Training ROI-Beyond Just Numbers
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Read this presentation to know: -Positive & Rapid eLearning ROI -Fresh look into eLearning ROI -Economics of eLearning vs Training -Expected Usage Level -Dependency of ROI Connect to Us: Facebook: facebook.com/24x7LearningIndia Twitter: twitter.com/24x7learning LinkedIn: lnkd.in/6qD2pY
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Training ROI-Beyond Just Numbers
- 1. > nidhi.khanna@24x7learning.com www.24x7learning.com © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 1
- 2. Training ROI: beyond numbers!!! www.24x7learning.com Economics of eLearning vs. Training Thin k ! Expec te d usa ge levels e e th tsid Ou ox b © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. c en nd I pe RO De y of Pos itiv rap e & eLe id arn RO ing I k h loo Fres o int ing earn eL ROI
- 3. Who we are • 24x7 Learning is India’s largest eLearning consulting, technology and Implementation Company • Established in 2001, 24x7 Learning today is one of India’s Premier Talent Lifecycle Management Company, with over 200 of India’s Top companies and MNC’s in its clientele list • In the last decade, 24x7 Learning has touched over 2 million learners dispersed in more than 35 countries. www.24x7learning.com © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 3
- 4. Awards We believe that a job done well or a satisfied client is reward enough. 24x7 Learning's constant endeavor to innovate and excel has earned it some prestigious recognition. Highest Performance and Moderate Financial Capability ~ SE1B CRISIL rating PC Quest Best Implementation Award 2008 & 2009 Invited by Bureau of India Standards to help setup India eLearning Standards Listed among NASSCOM’s 100 IT Innovators Winner Deloitte Technology Fast 50 India and Fast 500 Asia 2007, 2008, 2009 Top 10 emerging companies in India – Business Today 2007 Top 100 emerging companies in Asia – Red Herring 2006 3 www.24x7learning.com © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited.
- 5. Products and solution offerings www.24x7learning.com © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 5
- 6. Effectiveness What is ROI, really? Productivity Efficiency Thin k! www.24x7learning.com e e th tsid Ou ox b © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 6
- 7. www.24x7learning.com © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 7
- 8. e-Learning Changes the Equation www.24x7learning.com © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 8
- 9. eLearning ROI from different perspectives Function Goal Measurement Scope Training manager Close skills gap Individual performance Business Unit, specific training Line manager Achieve business goal Project goals, business metrics Business Unit, specific training Corporate staff Choose the best alternative Financial metrics, business case Enterprise, e-Learning infrastructure Enterprise Transformation, competitive advantage Business case, shareholder Enterprise, e-Learning value infrastructure www.24x7learning.com © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 9
- 10. The Training Manager’s Perspective Don’t step in the ROI Mental images trump numbers www.24x7learning.com © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 10
- 11. The business unit manager’s perspective www.24x7learning.com © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 11
- 12. Corporate staff’s Perspective www.24x7learning.com © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 12
- 13. The executive perspective www.24x7learning.com © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 13
- 14. Three factors to determine the ROI of your eLearning decisions Benefits- How will your company benefit from eLearning? Costs- How will your company pay, both in hard costs & resources, for eLearning? Risks- How do uncertainties change the total impact of eLearning on your business? www.24x7learning.com © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 14
- 15. Key Benefits Dimension eLearning helps by… Faster time to competency • Learners assimilate content at their own speed • Employees quickly locate learning content they need to review • Scalability means more people get up to speed in less time Training flexibility Training consistency Repeatability www.24x7learning.com • Learn from any global location • Learn at any time • Learn using different devices including mobile devices • Uniform content across employee base, even when localized for other languages • Less content variance than instructor-led training • Once produced, content can be reused with no additional costs • Updating content requires only a change to a learning object instead of an overhaul of the complete course © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 15
