The survey of over 300 learning and development professionals found that: 1) Digital learning is commonly used for foundational training like compliance and induction, forming many employees' first impressions. 2) While desktop/laptop delivery is still dominant, mobile platforms are seen as key to future training strategies. 3) Common positives of digital learning included self-pacing and ease of use, while boring content and lack of interactivity were negatives.

1. www.learningseat.com.au
ORGANISATIONAL
LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
CLIENT SURVEY 2014
A white paper by Learning Seat

2. Organisational learning and development: Client survey 2014
INDEX
Executive summary
Key findings
Training areas
Delivery and strategy
Digital learning
Reporting, success and return on investment
Budget
Accredited training in the online space
What next
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3. Organisational learning and development: Client survey 2014
Learning Seat’s inaugural client survey was com-
missioned to gain an insight into some of the key
issues facing learning and development decision
makers, with a particular emphasis on their
digital learning activities.
Conducted over March 2014, over 300 surveys
were completed online. Nearly 70% of respondents
described their role as sitting within either the HR
or L&D function of their organisation. The
remainder predominantly identified as middle or
senior managers.
Respondents were overwhelmingly engaged in
service industries with strong representation from
the health, finance and government sectors.
While the size of each organisation’s workforce
ranged from less than 10 up to 10,000, the
majority of respondents clustered between the
100 to 1000 range.
As the first survey conducted by Learning Seat of
this kind, the aim of this survey was to establish a
benchmark with which to measure future
year-on-year trends in organisational learning and
development.
33 questions were asked, with results tabled under
six key categories:
• Training areas
• Delivery and strategy
• Digital learning
• Reporting, success and return on investment
• Budget
• Accredited training in the online space.
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
70%
of respondents from HR or
L&D function
Strong response from: health,
finance and government
sectors
300
surveys completed
33
questions were asked
6
key categories identified
SURVEY PROFILE
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4. Organisational learning and development: Client survey 2014
2. KEY FINDINGS
SOME OF THE KEY FINDINGS OF THE SURVEY INCLUDE:
Digital learning is likely to form many workers’ first and most
formative impressions of an organisation
Mobile platforms are a key driver for future training delivery
Organisations are keen to increase participation in accredited
training although only a small percentage of their workforce are
currently engaged in formal qualifications.
Most organisations don’t feel as though their learning and
development budgets fully support their training objectives
Return on training investment is measured primarily on reactive
assessments as opposed to broader, longer term measures of success
While digital delivery ranks favourably on most measures, much
more can be done to deliver learners with more succinct, relevant
and engaging content
Pg 4

