Maximising the Business Impact of Learning

9/26/2016 1© Copyright Fosway Group Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Maximising the Business
Impact of Learning
David Wilson, CEO / david.wilson@fosway.com / @dwil23 @fosway

Maximising the Business Impact of Learning
With all the change and new technology options in learning
and development, it is sometimes easy to focus only on the
"what?" and the "how?", and not on the "why?".
Learning should be a strategic investment to drive business
performance and to build business capability. But how do
you measure the impact it really has, or maximise that
impact?

Opportunities & Challenges
Focus on Impact not Activity
Real Examples
Role of Metrics and Analytics

POLL QUESTION #1
How good are you at measuring and reporting learning
impact in your organisation?
- Good consistently
- Good but inconsistent
- OK
- Poor

Problem 1:
Proving Value of Learning

An old question for L&D :
How can you measure or prove what you do is worth
doing and makes a difference?
But a new challenge :
How can we optimise what we do to maximise the
impact we make in the business?
... in a more complicated world!

POLL QUESTION #2
In your organisation, who is the main audience for
learning impact information? (choose one)
- Learners
- Line Managers
- L&D Management
- Business Management
- Executive Management

THE TYPICAL L&D RESPONSE
Kirkpatrick (1959)
The Typical Corporate Profile …
- Level 1 : Reaction Generally extensive
- Level 2 : Learning Sporadic, major programmes
- Level 3 : Application Rare, selected programmes
- Level 4 : Impact Even rarer! one or two programmes it at all
- … and sometimes Jack Phillips Level 5 : ROI
Who is this really for?
Does the Business care or consider this useful?

Realities - Methodologies
Kirkpatrick?
- The standard training industry communication model
- Missing pieces, implication of false causality, start with L1
- But is probably too ingrained to change
ROI? The equation is simple, it’s the data that isn’t
- ROI is not another level, it’s a way of presenting business information
- Very difficult to get to attributable impact data in most cases
- Typically retrospective and defensive
- Estimation by learners is just that, an estimate
- What’s the ROI of working out the ROI?

And Happy Sheets?
KP L1 (Reaction) is not a measure of value
- Feedback on the learning process only
- Some use for learners = opportunity for constructive feedback
- And learning management = opportunity to tune learning process
Recommendation
- Should be a background process, not a primary focus for valuable resources
unless specifically demanded by the intervention
- E.g. pilots, high cost, high sensitivity
- Sample in scale
- Better to capture activity information and focusing on the other levels!

Examples
BUSINESS IMPACT
IN ACTION

POLL QUESTION #3
In your organisation, what would be the primary goal in
measuring the impact of learning? (choose one)
- To ensure proper engagement with learners and managers
- To ensure that current learning solutions are effective and fit for purpose
- To improve the effectiveness or design of current learning solutions
- To demonstrate value of learning investment to senior management
- To justify increased investment in learning

Problem 2:
Learning is not an Event!

L e a d e r s h i p & M A N A G E M E N T
Optimised

INCREASING COMPLEXITY
Many learning strategies
Many learning contexts
Many learning outcomes

RETHINKING THE QUESTION
Proving value needs to be about “Impact” not activity or
simple outputs
To be meaningful, impact must align with business
outcomes and be business credible
Must shape what we will do as well as measure what we
did - more Predictive less Retrospective
Impact needs to be central to the L&D engagement
process

MOTIVE PRINCIPLES
PROCESS
What are your desired Business Outcomes?
What’s the Value (£) of that to the Business?
[cost reduction, sales drive, implications costs]
What are your desired Learning Outcomes?
[What does good look like?]
What will people need to be able to do/know to
enable them to be ‘good’?
How will you measure that they know what they need
to know? Indicator
How will you measure that they are doing what they
should be doing? Indicator?
How will you measure that you’re on track/been
successful? Indicator?
MEASUREMENT
PAST PREDICTIVEPRESENT
To prove what
we have
delivered had
impact
•Specific
•Retrospective
To review and
improve
efficiency or
effectiveness of
existing
solutions
To inform the
design of future
solutions to
enable learning
that has impact
on the Business
• There must be defined business and learning outcomes before
commencing design
• We will establish the £ of success
• We will agree how, and to what level, to measure
• The measurement of the learning approach is flexible
dependent upon the situation
•The learning from this activity will be used to constantly
review, and inform, how we can improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of the learning environment
VALUE £
What is the business outcome
worth?
EFFECTIVENESS
What does it look like when
I’m doing it well?
ACTIVITY
What do I need to do to get
there?
ABILITY
“Do I have the
knowledge, and
have the skills,
to do it?”
APPLICATION
“Am I actually
doing it for
real?”
RESULTS
“Is what I’m
doing impacting
the business”
IMPACT OF
LEARNING
INFLUENCING
FACTORS

Examples
BUSINESS IMPACT
IN ACTION

& create a GREAT learning experience!?!
How can we truly
engage learners in the
learning cycle?