- 16. Key Costs Project phase Key costs Technical • LMS as SaaS implementation is a predictable yearly cost • Virtual classroom requires additional leader seats • Purchase of content development tools Content People eLearning culture change www.24x7learning.com • Contract for off-the-shelf course content • Contract with custom developer to create companyspecific courses • Director to manage program and align with business needs • Staff for creation, development, and deployment of content • Administrator/help desk to ensure day-to-day success of program • Special rollout informational and training sessions • Marketing activities to inform employees © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 16
- 17. Risk Analysis: Vendor Relationships, Technology Costs, Content Quality Maintaining strong relationship with vendors Managing high startup costs Ensuring excellent, engaging content www.24x7learning.com © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 17
- 18. The Economics of e-Learning vs. Training • Infrastructure • Pervasive nature • Transfer of knowledge www.24x7learning.com © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 18
- 19. What usage I can expect? www.24x7learning.com © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 19
- 20. Learning Growth Model *Adapted from Skillsoft www.24x7learning.com © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 20
- 21. Some tips to ensure a positive & rapid eLearning ROI Identify and Identify and recruit recruit leadership leadership Target lowTarget lowhanging hanging opportunities opportunities www.24x7learning.com Plan your move Plan your move from face-tofrom face-toface to online face to online learning learning Select your Select your LMS provider LMS provider and delivery and delivery approach approach © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 21
- 22. More tips to ensure a positive & rapid eLearning ROI Pilot your Pilot your eLearning eLearning tactics before tactics before go-live go-live Measure the Measure the impact of your impact of your eLearning eLearning strategy and strategy and execution execution www.24x7learning.com Master rapid Master rapid eLearning eLearning development development toolsets toolsets Complement Complement more formal more formal courseware with courseware with informal learning informal learning tactics tactics © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 22
- 23. 24x7 learning team consults on the following aspects www.24x7learning.com © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 23
- 24. www.24x7learning.com © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 24
- 25. 24x7 Learning Pvt. Ltd Ulsoor Lakefront, Bangalore,India Phone: +91 80 4069 9100 contactus@24x7learning.com www.24x7learning.com www.learntrak.net lnkd.in/6qD2pY twitter.com/24x7learning facebook.com/24x7LearningIndia www.24x7learning.com © 2013, Copyright, 24x7 Learning Private Limited. 25
Notas do Editor
- The term ROI lies at the center of most senior management evaluations when determining which projects will receive funding, and which will not. It’s a simple matter of determining the amount that comes back from each dollar released. Generally speaking, the higher the ROI, the more attractive the project. The most attractive projects receive the lion’s share of funding. While there are several textbook defi nitions and calculations associated with ROI, at its root, it really comes down to a simple ratio: Perceived Customer Value ROI = ------------------------------------- Investment There are a few important items to note in this equation: It’s important to remember that “customer” could mean a variety of people, either inside or outside your organization, depending on the specifi c project and situation. Clearly defi ning who your customer is and keeping it fresh in your mind at all times helps to focus your actions, recommendations, and communication. The word “perceived” isn’t superfl uous here. Although you can provide facts, numbers, and charts to fi ll a binder, in the end, it’s the feeling that emerges in the customer that often differentiates success from failure. Assumptions that drive your fi gures can always be challenged and pushed in one direction or another, but, once established, feelings are tougher to sway. “Value” can be viewed from several different perspectives, so it’s important to explicitly include as many facets of the term as possible, rather than assuming that your customer shares your viewpoint. This could include improving: Effi ciency – Achieving the same results with lower costs Effectiveness – Achieving better results with the same costs Productivity – Achieving better results with lower cost Beyond the simple cash devoted to a project, “investment” also includes less tangible items, such as the opportunity costs of having employees in training rather than on the job.