5. Organisational learning and development: Client survey 2014
3. TRAINING AREAS
“Digital learning forms
many workers’ first
and most formative
impressions of an
organisation”
In terms of the deployment of digital learning for
different areas of workplace training, there was a
clear preference for using this platform to deliver
what might be termed foundation content.
Foundation content is here defined as content
applicable to all workers within an organisation,
regardless of rank or role.
For example, nearly 80% of respondents indicated
that they were currently using digital learning for
compliance training, while close to 65% used
digital learning for induction training (Figure 1).
These results suggest that digital learning is likely
to form many workers first and most formative
impressions of an organisation.
Interestingly, while compliance and induction
training is overwhelmingly ranked as the training
areas most likely to be delivered through digital
learning, around 50% of respondents indicated
that they still use some traditional methodologies
with regards to their compliance obligations, and
70% still include some form of face-to-face
component in their induction process.
In which of the following training and development areas do you currently employ digital learning?
Figure 1. 0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Compliance
Induction
Product
Softskills
System
Businessprocess
Healthandwellbeing
Leadershipandmanagement
Formalqualification
Accreditation
Languageandliteracy
Culturalawarenessandlocalisation
foroffshoreemployees
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6. Organisational learning and development: Client survey 2014
4. DELIVERY AND STRATEGY
Unsurprisingly, the majority of respondents
currently deliver digital learning via desktop and
laptop (Figure 2). Around 23% deliver some form
of training via smart phone, while in terms of
tablet devices, iPads are clearly preferred (25%)
over Windows (11%) and Android (10%) devices.
While demand for desktop and laptop delivery is
unlikely to decrease, respondents report that
mobile platforms are a key driver for future
training delivery (Figure 3). While iPad remains the
tablet device of choice (76%), all mobile delivery
segments feature in terms of future training
deployment. In terms of content development,
the fact that 63% of respondents state that they
intend to increase their presence on smart phone
platforms presents some interesting challenges in
terms of designing effective learning for
significantly smaller screens. There are also likely
impacts in terms of meeting Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
“Mobile platforms are
a key driver for future
training delivery”
Figure 2.
Figure 3.
0
20
40
60
80
100
Desktop Laptop Mobile
phone NetbookeReaderGaming
Console
Windows
tablet
Android
tablet
Apple
tablet
Desktop
Laptop
Mobile
phone
Netbook
eReader
Gaming
Console
Windows
tablet
Android
tablet
Apple
tablet
What platforms do you currently deliver to?
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Whatplatformswouldyouliketo
delivertointhefuture?
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7. Organisational learning and development: Client survey 2014 – white paper
4. DELIVERY AND STRATEGY
This challenge is perhaps being addressed in some
way by the range of digital learning strategies
being currently used. While the bulk of training
employs familiar digital strategies such as
webinars, videos, and flash and HTML courses,
respondents are also using a range of less common
tactics including apps, wikis and blogs. This
suggests that while most of the heavy work is still
being carried by more conventional digital learning
solutions, organisations are also willing to look at
more multi-pronged approaches to complement
their overall learning strategy.
In terms of accessibility, only 30% of respondents
reported that WCAG for vision, hearing or motor
impaired learners are always employed in their
digital communications (Figure 4). While these
standards are currently only compulsory for
Australian Government agencies, many other
organisations now use these as a matter of best
practice. With 77% of respondents catering for the
needs of five or less learners with accessibility
needs (Figure 5), this perhaps explains why 45%
follow these guides somewhat but not always
while 25% rarely consider accessibility
requirements.
5 - 15
< 5
15 - 30
> 30
How many impaired learners (for example,
vision, hearing or motor impaired) does
your organisation support?
3.35%
2.44%
77.74%
16.46%
Yes, accessible content is always employed
No, the organisation rarely considers accessibility requirements
Somewhat, as we work to accessibility
guidelines where possible but not always
30.18%
25.00%
44.82%
Is accessible eLearning that adheres to the
W3C accessibility guidelines an important
part of your digital education strategy?
Figure 4.
Figure 5.
Pg 7Organisational learning and development: Client survey 2014

8. 5. DIGITAL LEARNING
In many cases, digital learning – whatever the
platform – is part and parcel of wider business
objectives and compliance obligations. However,
for any learning – digital or otherwise – to be
effective, learner engagement is paramount.
Encouragingly, an aggregate of over 75% of
respondents agree that digital learning is either
cutting edge or a little behind internet trends but
is quickly catching up.
According to respondents, the three most
common areas of positive feedback regarding
digital learning are that it’s self-paced (72%), easy
to use (66%), and requires shorter seat time than
traditional methodologies (36%) (Figure 6). On the
other hand, the three largest areas of negative
feedback involve boring content (61%), lack of
interactivity (44%), and long seat time (42%)
(Figure 7).
51.83%Online learning is a little behind modern
trends found on the internet, but is
quickly catching up
24.70%Online learning is cutting edge
22.26%Online learning is quite a way behind
modern trends and has a long way to go
to engage today’s audience
1.22%Online learning should stay in the 1990s
ONLINE LEARNING VS.
OTHER DIGITAL MEDIUMS
Based on your experiences implementing digital
learning across your current workplace, what would
you say have been the three most common areas of
positive feedback from learners?
Based on your experiences implementing digital
learning across your current workplace, what would
you say have been the three most common areas of
negative feedback from learners?
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Clear educational
outcomes
Pleasing visual
design
Good use of media
Effective learning
design
Relevant information
Self paced
Short seat time
Interactive
Engaging content
Easy to use
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Unclear educational
outcomes
Poor visual design
Lack of media
Complex or ineffective
learning design
Irrelevant information
Self paced
Long seat time
Lack of interactivity
Boring content
Hard to use
Organisational learning and development: Client survey 2014
Figure 6.
Figure 7.
Pg 8

