Your L&D strategy might be going well, but are your stakeholders buying into planned developments? Laura Overton delivered this webinar hosted by DPG on 24 July 2015. Laura explained how L&D and HR leaders can use the Towards Maturity Benchmark to gather the evidence needed to show business leaders what's working and highlight opportunities to develop, using the Towards Maturity Model as a framework for constant strategy innovation.

1. 13:00-14:00 BST
SMARTER DECISIONS FOR STRONGER PERFORMANCE
HOW TO USE DATA TO PARTNER FOR SUCCESS WITH THE BUSINESS
with Laura Overton
FRIDAY 24 JULY

2. L&D HAVE THE VISION FOR A
MODERNISED LEARNING STRATEGY
LauraOverton
TowardsMaturity #BeTheBest15© Towards Maturity CIC Ltd. 2015

3. Today’s L&D
professionals
want more

4. BUT THE VISION CAN’T BE DELIVERED WITHOUT
WORKING HAND IN HAND WITH THE BUSINESS

5. ALIGNMENT – THE HOT TOPIC

6. What is holding
us back from
improving
alignment?

7. BUSINESS LEADERS HAVE US BOXED-IN

8. CLARITY, CONSISTENCY, COMMITMENT

9. CREDIBILITY AND CONFIDENCE

10. EVIDENCE IS CRITICAL FOR ALL

11. “L&D needs to create the discipline of
thinking 'evidence' - it changes the way we
manifest ourselves in our organisation, helps
us justify what we are doing and why."
Nigel Paine
Author of the Learning Challenge
Watch the interview at:
http://towardsmaturity.org/article/2015/07/22/why-benchmark-nigel-paine-clive-shepherd

12. USING EVIDENCE TO START THE
BUSINESS CONVERSATION
Building confidence

13. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING BUSINESS OUTCOMES JUSTIFY A
SUBSTANTIAL INVESTMENT IN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT?
Lower employee turnover
Increased employee engagement
Positive ROI
Change in business direction
Reduced cost
Increased productivity
Greater responsiveness to the new
Increased profitability
Stronger Employee brand

14. 55% Increased productivity
40% Greater responsiveness to new
39% +ve employee engagement
37% Increased profitability
36% Lower employee turnover
ECONOMICS INTELLIGENCE UNIT EVIDENCE
22% Positive ROI
18% Reduced cost
14% Change in business direction
11% Stronger Employee brand
Economic Intelligence Unit, Sept 2014

15. DATA DRIVEN DECISION MAKING

16. USING EVIDENCE TO PERSUADE AND
PRIORITISE
Data Driven Decision Making
What evidence
do you use on
to help you
connect with
the business?

17. IS THERE EVIDENCE TO
SHOW THAT A MODERNISED
LEARNING STRATEGY CAN
ADD REAL BUSINESS VALUE?
PERSUADE AND PRIORITISE

18. Gaining Market Share
17% rise in customer satisfaction
10% improvement in revenueTalent
9% reduction in attrition
17% improvement in engagement
14% improvement in productivity
12% reduction in time to competency
Deliver New Products & Services
Change new products & services 23% faster
Roll out new IT applications 26% faster

19. Gaining Market Share
17% rise in customer satisfaction
10% improvement in revenueTalent
9% reduction in attrition
17% improvement in engagement
14% improvement in productivity
12% reduction in time to competency
Deliver New Products & Services
Change new products & services 23% faster
Roll out new IT applications 26% faster
AND Deliver Efficiency
- 17% Cost reduction
+21% Volume
- 22% Delivery time
- 20% Study time

20. USING EVIDENCE TO PREDICT AND PLAN
Data Driven Decision Making
What data do you
draw on to help
you understand
your learners?

21. HOW DO OUR STAFF LEARN BEST?
91% learners learn from collaboration with team workers
81%from manager support
73%from web search
64% from formal education courses
50% from live online learning, mobile
or self paced e-learning
82% want to learn at their own pace

22. YET ONLY
1/3OF L&D LEADERS
KNOW HOW THEIR STAFF
ACTUALLY LEARN AT WORK…

23. Staff
ACTIVELEARNERVOICE
ARE WE LISTENING TO OUR CUSTOMERS?
64% under 30’s are looking for
professional recognition
49% agree that their line
managers expect them to apply
what they’ve learned
91% learn from collaborating
25% of L&D leaders reward/
recognise achievement
18% equip line managers with
resources to help their teams get
the most from learning
20% believe their staff know how
connect and share
L&D Leaders

24. USING EVIDENCE TO IMPROVE
PERFORMANCE
Data Driven Decision Making

25. ABOUT BENCHMARKING
Who is reporting the best results?
And what are they doing differently?

26. OLD LEARNING ‘BENCHMARKS’
Input Indicators:
Budget
Head count
Completion rates
Hours spent training
Industry trends:
Who is doing what?
BENCHMARK CONSEQUENCES
L&D perceived as cost centre
Business expectations = cut costs
Busyness/keeping up and/or
complacency
Following fads
L&D caught in the past
NOTE OF CAUTION ABOUT L&D BENCHMARKS

27. OLD LEARNING ‘BENCHMARKS’
INPUTS
NEW LEARNING BENCHMARKS
OUTPUTS
NOTE OF CAUTION ABOUT L&D BENCHMARKS

28. TM Index
THE TOP 10%
New for 2014
TM Index

29. TOP DECK COMPANIES ARE DELIVERING
Improved application
of learning in the
workplace
Faster response to
changing business
conditions
Increased
productivity
on the job
TOP DECK Average

30. A FRAMEWORK FOR SUCCESS

31. Activities that help L&D align
implementation with strategic and
tactical needs of the organisation:
Strategic Alignment
Business Alignment
On Average:
Only 56% analyse
the business problem
before recommending a
solution
89% top performers
Defining
Need