- Let’s summarise the main arguments for better evaluation of training: To validate training as a business tool Training is one of many actions that an organisation can take to improve its performance and profitability. Only if training is properly evaluated can it be compared against other methods and expect, to be selected either in preference to or in combination with other methods of achieving a companies goals. To justify the costs incurred in training As we have already mentioned, when money is tight, training budgets are amongst the first to be sacrificed, even in Aviation where much of the training is regulatory, often training is an areas that come under pressure, generally this is the non-regulatory or “nice to have” training which may in the long to medium term save money. But only by thorough, quantitative analysis can training departments make the case necessary to resist these cuts. To help improve the design of training Training programmes should be continuously improved to provide better value and increased benefits for an organisation. We need to revaluate our training at regular intervals, without formal evaluation, the basis for changes can only be subjective. To help in selecting training methods There are many alternative approaches to training available to training departments, including a variety of classroom, on-job and self-study methods. Using comparative evaluation techniques, organisations can make rational decisions about what is the methods to employ.
- Until recently, most training decisions were incremental. Training sponsors had most of the infrastructure required: an empty room, staff, flipcharts, markers, and perhaps some personal computers. Business unit managers could evaluate the cost-effectiveness of one-shot training courses just by assessing cost and effect within their own business units. e-Learning changes this. e-Learning is a continuous process, not a one-shot deal. Second generation e-Learning (see sidebar) does away with the concept of “courses.” e-Learning is most often an enterprisewide initiative, beyond the bounds of any individual business unit. And investing in e-Learning is often a strategic imperative-- the ticket to entry into an e-Business environment.
- THE TRAINING MANAGER’S PERSPECTIVE Don’t Step in the ROI Five or six years ago I witnessed a multimedia course demonstration designed to help Southern bank officers spruce up their table manners. When a banker clicked on sushi, a voice intoned “sooo-she.” Then a Japanese flag appeared, followed by words explaining that sushi is a popular Japanese dish made of fish and rice. I chuckled and thought to myself: In real life, that’s going to be one surprised banker when the raw fish arrives. The sushi story came to mind last fall during a series of breakout sessions at the TechLearn and Online Learning conferences. This time, the topic was ROI. Consultants relentlessly drove home the message to dozens of groups: If you want to sell a big project internally, you’ve got to talk ROI. It’s the language senior managers understand – it’s how they separate worthy projects from losers. Being fluent in ROI talk enables you to position a learning project as an investment rather than a cost. It’s the secret handshake that gets you into the inner circle of those who control budget dollars. Well, I hate to spoil the party but it’s time for a reality check. If you really think that talking the ROI talk will enable you to pass yourself off as a businessperson, you’re due for a wakeup call. You have as much chance of succeeding as you would of passing for French in Paris with only a beret and a Berlitz phrasebook. A little knowledge can be dangerous. Making a significant business decision entails a wide range of factors and involves intricate tradeoffs. • Risks must be weighed against rewards. • Short-term aims need to be sorted out from long. • Undertakings must align with strategic initiatives. • Scarce resources call for shrewd horse-trading. Unless your training unit sells training for a fee, generating its own revenue, the returns on training investment come from satisfying the needs of business unit managers. Tying training results to business results is more useful than coming up with pseudo-ROI figures. The only valid training ROI is business ROI. Mental Images Trump Numbers International Data Corporation studied the buying behavior of corporate and IT training managers and concluded that, “ROI will no longer be measured in ‘savings’ or ‘reduced cost of training.’” Instead, attention will be directed to “measurable changes to business increase their focus on high-quality instructional design and engaging learning environments.” Often ROI exercises are necessary to show you’ve done your homework; the numbers are your ticket to admission at the adults’ table. A decision-maker’s final choices, however, are mostly visceral – based on how the likely outcome of each alternative makes him or her feel. Feelings win out because the assumptions used to create the numbers can always be challenged. Projects that evoke the best feelings make the cut. To sell a project upward, you’ve got to make the upside come alive – paint a picture, tell a story. And make no mistake about it, upselling is what you need to do.
