WHILE THE biggest challenge for learning and development managers is to prove the business impact of their learning organisations to senior management, only a small number of learning organisations are delivering measurable value in terms of productivity gains, revenue growth, net income growth and overall industry recognition
WHILE THE biggest challenge for learning and development managers is to prove the business impact of their learning organisations to senior management, only a small number of learning organisations are delivering measurable value in terms of productivity gains, revenue growth, net income growth and overall industry recognition.
A survey of learning executives at 285 cross-industry organisations in the US, found that while chief learning officers (CLOs) are increasingly being measured in terms of the business impact of their learning organisations, they aren’t doing so in terms that can be translated into meaningful business metrics, such as increased revenues or decreased employee turnover and costs.
Sponsored by Accenture Learning, the report also found that only 2 per cent of CLOs are measured on how successfully they align the learning function to corporate strategic goals.
However, it a small number of learning organisations that are providing measurable business impact to their companies by excelling at certain key capabilities: aligning learning initiatives to business goals; measuring overall business impact of the learning function; extending learning to customers, suppliers and business partners; supporting their organisations’ most critical competencies and jobs; integrating learning with functions such as knowledge and talent management; using technology to deliver learning; and delivering leadership development courses.
According to the report, these high-performance organisations, representing approximately 10 per cent of the organisations surveyed, exceeded their peers in productivity (as measured by sales per employee), which was 27 per cent greater than their competitors’, revenue growth (40 per cent higher) and net income growth (50 per cent higher).
“These high-performance learning organisations contribute to the overall performance of their enterprises, finding distinctive ways to do more with less and ensuring that those in control of budgets understand the value that their learning organisation is producing,” said Hap Brakeley, president of Accenture Learning.
In addition, the report found that these leading organisations manage the learning department as a business, aligned to the organisation’s business goals. The vast majority (88 per cent) of the leaders identified “the business of the company” as a critical competency for learning executives, compared with 72 per cent of other respondents.