9. In terms of understanding barriers to engagement,
it is perhaps worthwhile unpacking this data. First
of all, the main areas of positive feedback relate to
digital learning as a medium and are widely
recognised and well-documented as benefits of
digital learning. Only 23% reported that they’d
received positive feedback with regards to
engaging content.
Meanwhile, the main areas of negative feedback
all directly relate to content. Whether it’s
described as ‘boring’ (61%), ‘irrelevant’ (30%),
‘complex’ or ‘ineffective’ (27%), many learners are
being left unclear as to the educational outcomes
of their training (26%). The fact that shorter seat
time is cited as positive feedback in one sense, yet
also identified as a source of negative feedback on
the other, is also a content issue. Firstly, for
example, while digital training is shorter than
other forms of training, it is still being perceived as
too long. Secondly, whatever the length of the
training, if it’s boring, it’s going to feel longer
than it is.
The challenge for those commissioning and
creating digital content then becomes this: To
make sure that content is succinct, relevant, and
conveyed in an engaging manner. If the training,
through necessity, must be longer or is simply less
intrinsically interesting to learners, then the more
consideration should be given to its treatment.
5. DIGITAL LEARNING
“Digital content needs to be succinct,
relevant and conveyed in an engaging
manner”
30%Described it as ‘irrelevant’
61%Described it as ‘boring’
27%Described it as ‘complex’ or ‘ineffective’
26%Described educational outcomes to be
unclear
NEGATIVE FEEDBACK
ABOUT DIGITAL LEARNING:
Pg 9Organisational learning and development: Client survey 2014

10. Organisational learning and development: Client survey 2014
6. REPORTING, SUCCESS AND RETURN ON INVESTMENT
With a majority of respondents responsible for
providing reports relating to training delivery
coming from HR and L&D, it comes as no surprise
that there is a strong emphasis on the monitoring
and measurement of training (Figure 8).
Measuring training completion rates (66%) topped
the list of desired reporting, closely followed by
assessment results (58%), and time spent com-
pleting training (57%) (Figure 8).
47.52%
Learning and development
4.66%
Senior management
37.27%
Human resources
5.28%
Middle management
3.11%
Team leaders
2.17%
Individual learners
WHO PRODUCES REPORTS
RELATING TO TRAINING DELIVERY?
In which of the following areas would measurement and reporting prove beneficial?
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Attitude towards compliance issues
or workplace training
Workplace to industry benchmarking
Time spent completing training
Assessment results
Training completion rates by team
Training completion rates by role type
Training completion rates by location
Training completion rates by learner
Workplace incidents
Absenteeism
Figure 8.
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11. Organisational learning and development: Client survey 2014
In evaluating digital learning as a completely
rounded business solution, it seems there is scope
to both expand what is being evaluated and
incorporate wider metrics and organisational
involvement beyond HR and L&D departments.
While the survey indicated a desire for a wide
range of reporting options, only 23% of
organisations said they employed strategies to
measure the success and return on investment of
workplace training. In terms of HR and L&D
priorities, these results suggest that managing
compliance and the immediate impact of training
via reactive assessments outrank broader, longer
term measures of success and return on
investment.
“Reactive
assessments outrank
broader, longer term
measures of success
and return on
investment”
6. REPORTING, SUCCESS AND RETURN ON INVESTMENT
23.75%
Yes
59.06%
No
17.19%
I’m not sure
DOES YOUR ORGANISATION
CURRENTLY EMPLOY
STRATEGIES TO MEASURE
THE SUCCESS AND ROI OF
WOKPLACE TRAINING?
Pg 11

12. Organisational learning and development: Client survey 2014 – white paperOrganisational learning and development: Client survey 2014
7. BUDGET
Among the many challenges of those responsible
for workplace compliance and training is that of
budget. 30% of respondents reported that their
current annual budget did not adequately support
the delivery of all training required by their
organisation. A further 47% felt that their budget
was adequate to some extent, while only 22%
indicated their budget fully supported their
training objectives.
When asked what areas of training organisations
would most like to increase their spending in as a
matter of priority, respondents identified
leadership and management, workplace
compliance, qualification and accreditation,
industry-specific, organisation-specific,
problem-solving and soft skills as their highest
priorities (Figure 9).
24.03%
Yes
28.40%
No
47.57%
To some extent
DO YOU FEEL THAT YOUR
CURRENT YEARLY BUDGET
ALLOWS YOU TO SUPPORT THE
DELIVERY OF ALL TRAINING
REQUIRED BY YOUR
ORGANISATION
" Only 22% of respondents indicated that
their budget fully supported their training
objectives”
0 1 2 3 4
Average (out of 10)
5 6 7 8
Product training
Leadership & management
Soft skills
Organisation specific
Skills training
Industry specific
Problem solving
Literacy & numeracy
Workplace compliance
Qualifications & accredited
If you were to increase spending in a particular area, what would be your highest priorities
based on your current workforce and their needs? Rank each of the following options from 1 to
10, where 1 represents the highest priority and 10 the lowest.
Figure 9.
Pg 12