- Business unit managers own the problems training solves. They are pragmatic; their overriding interest is getting the job done. Soon. Until you know what individuals are trying to accomplish, you can’t talk with them about potential results. The business unit manager is usually training’s primary sponsor. The “right client” is the decision-maker who understands the end goal and controls the environment in which the problem occurs. When you’re working with the right client, measuring results can be simple. Start with business problems and work backwards. The most important step in measuring performance is pinning down the business manager’s answer to the classic question: “What's in it for me?” Don’t skip this step – without it, meaningful tracking is impossible. First gain agreement on the business problem to be solved and the value of solving it. Then go on to outline how you propose to solve it. Establish a baseline measure of current performance, and clearly indicate how performance will be tracked and reported on. “Proof” is a Figment Otherwise brilliant people assure me that it’s impossible to isolate the impact of training. You can never tell whether some concurrent event has contaminated the results and negated their value as scientific evidence of training’s impact. Quests for certainty in our uncertain world are futile. Business decisions are made with less-than-perfect information; it comes with the territory. Management is not conducting a science class – it’s looking for results. So the question is not: “How do we prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that a given training program produced a given result?” The question is” What will our sponsor accept as persuasive evidence that the program produced the result?” Working with strong probabilities, we make our case logically – linking learning to business results. Establish a causal link between a particular skill deficiency and a particular business outcome. If the owner of the problem buys into this logic and the way you will measure it after training that will be all the proof you need. How to Track Business Unit Results The process of tracking learning results starts before any learning takes place. It begins with partnering between the training manager and the line manager who owns the business problem to be solved. Be sure the two of you articulate agreement on the value of solving the problem. In most cases, you gather needed information through a series of interviews. These should focus on the work process itself – not training. And they should always come back to the mother of all business questions: “What difference would this make?” Your joint examination of the problem will pinpoint the gap between the results the manager wants and the results the manager will actually get. Then determine what major skill gaps and learning deficiencies might hold people back. Next estimate the expected dollar value gained by eliminating the deficiency – and make tangible projections from those outcomes Make sure you get signoff on the expected outcomes, how they will be measured, and what constitutes good performance. This keeps discussions focused and agreements documented. Meanwhile, throughout the process, you’re helping managers answer questions about why skills matter and what good performance looks like. You’re focusing sustained attention on solving business problems and adding value. You’re identifying tangible values for each skill to be taught. As a result, you’re forging a partnership with the line client based on his or her core concern: performance. When the learning has been completed, assess the results according to the measurement you set up with the business unit manager. Extrapolate behavior changes into measurable business. There is no room for vagueness – and no backing away from visible quantitative evidence. Further interviewing and a review of business results may be useful. Finally, present your findings and a simple cost/benefit analysis to the business manager or training sponsor.
- No organization has the resources to do all the good things it might. Senior executives must choose where to place the company’s bets. What are the top priorities? What comes first? Do we do something in-house or outsource it? What will yield the greatest return? A major role of corporate staff is helping senior execs make sound choices. Thorough analysis reduces the risk of choosing the wrong alternative. The bigger the project, the more analysis is justified. Beware of Bad Numbers Present-day accounting is an anachronism. Invented in Venice half a millennium ago to maintain accurate shipping records, double-entry bookkeeping helped Venice dominate its part of the world. Formal accounting worked well when you could go out to the warehouse and count your assets. In the information age, it’s an inappropriate yardstick for measuring anything. Most of the assets drive home every night. In a nutshell, accounting recognizes nothing but physical entities. Intangibles are valued at zero. Vast areas of human productivity – ideas, abilities, experience, insight, esprit de corps, motivation – lie outside the auditor’s field of vision. Rather than developing an estimate of the returns on intangibles, accountants ignore intellectual capital and customer capital. The company may proclaim that “People are our most important asset,” but accountants value the desk more highly than the person sitting at it. Basically, accounting takes a short-term view of the world. It does not recognize that people become more valuable over time. Accounting claims to match expenses with returns, but it doesn’t work out that way. The accountant recognizes the costs of recruiting, mentoring, training, management development, and the like, in the year they are incurred – the unavoidable implication being that they have little, if any, long-term value. Your gut may tell you that you’ll be repaid in the future for investing heavily in people today. But where training is concerned, the only metric taken into consideration is cost. Accounting has no measuring stick to distinguish a good idea from a bad one. Excellent training hits the books at the same value as bad. What alternative is there? Weigh subjective factors as well as objective ones. Keep two sets of books, one for investors and regulators, the other to track what’s really important. The Balanced Scorecard is a means of evaluation developed to make up for the insufficiencies of financial accounting. In addition to finances, it looks at changes in customers, processes, and employees. The Balanced Scorecard was designed to look backward – to evaluate in hindsight – but there’s no reason not to use it to project into the future as a decision-making tool. The Saratoga Institute studied 500 companies over a period of years to isolate the factors that separate high-performing companies from also-rans. “Balanced values,” a mix of human and financial goals topped the list. “Commitment,” organizational stick-to-it-iveness, was next important, followed by “Culture,” defined as the ability to attract, retain, and motivate talent.
