Learning and development becomes more business focused, reports CIPD/Cornerstone OnDemand survey
Number of organisations measuring return on investment increases by over 20%.
Businesses are waking up to the changes in the world of work by aligning learning and developing initiatives to business strategy, according to new statistics released by the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development.
However, more still needs to be done by organisations if they are to maintain a competitive lead, engage their employees and increase productivity vital to the UK’s economic recovery. The CIPD/ Cornerstone OnDemand Learning and Development report 2014 is an annual survey which tracks changes in workplace learning and development (L&D) practices. Findings show that the top two changes anticipated over the next couple of years are closer integration of learning and development activity with business strategy, and more emphasis on monitoring, measuring and evaluating training and effectiveness.
Reflecting the increasing emphasis on evaluating training, the survey revealed that the number of organisations measuring return on investment from L&D practices has increased from 26% to 48%. And, over 50% say business knowledge and commercial awareness is critical to success in L&D/OD, which is the top factor attributed to success in L&D.
The report also found that more organisations are offering training to non-employee groups, most commonly students (37%) and two thirds (69%) of not-for-profits are offering training to volunteers.
Ruth Stuart, Learning and Development Adviser CIPD, and author of the report, said: “The fast-paced changing nature of the world of work and the economic squeeze has led many organisations to better analyse the impact their learning and development strategy is having on business success. What’s good for people is good for business and organisations are starting to wake up and realise that by measuring the success of L&D. Perhaps the upturn in the economy has reduced the urgency to drive large scale cost-saving changes. Instead it's put greater emphasis on businesses ensuring the efficient use of their L&D resources and planning a sustainable future through integrating L&D with business strategy and evaluating outcomes.
“We’ve also seen an increase in the number of organisations paying attention to neuroscience, reflecting a need to ensure L&D initiatives are based on evidence of what really works and using metrics to inform this. This is a positive move and it will be interesting to measure trends in years to come too.”
Whilst the report revealed that organisations are paying closer attention to metrics, it also showed that learning and development processes and systems could be better integrated with other aspects of HR management, such as recruitment, performance management and reward. Nearly two thirds of organisations (64%) believe that learning and development processes are integrated into other aspects of HR management, but there is still room for improvement, particularly in the private sector.
Vincent Belliveau, Senior Vice President and General Manager EMEA at Cornerstone OnDemand, said: “Whilst there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to learning, it’s clear that businesses and their employees want to get more out of learning. Learning activities need support not only the individual’s goals and development but also those of the business. This can only be done by integrating HR at board level, agreeing meaningful metrics and understanding the impact of learning through measurement and evaluation.”
Further findings:
- E-learning may have reached its peak, as fewer predict growth of e-learning (2014: 23%, 2013: 29%, 2012: 24%, 2011: 30%). Respondents found e-learning to have a bigger gap between use and effectiveness than any other L&D practice.
- On the job training and in-house development programmes remain the most commonly used L&D practices and are generally considered more effective than external events and formal education courses.
- The median annual training budget per employee is £286 (2013: £303), but this masks considerable variation within and across sectors. As in previous years, the median training budget per employee is lowest in the public sector (£238).