LMS Tips: September 2009: The Business Case for Learning Measurement

 

So is there really a Business Case for Learning Measurement

September 2009

A Leaning Management System (LMS) worthy of your time (and money!) must provide an infrastructure that allows you to plan, deliver and manage E-Learning programs in your existing and future formats.

When it comes to your E-Learning initiatives, it’s all about business results. Training success hinges on the ability to link your learning programs to job impact, especially in today’s uncertain budget and economic climate.

 

The case for assessment and measurement crosses industry boundaries and touches learners in all capacities, including employees, customers and students. Your training team can launch front-end training programs that include sales, technology, competency and overall performance improvement training, and then quantify the resulting benefits, such as enhanced sales, productivity increases, error reduction and total progress and advancements.

 

Current Training Trends

 

• The skills of your employees are the best guarantee of future prosperity – and the best investment a business can make in challenging times.
• Investing now in building new skills will put your company in the strongest position as the economy recovers.
• Firms that don’t train are 2.5 times more likely to fail than firms that do train.

 

Learning measurement is a cornerstone in an organization’s successful training platform and should include data collection, storage, processing and reporting. With the automatic collection of information and the analytical power of your LMS, you can turn raw data into actionable business intelligence to: 1) Improve learning programs, 2) Demonstrate value to stakeholders, and 3) Optimize learning investments.

 

Making Data Work For You

 

When the course completion and testing data is collected, the administrator can activate the reporting function and quantify the results of the training program. Individual learner training results can be forwarded automatically to the student’s manager or other designated management staff. Additionally, the LMS can generate a post-event “survey,” which can aid the administrator with relevant learner feedback for future implementation.

 

Your LMS should include a robust reporting process for learning measurement. With the relevant and necessary input, including courses, student demographics, roles, organizations, business units, test scores, and surveys, you’ll have the output you need, such as performance, comparisons and trends.

 

In the final analysis, the training team can use metrics for performance management. Critical areas of measurement that will benefit you are: 1) Benchmarks - internal or external, 2) Goals – actual to goal, 3) Trends - time-based analysis, and 4) Dashboards - concise data.

 

Choosing an LMS with the infrastructure that allows you to plan, deliver and manage your E-Learning programs will bolster your business case for learning measurement in a tough economy and will generate unlimited benefits.