- Companies must objectively evaluate the financial impact on business when considering the adoption or avoidance of eLearning. eLearning can help address many critical business problems like supporting global employee learning, decreasing travel and expenses, and increasing productivity in a competitive environment. But companies need to do a careful assessment of the nature of internal and external learning at all levels of the business. How? Companies can use a following model to systematically consider:
- Key Benefits: Competency Speed, Flexibility, Consistency, Repeatability, Travel Reduction Organizations implementing eLearning can expect several benefits that help drive business forward due to knowledgeable and well-skilled workers. Learning directors can quantify the scale, timing, and duration of these benefits by considering one or more key metrics and then calculating the value to the organization of improving those metrics over time (see Figure 2). Benefits include: · Faster employee competency, which means increased productivity. Self-paced eLearning allows learners to assimilate content at their own speed — often 20% to 50% faster than in a classroom. If they understand a concept well, they can skim online material. If a module is difficult, learners can slow down, review material a second time, or access online help. Search allows employees to find just the content section they need to reach competency faster and start producing sooner. Employees in global offices can fulfill course requirements in days rather than months using eLearning because of the reach and scalability of the technology. · Flexibility of learning provides accessibility anytime, anywhere. Employees can learn at home, in a coffee shop, on an airplane, or at any spot around the globe. Because of the ubiquitous nature of the Internet, they can access learning any time that fits into their schedule. For many employees, determining their own study time makes learning possible because their life circumstances don’t allow a traditional classroom approach. In fast-paced environments, learning on-the-go — even from handhelds — gives learners the flexibility they need. · Consistency of eLearning delivers uniform content. Subject matter experts and instructional designers create content using adult learning principles, graphics, and interactive media to provide the best learning experience and achieve learning objectives. There’s no question as to whether a group at one location received the same learning as those at another location. All learners receive the same consistent content. Translations also provide content in learners’ native languages. With eLearning there is less content variance than with instructor-led learning. · Repeatability provides opportunity to review material. Although eLearning’s upfront costs are high depending on production values, content reuse makes it very cost-effective. Even with updates, XML technology enables developers to change specific learning objects, leaving the rest of the content untouched. Learners download course material, eliminating hard copy duplication. Self-paced learning and recorded virtual classroom sessions are under user control, so learners can repeat sections they did not understand. This wouldn’t be possible in a classroom lecture where learners hear content once and hope they have taken good notes. Travel reduction provides additional savings. Auto and air travel with hotel and meal expenses for instructors and participants are prohibitive. Facility rental, technology connections, and materials costs add more expense to face-to-face training. Some travel is necessary depending on circumstances, especially in a blended training, but the travel is less frequent and for shorter durations. Many companies realize the cost benefits of reduced travel in the first two or three years of the implementation and then focus more on the business improvement benefits as online learning becomes more integrated into business processes.
