Showcasing the value of Digital Learning to the Board



Only 8% of CEOs say they see the impact of Learning & Development programs in their organizations (Source: LinkedIn Workplace Learning 2017 report). Fortunately, the latest advances in digital learning make it possible to demonstrate the value and impact of the L&D programs on your Business – significance of which must not be underestimated!

According to the 2022 study conducted by Aserto for Learnship, 44% of HR professionals are still reluctant to transition to digital learning solutions, even though digital and blended formats have proven advantages over on-site training when it comes to demonstrating business impact. In collaboration with HR professionals from over 2,000 corporate clients, Learnship's Customer Success team defined what benefits they see in digital learning and how it addresses the concerns of their Board of Directors. Here are five ways digital learning helps demonstrate the value of your L&D to executives.

1 - Demonstrating budget optimization

Digital training is cost-effective, with significant savings on logistics, learning materials, staffing, and even carbon footprint. E-Learning activities allow you to capitalize on your time and budget as trainers are only involved where their expertise is needed, in situations such as practical application, additional insights, roleplays and providing personalized feedback. However, a small budget does not necessarily mean small scale rollouts, in fact quite the opposite – you can deploy a digital training solution on a much larger scale and far faster, for your global workforce. Saving you money and enhancing your reach! You can count on your training provider to support you in detailing your budget allocation by program, target group, business units or region.

 

Demonstrating L&D ROI is challenging but it's the one metric that matters most to decision-makers

2 - Increasing the quantity and quality of resources for the same price

The great advantage of online platforms is that the quality is consistent across all contents and learners, and only gets better with time. Unlike traditional training that remains stuck in a rigid time-based format and may only consist of a restricted amount of material, the digital format evolves to address more skills and more challenges, enhancing not only the quantity but also the quality. Digitalization of training makes it possible to obtain qualitative feedback in real time to help improve quality of the content and remove outdated material. With time, you will be able to demonstrate emerging trends and patterns of usage, learning behaviour and skill improvements.

3 - Measuring the upskilling of your talent

Quantity alone is meaningless if the content is not adapted to the needs of the target group. Whether it's linear and structured learning based on an initial assessment of profile or open-access modules (or both), digital training allows you to personalize content to each learner – unlike the on-site group training. This modular format makes it possible to address various professional needs by pre-defining learning paths for each talent group according to their profiles. By setting precise, measurable objectives, you can monitor who has acquired which skills, compare the data, and report back to the business on the ROI and ROE. With Precision Learning, a concept developed by Learnship, L&D professionals can, not only report precisely on upskilling but also predict it by employing a can-do statements matrix, measured by AI and graded by trainers.

 

Digital learning makes it virtually impossible to miss a session

4 – Boosting and demonstrating learner engagement

One of the main concerns on the minds of L&D professionals with regards to digitalization of learning is the engagement & adoption – and how to ensure that learner performance is steady. Any good digital training provider includes various resources (videos, texts, activities, recordings…) to make their platform as engaging as possible. The flexibility of digital delivery tools which are available 24/7 reduces the chances of learners "missing" a session. Furthermore, online platforms allow you to automate tracking, follow-up (no sign-in sheets no paperwork involved) and send automated reminders. Automation also allows you to track learner satisfaction, engagement, completion & progress rates at various stages of the program. By using a digital dashboard, you can easily assess and demonstrate the success of your learning programs with the help of data & reports.

5 - Measuring ROI

In addition to the parameters mentioned above (skill acquisition, learner engagement and satisfaction) the one that matters the most to the investors and decision-makers is the ROI. Calculating ROI on a large scale requires an extensive capacity to conduct surveys and incorporating the most relevant questions which may provide insight into the usability and profitability of the deployed learning tools.

There is no hard-and-fast rule as such, because each of your courses may have its own success metrics. At Learnship we follow a process by surveying not only the learners but also their managers. This method of feedback provides critical insight related to the applicability of the acquired skills and knowledge. Learner and managers are requested to report the time saved post-training and due to better understanding of the language resulting in a reduction in conflicts, improvement in collaboration and in productivity. The time saved is then converted and reported as productivity gains and demonstratable impact on the business, which can be significant. At Learnship, some global clients’ ROI amounts to 2.06 million euros per year in productivity gains. So, it is worth doing your own calculations!

Learn more about Learnship

Learnship is a language learning solution provider helping enterprises succeed in global markets by breaking down cross-cultural communications barriers. We help organizations deliver business impact from better communication through our customer-centric, data-driven, Precision Learning approach. Learn more on how you can drive L&D digitalization.