LEO Learning and Watershed’s Fourth Annual Survey Reveals Disconnect Between L&D and the Wider Business
The 2020 ‘Measuring the Business Impact of Learning’ survey shows many leaders may be unaware of the overall effectiveness and value of learning programs to their organization.
LEO Learning and Watershed’s fourth annual ‘Measuring the Business Impact of Learning’ survey reveals that 90% of L&D professionals want to measure the business impact of learning programs. In a context where there’s been a decline in executive pressure to measure L&D programs against business KPIs, L&D’s efforts have been left vulnerable and undervalued by their wider organizations.
“L&D and the wider business are too often disconnected,” said Piers Lea, Chief Strategy Officer at Learning Technologies Group, LEO Learning and Watershed’s parent company. Lea highlighted the divide between L&D’s will to measure, and the observation that 37% of professionals do not agree that there is executive pressure to measure.
Lea added: “We risk leaving leaders unaware of the effectiveness of learning programs, and the worthiness of the budgets that support them. Correcting this needs to be a priority.”
During the last four years, more than 1,300 L&D professionals have expressed their views and experiences about the effort to measure the business impact of learning in their organizations. Responses to this year’s survey came from a wide range of global organizations—including Apple, Deloitte, G4S, Hitachi Rail, Jaguar Land Rover, PwC, the Royal College of Surgeons, Shell, Verizon, and Xerox.
Key findings in this year’s report include:
- 91% of respondents agree or strongly agree that big data has a significant impact on their organization.
- 90% believe it is possible to demonstrate learning’s impact.
- 53% of L&D departments remain subject to either no measurement or only basic measurement.
In addition to covering a 10-step plan to build a measurement strategy that secures buy-in from executives, the report also includes real-world examples of organizations addressing critical issues identified in the data. Furthermore, it identifies collaboration with and between vendors as an important priority in a call to arms for L&D to align with other departments.
“Executing measurement strategies is intimidating, however collaboration with internal and external stakeholders can really reduce that anxiety,” said Tim Dickinson, Watershed’s Director of Strategy. “That’s why it’s important to develop alliances with colleagues and vendors who can help you gain access to data and build on any existing initiatives.”
LEO Learning and Watershed are launching the survey results at the Learning Technologies 2020 show and conference in London on 12 and 13 February. Visit stand J10 to find out more.
To access the full 2020 Measuring the Business Impact of Learning results report, please click here.
About Watershed
Founded in Nashville, Tenn., in 2016, Watershed is dedicated to changing the world of learning by helping corporate L&D departments get more from their initiatives. This includes a customizable SaaS-based learning analytics platform that assesses the impact and effectiveness of corporate learning programs and helps maximize investments in learning.
Made possible by xAPI, Watershed enables users to explore their learning data in one place and measure how L&D programs impact their organizations. Since its founding, this young, high-growth organization has developed a portfolio of Fortune 500 global clients—such as Visa, Verizon, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Caterpillar, and more.
Watershed is part of Learning Technologies Group plc’s award-winning group of specialist learning technology businesses.
To learn more, visit watershedLRS.com.