- Key Costs: Technology, Content, Learning Employees, Learning Culture Development Organizations that implement eLearning can expect several costs, especially as they begin to ramp up the eLearning program. These include additional technology infrastructure and new applications, in-house course content creation, acquired content vendor courses, additional staff, and a PR/ training program for employees so they understand and feel comfortable using the new learning approach (see Figure 3): · The learning management system (LMS) is essential to manage eLearning. This ROI analysis assumes a software-as-a-service (SaaS) eLearning implementation.8 This means the company pays a yearly fee for the LMS based on the number of users. The LMS resides with and is managed by the vendor. The yearly LMS cost includes maintenance and most upgrades. Organizations configure rather than customize their business processes since extensive LMS customization is not part of a SaaS strategy. The IT department should still be involved to ensure a smooth implementation. · Virtual classroom technology integrates with the LMS. Each organization selects from a handful of virtual classroom vendors.10 In some cases the LMS vendor or content vendor offers a virtual classroom application. Your organization may also use its existing Web conferencing provider if the application offers enhancements for virtual learning. The cost is based either on a fee for each named organizer (instructors) or on the number of concurrent users who will receive virtual classroom instruction at any given time.11 This ROI study uses the named organizer option. The virtual classroom application and the SaaS LMS connect through APIs. · Production tools allow in-house content development. In-house content production includes repurposing existing classroom content for online use and authoring new content specifically for eLearning. A potpourri of Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM)-conformant authoring tools provides eLearning authors flexibility in the depth and variety of content they can create. These include the easy-to-use, rapid eLearning development tools and the more traditional tools that require more in-depth knowledge and authoring experience. · Off-the-shelf content comes from special eLearning content vendors. Content vendors provide off-the-shelf eLearning content that organizations license on a yearly or multiyear basis. Generally, organizations choose to license libraries of content like IT, business skills, or desktop skills. They decide how many employees will access specific libraries and contract for that number of users. These vendors also provide customizable print materials, mentoring, and the ability to customize some of the eLearning course components. In this ROI document we focused on the off-the-shelf eLearning content and did not include the other services these vendors offer.12 · Special content needs tap custom content developers. Organizations engage a custom eLearning content development company for courses with content features beyond their inhouse staff capabilities, courses that require more advanced tools for activities like simulations and branching, or learning that requires extensive concept development and course execution. Custom content organizations have creative architects, instructional designers, and content developers highly skilled in planning and developing learning experiences. · Learning and development employees to develop, deliver, and mentor. Typical learning staff include titles like learning and development director, online trainer, curriculum writer, instructional designer, Web designer and developer, graphic design specialist, and LMS administrator. Some of these positions will be new hires; others will be role changes for existing learning staff. For example, some classroom instructors may develop skills as virtual classroom instructors. Especially in an organization with some decentralized learning, a learning specialist may become a consultant assisting lines of business in planning their eLearning. · Help desk staff must be knowledgeable and ready to assist users. User assistance is generally the responsibility of specific employees within the organization’s help desk. Learning directors must ensure these employees are well trained on the applications and tools. During the initial weeks of the rollout, ensure that these LMS help desk people are available during extended hours to allow easy access to help for employees. Help desk should prepare FAQs to post online with the most frequently asked questions and prepare other do-it-yourself troubleshooting aids. · Creation of an eLearning culture is critical to success. Special informational and rollout programs determine the success of getting employee buy-in to eLearning. Involve internal marketing people to create LMS awareness during the program planning and launch. Create “traveling road shows” where employees can use the application, ask questions, and begin to understand what an LMS is, why it’s important to the business, and how to use it effectively. Give employees opportunities to participate in pilots and give feedback. Finally, continue providing updates and latest information after the rollout.
- No change — or avoidance of change — is without risk. Factoring this uncertainty into the analysis converts an optimistic and potentially unachievable plan into one with higher accuracy. Refine initial estimates by factoring in three key risks: · Maintaining strong relationship with vendors. Because of the SaaS deployment, the LMS and the virtual classroom implementations are significantly easier than installed applications. However, you must maintain strong relationships with the vendors and address any application issues immediately. Ensure that vendors provide adequate support for learners who may struggle with issues of system uptime, ease-of-use, and access to course content. · Managing high startup costs. The SaaS LMS is a predictable yearly cost so the upfront cost of the LMS and virtual classroom technology is not as significant as installed applications. However, the organization must hire new staff and retrain some existing staff to mentor learners, develop eLearning content, and teach online. The organization must purchase new authoring tools or upgrade existing ones for content development. Communication messages must start before the applications are launched and continue during the implementation until the technology becomes an integrated part of employees’ daily work. · Ensuring excellent, engaging content. Both repurposed and new eLearning content must provide engaging learner experiences. The statement “content is king” is true. You may have wonderful technology but without excellent content, eLearning fails. Spend the time to repurpose classroom content with graphics and activities appropriate to the objectives and expect that the eLearning course will look very different from the classroom version. Carefully select off-theshelf content. From some vendors you will select libraries; from other vendors you will select individual courses. Preview these to make sure they fit with your objectives and are well done.
