Learning and development KPIs show the way forward through recent employment challenges. Workers in recent years have faced several challenges, from the pandemic to automation across many industries. Companies are often forced to compete with each other to attract and retain talent. Those who can best offer what employees are looking for in a workplace are at an advantage in this competition.
One of the things many employees consider important when deciding to devote such a large part of their lives to working for an organization is professional development. This consideration includes the ability to learn and grow to move up in the ranks. Workers who are provided with engaging learning opportunities and a ladder to climb are more likely to remain with a company.
So, how do you know if you’re providing effective learning opportunities for your workers? Most companies use a series of key performance indicators to track the effectiveness of their L&D program. There are several learning and development KPIs that you can track. Each one can help you know if you’re getting a positive return on your training investment.
1. What is the attendance rate for training?
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, it probably still makes a sound. But that sound likely doesn’t make much impact. The same goes for a training program that no one uses. If it fails to provide learners with the information about your organization that they need to succeed, it’s effectively silent. With most modern companies providing both external and internal learning opportunities for stakeholders of all types, one of the most important learning and development KPIs is the attendance rate for the training initiatives that are offered.
When providing a learning management system as part of your L&D efforts, it is important to create a strategy that clearly:
- Identifies the goals and objectives for the learning
- Provides the resources learners need to master the material and put their knowledge to use
- Has a strategy in place for the implementation of the LMS and onboarding of learners
Do you know what else you need for effective training? Buy-in.
Without clear objectives, it is hard to get your departmental leaders behind the training. However, if you include these leaders in the conversation and even the development of the training, as well as in the metrics you will use to track the success of the program, you’ve laid some crucial groundwork in securing a high attendance rate for training. A soft launch of the program can help you see how receptive a small group within your organization is to your offering. It can also help you determine if tweaks are needed before the full launch.
2. How many workers completed the training (and how long did it take)?
Consider this: you have created a series of online training modules for your employees to complete. However, several months after making the training available, you see that workers have abandoned several of the courses. Few have completed all of the training modules. Why is that?
There can be a lot of reasons why companies experience a low completion rate for their programs, such as:
- Failing to align learning with specific business goals. When your workers finish their training, how long is it before they can apply the skills they’ve learned? If they cannot immediately apply the lessons, the training effectiveness may be lost.
- Failing to provide an effective onboarding process for learners that gives them ample time away from their work duties to complete the training and offers relevant information to the job they perform.
- Using a complex or bloated training platform or having issues with the training itself. This leads workers to abandon the module rather than complete it.
Understanding the reasons that employees fail to complete training is an important part of measuring how effective your training is. Competency assessments, surveys, and employee performance following the courses can all be learning and development KPIs.
But it is important to note that not all learning initiatives provided by your company involve training your workers. More than 70 percent of organizations also provide training to learners outside of the corporation, such as business partners or customers. AI is an important tool to use in both internal and external training. It produces a customizable experience that meets the learner “where they are.”
3. How engaged and satisfied is your team with the training?
Many companies have turned to online training platforms as a way to provide the training that employees need in a simple and repeatable format. There is no need to schedule speakers or carve out a date on which the entire team can participate in the training at once. Instead, workers can access the training at a time that makes sense for them. This accessibility can boost many of your learning and development KPIs.
As we explained in an article in Learning Culture Magazine, more than half of all workers prefer learning platforms that are slightly boring, basic, and easy to navigate. Employee training content should be customizable and tailored to the needs of individual employees. When employees feel like the training they are being provided is intended for them as individual workers, learner satisfaction increases. Engagement and satisfaction in the program can often be increased by rewarding workers with post-training certifications or even rewards for participating.
4. Did the training that was offered improve job performance?
Improving job performance among your work team isn’t simply one reason why companies choose to implement an L&D program. For many companies, it is THE reason. In fact, Maryville University reports that a study by The International Journal of Business and Management Research revealed that 90% of workers consider training and development important to doing their best at work.
Many types of learning can improve job performance, including:
- Cross-training workers to fill in for each other during absences
- Learning new technology that impacts the industry and developing soft skills needed to perform the job
- Encouraging continuous improvement and instilling confidence
- Supporting an employee’s desired career path and work-related goals
Impacts on the job performance of workers who have participated in training can be measured through assessments by both supervisors and workers themselves before and after the training. Employee retention, reduced organizational waste, and employee or customer satisfaction are all important methods of tracking this and other learning and development KPIs.
5. Did your employee training help your retention rate?
According to Linked In’s 2023 Global Talent Trends report, employees in recent years have become significantly less confident in their ability to progress in their careers. Despite the lack of confidence, workers still rate career development programs as one of the top reasons that they will stay with or leave a company. Employers often find that by focusing less on job positions and more on helping employees identify and grow their own unique skill sets, it helps them guide their careers.
As noted in the report, companies that help their employees build new skills have a 15% higher internal mobility rate than companies that don’t place a priority on fostering skill-building and career growth through a comprehensive L&D program. Because of this increased internal mobility, companies have the opportunity to fill open positions with employees who were organically trained through the ranks of the organization.
6. Did you see a return on investment?
ROI of training is arguably one of the most important factors in tracking the success of your L&D program. Training Magazine’s 2023 survey reveals that companies spend nearly $1,000 per learner to provide training and education for their employees. The cost of training is typically higher for smaller companies. Larger ones have the bulk-buying advantage of spreading the cost of courses out over a larger number of people.
Regardless of the size of your business, however, providing training is a significant investment. It’s likely to be a large chunk of the annual budget. Even small companies can expect to spend nearly $500,000 per year on allowing their employees to learn and grow.
There is no single method for tracking L&D ROI. Some of the suggested methods that can give you clarity on the impact of training on your business outcomes include:
- Calculating savings associated with having workers trained to perform a work-related activity in a more efficient or less wasteful manner
- Determining the increase in revenue as a result of increased productivity following training
- Analyzing supervisor assessments to determine if training sessions have successfully filled learning gaps
Each of the other five top learning and development KPIs also provides important information about the success of your program. With it, you can determine whether your investment in worker training has paid off.
Trust Docebo to help you get the most out of our L&D program
As we predicted, highly personalized training that takes advantage of emerging AI capabilities and other technologies will be paramount to the success of L&D initiatives in 2024. Find yourself wrinkling your nose a little at the notion of using AI to enhance the training opportunities for your workers? It is important to note that the technology is not going anywhere. It is gaining importance in all aspects of business, and more people are becoming comfortable with using it—including your workers.