13. With regards to the amount of time allocated to
training, around 80% of organisations allocate
one to seven days per worker per year
(Figure 10). Of that time, 55% allocate less than
25% to digital learning activities (Figure 11).
Less than 1 day
1 – 3 days
3 - 7 days
More than 7 days
39.69%
38.90%
16.45%
4.96%
Roughly how much employee time is
allocated to training each year?
Figure 10.
< 25%
25 – 50%
50 – 75%
> 75%
56.66%28.72%
11.49%
3.13%
What percentage of the total training time
would be used to undertake online learning?
Figure 11.
7. BUDGET
Organisational learning and development: Client survey 2014 Pg 13

14. Organisational learning and development: Client survey 2014
Yes
No
I’m not sure
77.68%
13.73%
8.58%
Do you or your employees undertake
qualifications or accredited training to fulfil
mandatory or compliance related
requirements?
8. ACCREDITED TRAINING IN THE ONLINE SPACE
Over 80% of respondents indicated that they
undertook some form of qualification or
accredited training to fulfil mandatory or
compliance requirements (Figure 12). Despite
this, the majority of respondents indicated that
only a small percentage of their workforce, 10% or
less, are currently engaged in formal qualifications
or an accredited training program (Figure 13).
Figure 12.
< 10%
10 – 30%
30 – 50%
50 – 80%
> 80%
34.12%
31.33%
15.67%
11.49%
3.13%
What percentage of your workforce
currently engage in formal qualifications or
an accredited training program?
Figure 13.
Pg 14

15. Organisational learning and development: Client survey 2014 Pg 15
“Less than 10% of
organisational
workforces are
currently engaged in
formal qualifications
or accredited training
programs”
Apparently, however, this is not from a lack of
need with a majority of respondents saying that
they would ideally like to increase this percentage
(Figure 14). These results raise questions about
what the barriers are to increasing the uptake of
formal qualifications and accredited training in the
workplace.
8. ACCREDITED TRAINING IN THE ONLINE SPACE
< 10%
10 – 30%
30 – 50%
50 – 80%
> 80%
30.90%
25.54%
15.45%
18.88%
9.23%
What percentage of your workforce would
you ideally like to access formal
qualifications or accredited training?
Figure 14.

16. According to the survey, a majority of respondents
said that time, cost, access and availability were all
major factors standing in the way of increasing
participation in qualification and accredited
training (Figure 15). Of these, cost was noted as
the single biggest barrier. This is significant as
nearly half of those surveyed said they did not
access any additional funding to support the
delivery of this kind of training (Figure 16).
These results suggest that there is a clear divide
between what organisations want in terms of
qualification and what accredited training and
what funding they are accessing to enable this.
Quite possibly this is simply due to a lack of
knowledge about funding models with more than
half of those surveyed open to advice on how to
access funding.
Given the desire of organisations to increase
accredited training, there is significant potential for
further development of accredited training options
that draw on available government funding.
8. ACCREDITED TRAINING IN THE ONLINE SPACE
49.76%
Yes
28.64%
No
21.60%
I’m not sure
WOULD YOU FIND IMPARTIAL
ADVICE RELATING TO
FUNDING OPTIONS FOR
FORMAL QUALIFICATIONS
AND ACCREDITED TRAINING
BENEFICIAL?
What would you say are the main barriers to
increasing your workforce uptake of training
of this kind?
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
All of the above
Availability of
training programs
that address specific
workforce requirements
Access to facilities and
training locations
Cost of
training programs
Off-the-job time
needed to meet
training requirements
Figure 15.
Organisational learning and development: Client survey 2014
Do you currently access any additional
funding to support the delivery of formal
qualifications, accredited training
programs or language, literacy and
numeracy education?
0 10 20 30 40 50
All of the above
No, I don’t access any
additional funding for
programs of this kind
Yes, I access
specific organisational
or industry funding
Yes, I currently access
Federal funding
Yes, I currently access
State funding
Figure 16.
Pg 16

17. Organisational learning and development: Client survey 2014
9. WHAT NEXT
Learning Seat’s first client survey provides a
snapshot of some of the key issues, particularly in
the digital learning space, that learning and
development decision makers currently face.
The results of this survey also provide a baseline
for future industry-related benchmarking, which
will be used to guide the future direction of
Learning Seat’s product and service offering. In
turn, this will enable Learning Seat to continue to
meet client needs and exceed expectations.
A second nation-wide client survey is planned
for early 2015. It is intended that this survey will
drill further down into specific issues and gaps
identified in this white paper. Meanwhile,
Learning Seat will be conducting further industry
research in recognition of the fact that our
clients’ thoughts and opinions are critical in
helping us to provide effective learning solutions.
?
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18. Learning Seat is Australia’s largest
provider of online compliance training.
For further information please contact us
1300 133 151
www.learningseat.com.au
enquiries@learningseat.com
ABOUT LEARNING SEAT