- One of the ongoing admonitions e-learning specialists face is the need to "prove" the return on investment (ROI) for each program they initiate. But most e-learning programs are funded from ongoing training budgets, which are recurrent (that is, budgeted annually to cover the cost of a year's worth of training, rather than individual projects) and are accounted as operations or infrastructure costs. Because much training is not budgeted at the project level, discussions about ROI have traditionally had little relevance. It would be like seeking the ROI on groceries in a personal budget or of stationery supplies in a business. Both are simply costs of doing business. How, then, might one assess the return on an e-learning program? First, it's important to be clear on the economics of e-learning, which I explain in this article. Second, we must understand some of the most common ways that organizations deploy e-learning to support their strategic objectives, and show how measurement of viability and impact can be approached within those situations. The Economics of e-Learning vs. TrainingA good understanding of the economics of e-learning involves realizing that e-learning is infrastructure. Infrastructure. Infrastructure is the composite of technology systems, business processes, work culture, and control mechanisms that make up the way an organization operates and does its work. Infrastructure is distinct from assets and resources insofar as an existing infrastructure enables or constrains the performance of assets, such as specific technologies, people, and availability of time. If e-learning were merely a resource or asset, it would be an interchangeable part that could be plugged into an organization and become operational at the flick of a switch. But that's not the case. In fact, as some of the early implementers of large-scale e-learning initiatives discovered, it introduces significant problems of change management because e-learning is more than an interchangeable, plug-and-play part. Making e-learning work involves more than integrating technology systems. It also involves re-gearing work processes, tuning into soft work cultures, and deeply integrating learning with the needs of business and work processes. In contrast, although a training class might disrupt employees' work schedules, the class requires no other deep integration. And, although making training stick does require broader change in the workplace, research suggests organizations still offer classroom training without these related changes Pervasive nature. This highlights another important difference between training and e-learning. Training has established for itself a distinct niche and role within an organization's infrastructure. It is compartmentalized and relatively easy to manipulate. But e-learning pervades the entire infrastructure. As part of the IT network of the organization, learning content is potentially available at any point in the flow of work, in any business process, and as part of any decision. Recognizing the role of infrastructure in e-learning has two significant implications for discerning its economic impact or viability. First, because an infrastructure is a complex interweaving of diffuse and diverse elements ranging from "hard" technology to "soft" culture, attributing specific outcomes to specific interventions is extremely difficult. Infrastructure is generally opaque when linking causes to effects, and this substantially contributes to its apparent inertia in the face of change. Second, any infrastructure-related initiative such as e-learning, has an absorption or integration cost that is extremely difficult to anticipate, precisely because of the opacity of infrastructure. In layman's terms, an absorption or integration cost is the cost of change management, such as unanticipated costs associated with the technology, like the cost of providing tutoring support to learners (which is a cost that most organizations do not consider when deciding to launch an e-learning effort) or that, despite the fact that staff can access the learning anywhere at any time, if the work environment does not support transferring the learning to the job, learners will not become more productive. Transfer of knowledge. It's crucial that organizations invest in efforts intended to transfer learning to the job. Whatever these unanticipated change management costs are, they are universally under-anticipated. The consequence is that the economic benefits of e-learning are usually over-estimated and the post-implementation results usually disappoint executives, reducing their confidence in a variety of learning-related issues, starting with the mechanisms for assessing the viability of a proposed e-learning investment.
