An Inside Look: Measuring the Business Impact of Learning in 2024

As the “new kid on the block,” stepping into the Managing Director at Watershed earlier this year, I have been eager to see the results from our 2024 Measuring the Business Impact of Learning survey. I have followed the survey for the past 8 years, but this year marks the first time I have seen the process from start to finish.

Watching the survey develop from capturing responses to processing the results (yes, using Watershed to collect, correlate, and visualize the data) has been an eye-opening experience and a great introduction to the inner workings of Watershed.

This year’s report surfaces some telling insights on where we are today when it comes to learning measurement. The high-level summary, that we will dive into further in this series, is that strategic alignment between L&D and other business functions is the key and requires a two-fold approach.

Collaboration: Aligning strategically with the rest of the business to ensure that learning will have an impact.

L&D has to partner with other departments to understand what metrics matter to them to design and deliver impactful programs. It’s not a matter of “what do you need from us?”, but “what do you want to achieve?” and collaborate to identify where and how learning and training can support those initiatives.

Correlation: Having a measurement plan to align L&D efforts to those business goals.

This means knowing what data you need to collect from your learning and training efforts and having the ability to correlate that with the corresponding business metric. Delivering training and (e.g., tracking completions is only part of the story). Seeing if and where that training actually changed the trajectory of the business should be the ideal goal.

Some backstory on our learning measurement report

Now in its eighth year, our Measuring the Business Impact of Learning report examines how L&D teams measure their training programs' effectiveness.

The report draws insights from a diverse group of L&D professionals with more than 2,900 respondents to date—including managers and senior learning leaders from organizations of all sizes. By consistently surveying these folks during the past eight years, we've been able to track industry trends and changes, offering a retrospective on how measuring L&D impact has evolved.

This year’s report looks at the gap between L&D metrics and business KPIs, stressing the need for alignment. It also emphasizes the importance of having a budget for measurement and explores the split between Strategic Partners and Shared Services in L&D.

Whether you're an L&D professional, a business leader, or someone interested in organizational development, this report offers insights to help you measure and enhance the impact of your learning initiatives. After all, knowing how learning affects the business is essential for linking training with bigger organizational goals. So let’s dive in together for a peek into what the 2024 report has to say about the state of learning analytics.

Key insights and findings

The following insights from our report show how aligning learning initiatives with business goals can significantly enhance their impact and demonstrate value.

1. L&D as a Strategic Partner: Aligning training programs to  business goals can go a long way to effectively measuring organizational impact.
2. Linking L&D metrics with business KPIs is essential for highlighting the value of training. However, despite 97% of organizations expressing a desire to measure impact, only 27% have the budget.
3. Successful L&D traits: Effective L&D teams can align their initiatives with business needs, access and analyze data, and secure stakeholder buy-in. These traits are essential for driving L&D’s impact across an organization.

1. Tools and Data: Measuring the impact of learning initiatives is a challenge for many L&D departments, with only 56% able to do so effectively. Resource constraints and the complexity of managing data from disparate sources, make it difficult to assess learning outcomes at scale.
2. Organizational factors: Having the time to take a strategic approach to learning measurement and the right people on the team are additional hurdles to overcome. Many L&D teams lack the necessary skills in data analysis, face competing priorities, or lack stakeholder buy-in—all which are essential for the success of learning measurement initiatives.

What to expect in this blog series

In the posts to come, we'll explore specific parts of the report in more detail:

• Aligning L&D Metrics with Business KPIs: See why connecting L&D metrics to business goals is crucial, including practical ways to make this happen.
• Strategic Partners vs. Shared Services: We'll compare what makes Strategic Partners and Shared Services in L&D different and how well they work.
• Addressing Common Barriers: Organizations often face several barriers when measuring learning impact. These include competing priorities, data access issues, and difficulty in getting stakeholder buy-in.
• Closing the Capability Gap: One of the most striking findings in the report is that only 56% of organizations can measure the impact of their learning initiatives. See why this gap exists along with helpful tips to help improve your measurement capabilities.
• Using Technology to Measure Learning Impact: See how to use technology to enhance learning measurement and impact.

Up Next: Why L&D must align with the business

Our Measuring the Business Impact of Learning 2024 report sheds light on how L&D teams can match their metrics with business KPIs, the importance of data analysts, and the gap between Strategic Partners and Shared Services.

By grasping these key findings, you can boost your training programs' effectiveness and show your strategic value. Stay tuned for the next post as when we discuss the difference between Strategic Partners and Shared Services what it means for L&D.