How do your learning strategies compare to your peers?

We are proud to support the Towards Maturity Benchmark Study, and highly value the work that this independent organisation is doing to support L&D professionals in developing an evidence-based approach to modernising learning strategies. The Benchmark enables you to gather the evidence you need in order to understand what works in your current L&D offering and shape future developments.

Insights from 2014

I had a read of the 2014 report and it is fascinating! In some instances it really confirms what we know, with the data showing that there is nearly 100% support from L&D professionals to speed up the application of learning, boost productivity and improve talent and performance management. But it also highlights some concerning trends, confirming only 31% are reaping the benefits they seek from learning, and less than half are delivering learning in time to meet the needs of the business.

The data around business alignment is also very interesting. “According to this year’s data only 32% of L&D leaders identify specific business metrics/KPIs that they want to improve through learning in partnership with senior management”. The data found that the most aligned L&D teams are 13 times more likely to report increased revenue and 50% more likely to have noticed positive changes in staff behaviour.

So that’s a good reason to keep pushing the alignment agenda!

Is the classroom still relevant?

The study also questions the importance of classroom learning. 49% learn more by finding things out for themselves rather than from the classroom, and 82% would prefer self-paced learning. Yet despite this, the data indicates that 47% of companies still choose classroom learning as their sole learning method. Clearly learning transfer is even more important than we thought if that vast percentage of L&D professionals are not tapping into other methods of learning and applying learning transfer solutions to create real change. I’ll be looking to find out more about that percentage!

It’s great to benchmark and get insight, I encourage you to get involved.

Take part in the 2015 Benchmark

Towards Maturity’s confidential and anonymised benchmark enables you to see how your learning strategies compare with those of your peers, including the top performing organisations in your sector. The Benchmark takes just 60 minutes to complete, after which you will be able to understand the approaches that will make a difference for YOUR organisation and identify quick wins for your L&D team.

Thanks to the participation of more than 3,500 organisations and 16,000 learners, the Towards Maturity benchmark has become the most authoritative evidence base for what works in learning and development, globally.

Hundreds of L&D professionals are getting involved. What’s stopping you?

Follow the Benchmark Progress on Twitter: #BeTheBest15

All participants who complete by 31st July 2015 will receive a free Personalised Benchmark Report in September (value £300).

Emma Weber is a recognized authority on the transfer of learning. As CEO of Lever – Transfer of Learning, she has helped companies such as Telstra, Oracle and BMW deliver and measure tangible business results from learning. Emma has also been a guest speaker at learning effectiveness conferences worldwide and authored the hugely successful book Turning Learning into Action. Much more detail around the issues and solutions examined in this article are available in the book – please feel free to download a free chapter.