- Each organization must develop its own path for a learning strategy by reflecting on their business objectives and organizational culture. Every organization’s learning journey is as unique as the organization itself. That said, clients often ask SkillSoft what kind of usage they can expect to see from e-learning — whether it is to understand how many licenses they will need to start an e-learning program, or as a way to gauge “what’s normal” in a program that has been installed for years. With our experience helping thousands of clients implement e-learning programs, we have developed a good understanding of the factors that contribute to usage and other measures of success. Learning Growth Model was developed to assist our customers in planning for what lies ahead for their organizations. While there is no guaranteed way to become successful with this approach, each organization must look at its history, competitive environment, skill base, technology, mission and culture and then develop an appropriate learning structure and style. Doing so, we must understand that the process does not end because change never ends. The need for learning will always exist if performance is being improved.
- Phase 1: Initiate Learning The first phase is entered when an organization introduces e-learning for the first time. The goals at this phase are typically to address learning needs that can’t be met by traditional (classroom) methods, as well as cost reduction. The L&D group is typically focused on introducing this new learning modality to employees and building awareness of its availability. Phase 2: Manage Learning In Phase 2 organizations have begun to recognize the benefits of e-learning and start expanding its use within the organization, making it available to more employees on more topics. Blended learning programs are implemented and redundant learning content is eliminated. The L&D group is becoming more capable of measuring the results and learners are beginning to demand/expect more types of learning content. Phase 3: Align Learning This phase begins when learning is recognized as a strategic tool and applied to targeted job competencies within key organizational roles, such as sales, customer services, and IT. More complex blends and systems are implemented. This also marks the point where the L&D group gains a stronger voice within the organization and obtains key executive sponsors. Phase 4: Integrate Learning In Phase 4 the organization provides the necessary infrastructure and resources required to expand e-learning access to all employees, and a strong cultural value is placed on learning. This may include investment in a more robust learning management system, authoring and rapid development tools, web collaboration platform and more. This stage often requires significant integration efforts, as learning becomes part of the everyday flow of work. Phase 5: Enterprise-Wide Learning Phase 5 of growth is entered when all levels of management are committed to ongoing and comprehensive e-learning programs that are linked to the organization’s business and human capital goals. Learning is made part of the daily flow of work, and learners are just as comfortable accessing learning assets as they are using email or the Internet. A wide variety of e-learning and performance support resources are made available, and the value of having these resources is understood at all levels.
- Nationally and globally dispersed companies reap the most benefit from eLearning. This scalable technology provides strong benefits that outweigh the costs. In starting an online learning program, follow these guidelines: · Identify and recruit leadership. Identify a learning leader who has strong business acumen, is an excellent communicator, is respected by both business and learning leaders, and who understands the components of a vibrant learning program. · Plan your move from face-to-face to online learning. If you have instructor-led training, explore blended learning with some training components in a self-paced online format and others in a virtual classroom or shorter face-to-face sessions. · Target low-hanging opportunities: compliance courses and basic skills. Start with the obvious and easier learning to show immediate benefit: compliance and regulatory courses that require an audit trail and excellent reporting. Examine off-the-shelf vendor offerings and select discriminately appropriate courses that fit your business needs. · Select your LMS provider and delivery approach. Identify a learning management system to track, manage, and report on the learning. Explore a SaaS model, which offers a consistent monthly cost and a configured rather than customized application to streamline costs and reduce in-house personnel. · Pilot your eLearning tactics before go-live. Provide employees with opportunities to try your online learning and to get comfortable with it before the launch. Have mentors in all sites as the go-to-people during the rollout. · Master rapid eLearning development toolsets. Develop appropriate company content quickly and inexpensively using rapid eLearning development tools that require no technical expertise. For content with long shelf life and more sophisticated content, use more formal development tools or outsource it for custom development. · Measure the impact of your eLearning strategy and execution. Evaluate results of learning with the emphasis on the employee performance improvement. Carry out employee surveys and manager evaluations around perceived success of the learning. Identify some courses to carry out formal evaluations with pre-and post-learning assessments. · Complement more formal courseware with informal learning tactics. Wrap informal methods like discussion boards, online help, blogs, and course ratings around the formal