Plan
Learn
ApplySustain
Measure
Analyse
Plan = What do I need to know, understand, be able to do?
Learn = How can I learn that knowledge, develop that skill,
build that proficiency? (Acquire, Practise)
Apply = How am I using my learning? (Do)
Sustain = What am I doing to consistently achieve the right
levels of skill and performance? (Be)
Measure = How well I doing ? Am I on / off target?
Analyse = Where should I be going next ?
The PLASMA
Learning Cycle
Each stage can be anything from a few seconds to days long… The process is not linear! Learning can start at any phase!

Plan
- Diagnostics / Self Assessment, 180 & 360
- Competency, Capability,
- Process, Task or Context Assessment
- Psychometrics
- Personal Development Agenda
- What should I be developing / learning overall
- Provide Individual Focus
- - Where should I be focusing within a
programme to get the most value
Plan
Learn
ApplySustain
Measure
Analyse

Learn
- Multi Modal Learning Channels – F2F &
Distance
- Synchronous / Asynchronous
- Digital v Formal v On the Job v JIT
- Digital Learning Anytime Anywhere,
- “Time, pace and place convenient to me…!”
- Scale & Reach
- Maximise impact of high value events
- Ensure I meet the prerequisites
Plan
Learn
ApplySustain
Measure
Analyse

Apply
- Self Recognition of Applying Learning
- Learning Journals
- Cohort based Learning Blogs – Coach & Mentor
- On the Job Assignments
- Observation
- Manager Observation Checklists
- Quality Assessment
- Coaching
- Collaboration
- Quality Circles
- Continuous Improvement / Kaizen
- Communities of Practice
Plan
Learn
ApplySustain
Measure
Analyse

Sustain
- Ongoing Coaching – Machine, Community, Coach
and Mentor – Peer to Peer Social Learning
- Stage Gate Video Diaries
- Manager or SME Coaching
- Peer to Peer Support
- After Action Reviews
- Training & Mentoring others
- Assignments & Feedback
- Machine Prompts & Interim Sentiment Analysis
(Confidence v Competence Input)
- Just In Time Support
- Performance Support Checklists
- Reference Material,
- Memory Joggers,
- Knowledge Shoot-Outs
Plan
Learn
ApplySustain
Measure
Analyse

Measure
- Stage Diagnostics
- Periodic Assessment i.e. Online Test or Scenario
based
- Task or Competency Assessment by Self, 180 - 360
assessment from peers, managers and customers
- Quality Assessment Feedback
- Performance Metrics & KPIs
- Manager’s Performance Assessment
- Specific Benchmark Assessment / Test
- Mystery Shopper Feedback
- Accredited Assessor Checklists & Contextual
Assessment
Plan
Learn
ApplySustain
Measure
Analyse

Analyse
- Diagnostics Review & Evaluation
- Automated Recommendation from online test,
quizzes and / or questionnaires suggesting most
appropriate next steps or Machine Intelligence
Recommendations – people who excelled at the
next level have done…
- Professional Review – expert feedback and
reflection on next developmental goals
- Coaching Review - coach feedback & reflection
on developmental targets and goals
- Manager Review – manager feedback and
reflection on next performance goals
…. In preparation for next development
planning stage
Plan
Learn
ApplySustain
Measure
Analyse

The Promise of Analytics

ANALYTICS
Lack of data historically has meant L&D has had to invent
its own measures of effectiveness
Now less true as more business and HR processes are
automated and tracked
Analytics tools enable us to cross-analyse L&D data and
business data to show correlation and impact …
… or not!?
IS THIS THE HOLY GRAIL or A BETTE NOIR ???

ANALYTICS
Fosway Analytics Maturity Model

HOW MUCH OF A PRIORITY IS HR ANALYTICS TO
YOUR ORGANISATION
1%
Not a
Priority
51%
High
Priority
85%
High or
Medium
PrioritySource: Fosway Group Research with HRN - HR in Europe: Critical Realities Research 2015

KEY DRIVERS FOR ANALYTICS
76% Major
Driver is to
to be a stronger strategic
business partner
Source: Fosway Group Research with HRN - HR in Europe: Critical Realities Research 2015
58%
Optimise
Service
Quality
& Provision
58%
Enable better
leadership &
management

BUT …
KEY CHALLENGES
Nearly 90%
SEE LACK OF
SKILLED
RESOURCES
AS A
CHALLENGE
Nearly
90%cite
Poor Data
Quality as a
Major
Challenge
>80% see
Lack of Data
Integration
across
HR Silos and with
Business Data as
a Challenge
Source: Fosway Group Research with HRN - HR in Europe: Critical Realities Research 2015

Examples
BUSINESS IMPACT
IN ACTION

KEY TAKEAWAYS
Impact should be central to L&D’s ethos and purpose, not
something we measure afterwards
Impact must be a business outcome, not just a learning
outcome
Impact can be measured in many ways, but is most
valuable when related to what the business already
measures and values
Longer term, Analytics will provide a powerful tool to
assess real impact (for good or bad for L&D!)

Fosway Group
Europe’s #1 HR Analyst
David Wilson, CEO / david.wilson@fosway.com / @dwil23
THANK YOU

Fosway Group - Europe’s #1 HR Analyst

Maximising the Business Impact of Learning

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