32. Activities that help L&D provide staff
with the confidence, motivation and
opportunity to learn in a way that
suits them best:
Individual choice
Individual motivation
On Average:
Only 44% agree that
staff can chose to learn in
places convenient to
them
69% top performers
Learner
Context

33. Activities that help L&D to
understand and address issues
outside of their immediate control:
Technical infrastructure &
relationships
Managerial support and culture
Integrated with talent
On Average:
Only 43% know what
technology enabled
learning their IT systems
can support
Only 19% agree LT
supports the way that
they recruit and on-board
staff
81% top performers
49% top performers
Work
Context

34. Activities that build the skills of
L&D professionals:
General awareness
Designing learning
Transferring learning
Supporting performance
Facilitating collaboration
Top Learning companies
are twice as likely to:
• Use video, images,
animation in online
courses
• Apply story telling
techniques
• Simulate work
environment for
assessment
• Agree L&D staff are
confident in incorporating
new media into training
Building
Capability

35. Marketing and communications activities
that address stakeholder requirements:
Managing change
Learners
Managers
L&D staff
Only half of learners think
their company clearly
communicate, only 44% of
L&D have a comms plan in place
Only 26% train trainers to
use technology to extend learning
beyond the class
74% top performers
67% top performers
Ensuring
Engagement

36. Activities that highlight business
impact:
Gathering feedback
Measurement
Communicating success
Fewer than half of L&D
leaders regularly review
programmes to ensure they
continue to meet company goals
Only 16% measure specific
business metrics when
evaluating impact
74% top performers
39% top performers
Demonstrating
Value

37. WHAT L&D SKILLS ARE NEEDED?
Defining
Need
Learner
Context
Work
Context
Building
Capability
Ensuring
Engagement
Demonstrating
Value
Analysis
Influencing
Consulting
Business acumen
Marketing
Evaluation
Communication
Managing change
Design
Learning transfer
Supporting Performance
Facilitating community
‘L&D essentials’

38. 87%
89%
89%
91%
91%
93%
96%
96%
96%
Business planning
Delivery via virtual classroom
Instructional design
Marketing and stakeholder
engagement
Digital content development
Using social media effectively
Online or blended learning
delivery
Supporting learners online
Programme evaluation
Considered a priority
PRIORITY SKILLS FOR 2015

39. 87%
89%
89%
91%
91%
93%
96%
96%
96%
47%
34%
49%
42%
31%
15%
47%
36%
41%
Business planning
Delivery via virtual classroom
Instructional design
Marketing and stakeholder
engagement
Digital content development
Using social media effectively
Online or blended learning
delivery
Supporting learners online
Programme evaluation
Current skills in house
(avg)
Considered a priority
WHAT DO WE CURRENTLY HAVE IN HOUSE TODAY?

40. 87%
89%
89%
91%
91%
93%
96%
96%
96%
47%
34%
49%
42%
31%
15%
47%
36%
41%
79%
56%
68%
70%
44%
50%
81%
71%
70%
Business planning
Delivery via virtual classroom
Instructional design
Marketing and stakeholder
engagement
Digital content development
Using social media effectively
Online or blended learning
delivery
Supporting learners online
Programme evaluation
Current skills in house
(top Deck)
Current skills in house
(avg)
Considered a priority
TOP DECK ARE ACTIVE IN BUILDING PRIORITY L&D CAPABILITIES TODAY
50% more likely
to provide CPD
opportunities
for L&D staff

41. Data Driven Decision making in L&D teams
Less than
25%
Audit the skills of
L&D teams
Use learning
analytics to improve
service
Use benchmarking
as an L&D
performance
improvement tool

42. Where are you
strong, where
are you weak?

43. DON’T GUESS – FIND OUT

44. "Benchmarking in its broadest sense is
learning from experience...you can't copy
what others are doing, but you can be
inspired by them."
Why is Benchmarking Important?
Clive Shepherd,
Author of More than
Blended Learning
Watch the interview at:
http://towardsmaturity.org/article/2015/07/22/why-benchmark-nigel-paine-clive-shepherd

45. 3 SIMPLE STEPS
WWW.TOWARDSMATURITY.ORG/BENCHMARK

46. PERSONALISING YOUR EVIDENCE-BASED DECISION-MAKING
12 Key Performance Indicators
5 Technology Take-Up Indicators
HELP YOU PREDICT AND PERSUADE:
24 Performance Improvement Benchmarks, including:
HELP YOU PLAN, PERSONALISE
AND PERFORM BETTER:
Alignment
Engagement
70:20:10
Team Capability

47. USE THE DATA YOU HAVE TO MAKE
SMARTER DECISIONS FOR IMPROVING PERFORMANCE

48. What will you do
differently as a
result of today?

49. BASED PEOPLE
STRATEGY!
↗ It rebuilds our CONFIDENCE
↗ It boosts our CREDIBILITY
↗ It equips us to CHALLENGE
preconceived ideas with
insightful new solutions
MY TOP TIP:
DEVELOP AN

50. SMARTER DECISIONS FOR STRONGER PERFORMANCE
START TODAY!
WWW.TOWARDSMATURITY.ORG/BENCHMARK

51. Towards Maturity is a benchmarking practice that provides authoritative research
and expert consultancy services to help assess and improve the effectiveness and
consistency of L&D performance within organisations. It leverages the data gathered
from the largest learning and development benchmark in Europe.
Download our case studies to support your business case for change at:
www.towardsmaturity.org
Find out your own Towards Maturity Index™ to see if you are amongst the top
learning companies at: www.towardsmaturity.org/mybenchmark
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