OnTrack International, the leading Learning, Development and Performance consultancy have announced the results of their largest ever survey within the L&D arena. The aim of the survey was to establish if measuring the value of L&D achieves anything, and if so, what the best practices on this topic are.
The online survey was sent to over 5,000 L&D and HR professionals from a wide range of industries. The majority of replies were from professionals working in organisations which employ more than 1,000 people. Respondents were asked to consider their more significant L&D projects when replying to the questions presented.
The survey revealed that respondents who established success measures prior to delivery had greater success further down the line. 90% measured commercial value, creating a significantly stronger alignment between L&D and the business. For those that rarely measure success prior to delivery, only 53% of these confirmed L&D has established measured commercial value and a mere 33% said evaluation has created a significant alignment between L&D and the business.
Virtually all respondents appear to undertake some sort of measurement and evaluation but only 20% put any significant effort into this activity. Those that embark on this found there is a direct correlation between budgets being protected and senior management approval, believing L&D adds significant value to the business – vital in this challenging economic climate.
With the majority of respondents undertaking evaluation, disappointingly only 43% of those actually measured the impact L&D has upon the business itself. However for those that did measure its impact, all reported back that this measurement had driven additional commercial value.
The survey reinforces that it is critical for L&D to be an enabler of performance improvement in the eyes of business leaders. That can only truly be achieved when information is presented to those leaders, proving with business related data that L&D has made a positive difference. Failure to do this can only lead to L&D being relegated to the sidelines in the longer term.
Peter Hurst, Managing Director of OnTrack International commented: “We know that when people development is successful, HR and L&D are engaged by the business in key strategic initiatives. The L&D community has a responsibility to drive tangible value from Learning and Development on behalf of the organisations that pay for the expertise. At OnTrack International, driving measured value through the development of people is at the heart of what we do.”
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
For a copy of the comprehensive report from OnTrack International, covering all of their findings and their key guiding principles contact Laura Gaillard, Marketing Executive at: [email protected]
