3 Reasons Why Data Should Be at the Center of Your L&D Transformation

Last Updated: December 16, 2021

Learning and development departments (L&D) are under immense pressure to demonstrate their benefits in the workplace and effectively guide employees towards reaching organizational goals. But the only way to develop a robust L&D program is to use data from your existing learning program. In this article, we discuss why your L&D transformation strategy should be entirely data-driven.

L&D is now a key driver of employee satisfaction at companies around the world. As more millennials and Gen Z-ers enter the workplace, the focus is shifting from competitive compensation to growth opportunities. These young professionals are eager to accelerate their career pathways and find new areas for development. 

This is why companies must relook at their L&D function, adopting digital transformation to provide the highest levels of engagement, motivation, and value-addition. Data-driven L&D transformation is an effective way to deploy targeted learning that is in sync with employee requirements. 

Learn More: What Employees Really Want – Put Them in the Driver’s Seat of Their Own Learning & DevelopmentOpens a new window

3 Reasons Why You Need A Data-Driven L&D Strategy 

Data has fueled transformation in every field, from marketing to workforce management, and L&D requires as much data to be effective. It gives you visibility into dominant trends across the target audience, helping to understand which L&D strategies, content types, and distribution platforms work best for your workforce.

We offer you three concrete reasons why data belongs at the center of your L&D transformation:

1. Without participation data, you risk sunk investments and poor engagement 

The first step to L&D transformation is answering some fundamental questions about your current L&D program.

  1. Are employees coming back to learn more?
  2. How much time are they spending learning?
  3. Are they using all the resources you have offered – videos, PDFs, quizzes, podcasts, and so on?
  4. Which is their most preferred learning medium?
  5. Are they having discussions on the L&D platform?
     

Answers to these questions are indicators of participation and engagement levels. By continually measuring these levels, you can invest in bettering your L&D modules and bypass low-engagement courses. The principles of social media analytics could also apply here, indicating traction for each module, comments and shares, employee sentiment around particular courses, etc.

Learn More: The Top Learning & Development Questions Solved by AnalyticsOpens a new window

2. Data on current skill levels and skill gaps synchronizes L&D with business objectives 

The primary responsibility of L&D at any organization is first to identify which skills employees need to develop to stay relevant to the business objectives. Then, they need to build an appropriate program to close this skill gap. 

To do this correctly, begin by zeroing on the top skills relevant to the domain, the team, and the role of each employee. Once this is determined, a skill test can show how their current level of knowledge and what they need to learn to gain all the skills. 

3. Data and feedback from existing learners is critical to increasing adoption rates of future learners

Feedback from previous learners is what will help you develop better learning modules for your prospective learners. In addition, it can help you transform your marketing strategy as well. With the focus on treating employees as customers, you need to develop a marketing program to attract them exactly like that to upskill your workforceOpens a new window

Email marketing is a staple for internal communications at most organizations. If you don’t use it already, it is one of the tools you should use to attract new learners. And through this, email opening rates and click-throughs will tell you the type of content that resonates the most with the workforce. 

Learn More: Why 2019 is the Year of Learning and DevelopmentOpens a new window

Why You Can’t Afford to Skip Data on Your L&D Journey in 2019 

On the one hand, data-driven L&D transformation is much more likely to ensure high adoption rates and lead to the outcomes originally desired. On the other hand, L&D is also under constant pressure to demonstrate their programs’ impact on senior management before embarking on the transformation journey. 

In a recent survey by Leo Learning and WatershedOpens a new window , it emerged that nearly 96% of L&D practitioners are eager to measure how effective their programs are – but over a quarter are unable to do so. By making data part of your L&D strategy from day one, right when you are beginning your transformation initiative, you can: 

  • Select the right transformation trajectory as highlighted in the previous section 
  • Continuously rewire the program and personalize L&D offerings to meet learner needs 
  • Gain buy-in from senior management by showcasing the tangible benefits of L&D

In the race to stand out as a preferred employer to a new generation of workers, data-driven L&D transformation will be a driver for recruitment, talent development, and retention success.

This is why data collected from L&D platforms, marketing integrations, and feedback channels is a critical asset in your L&D toolbox. So, when choosing a corporate learning softwareOpens a new window for your organization, ensure that it is equipped to capture all this data for you.

Are you leveraging data to transform L&D at your organization? Share your thoughts with us on FacebookOpens a new window LinkedInOpens a new window , or TwitterOpens a new window . We are always listening!

Chiradeep BasuMallick
Chiradeep is a content marketing professional, a startup incubator, and a tech journalism specialist. He has over 11 years of experience in mainline advertising, marketing communications, corporate communications, and content marketing. He has worked with a number of global majors and Indian MNCs, and currently manages his content marketing startup based out of Kolkata, India. He writes extensively on areas such as IT, BFSI, healthcare, manufacturing, hospitality, and financial analysis & stock markets. He studied literature, has a degree in public relations and is an independent contributor for several leading publications.
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