There’s no doubt that our lives have changed significantly over the last 5-10 years with the speedy (r)evolution in mobile technology and smartphone devices. This has also been a huge influence on learning in organizations, especially those with employees located in more than one place, or travelling locally or abroad. In addition, the rise of social media has changed the way people think and the expectations from centrally provided learning systems and content are much higher now. If you are responsible for learning and development through an LMS you will undoubtedly have to prove to your managers and key stakeholders the value of the system and processes and its ability to respond to the fast changes in the technological and working environment.
Here we discuss the top 3 metrics that can help you along the way in this endeavour.
#1 Online Assessment Results
The results of online assessment in eLearning are one of the most direct and clear indicators of learners’ performance and progress. In most cases they are directly linked to required skills and knowledge related to products, compliance, standards, etc. It’s good practice to conduct pre-assessments so you can have a benchmark against which to measure progress. You will be able to find out how well your learners are doing against the learning gaps that you’ve identified prior to the assessment. In addition the results might also show new areas for improvement where additional training content is required. Of course, the scores can also be analyzed at individual or group learner level, so concrete strategies are put in place to address the issues you’ve identified.
#2 Training Completion
The second important group of reports are related to training completion which can be related to the program (course) itself i.e. a training completion percentage rate, or to the role i.e. a job role competency rate report.
Typically, the first group of training completion reports gives you a general overview of how completion for a particular type of training is progressing and depending on your business (e.g. whether you’ve launched new products or have seasonal activities that require training) you will see whether the peaks and troughs in training completion correspond to your expectations. It is also important to monitor the completion rates when the trainings are related to compliance or any mandatory competencies that need to be covered by 100% of the employees.
When it comes to job competency rate reports you can track the progress of learners in a particular department or role. This becomes very relevant if you have employees who are cross-trained in multiple job roles so you can have a clear idea when they’ve covered the necessary skills in order to be transferred to a new role or to perform another co-worker’s duties if necessary.
#3 Time in Training
Monitoring and analyzing time logs LMS reports can give you some very valuable insights into overall ‘time in training’ as well as how long learners spend on each course module or activity. There are industry benchmarks when it comes to Learning & Development and if you are a public company you will be aware of what you need to cover. More time in learning per employee is a good indicator for your company in terms of developing the potential of your employees. However, when it comes to analyzing individual time logs for courses, you can identify areas of improvement when you see how long learners are spending on each module - perhaps there might be scope for optimization or a longer time spent might mean that they do not understand the interaction.
And don’t forget that whatever reports you provide to your manager you need to establish a benchmark against which you will be working so the data you gather is not only measurable but also meaningful. Many companies compare learning assessment data with sales revenues or even go as far as linking sales commission to test success rate. There are many ways that you can make the most of LMS reporting, including customizing it to your own needs, but the key here is to know what constitutes a success for your specific L&D needs.
We will be happy to hear about your experience in online learning reporting or if you want to discuss your specific reporting requirements, get in touch with us and we will give you more information about the options offered by Melon LMS.
