging cuttingedge, new-age technology. How can
organizations leverage analytics to evaluate
the effectiveness of their L&D interventions
and drive continuous improvement?

Training Industry Magazine - July/August 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - July/August 2019